Need ideas for contest
Author
I'm about to join a small contest which leaves about 6 months to develop a fully functionnal single player demo of a game with a 3d engine (I know the engine very well, so that wont be a problem). There are not so many rules, so I wont post them here.
I'm more a coder than an artist. I allready completed small projects (tetris like puzzle, a shooter game with more AI than anything else, and an isometric strategy game). I can do map design (landscape and BSP), some basic modeling (tanks, trees and stuff) but when it comes to animation, or texturing, it gets ugly.
What I'm asking for is ideas for a new project that takes in mind what I just announced: I'm not an artist.
I'm trying to think of something that hasn't been done and nothings comes up in my mind. I could, of course, do a shooter game but this has been way over done in the last years. An isometric strategy game? Can we say warcraft, command and conquer? Space shooter? Freelancer, privateer, etc. Epic quests? Baldurs gate, morrowind and compagny. Puzzles? Myst. See where I'm going?
Maybe I could redo something with a new twist? For example, I know some shooters had weird but very interesting ideas like: Thief (you're a thief, in a weird middle age-post modern world, armed withs arrows and a blade), Hitman (stealth and assassination), being able to change hosting body is a new feature were seeing more and more.
I'm open to every suggestions, even the silliest ones! There is no limit to whatever you can come up with.
[Edited by - newborn on March 16, 2005 3:50:32 PM]
Nobody is going to read a post titled 'Untitled'
If you need ideas, poke around the Game Design forum and look for older posts. People post ideas all the time, most of which are never implemented. Be sure to ask permission before ripping off somebody's idea, though.
Tom
If you need ideas, poke around the Game Design forum and look for older posts. People post ideas all the time, most of which are never implemented. Be sure to ask permission before ripping off somebody's idea, though.
Tom
Author
Doh! stupid of me who forgot to put a title to my post! gosh, why is the forum accepting title less posts?
anyways, I found a nice thread about Game that poeple should play... it has interesting ideas.
but keep going guys
anyways, I found a nice thread about Game that poeple should play... it has interesting ideas.
but keep going guys
So you want a better mousetrap. Man, that's the Holy Grail of any enterprise. We can give you a different mousetrap, but we can't guarantee it'll be better. Heck, you can practically Mad-Lib a new idea. Here we go:
The *adjective* *noun* is trying to *verb* the *noun*. You, *name* the *profession*, equipped with your trusty *object*, must *verb* all of the *plural noun* in your way.
The hairy limousine is trying to eat the desk. You, Jebediah the space-pimp, equipped with your trusty cheeseburger, must demolish all of the asteroids in your way.
Okay, that didn't go so well. My point is, if you just ask us for something brilliant, you'll get the sort of thing we think is brilliant. If you scan some of the threads around here, you'll find that our ideas range from The Matrix to Tetris with disco music to an invincible tic-tac-toe game to a really good culling system for an RTS.
You need a simple, self-contained game that you can do yourself in six weeks. Your skill level is unknown to us, so we really can't make any helpful recommendations. If it was me, I'd be lucky to get "Hello World" debugged in that timeframe. Other guys here could build a custom engine AND complete the assignment with time left to hide Easter Eggs.
My advice: Do it yourself, and come to the community with more specific questions. Otherwise, all you'll get is flames, silence or (worst of all!) useless advice like this.
Good luck.
The *adjective* *noun* is trying to *verb* the *noun*. You, *name* the *profession*, equipped with your trusty *object*, must *verb* all of the *plural noun* in your way.
The hairy limousine is trying to eat the desk. You, Jebediah the space-pimp, equipped with your trusty cheeseburger, must demolish all of the asteroids in your way.
Okay, that didn't go so well. My point is, if you just ask us for something brilliant, you'll get the sort of thing we think is brilliant. If you scan some of the threads around here, you'll find that our ideas range from The Matrix to Tetris with disco music to an invincible tic-tac-toe game to a really good culling system for an RTS.
You need a simple, self-contained game that you can do yourself in six weeks. Your skill level is unknown to us, so we really can't make any helpful recommendations. If it was me, I'd be lucky to get "Hello World" debugged in that timeframe. Other guys here could build a custom engine AND complete the assignment with time left to hide Easter Eggs.
My advice: Do it yourself, and come to the community with more specific questions. Otherwise, all you'll get is flames, silence or (worst of all!) useless advice like this.
