Game Ideas?

[whogben]

Anyone got some extra ideas for games? I'm running low on (practical)inspiration...

If you post an idea that you don't want anyone else to use please say so, otherwise someone might use it before you and that wouldn't be much fun...

So if you have any ideas kickin' around please post them, as I want to make something and am out of ideas.

[Joseph Duchesne]

Hmm... A RPG? nah.. I'm doing one. Maybe a space shooter EVN/Diemos Rising crossover?

[whogben]

I like that idea, I'm working in 3D, but I want to make a 2D game, how would I handle things like collision detection, assuming the ships are textures on planes...

[gatti]

How about a good classic adventure-type game like "ShadowGate/DÈJaVu series" or a 2-d gun slinger.

[whogben]

I don't know those games? What are they like?

I came late to computers, in fourth grade I got a quadra, so I don't know a lot of the old games...

[skyhawk]

Originally posted by whogben
I like that idea, I'm working in 3D, but I want to make a 2D game, how would I handle things like collision detection, assuming the ships are textures on planes...
classic circle based collision will be your best bet. You sound new in collision detection so I suggest you search up old collision detection thread in either the game programming or general programming section

[Najdorf]

the trick to do a new (arcade) game is start with a clear mind: empty space... then, an object... the sprite you control... second question: is there gravity or can he move in all directions as a space ship? what other forces act on his movement? how to controll it? THird question: only one thing to ontrol or more, maybe mose- keybord... then... how is the space around him like: empty? solid objects around? Can your sprite move? how? jumpin, running, sliding as a snake... or is he controlled by the mouse? Then: other moving things? yes, no? subject to strengths?...

free your mind :cool:

[gatti]

ShadowGate/DÈJaVu series

These games are based on an interconnection of rooms visually represented as one screen at a time. A user interacts with different rooms by picking up items from one room and using them in another. The user must Examine different items/elements of a room. This provides the user with a hint as to what item they need or what they need to do. They game is basically one big puzzle.

[mkeC]

Im thinking about a game that is a combination fighter/scroller/platform game where one minite its donkey kong and then when you encounter an opponent you zoom in for a Street fighter style fight. If you win you can go on and if not you get chased back until you can escape/recover somehow by dodging traps. I bet most of this already exists and just needs to be linked together.

[diordna]

If you're really not busy, how about helping me out in writing an editor for my slideshow program? Right now you have to open each slide in a text editor.

[Feanor]

I recommend that you build something that is not a game, but that can be turned into a game later: a virtual toy. You can create some simple environments and simple creatures to live in it, and an avatar that the player can move around. Just pick some features randomly and try stuff out. It would be a like a game play ground. And you'd have total freedom to come up with some wacky concepts, instead of trying to re-hash everything that's been done before.

Or, you can put development aside and read a book, either a technical, design, or fiction book -- lots of inspiration to be had there. I'm reading the new Earnest Adams book, myself, as well as the Dune series. Dune makes me think of all the things that are impossible to do in games right now. Fortunately we have novels to do them anyway.

Here's a bare bones idea: a game about an undertaker. Six Feet Under is a great show about "funeral directors" -- maybe someone could make a completely unrelated game about running a funeral home: getting "clients", prepping them, and burying them. If you run the cemetery you would have thwart grave robbers.

Then again, how about a grave robber game? Quite a bit grittier than tomb raider. Dig up graves, and steal valuables off bodies. Fun!

