I thought of an idea — a game that involves time travel… … …as a vaguely quantitative (third/fourth, depending on whether the game is 2D or 3D) direction of "movement", rather than as a qualitative Thing That Turns One Location Into Multiple Locations In Story Terms? So, like, when you're playing the game, time moves normally, but you can "scroll" back and forth through time, and the ways in which various objects and locations might change over time are put onto a timeline.

One lot might have a house on it until t, be vacant from t to t + 2 months, 3 days, be under construction from then to t + 9 months, 16 days, and then have a corner store on it from that point on. Maybe there'll be monthly showings of some cult classic movie from t + 8 days to t + 2 years, 11 months, 18 days. Perhaps certain trees will have a height of offset + time since t × rate. Each individual object might just have a few states or vary on one or two axes over time, but the combined result of that would be what would feel a bit like a continuum of time.

Like, for example,

if i was a game dev/game studio owner, id make a sexy girl game like nier automata or stellar blade but the girl is a 45 year old stacked milf with an apron and mom jeans who says shit like "aww what a good boy!~" or "guess who made cookiiiies!~"

I made this a few days ago as a sketch for how the final boss fight could go in DNA Swap. The evil X man (unaffiliated with the >:( social media) is named Cretor and he's the "King of the Void" and the void is like this weird pocket dimension where nothing is quite right, and everything is pitch black. Many ideas are being tossed around and it's still not fully straightened out yet, but-

There are four villages in the game, one in the plains, one in the jungle, one on the mountain, and one in the caves. The plains house the slimes, where they kinda live in their own blissful ignorance and sometimes do trade with the other villages, as they exist in the center. The caves house the.. well I don't have a name yet but, cavelings. They're gothic doomers because of their proximity to a certain dangerous historical landmark that I'll get to in a bit. The jungle houses an isolated clan of sentient plants & humanoid goblin thingies. They're very cool and fairly powerful but also tend to be stubborn and boomer. The mountains house the yetis, who, honestly I haven't fully figured out, but I think they're aware of the situation and try not to get involved. What is "the situation"? well-

A long time ago, a clan formed in the desert near the ocean with the intention of harnessing the power of the void, for one reason or another. They became insanely technologically advanced, and nearly succeeded in creating a link to the void. But all the reality-bending commotion did not sit well with Cretor, who wished to keep his infinite existence of perfection to himself. So, naturally, he struck down their entire civilization with a neverending slew of natural disasters. That place is now called only The Storm.

However, many generations have passed, and somehow, be it through a brave explorer finding an artifact in the Storm, or just pure luck, the void link project has started again. Only this time, there's not just one big laboratory, there's five scattered around the world. The one in the plains was turned to rubble once the inhabitants realized the risk. The other four sit at the edge of the yeti's mountain, the border of the desert and the jungle, the coast near the caves, and the big clearing in the forest. (I haven't actually decided who's running these labs yet).

This time, Cretor was ready, and knew they were coming. The project still has a ways to go before they even attempt the first link, but their antics still got them caught. He seeded the world with blotches of void, infecting creatures and commanding them to spread the infection, and above all else, destroy the labs. One at the bottom of the ocean, not far from the mountain lab. One in the caves below the mountains, superpowering creatures with the ability to drill through the mountain to get to the forest lab on the other side. One in the middle of the marsh, seemingly to stockpile soldiers in case of emergency. One in the desert's pyramid, seemingly for a similar reason, and one right next to the lab neighboring the big cave network.

The cave peoples constantly lament their impending doom, scrawling markings of Cretor on the walls, seemingly in compliance with defeat. They do not operate the nearby lab, but they know the power of the void, and fear it as they fear death itself. The renegade labs know this power as well, and yet, they laugh in the face of it. If they're successful in taming its power, they may be revered for countless generations, bringing the whole land into a new era of prosperity. If they fail, all most continue as usual, with the knowledge that doom lies just over the hill, waiting for someone to try knocking on its door again.

(Reposting later with more info)