Good luck.
a repeat posting of couple of my really simple arcade type game ideas:
1) Pong -in the round- basicly take out the top and bottom walls in pong, and make the players paddles travel around in a circle knocking the ball around. If the ball leaves the area within the circle, the player's paddle that last touched the ball gets a point. The player controls the slightly bowed shaped [would look something like "("] paddle with the mouse, the left mouse button "flips" the paddle around [so this "(" becomes ")"]. and the right mouse button makes the paddle jump strait across to the opposite side of the circle...could have a lan/online multiplayer option with 2 or more players, obsticals for the ball to bounce off of, "inner and "outer" circles for multiple paddles to move around on...its simple, and could work well with just basic programmer art.
2) a variation of Asteroids...players control a alien flying saucer out to defeat the Earth forces, problem is that the alien race never gave you any weapons...however your engineer was able to modify your saucer's antigrav engine into something suitable for combat...basicly players control their craft with the arrow keys or a gamepad/joystick/mouse [unlike Asteroids, pressing up moves up, down moves down, etc.] and the spacebar/joy button/mouse button fires your weapon...that weapon is basicly a big electromagnet...press and hold the button and all the asteroids are pulled to your craft, while the Earth force ships are pushed away [when the weapon is in use the players ship moves at half speed, and the longer the button is held the more the ship slows down]...the object is to defeat the earth forces useing only this weapon [make them crash into each other, or an asteroid] while dodgeing asteroids, earth force ships, and thier weapon fire.
1) Pong -in the round- basicly take out the top and bottom walls in pong, and make the players paddles travel around in a circle knocking the ball around. If the ball leaves the area within the circle, the player's paddle that last touched the ball gets a point. The player controls the slightly bowed shaped [would look something like "("] paddle with the mouse, the left mouse button "flips" the paddle around [so this "(" becomes ")"]. and the right mouse button makes the paddle jump strait across to the opposite side of the circle...could have a lan/online multiplayer option with 2 or more players, obsticals for the ball to bounce off of, "inner and "outer" circles for multiple paddles to move around on...its simple, and could work well with just basic programmer art.
2) a variation of Asteroids...players control a alien flying saucer out to defeat the Earth forces, problem is that the alien race never gave you any weapons...however your engineer was able to modify your saucer's antigrav engine into something suitable for combat...basicly players control their craft with the arrow keys or a gamepad/joystick/mouse [unlike Asteroids, pressing up moves up, down moves down, etc.] and the spacebar/joy button/mouse button fires your weapon...that weapon is basicly a big electromagnet...press and hold the button and all the asteroids are pulled to your craft, while the Earth force ships are pushed away [when the weapon is in use the players ship moves at half speed, and the longer the button is held the more the ship slows down]...the object is to defeat the earth forces useing only this weapon [make them crash into each other, or an asteroid] while dodgeing asteroids, earth force ships, and thier weapon fire.
Here comes a strange idea...
Have you ever heard of a game called Jenga? This is about piling and stacking little rectangular slated bits of wood. At each turn, the players have to take one bit of wood out of the stack, and pile it on the top. He who makes the pile fall loses. All the interest of this game resides in the complexity of the strategies to be used in order to win. the tiles are three times longer than larger and are stacked crosswise at each layer. You may take out tiles from the sides at the baginning of the game and put them on the other side on top, to keep the balance going, until someones ruins it inadvertantly, but that may be you. Or you may get all the tiles from the middle out and stack them on the sides, in order to keep perfect balance, until someone HAS to take one from the sides out, thus unbalancing the whole structure...
Of course, this project would ruin most of the feel of the game, which is half-way to Mikado, but it could be a fun strategy game anyway... And possibly not so complicated to accomplish...
Yours faithfully,
Nicolas FOURNIALS
P.S. As soon as someone tells me how to include an URL as a link in these forums, I will post a link to this game, if I can find one...
Have you ever heard of a game called Jenga? This is about piling and stacking little rectangular slated bits of wood. At each turn, the players have to take one bit of wood out of the stack, and pile it on the top. He who makes the pile fall loses. All the interest of this game resides in the complexity of the strategies to be used in order to win. the tiles are three times longer than larger and are stacked crosswise at each layer. You may take out tiles from the sides at the baginning of the game and put them on the other side on top, to keep the balance going, until someones ruins it inadvertantly, but that may be you. Or you may get all the tiles from the middle out and stack them on the sides, in order to keep perfect balance, until someone HAS to take one from the sides out, thus unbalancing the whole structure...
