Sun Baking: Edition 2
Welcome to Sun Baking: Edition 2. In this edition, we are going to explore the world of Super Mario Sunshine just a little deeper.
This time around, Sun Baking has grown considerably. Jason had kindly added his ideas for the game and we now have some reader responses to our first edition. and of course, in this edition, Im going to go through a few more of my own ideas, including the Underwater control scheme. So, without further ado, lets kick off with Jasons ideas.
as James pointed out in the previous edition of Sun Baking, Super Mario Sunshine is destined to have an interesting control scheme.
Jason's Control Scheme (Click to enlarge)
a variation of James control scheme would be to have one button for cannon fire (namely the R button) and have the C-Stick completely dedicated to analog cannon aim. This would give the game a Robotron feel in that you could control Marios movements with the standard stick, but have the freedom to control cannon fire direction with the C-Stick. at the very least, the up and down directions on the C-stick could be to just aim the cannon up and down while left and right for rotating camera. This would allow for analog aim for the vertical direction, while still giving you the option to rotate the camera freely. Puzzles with targets in the air could make use of directional spraying, and we have even seen evidence of this aiming in new pictures for the game.
Using an alternate setup like that would leave you with a whole analog L button to fool around with. What could be placed here? How about a Pikmin setup that would control the distance of the camera from Mario? Maybe even have it put the camera behind Mario so that you have a good point of view? anything is possible. Other than that, you can probably expect the return of the long jump and maybe even the crawl movement.
This is of course assuming that Water is Marios only power-up. Miyamoto has stated in an earlier interview that Mario will have the ability to have different things on his back. Whether that means different elements in the cannon, or completely new devices, we arent sure. What we do know is that you can almost indefinitely expect the return of the staple fire attack that even Luigis Mansion took advantage of. Either way, these abilities could still just use the standard R button for firing and may require you to find a power-up block to use.
Underwater, Marios cannon is almost useless, so why not make the R button an analog swimming button? Pull it down a little, and Mario swims forward a little. Click it in and Mario goes for a full-out speed swim. Not only that, but the camera could stay directly behind Mario at all times, and turn when he does. Underwater controls are classically the most difficult for a game to do well, and games like Rares Banjo Tooie made some great progress. The key is having a great deal of sensitivity for turning, enough control over speed of swim, and a very good camera. What most people have a problem with, is that your character begins to move like a game of Resident Evil, in that you press the swim button and they go in the direction that they are facing, instead of on land where you press the direction on your stick where you would like them to go. This ends up being the most frustrating part for players which makes it the area with largest potential for improvement.
James will no doubt cook up a couple of great schemes of his own, so lets hear them!