[whogben]

as for inspiration I read HMS Ulysses last night. It was an incredible book and inspiration which I am trying to cope with and understand as it might relate to making an game. How about a game not as an undertaker, but THE undertaker, death himself(or herself) I am not sure what the gameplay would be, something spooky abut not glorified, perhaps like lemmings guiding souls in theri different paths after they die. Perhaps there would be mutinies on the boat crossing the river styx (I see the HMS Ulysses has inspired me a tad) and you would have to fight back the souls trying to escape, perhaps souls would escape to the physical world, and you could pursue them through walls around citys and such trying to keep the exposure to the living to a minimum. Perhaps even a holy war would be erupting, lesser beings ont he netherworld emerging and gathering armies, fighting for your position as DEATH. The battles could spill into the world of the living, there is cool potential for inahbiting the bodys of people and animals and carrying on a terrible fight where each time your host was killed their sould could be tagged and join sides in the brawl, I imagine drifting through walls in search of your prey, sneaking up behind or below them in a sewer and then diving up and after a brief metaphysical struggle, enveloping them and recharging your energies, thanks for the inspiration Feanor, I liket his idea now and perhaps will try it!(or a simpler version)

[igame3d]

Funny you should mention that.
I've been trying to think of a good game to represent my friends for awhile now
Westgate (http://www.westgatenecromantic.com)

Run with this idea.

I must say, the simUndertaker game idea is hilarious, a whole add on pack. There are already lots of "goth" mods that could be perfect for his clientele.

undertaker hot date....ha

Anyway you've found your game...maybe call it:
Darker Shades :ninja:
a dark comical remake of Black Shades
only you have to go pick up the souls as people
get bumped off by the gunmen in the game.

Ah, if your going with this idea, I suggest you read
On A Pale Horse, by Piers Anthony

What else could you do as death.
Hmm a take on Frogger, ha
only you try to contact the cars,
and you could have fantastic accident scenes.

simUNDEAD, like the Sims only with zombies, "Hell has no room" and you travel about activating armies of corpses.
Ha, I have a test level that randomly produces about 20 zombies and 20 bob gunman just randomly doing stuff...Maybe I should clean that level up so it actually runs without eating the computers brain. simUNDEAD has potential.

[DaFalcon]

OT: is On a Pale Horse any good? I'm a Piers fan and I actually have Pale Horse somewhere at my house, but I never got into it like others like the Mode series or the Adept series or Killobyte or... ahem, anyway, so are you saying you reccomend Pale Horse, igame3D? :)

[skyhawk]

Originally posted by DaFalcon
OT: is On a Pale Horse any good? I'm a Piers fan and I actually have Pale Horse somewhere at my house, but I never got into it like others like the Mode series or the Adept series or Killobyte or... ahem, anyway, so are you saying you reccomend Pale Horse, igame3D? :)
I recomend the entire series!!! GOD I love Piers Anthony's work. Especially that one.
Get all 7. the order is:
Death
Time(very trippy)
Life/Tapestry
War
Nature(The Llano!)
Evil/Satan
Good/God

[igame3d]

whoever thought we had something in common.
HEHE

Yea what skyhawk said, the entire series!

[ghost]

I would like to see a recreation of the game The Big One, for MacOS X. Since it hasn't been finished yet, it would be nice if someone added color, a sound system, and then just recoded it for MacOS X. You can download the original at the below link. I believe that I host the only known copy online. :blink: It is an extremely fun game. Even if it doesn't have 3D graphics, it's a game that I play just to kill time.

http://www.fgsoft.net/bigone/

- ghost

[Zachary]

Do a top-down shooter like doom (except in birds-eye 2D)

[dogma]

Been talking recently on MaCNN about a football (soccer) game for the Mac. I was thinking of somehow implementing the Quake engine for one - 3D with a decent amount of physics already there (plus I heard that one or two sport games have actually used it before).

I just really don't know where to start. I know it should be FIFA like - not too much micromanagement ala Champ Manager, but it also needs a lot of information - would Quake be able to support a lot of Info screens and changeable team management. (For each team, you would need at least fifteen players, different skins, stats etc. And at least ten teams to make a realistic league. As well as the licensing nightmare that is Football strips and team/player names)

I've downloaded the FIFA rulebook, and is somewhat daunting with all the dimensions involved - but doable - the resources are there. I'm prepared to do the hard work collecting the data, organising it, doing the artwork etc, but getting started with putting it all together into a workable is doubtful, as I have little to no programming skills.

