I wanted to offer up an idea that I’m pretty sure won’t lead to anything but somebody had to share it. This is a very unfortunately dead game mode for Garrys Mod that was a whole lot of fun and very unique. Two teams spend the start of the match building defenses to ward off the enemy from their core whilst also trying to attack the enemy base.
Players could spend resources on vehicles and base upgrades, all topped off with an art style that suits the Tower Unite gameword theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YLl-7Xzxes
Obviously I am not suggesting you directly remake this IP that is owned by someone else, but a similar mode would be something we could all appreciate. I’m sure the original game mode is still out there somewhere, it used to be on the Steam workshop but I can no longer find it.
I remember playing this with a group of friends, eight players total too. The concept is nice but the execution is just weird, even with four players on each team, it just ends in such a stalemate and most of the time you end up not able to do anything. You can easily abuse certain towers in that gamemode that just makes it unplayable. I feel like Planet Panic already fits the bill with something about defending/attacking an objective.
It wasn’t perfect but the concept is brilliant in my opinion, I love the strategy elements combined with that cartoon aesthetic which also results in googly eyed aliens exploding into gore when hit by frisbees. Planet panic does sort of fit the bill, namely down to the nature of the movement, the cartoon vibe and maybe the element of breaching the enemy base. I’d argue though that it loses most of the strategy element and depth with its far simpler objectives and even simpler mechanics.
Strategy elements in a game don’t necessarily have to equal better gameplay experience as a whole though. A legend says that simplicity is what catches people’s attention, and that works for any video game ever, unless that video game is of a genre that has a special audience, like say, grand strategy games.
Sure it doesn’t always equate to better but I believe in this case it might when compared to something like planet panic. I also don’t think depth has to mean the game is inherently complicated either.