Games Designers- whats wrong with them?

[spikeyjoey]

That new daybreakers film has been described as "28 days later meets the matrix"

for a film you can almost guarantee "popular film meets popular film" is either going to be shite or, "alright"

With games however.. i was doing this in the kitchen while making my lunch

"28 days later game (dead rising) meets matrix game (the matrix game)".. essentially dead rising, but where you kung fu the zombies rather than hurl household objects at them (kung fu + zombies.. how could that not rule?)

do it with others- "dead rising + condemned" FP zombie bashing with pipes

"dead rising + fallout" mad max esque post apocolyptic survival.. with zombies..


um.. ok dead rising + other game aside, I thought it could work for almost any with a little bit of imagination.. so i tried it with the fist game that came into my head- Ass creed 2.. hmm.. best match for that would probably be.. mirrors edge AC3+ME = maybe some sort of robin hood type game.. have it as fps like ME, but with a bow and arrow.. + lots of free running and assassination..

Its so easy

And in the "post your ideas for games" thread, there are some killer ideas.

So why arent these epic games being made??

 

[Cherry Cola]

Are you seriously asking why developers aren't stealing other ideas and implementing them in their games?

 

[spikeyjoey]

^^

essentially yes..but not clones, but take the ideas and mould them into something new.. treat games like art or music..

They're just people who do jobs.

You wouldn't say, "whats wrong with starbucks employees?"

being a starbucks employee doesnt require creativity..

and if they are "designers" they are not doing their job if they arent designing (and i dont count pumping out sequels and clones as designing)

 

[TheNamlessGuy]

DELETED

 

[prinxess]

They're just doing their job, they want the money.

 

[spikeyjoey]

why are people saying "they're just doing their job"??

what does that have to do with it? Im demonstrating how easy it is to come up with killer games ideas..

Im overflowing with them

Give ME a job dammit!

 

[SquirrelPants]

^^

essentially yes..but not clones, but take the ideas and mould them into something new.. treat games like art or music..

They're just people who do jobs.

You wouldn't say, "whats wrong with starbucks employees?"

being a starbucks employee doesnt require creativity..

and if they are "designers" they are not doing their job if they arent designing (and i dont count pumping out sequels and clones as designing)

They're still designing and creating new games. Most sequels are wildly different from the first game in the series, and even rehashing of old ideas takes a lot of work to create. That's just...kind of being ignorant.

 

[Tiny116]

Because they like storyline as much as kick assery??

 

[SquirrelPants]

why are people saying "they're just doing their job"??

what does that have to do with it? Im demonstrating how easy it is to come up with killer games ideas..

I'm overflowing with them

Give ME a job dammit!

Go get a job, then, but it's not as easy as taking two ideas and putting them together--That doesn't make you a designer, it would technically make you a writer, but not even that, since you're not actually writing anything.

 

[spikeyjoey]

Because they like storyline as much as kick assery??

Kick assery > story

fact. If you dont believe that.. go read a book

Thats the beauty of game- they let you do things which kick ass!!

 

[Mordwyl]

Are you seriously asking why developers aren't stealing other ideas and implementing them in their games?

In entrepreneurial jargon that is called innovation. It's mandatory to keep a business alive.

They're just doing their job, they want the money.

In a similar analogy, a teacher wouldn't care about helping his students learn and just sits around on his desk since it still counts as working. Game design is a constructive job that requires a lot of creativity; as we have witnessed in the past years many put it past themselves to be imaginative when conceptualizing and writing games. It's a difficult job and they do it for a living, but that doesn't excuse them from slacking off.

For an indie game maker it's depressing.

 

[Tiny116]

Because they like storyline as much as kick assery??

Kick assery > story

fact. If you dont believe that.. go read a book

Thats the beauty of game- they let you do things which kick ass!!

Nope;
Kick Assery = Fun
Plot = Story

And I usually read more than I game Good Sir ;-)

By the way in case you mis-interpreted by Kick Assery I meant "beat the fucking shit out of everything"

 

[Hiphophippo]

As for my friends who are game designers, what's wrong with them is they listen to bad music.

But I suspect this has nothing to do with what you're getting at.

 

[GuerrillaClock]

Because you can't just spring up into an office one day and declare you're making a game, unless you have the cash to start your own company. It needs to be greenlit by publishers and the like.