Of course, this project would ruin most of the feel of the game, which is half-way to Mikado, but it could be a fun strategy game anyway... And possibly not so complicated to accomplish...
Yours faithfully,
Nicolas FOURNIALS
P.S. As soon as someone tells me how to include an URL as a link in these forums, I will post a link to this game, if I can find one...
I'm with Iron Chef Carnage on this one - ultimately this project is going to be something YOU want to work on for the next six months, something sufficiently inspiring to keep you motivated, yet within your ability to complete in the alloted time scale.
We don't really know your skill level, the limitations of the engine, the amount of time you are prepared to dedicate to this project, and what you can expect to achieve in that timescale. So while we can suggest all manner of whacky ideas, we're really stabbing wildly in the dark.
However, stabbing wildly in the dark can be kind of fun, sometimes it's entertaining to throw out random ideas that have made their way into your head, so I'll make a few suggestions anyway.
Super Robot Football: A sports game where the ball is a small, humanoid shaped robot - who doesn't like being kicked. Not only do you have to compete with the other team, but you have to catch the ball first. Part of the strategy involves herding him away from your opponent and towards your goal. The robot uses ragdoll physics to make for some entertaining flailing once kicked.
Kitten Attack: You are being attacked by a cute kitten! You must defend yourself by distracting it with a variety of fun toys, until it is worn out and goes to sleep. Gameplay involves strategic arrangement of furniture to maximize the kitten's effort, careful choice of toy (some toys work better with some kittens than others, also the kitten may become bored with a particular toy if overused). You lose points each time it scratches or bites you. Later levels include different toys, more kittens to play with, etc.
Penguin Escape: The penguins' favourite iceberg has floated too far north, into shark infested waters! You must rescue all the penguins by getting them to the next iceberg south, before the one you're on breaks up completely and melts into nothing! Lemmings style gameplay, but there's a time limit - also the process of the iceberg melting may give rise to new ways of completing the level. Penguins can also manipulate the shape of the iceberg in various ways, for example, if they all stand at one end, the other end may lift up, allowing an individual penguin to reach a particular spot that he otherwise would not have been able to reach.
Lego Starfighter: A space combat flight sim, except you have to build your starship first. Handling characteristics depend on the position of the attitude thrusters, engines, wings, etc. As you progress, you get access to better components with which to upgrade or rebuild your starship.
(Note: obviously you wouldn't actually be able to use the lego name, and you'd have to be careful to avoid impinging on their copyrights and trademarks. I've just used lego as an example to give you the basic idea. It could be implemented like the mech design in the Mechwarrior games)
Traitors: You are a military general who has decided to become a filthy, dirty traitor! RTS style gameplay, but the objective is to try and get as many of your own men killed as possible, while killing as few as possible of the enemy! Of course, your men won't willingly fire on each other, so it's up to you to find some other way of sending them to their doom. Unfortunately, your opponent is a traitor too, and he's trying to do the same!
It's normal html, but you have to be a registered user.
EDIT: < a href="www.mylink.com" > My Link < /a >
[Edited by - Sandman on March 17, 2005 7:05:40 AM]
We don't really know your skill level, the limitations of the engine, the amount of time you are prepared to dedicate to this project, and what you can expect to achieve in that timescale. So while we can suggest all manner of whacky ideas, we're really stabbing wildly in the dark.
However, stabbing wildly in the dark can be kind of fun, sometimes it's entertaining to throw out random ideas that have made their way into your head, so I'll make a few suggestions anyway.
Super Robot Football: A sports game where the ball is a small, humanoid shaped robot - who doesn't like being kicked. Not only do you have to compete with the other team, but you have to catch the ball first. Part of the strategy involves herding him away from your opponent and towards your goal. The robot uses ragdoll physics to make for some entertaining flailing once kicked.
Kitten Attack: You are being attacked by a cute kitten! You must defend yourself by distracting it with a variety of fun toys, until it is worn out and goes to sleep. Gameplay involves strategic arrangement of furniture to maximize the kitten's effort, careful choice of toy (some toys work better with some kittens than others, also the kitten may become bored with a particular toy if overused). You lose points each time it scratches or bites you. Later levels include different toys, more kittens to play with, etc.
