So, how do you come up with a game idea?

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25 comments, last by onyxflame 19 years, 6 months ago
Quote:Original post by superpig
...Some of the current files in my 'diccy':...

"Turntablism."

Superpig, rate++ for that alone, and if you, or Promit, or in fact anyone could make a decent turntablist game (not simple bemani-style), then I'll build you a website and give you any rating you like.

How about an extension to a media player that lets me "scratch" mp3s? Click the mouse to pop a fader in, move it to scratch.
[sub]Now I'm radioactive! That can't be good![/sub]
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Quote:Original post by Acapulco
Quote:Original post by superpig
...Some of the current files in my 'diccy':...

"Turntablism."

Superpig, rate++ for that alone, and if you, or Promit, or in fact anyone could make a decent turntablist game (not simple bemani-style), then I'll build you a website and give you any rating you like.
There's this big idea I've been throwing around over the past few days; the problem is that I don't think it's possible with current technology.

Basically it would be a third-person action adventure in which turntablism made up a major part of gameplay; you have your "Cut Cannon" which you charge up by scratching, and then fire at enemies. Scratching would affect the game's (dynamically generated) soundtrack, *and* the video (so everything else is moving backwards/forwards to match the scratch). Different types of scratch would charge your Cut Cannon up with different types of shot (i.e. pick your scratch to match your enemy).

The more immediate barrier I've hit is that the information on the web about turntablism isn't very comprehensive. There's references to things like official terminology being developed, but no "mix-master's guide" type docs that I can find. (If you know of anything, please, point me to it!)

Quote:How about an extension to a media player that lets me "scratch" mp3s? Click the mouse to pop a fader in, move it to scratch.
Those exist, but I think they're missing one important aspect of turntablism, which is pressure applied to the record. Frequently one wants to slow it down a bit without stopping it altogether.

Richard "Superpig" Fine - saving pigs from untimely fates - Microsoft DirectX MVP 2006/2007/2008/2009
"Shaders are not meant to do everything. Of course you can try to use it for everything, but it's like playing football using cabbage." - MickeyMouse

I find dreams are a pretty good source of ideas, from relatively generic stuff (like the dream I had last night involving aliens invading earth) to rather weird (I had a dream about a game called super-robot-football, in which the football is actually a small robot that hates being kicked, and desparately tries to run away from the players)
Well, if coming up with ideas for game designs is diffiuclt for you then that might be a sign that game design is that field for you, nothing wrong with that after all we all have are own areas of interest and ability. I personally wouldn't touch high end graphic programming with a 10 foot pole but thats just me.


As to where to get ideas, I usually start with a core concept. I think about a single concept or idea such as what if they had developed nuclear technology during the reinessance. And then I try and flesh it out and expanded upon until I have something that roughly resembles a design document.
Usually my ideas don't come up because I'm looking for them. Sometimes I do seek inspiration about certain problem in the design which I don't know how to solve, however I always let the ideas come to me.

I don't always get ideas often, neither they are good always, but I do consider every one of them, and write them down in a paper or something, as it has happened that while I'm looking throught old sketches or diagrams and think 'wow did I really tought about this? seems pretty neat and it would fit perfectly with my game idea'. Of course sometimes I have also been amazed at how crappy my idea was and, convinced that it would never be good for any game, dumped the paper to the trash can.

If you really want to get a game idea I think that you should play a new games, preferably free or open source weird games, because I think it's easier to find different and innovative game elements (tought definitly most of the times not well made nor polished). I hope you find your muse ;)
I have ideas. Want some? There free.(for now)
I had a dream just the other night about this weird puzzle game where you select from various molecules, which change the faces of various guys somehow. It didn't make a lot of sense, or at least not what little of it I remember, but it was definitely unique heh.

(Come to think of it, a thread of weird games you dreamed about would be interesting.)

So anyway, it's always been easy for me to come up with ideas for games. I just look at the game I'm playing and think "how could I do this differently?" As an example, while playing some old RPG or other, I thought "Getting gold from killing a slug doesn't make sense. How about a game where you could dissect stuff you killed, and sell its body parts to an old witch to make money?" Later I found out it'd been used in other games, but that's not the point. (I hope. :P)

Other than that, sometimes it helps if you're doing something else at the time. I come up with a lot of story ideas while replaying old RPG's for the thousandth time, and it should apply to coming up with game ideas too. You don't have to think of the whole thing in one fell swoop, just think of *something* worth thinking of, and then try to elaborate on it.
If a squirrel is chasing you, drop your nuts and run.

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