Grow Gun
once built, the plants are able to be destroyed by your sword or regular destruction gun

once built, the plants are able to be destroyed by your sword or regular destruction gun

DNA-like structure the plants take on if there is no limit to how much they can spawn

DNA-like structure the plants take on if there is no limit to how much they can spawn

initial mechanic tests

initial mechanic tests

testing the gun look in game

testing the gun look in game

gun shape exploration and design in 3d.

gun shape exploration and design in 3d.

gun shape exploration in 2d.  These seemed ok, but they didn't really work well with what I had of the character already

gun shape exploration in 2d. These seemed ok, but they didn't really work well with what I had of the character already

I gave my students a challenge last year to come up with non-violent shooting mechanics for games and they suggested a plant growing gun so I programmed up something during class. This is the result of that. Essentially you shoot a bullet at the ground or at another plant and it will grow some more plants where the bullet hit. You can customize how many more plants.
I had to put a limit on it because sometimes they would grow like DNA across the map. Since I also programmed the bullets to not get destroyed on impact they will sometimes get launched across the map when a new plant is added so the placement and randomization of the plant growth is pretty good, IMHO.
I ended up liking the results enough that I put the mechanic into my game as a grow gun. It acts as another way to build bridges and platforms for the player. The player can also use their regular destruction gun to destroy the plants if they want to.