What to do with ideas that you aren't advanced enough to use? Ideas for game mechanics but can't code well enough, or ideas for characters but can't make 3D models well enough to make come true.
Should those ideas just be forgotten, should they be translated/ simplified into something smaller and more manageable?
Yes, definitely write them down. They are useful as brainstorming sparkers as well as future material.
Also, if you want to develop an idea more, the design forum has a sidebar on the right with helpful links about getting started at game design.
>> Should those ideas just be forgotten, should they be translated/ simplified into something smaller and more manageable?
they should be added to your list of "possible solutions i'm aware of".
but do not pursue them until:
1. you need them for a game. then learn how to implement them.
or
2. you have nothing better to do than learn how to implement them (rather unlikely - there's always something else to learn in game development).
for actual ideas for a type of game, as tom sloper and sun and shadow are referring to, i jot down the game idea on a piece of notebook paper, and toss it in a manila folder with the other 50 or so game ideas i have on file.
but usually, if its a good idea, i'll think about it from time to time for 2-4 weeks, maybe make a few notes and do a little research, then stop my current project for up to a week and do a rapid prototype. it never even makes it into the game ideas file.
so much to build! so little time!
Evernote! (or OneNote. I heartily endorse using a cloud-based system with good organizational tools built in, although actually writing things down can also work...just not nearly as efficiently)
Using Evernote over the years has changed my life. Using it's simple system of tags and notebooks, it's super easy to jot down quick half-baked ideas and find them later, possibly developing them further, as opposed to coming up with new ideas whenever you find you have the time to do creative thinking.
Make a Google Doc called Brainstorming and Write each idea you think, don't push yourself with the ideas, put only the ones you create spontaneously through your life with a short description of the concept and gameplay.
Example someday you're playing with your dog and you think OH I should make a game with this and on your doc:
Dog Game:
Game where you play together with a dog and the gameplay consist of throwing objects to entertain them.
Ditto on the Google Docs note-taking backup of the ideas.
In my case, I've had a number of ideas that I have been developing for several years, but they are always sparsely re-visited. I would have an idea for a game or a story that I knew I couldn't produce yet, so I would sit on it, but every couple of months, I would spend a night ruminating about the idea, transform it, refine it, and then take more notes over the ideas. Over the years, many of my ideas have not only changed radically and improved, but have also become more and more within reach as my skill improves and I can start to envision how it might actually be developed, etc.
I like the suggestions of how to organize ideas, whether on folders or online. I write them down, but they're scattered through the pages of my sketch books, not organized in a way that I can find them when I need them.
It's simple if you have the idea, then find out the person who can execute your ideas in to reality.
