Rather than making the entire thing yourself, one idea is to have the gameplay idea and then start a collaboration with others who can pitch in different assets. Though you might want to have your own proof-of-concept first.
For proof-of-concept, I'm currently trying to render a simple level in Unity. I got half of the terrain mapped out, but coding it all is going to be a far more daunting task.
I actually have the entire idea mapped out in my head, so let's see if people like it enough to jump on board. I know some of you will all say it can't be done, but think of this like a wish list for what will be in the game.
Overall: The Touhou Air Combat Sim Project will give players the ability to move in any possible direction at any angle: forwards, backwards, left, right, up, down, and the ability to roll. There will be outdoor arenas for typical air battles and spacious indoor areas for tactical combat. Gameplay is typical Touhou (lots of bullets, challenging boss fights, and so on), but with a new dizzying twist.
The controls would probably look something like this (and it might tell you what I have in store for gameplay):
W - Forwards
S - Back
A - Left
D - Right
Q - Roll/Bank Left
E - Roll/Bank Right
Middle Mouse/Space - Fly up/Jump while on the ground
Ctrl - Fly Down/Crouch while on the ground
Shift - Focus
Left Mouse - Shoot
Left Mouse (Hold) - Charge Shot (similar to PoFV or Fairy Wars)
X - Toggle Rapid Fire/Charge Shots
Right Mouse - Special Move (similar to the Level 1 attack from PoFV)
Mouse Wheel - Select Spell Cards
G - Toggle between staying upright or keeping the relative angle while rolling.
C - Land/Descend (for the indoor arenas)
F - Spell Card/Death Bomb
R - Follow Command (Single Player Story)/Talk (Multiplayer)
T - Attack Command (Single Player Story)/Team Talk (Multiplayer)
F1 - First Person Camera
F2 - Third Person Near
F3 - Third Person Far
F4 - Toggle Rear Camera (so you can see what's behind you)
1 - Select Easy-Level Spell Card (see the description of Story Mode)
2 - Select Normal-Level Spell Card
3 - Select Hard-Level Spell Card
4 - Select Lunatic-Level Spell Card
5 - Select LAST WORD Spell Card
Classic Mode: In Classic Mode, players simply fight their way through a level alone until reaching a boss. Players get to choose between shot/spell card types, bombs are easily replenished by killing stronger enemies, there are no special moves, and cutscenes are simply pre-battle dialogue and endings. In other words, this is just Touhou in 3d and no pre-set flight path.
Story Mode: The core of the game, players actually traverse Gensokyo with a cast of characters with a series of objectives. Instead of simply going from level to level, each campaign is a unified experience where players travel from one location to the next. Players are armed with 15 initial spell cards of varying levels (Five Easy Cards, four Normal, three Hard, two Lunatic, and one LAST WORD) that are slowly replenished UFO-style by collecting bomb pieces off of enemies. Power is measured from 0.00 to 4.00, but as players increase in level, they unlock new attacks: special moves at 1.00, Fairy-Level charged attacks at 2.00 (similar to the shots a boss fires), Witch-Level charged attacks at 3.00, and Dragon-level charged attacks at 4.00. Players have only one life, but ten hit points, and each hit point is slowly restored by fighting enemies Fairy Wars-style.
Multiplayer in one seamless world: (This is the biggest stretch by far, but remember: it's a wish list.) If someone can recreate Gensokyo
in Minecraft, imagine a fully rendered Gensokyo where players can travel anywhere at any time. Players can battle between the Scarlet Devil Mansion and Youkai Mountain, or between the Hakurei Shrine and the Forest of Magic. You could almost say it has no boundaries. (And if seamless multiplayer is impossible, how's about seven maps per campaign completed?)
Possible Multiplayer Games (feel free to take these for any of your fangames):FREE-FOR-ALL and TEAM GAMES:
-Battle: Simply get more kills than all of the other players/team.