[death_himself]

Oh, no, please not FIFA like, how about more of ISS Pro? Now thats REAL football, as opposed to being able to take your goaley all the way to the other end of the pitch and make him score...on the hardest mode. Yah, if you're gonnah make a footie game, make it like footie, trying to find open spaces, passing, setting people up, etc.

I like the idea of whoever suggested it, about just making a sandbox game thing.

I'd love to see some sort of game where you start at well, the start of time, for humans at least, and try to make a civilisation...I don't think it would be possible to be made by just one person, but it'd be cool. I mean, you'd be able to interact with many objects, could have an fps view, you could pick up a rock, and throw it, or place it, and pick up other rocks and place them on top of this rock, if others around you thought what you were doing was cool, they'd copy, or you could say, for instance throw this rock at other people, or animals, and then of course they'd decide to thwo back (the humans, not the animals)...I spose each object would have a number of characteristics, so rocks can be thrown, or placed, or hit together, some rocks cause a spark when hit together, well, only flint really. It'd take ages to make though, not really plausable, sorry.

[JeremyL]

Originally posted by ghost
I would like to see a recreation of the game The Big One, for MacOS X. Since it hasn't been finished yet, it would be nice if someone added color, a sound system, and then just recoded it for MacOS X.

The complete version of this game was released under the title Operation Tsunami. It's a cool game.

I'd like to see an F-Zero clone.

[dogma]

Originally posted by death_himself
Oh, no, please not FIFA like, how about more of ISS Pro?

I wasn't really looking to get into the semantics about which arcade style footie game is best - I was using FIFA as an example of that style, and Champ Manager being representative of the DAF kind.

It wouldn't be like any of these games anyway, as I'm not talking about having a fifty strong team with Ronaldo helping with the motion capture - Trying to be a tad more realistic at the moment...

[Jake]

:ninja: If your entering uDG2003 than a simple breakout game would be cool:ninja:

[death_himself]

Dogma, I didn't think you meant it being a big commercial game. I were thinking 2D ISS Pro...btw, ISS Pro isn't really arcade, fifa is, I mean, you don't trade players in any of them, really, basically, I think ISS Pro is more fun and can be achieved in 2D...basically it all boils down to AI, and I'd much prefer someone spend more time on it than on fancy graphics and so forth (which is why FIFA's AI sucks, they spent all their time making sure all the players were on their correct teams and looked like their real-life counterparts...what a waste of time).

[dogma]

Death himself, I was thinking that if you were gonna spend time implementing it on 2D, why not do it 3D - with ball movement generally being in 3D, 2D physics wouldn't work so well in my mind - to the game players standpoint more than anything else.

AI is always gonna be tricky - probably the hardest out of any sport simulator. No matter what team you're playing, there's gonna be foul ups. I'm no programmer, but I reckon that is gonna be tough.

[death_himself]

The AI doesn't neccesarily have to be intelligent, its all to do with what you make it do, if you notice, in ISS, all the AI seems to do, is make sure as many people are marked as possible and that there are little spaces, it spreads itself out, not making much sense.

As for 2D vs 3D ...I were under the impression that its easier to get a great looking 2D game than a great looking 3D game...considering the time constraints, bleurgh.

[nickdabner]

Originally posted by ghost
I would like to see a recreation of the game The Big One, for MacOS X. Since it hasn't been finished yet, it would be nice if someone added color, a sound system, and then just recoded it for MacOS X. You can download the original at the below link. I believe that I host the only known copy online. :blink: It is an extremely fun game. Even if it doesn't have 3D graphics, it's a game that I play just to kill time.

http://www.fgsoft.net/bigone/

- ghost

I thought this game was finished when I played it about 6 years ago. I also thought Operations Tsunami was its sequel. It has colour and sound, but was built only a year or two later than TBO.

