Game design theory and practice?

I am trying to transition from board game design to video game design. And find all of it overwhelming mainly because I have had little experience with coding prior to actually starting development on my current demo. I am mainly relying on tutorials. but find that the documentation of bolt is not the best. and understanding how to implement any feature that isn't already a cliche is slowing progress to a crawl.

The main point of switching to digital games was to use ideas that just wouldn't work in a boardgame.

I intend on giving a summation of what I aiming to have as a feature list in the game below along with some of my game assets in hope that I may be able to find collaborators. but if not any constructive criticism would be welcome. and if there are any blogs with better documentation of bolt that would be a dream come true.

The elevator pitch of my current game is spelunky meets stardew valley. The idea of the gameplay loop is seeds and the base resources of the farming aspect are found during foraging through spelunky like levels. I want to make something that is like Minecraft but with more emphasis on survival than making a playground. there is more to it than that but I don't know if this is the appropriate forum for my elevator pitch for collaborators but if you are interested I can give more details on what I want the game to be.

The main thing I have done for the last couple of days was start to develop the aesthetic of the sprite art. I am really fascinated by nes and early arcade game so have focused on bright colors over a black background. examples below.


But also if there is anyone who is interested in collaborating I make art assets and compose music also I will link to these as well.

https://www.deviantart.com/dharmadischarge

https://masonandrew.bandcamp.com/album/happyness-is-for-wimps

 

So like the game rune factory?

 

Kinda, I am honestly not sure cause while I own rune factory 4 I haven't played it yet. I was thinking the combat would be more like zelda 2 or the wonder boy monster world games. while the farming would be more like stardew valley but maybe with more of a town sim aspect like actraiser. The main difference from the stardew valley or rune factory. Is the combat would be an action platformer. while the farming would be more like a relaxing animal crossing thing.

My development approach so far has been to focus on the platforming combat sections then after that is fun to focus on the farming part afterward not cause it is less important but because the farming I think will be harder to code.

I know I want the platforming levels to be more like small ecosystems. not dwarf fortress deep (cause that would take a lifetime lol) but more like a simple ecosystem where if you kill an enemy nest/spawn point than that enemies won't appear for a cooldown period before it regenerates. giving the world a vibe of consequences that have a longer-lasting influence.

Also when you die you drop every item you are carrying and there is no way to get them back. and on the platforming sections, I think I want the main friction to be collecting seeds and items with the rare ones having extremely low drop rates. and the semi permadeath of if you die in the harsh environment not being able to feed your minion monster guys who work on the farm while your out gathering.

Also there is no story focus as of right now more just a strict gameplay loop. I really want to exsperiment with emergent gameplay.

and cause I am typing to much and I am afraid this is getting to long I will stop here. but I must say the idea came to me from think what if minecraft was more of a game than a playground. and combining with what I know about ludo narative game design. to see there was a way to keep a loop interesting and meaningful while still being nothing but a game.

 

@dharmadischarge
Nice sprite art.