Putting the "Gun" in "Gun Wizard"

Going off of "a game about a wizard who uses guns," the inevitable question arises: "What kind of gun would a wizard use?"

The answer is, obviously, "a magic one."

BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? A gun that shoots magic? A regular gun that has some kind of magic ability? A gun that's powered by magic?

Shown above, the answer is "yes."

These drawings are from John's "draw a bunch of ideas and see what sticks" stage of conceptualizing. The arm cannon, while undeniably pretty freakin' cool in magic-tech style, is a bit on the nose considering how much inspiration we're already taking from Metroid. And the gauntlet isn't even a gun, but that design may yet have a part to play in the end.

Eventually, I threw my own idea for the design into the mix, this one factoring in the steampunk style I mentioned we decided on in a previous post. What could be more steampunky than  A FLINTLOCK PISTOL?

Come to think of it, I don't think we ever *officially* agreed on this as the final design, but I like it and I'm gonna push for it.

Eventually, the Gun Wizard will discover magic gems that just happen to fit into a slot on the gun and allow it to cast powerful elemental spells like fireballs or lightning.

These spells will definitely be utilized in puzzle design, and may or may not have certain effects on certain enemies. Being a steampunk world, there is a lot of potential for fire/water interaction mechanics, so that's also something for us to keep in mind as we develop the idea.