i dreamed about a game design thing and i kind of want to see if i can write it out into a proper idea

it was like a mix of wario land 4 level design, early 90's dos sidescroller shooters mobility and weapons, and i think there was somehow some kind of collect-em-all aspect. the whole thing had an air of tensely racing the clock, probably for the fate of the world

i think maybe it wasn't for the fate of the world, but for the fate of the protagonist. that sounds more like the kind of dream design i'd have <<

i feel like, if i were to try to make something out of these pieces, there'd need to be some randomness to the levels. i've never felt ready to approach random generation, but maybe it'd be enough to just change around where the goal is located, and the enemy placement.

i feel that the timer would need to be the biggest threat on a player's mind. as soon as you enter the level, the timer starts, and you have to be back to the entrance before it runs out, or else... the entire campaign ends?
maybe dying via running out of health would have a smaller but still major punishment. like "just" removing a ton of your resources and items.

it's probably because i've been looking at, uh, roguelikelikes more recently, that my mindset is that there'd need to be some randomness and a total loss state, and some choice about how exactly to progress.

there's not really any reason that the dream-pieces couldn't work in a hand-crafted linear set of levels,
and maybe a lighter punishment for failure, though that'd sort of reduce the franticness of it.
it'd have less replay value, i think? but it's not like i expect a lot of players or playtime for anything i'd make.

what i'm imagining:
you get a couple missions to choose from, with indicators of difficulty/reward value.

as soon as you enter a mission, the timer starts. you have to be back at the entrance (teleporter? escape pod?) before it runs out.

each mission has three objectives:
1. progress the story, in various ways.
2. recover battery power.
3. find items & loot.
each objective is optional. you can enter the mission & immediately exit again if you want.

exiting rerolls the mission selection.
BUT: every time you exit a mission, your battery depletes. running out is a total failure.
maybe the difficulty increases each time too?

one thing that comes to mind is that 90's dos platformer shooters have resources that are mostly used in the short term. like, the main gun doesn't upgrade much, and superweapons have small ammo capacity.
if i want players to seek out loot, it needs to have long-term significance. otherwise it isn't worth the risk of trying to get anything.

... i'm not sure how powerful a player character should generally be compared to most enemies. or what the enemy density should be.
having a harsh timer ALONG WITH enemies taking time to deal with would just be unpleasant.
i guess that's something to experiment with.