-Survival: Each player has a set number of lives. Ensure everyone else loses theirs.
-Point Grab: Destroying other players (or NPCs) earns you point cards. NPCs may be turned on or off. The player/team with the most points wins.
-Spell Card Duel: Players or teams take turns firing and dodging spell cards. The last player/team to survive wins.
-Spell Card Design: Players design Spell Cards from various parts before time is up, and then players/teams face off their opponents' Spell Cards by dodging them. If they survive long enough, they may add new parts. The last player/team to survive wins.
-Grab The MacGuffin: Players/teams have to hold an object (determined by the map/character arrangement) for as long as possible. If a player is killed, they will drop the MacGuffin. The player/team who holds the MacGuffin the longest wins.
-Phantasmagoria: Players/Teams fight an onslaught of smaller enemies until the other gives out or time runs out.
TEAM GAMES ONLY:
-War: Both teams work to destroy eachother's base. Both teams may work with an army of fairies, weaker youkai, or moon rabbits, depending on the map/character arrangement.
-Capture The MacGuffin: Capture the team's object of importance while defending your own. Different maps/team arrangements have different objects.
-Yukkuri Ball: Grab the Yukkuri in between the two bases and bring it back to your own. By default, the Yukkuri will stay still, but you may also set an option for the Yukkuri to have a mind of its own.
-Incident: One team attacks while another defends. The defending team may also work with a team of fairies, youkai, or moon rabbits depending on the map/character arrangement. May be played using lives or a time limit.
-Onslaught: Players fight an army of fairies, weaker youkai, or moon rabbits in ever-increasing waves.
-Cooperative: Players play the main game, either with the original characters or with any character at all.
FREE-FOR-ALL GAMES ONLY:
-Power Grab: Each player starts with an equal amount of Power Cards, and when killed, players drop all of their Power Cards. When a player reaches Max Power, respawn is disabled until that player is killed. The player who reaches Max Power first and kills all of the opponents wins. (Or, if it's a time limit, the player who kills the most people with Max Power.)
-Touhou Bulldog: Based on the game British Bulldog, all of the players start on one team except one: the bulldog, selected at random. The team hides while the lone bulldog hunts them down. When a bulldog hits a player, they are converted to the bulldog's team, and chaos ensues as other players rush to hide before becoming assimilated. When all of the players have been converted, the round resets. After time is up, the player who has survived the longest before being hit wins. May be played with a safe zone (like original British Bulldog) or without one (in the style of Zombie Tag).
Possible Campaigns: Since somebody already made a 3d rail shooter of EoSD, I'd like to start off with a suped-up version of Perfect Cherry Blossom. Classic Mode would be easy: just program the fairies, program the bosses, and we're good. For Story Mode, we'd have to up the scenario to almost
UsuallyDead levels (though not quite as dark or violent). Think about it: Gensokyo is getting snowed over, people are running out of food and water, plants and animals are dying, and the only ones who can save us are a shrine maiden, a witch, and a maid, battling through an endless army of fairies and youkai.
(as for the music let's fill it to the brim with TTS-1 and Logic remixes, with a little bit of XG for fun :colonveeplusalpha:)
Actually, I got something better in mind for a game of this caliber. (And besides, those TTS-1 remakes are for experimental purposes.)
Dynamic Music: Character themes will replace the main melody line of the music if that character is winning a battle or if they appear as part of a scripted sequence. In Multiplayer, you'll know who is having a killing spree when their theme is blasted over the normal music. For example of what this might sound like, around 1:40 in
this arrange of Deep Mountain, it switches from Deep Mountain to Crystallized Silver. Or, in
this arrange of The Fantastic Legend of Tohno, it switches to Withered Leaf at 4:50, and then back at 5:18.
Possible Names:
-Touhou (Air Combat Sim) Project
-Shattered HoriZUN
-Skies of Gensokyo (Or Touhou: Gensokyo No Sora ~ Skies Of Gensokyo)