Penguin Escape: The penguins' favourite iceberg has floated too far north, into shark infested waters! You must rescue all the penguins by getting them to the next iceberg south, before the one you're on breaks up completely and melts into nothing! Lemmings style gameplay, but there's a time limit - also the process of the iceberg melting may give rise to new ways of completing the level. Penguins can also manipulate the shape of the iceberg in various ways, for example, if they all stand at one end, the other end may lift up, allowing an individual penguin to reach a particular spot that he otherwise would not have been able to reach.
Lego Starfighter: A space combat flight sim, except you have to build your starship first. Handling characteristics depend on the position of the attitude thrusters, engines, wings, etc. As you progress, you get access to better components with which to upgrade or rebuild your starship.
(Note: obviously you wouldn't actually be able to use the lego name, and you'd have to be careful to avoid impinging on their copyrights and trademarks. I've just used lego as an example to give you the basic idea. It could be implemented like the mech design in the Mechwarrior games)
Traitors: You are a military general who has decided to become a filthy, dirty traitor! RTS style gameplay, but the objective is to try and get as many of your own men killed as possible, while killing as few as possible of the enemy! Of course, your men won't willingly fire on each other, so it's up to you to find some other way of sending them to their doom. Unfortunately, your opponent is a traitor too, and he's trying to do the same!
Quote:Original post by Anonymous Poster
P.S. As soon as someone tells me how to include an URL as a link in these forums, I will post a link to this game, if I can find one...
It's normal html, but you have to be a registered user.
EDIT: < a href="www.mylink.com" > My Link < /a >
[Edited by - Sandman on March 17, 2005 7:05:40 AM]
"It's normal html, but you have to be a registered user."
uhh... I'm not exactly proficient with HTML neither... what would that be?
uhh... I'm not exactly proficient with HTML neither... what would that be?
Author
The posts I'm looking for is something among the lines of what Sandman posted. Simple and draft ideas. Cute kittens made me laugh alot...
Jenga is a no-no as the physic engine would be handeling everything and there is no challenge in coding this (2-3 days at max). I coded a small bowling game in a day, fully functionnal with physics. The only thing that stopped me to complete this "hello world" physics project was that I have no clue what the rules of the game are ^.^
I think I like the idea of redoing asteroids/invaders or something among the lines... in 3D. Maybe something like a lonely guy in a antigrav ship (hovertank) who has to defend a base from invaders. Different levels would be to defend more than one base, more invaders coming in, with the ability to let the player upgrade his hovertank between the missions.
Ah... see? Now I'm going somewhere...
Jenga is a no-no as the physic engine would be handeling everything and there is no challenge in coding this (2-3 days at max). I coded a small bowling game in a day, fully functionnal with physics. The only thing that stopped me to complete this "hello world" physics project was that I have no clue what the rules of the game are ^.^
I think I like the idea of redoing asteroids/invaders or something among the lines... in 3D. Maybe something like a lonely guy in a antigrav ship (hovertank) who has to defend a base from invaders. Different levels would be to defend more than one base, more invaders coming in, with the ability to let the player upgrade his hovertank between the missions.
Ah... see? Now I'm going somewhere...
Given your self-described level of artistic expertise :-) Here are a few (derivative) ideas that may tickle your fancy:
3D Pong! Someone mentioned circle-pong, but this is different: ordinary pong, but in a 3d cuboid arena rather than a square. The only artistic expertise you need for this is the ability to draw rectangles! For additional challenge, add obstacles that can change the speed/trajectory of the ball!
A Rubik's Cube! Allow 3d manipulation and viewing.
Lazer Reflect! You have a lazer beam affixed to the wall. You have a target that needs to have the lazer beam hit it. You have a collection of mirrors of varying shape, curvature & reflection properties. Place the mirrors in such a way that the lazer beam reflects off them and hits the target. For additional challenge, add unmoveable obstacles that can change the direction of / block the beam. Consider adding disperser Prisms (that split the light into different colours) and collector Prisms (that collect many multicoloured beams into a single white one). Consider adding non-reflecting Refractors!
3D Magical Drop Search the web for a description of this game.
3D Bust a Move/Puzzle Bobble Ditto.
Hope these help!
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