Nick

[DAMN - someone beat me to the response:sneaky: ]

I would have thought a top down sports game would be quick to do. Take the old Atari tennis or football (soccer game), keep some basic gameplay and improve graphics and sound. Fun and very doable. Can I reserve this? Either that or the Atari - Combat game with tanks/planes, etc. Basic, but fun with two players. KISS philosophy (Keep It Simple Stupid).

[Damian]

Originally posted by nickdabner
Take the old Atari tennis or football (soccer game), keep some basic gameplay and improve graphics and sound. Fun and very doable. Can I reserve this? Either that or the Atari - Combat game with tanks/planes, etc. Basic, but fun with two players. KISS philosophy (Keep It Simple Stupid).

Why not combine them? Remember the Goodies episode in which The Goodies (representing England) play soccer against Germany (represented by a Panzer)?

[Mark Levin]

Originally posted by JeremyL

I'd like to see an F-Zero clone.

Heeheeheeheeheehee... :ninja:

[CaptKevMan]

I was just thinking that a puzzle game like Pipe Dream would be cool as a multiplayer game.

Each player would have his/her own color pipes, and would compete with the other player to complete his/her pipeline before the clock runs out. Along the way, though, there would be pipe sections with both colors that come up in sequence, so each player has a chance to sabotage his/her opponent while trying to complete his/her line.

I dunno...whaddya think? If anyone wants to run with the concept, go right ahead. Just give me a nod, please. ;)

[whogben]

Well, I accidentaly wrote a tiling engine in my spare time today, its pretty robust, so I want to use it for something, I was thinking maybe an assassin(sp?) puzzle game where you avoid guards and traps, also being able to place your own to eliminate your target, fortunatly each level is only 20x20 so adding levels is about 4k apeice! Anyone got any more ideas for this assassin game? I think you should be able to buy equipment between games. Also, if you leave traps in someones house/poison food and then leave the level, when it ends there is a chance based on number of unexploded traps/poisoned articles and their nearness to the target + how many other people are nearby that you could beat the level by simply leaving a few traps around and then leaving. Anyone got any other neat, but simple features? For weapons there may be a crossbow, knife and blowgun. For traps, a bomb, poisonedspike trap and maybe something to do with gas. The game should emphasize stealth, so avoiding walking on metal stuff would make the guard less alert, their alert level would determine their chance to see/pursue you if you are in their line of sight, so if you wait the guards will get sleepy. I also want to have a tile game with line of sight, meaning their is "fog of war" and unexplored teritory, so while waiting for night would mean the guard would be less alert, you would also have shorter/dimmer vision, limiting your ability to plan ahead.

[reubert]

I'd love to see some sort of game where you start at well, the start of time, for humans at least, and try to make a civilisation..

Funny you should mention that, as this is my goal. When I first started programming a few months ago I wanted to make a game about that, but not quite in the way you are talking about. All my games that I'm working on/ have finished are working towards that goal. I want it as a sims type game, and you start with a bunch of monkeys, breed them, teach them, tell them to build stuff, and eventually you end up with modern day humans. I think it will take me about 2 or 3 years to make, but I'm keen.

sorry that doesn't help you much whogben. Your idea sounds pretty ambitious, but if you think you can do it, it sounds great... and I'm obviously not one to talk about being overly ambitious!

[whogben]

actualy, I made my idea seem really good, but its really quite simple, a 20x20 grid of tiles, each tile has graphic, a movespeed, a block value and a sound value. You can't move onto a tile with speed of 0 (ie: a wall or river) and you can't fire through a tile of a block value of 1 (ie a wall, but not a river) and when you move onto the next tile at the spedd of the current tile your on, and each move makes noise equal to the amount of the tile your on + the one you move to. Then there will be a few bad guys, a gew traps, and few targets, doors and keys, simple stuff. I have already written the level editor.