Also, implementing a good design on paper into a 15-20 (on average) hour adventure isn't quite the cakewalk you think it to be. You can't just write a random assortment of words on a napkin and expect people to spend thousands (in some cases millions) on it, or to waste several months of their lives on it.

It'd be nice if things were that easy.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

^^
and if they are "designers" they are not doing their job if they arent designing (and i dont count pumping out sequels and clones as designing)

Yes, because overseeing the building of systems and their implementation in a game, even in a derivative fashion, requires absolutely no talent, ability or skill.

 

[spikeyjoey]

In a similar analogy, a teacher wouldn't care about helping his students learn and just sits around on his desk since it still counts as working. Game design is a constructive job that requires a lot of creativity; as we have witnessed in the past years many put it past themselves to be imaginative when conceptualizing and writing games. It's a difficult job and they do it for a living, but that doesn't excuse them from slacking off.

For an indie game maker it's depressing.

this is wat im getting at, well said

Because they like storyline as much as kick assery??

Kick assery > story

fact. If you dont believe that.. go read a book

Thats the beauty of game- they let you do things which kick ass!!

Nope;
Kick Assery = Fun
Plot = Story

And I usually read more than I game Good Sir ;-)

By the way in case you mis-interpreted by Kick Assery I meant "beat the fucking shit out of everything"

Nothing wrong with reading, i was trying to be whimsical

and what do you mean by nope? your saying fun isnt more important than story?

 

[Tiny116]

Nothing wrong with reading, i was trying to be whimsical

and what do you mean by nope? your saying fun isnt more important than story?

By Nope I meant No Kick assery does not = story XD

And no definatly not I'm an avid Soul Calibur and SSBM player ;-) But I do appreciate story and a lot of these game mixes you suggested wouldn't do that.

 

[spikeyjoey]

But I do appreciate story and a lot of these game mixes you suggested wouldn't do that.

Story could be tacked on easily enough.. just because they are only concepts doesnt mean a story couldnt easily be added.. I mentioned dead rising a lot, look at the story in that :S

Because you can't just spring up into an office one day and declare you're making a game, unless you have the cash to start your own company. It needs to be greenlit by publishers and the like.

Also, implementing a good design on paper into a 15-20 (on average) hour adventure isn't quite the cakewalk you think it to be. You can't just write a random assortment of words on a napkin and expect people to spend thousands (in some cases millions) on it, or to waste several months of their lives on it.

well said,

obviously I know about publishers etc, but they have greenlit hundreds of other games, why not with these good ideas (wouldnt be hard to make the sales pitch)

And i know its not that simple, but i came up with those ideas in a few seconds.. give me a week and a few other gamers and i would flesh out a game

 

[SimGrave]

You seriously think it's the game designer's power to decide what game will get the greenlight? You think they decide what the publisher should invest their millions into? Or what goes on the store shelves? Hum, I think you give more powers than what they really have. What end up being made (getting a greenlight) is a result of a lot of discussions, market studies and analyses, and the designers are rarely involved in these meetings! Just because someone says "let's make dawn of the dead meets the good, the bad and the ugly" doesn't mean it's easy to make a game on that.

 

[Batfred]

I'd like to see a game where every player is a vehicle. You would choose from a selection of Tanks, Jeeps, APC's, Planes and Helicopters (probably other stuff too). Infantry would exist, but would be controlled by the Ai, they would be deployed by APC's/Transport choppers and would perform repairs on vehicles or capture buildings.

I think that blue_guy has the right idea and some of you are riding spikeyjoey a little hard (what an enduring image).

Sorry if I am speaking out of turn spikeyjoey, but I think that what he is trying to say is that ideas are 10 a penny, so why do we keep seeing the same game again and again with different packaging?

I also understand what Furburt is saying which basically adds up to "play it safe and make some money rather than take a gamble and this time next year Rodders, we'll be millionaires... or broke".

Surely though, there is a middle ground. Release the safe games, make your money back, but for every 3 safe games, can't you also release 1 gamble. Don't tell me that they don't make enough money to sustain that, because I refuse to believe that. Finally, I think that the fault is not with the designers, it is with the purse string keepers, that could be the source of some of the bile being projected at you - you are blaming the wrong people.

Here's a thought, what was the last TRULY original and also REALLY good game that you played? Did that game make money? I can't think of any, but then I have had a crap day at work and my noddle is frazzled. I bet that it is a short list though. Not trying to hijack your thread and not really looking for answers, just want those having a go at you to have a think.

Oh, LBP. It made a MINT!