Simple Game Ideas
Author
So I've been lurking on gamedev for a while and finally decided to ask all the knowledgeable people here for some advice.
Basically I'm looking for some simple games to program in my free time. I'm not talking simple like hangman or "guess a number" but rather a simple idea like Bubble Spinner! or NPlus for DS
The ideas behind these are simple, but the game is challenging and addicting.
I'm not totally new to game programming, but I don't have the time to invest in the next big MMORPG ;)
I'm a senior in computer science so I have a good amount of C++, AI programming, data structures, OpenGL etc.
Any thoughts or help would be excellent. What are your favorite simple addicting games? Anywhere I should start looking for ideas?
I'm not a match-3 or pop&drop game player but one twist I've always thought would be funny for any game is to figure out if you can invert the player's role / perspective and turn the game on it's head. I saw this done for arcade shooters where the developer made you the waves of enemies attacking the hero ship. It probably wouldn't be commercially viable, but you'd learn alot from such a wacky project.
Quote:Original post by HarvardNinja
Anywhere I should start looking for ideas?
From collaborators.
Author
Mm I like it. Changing roles is quite a fun idea. I think it could be tricky to make good, but the idea of sending waves of your bad guy minions to be slaughtered sounds appealing =D You could give them slight upgrades that would allow them to survive longer. You could train various types of simple guys that are ultimately inferior to the 'hero' good guy, but with numbers it's possible.
This could also present some fun technical adventures to program as well. If the player is controlling hoards of bad guys you get to program some basic clustering AI and some other fun stuff. I might have to expand on this, thanks.
Tom Sloper: What collaborators are we talking about? I unfortunately don't currently have any 'business' partners so to say. I've been asking around, but apparently the ideas that I thought were a dime a dozen are running out. Most of the ideas I get are RPG stories or the like, and I would love to make some of these eventually, but it's probably smarter to start small right? Finish something to get the work flow going.
[Edited by - HarvardNinja on February 14, 2009 9:19:18 AM]
This could also present some fun technical adventures to program as well. If the player is controlling hoards of bad guys you get to program some basic clustering AI and some other fun stuff. I might have to expand on this, thanks.
Tom Sloper: What collaborators are we talking about? I unfortunately don't currently have any 'business' partners so to say. I've been asking around, but apparently the ideas that I thought were a dime a dozen are running out. Most of the ideas I get are RPG stories or the like, and I would love to make some of these eventually, but it's probably smarter to start small right? Finish something to get the work flow going.
[Edited by - HarvardNinja on February 14, 2009 9:19:18 AM]
Author
I'll definitely look up 1945 or whatever, even if its just to play =D
As far as Pac Man goes, that would fall into the great/addicting/simple games, but i don't know if i want to do a flat out ripoff of anything. I guess I'll be fine. I've gotten some ideas from this. Thanks for the help!
As far as Pac Man goes, that would fall into the great/addicting/simple games, but i don't know if i want to do a flat out ripoff of anything. I guess I'll be fine. I've gotten some ideas from this. Thanks for the help!
Quote:Original post by HarvardNinja
Wavinator: What collaborators are we talking about?
I think you meant to direct this at Tom Sloper. I can't speak for him, but I do think it's invaluable to have a friend who you can bounce ideas off, if only to help you clarify your own thinking. The GameDev boards can be great for that provided you're clear about what part of a game you want to get help with, but it's far more useful to have a friend who is interested in the same projects you are.
Author
Oops sorry, I fixed that. Anyway yeah you're probably right. I'll have to flesh out some basic ideas, and I'll definitely be bouncing them off friends and also these boards when i do. I can already tell it's going to be a big help to have so many video game connoisseurs willing to help =D Thanks a million and I'll be around with more questions shortly I'm sure.
Sense someone mentioned PacMan and it gave me an idea. But frankly I'd be suprised if nobody hasn't tried something like this before.
A four player PacMan Battle Royal game.
Basicly stick four player controlled PacMen on a board with the objective to eat all the dots (whereby the player with the most points is declared the winner). If one of the PacMen eats a superpill, the other three are turned into ghosts. As a ghost they cannot eat any of the dots and move a little slower, but if they get into the "safe zone" in the center of the board they are changed back into thier PacMan form. The Pacman who eats a ghost gains thier score, and the ghosts score is reset to zero. The ghost "eyes" then automaticly travel to the "safe zone" where the player is turned back into PacMan form.
If two Pacmen touch each other, the one who is "bitten" get momentarily stunned. If they both touch while faceing each other, they are both stunned.
As Pacman if the player repeatedly taps in the same direction of travel they can move faster. But they loose this speed burst if they change direction or bump into a wall.
Add in the fruits and such for extra points, maybe even something that moves from one side exit across to the other dropping extra dots, that if eaten acts like a superpill.
Thats it in a nutshell, very simple and could be fun. It even kinda draws upon simple childhood games like FreezeTag in that the pacmen can stun eachother, preventing them for a moment or two from continueing the game.
A four player PacMan Battle Royal game.
Basicly stick four player controlled PacMen on a board with the objective to eat all the dots (whereby the player with the most points is declared the winner). If one of the PacMen eats a superpill, the other three are turned into ghosts. As a ghost they cannot eat any of the dots and move a little slower, but if they get into the "safe zone" in the center of the board they are changed back into thier PacMan form. The Pacman who eats a ghost gains thier score, and the ghosts score is reset to zero. The ghost "eyes" then automaticly travel to the "safe zone" where the player is turned back into PacMan form.
If two Pacmen touch each other, the one who is "bitten" get momentarily stunned. If they both touch while faceing each other, they are both stunned.
As Pacman if the player repeatedly taps in the same direction of travel they can move faster. But they loose this speed burst if they change direction or bump into a wall.
Add in the fruits and such for extra points, maybe even something that moves from one side exit across to the other dropping extra dots, that if eaten acts like a superpill.
Thats it in a nutshell, very simple and could be fun. It even kinda draws upon simple childhood games like FreezeTag in that the pacmen can stun eachother, preventing them for a moment or two from continueing the game.
This topic is closed to new replies.
Advertisement
Popular Topics
Advertisement
