Ditto Muzikus, .

here''s my 0.2 squid.

I''m almost sure that I''ll never see an original commercial game again, not that I don''t enjoy very well made games like Deus Ex, Planescape:Torment etc, it''s just that the games industry has become too serious, and scared of originality. BTW I''m only 20 aswell, but I''ve played games since 1990 even then there was plenty of boring clones.

Another thing is; most of the game programmers here, started programming when they played a game and wanted to do more with it but couldn''t, so they wanted to go and make their own version of that game. Few programmers will spend a long time in the design/planning phase, and just rush to the making/coding part because they already have their "idea" (ie. a remake of Quake with 4 different weapons, 12 new monsters and a gr8 story) or a remake of "name your favourite game".

I think it''s fine for amateur developers to do the above, but the pro''s do it too(wayyy too often), since it''s tried and tested (read safe). I''ll still buy games, though much less than I used to instead I''m now in my fourth week of planning my own game, and since I''ve got no deadline yet, I''m not gonna rush this phase...

Hey, that log cabin thing gave me a really nifty genre-busting idea!

Almost every 3d shooter and action game out there is offensive, you are constantly changing location and chasing after an enemy, or (more often) running from them.

What if you couldn''t run?

Very few are based on defence of a single position. There''s stuff like "missile base" of course, but that''s OLD, and 2D to boot.

How about a game of improvisation and survival whilst pinned down, one of defending a single position (though fairly large).

If you''ve seen the film "ZULU", you''ll know what I mean.

A combination of rpg elements (keeping a party of defenders together, morale, injuries, etc), shooter (the actual combat), strategy (placing of defences, rationing of ammo) and adventure. You can''t get any less generic than that.

Go on, somebody give it a try!

hmm, not to denigrate your ideas, but I think anonymous kind of has a point. I think there is a rut in today''s game designers that leads to same-o same-o game backgrounds.

Now you could have something that you planned, but you''ll need to make some twists to make it unique. Think about LOTR for a second. Some would call it the stereotypical (perhaps prototypical would be a better word) fantasy setting. But it still stands heads and shoulders above just about everything out there. Why? Because of Tolkein''s incredible attention to detail. For all intents and purposes, he created a mythology in his own mind. This is something sorely lacking in many game worlds and books today.

Let''s look at other classics in sci-fi like Dune. Very unconventional I would say, not to mention the Foundation trilogy. How about Stranger in a Strange Land? How about anything by Philip K. Dick? If anything, what almost all sci-fi games are based on are staples like Heinlein''s Starship Troopers, or Hammer''s Slammer''s, which although fun, have been copied to death.

And as for grand space games, who has done it better than J. Michael Stracynski''s Babylon5? At first glance, it would seem like a Star Trek clone, but it''s really a lot more deep and planned than that.

So maybe that''s what needs to be done...if you want a "clone" type of universe, do something to make it stand out by making it very detailed like in LOTR, or creating a compelling story to back it up like in Babylon5.

Regarding the ''Defend the Base'' type scenerio, here''s an idea I''ve never actually seen done and it surprises me:

Night of the Living Dead.

That''s right, flesh eating zombies are beating outside your house and you and the other people inside have to keep them out until help can arrive.

I''ve never seen this done in a computer game. Sure, there''s been plenty ''o games with flesh eating zombies, but every one that I know involves you running from and/or attacking said zombies. You never have to worry about locking down or defending an area from the hordes of the dead.

THAT''S a game I wanna see.