Are you on the sidelines for 7dRTS, wanting to get some time on the field? How does the idea of an Open Game strike you — the Assemblee compo but in reverse?

Last week I mentioned re-skinning of my game as I’ll be defaulting to Oryx’s masterpieces with Ogmo as the level format and the typical FruityLoops/Bfxr accompaniment. Once it’s made, it’s as easy as swapping out the art/sound and yours in, provided you stick to the format. I see musicians offering people their work for credit, but I’m too busy to lurk through soundcloud, let’s do it in reverse.

I figure I let you set the direction based on 3 main concepts:

1. CS Strat: dozens of on-screen units, weapon types, props, level skins, units can level up a la XCOM. Ogmo maps. Can either go serious or make it like “Backyard Sports” — kids running around in the backyard (“I shot you!”…”Uh uh I have Class 4 Armor on”) is a cute idea. Will need a Mom character as a referee. Definitely orange slices at halftime.
2. Raid Commander: Roguelike with dozens of units, like a WoW raid that you control…heroes/enemies/world tiles/props/bosses/projectiles. Still liking a silly theme with this one, I imagine a lot of Leroy Jenkins and Guild Drama, Ninja’ing and PUG-awfulness.
3. Gamedev RTS: I’m dying to make this one…heroes are Artists, Coders, Musicians, Designers…fight off Bugs, Reviewers, Fanboys, Publishers, Pirates, Cloners. Was hoping to make it a 4-player base-building exercise where you build up your game and slay foes for cash…but that’s too ambitious. A roguelike where you start as a solo indie and level up your skills and staff to defeat greater “foes” (projects) sounds more concrete.

It occurred to me this build could be a showpiece for people’s content, selectable in the frontend as a visual or audible “skin” with their name featured. If any of the above game ideas inspire you to reskin the linked sprites or come up with an audio treatment then let me know in the comments.

I plan to do a lot of this in between now and the next LD48 (and beyond!), so there’s no hurry. And I’m not in competition with anyone here (that much is clear, yikes) so why not co-operate in an open and detached fashion? I won’t be waiting around for anyone’s art/sound, but it’s nothing to swap Oryx’s out and yours in.

If you want to practice and 7dRTS has gotten your blood up, here’s your chance! If not, feel free to steal these ideas, that’s all they are.