Unlimited Budget = Original IP Dream Game. What would yours be?

[ShadewearOnline Scott]

If you were given an unlimited budget to make any video game you wanted, what would it be?

Mine would be an open world superhero action-RPG called Samaritan where you play an ordinary human character living in a sprawling modern metropolis who is imbued with superhuman abilities. You'd have to protect the entire world(which would be available to traverse without boundaries). You'd eventually get recruited by a massive global network of heroes and you'd be given missions in hotspots around the world. You could get there by flying, super-speed, teleportation, whatever.

It'd be a cross between Skyrim, Batman: Arkham City and DC Universe Online complete with level progression and upgrades in the form of power "discoveries". You'd create your own superhero power types, collect gear, loot, be able to customize your character, .etc.

What would your game be?

 

[ThoughtlessConcept]

An RPG set in the world of the Abhorsen trilogy, don't hate.

 

[ShadewearOnline Scott]

Original IPs, guys. Come on, let's get a little imagination in here!

 

[KingofMadCows]

A third person RPG set in a sci-fi or larping convention where you play a character who's helping to organize and run the convention. It would have mechanics that's a combination of New Vegas and Bully.

The different factions would be the fans of different sci-fi shows. The two major factions would be the Trekkies and the Star Wars fans. Then you have various smaller factions like Dr. Who fans, Farscape fans, old BSG fans, new BSG fans, Babylon 5 fans, etc. The hostile raiders/mutants factions would be like the Twilight fans and the Michael Bay Transformer fans.

You can help one faction take over the convention or you can work towards peaceful coexistence.

 

[Vault101]

a game set in a cyberpunk city where you play as the resident "police force" and its like a dydtopia

 

[DazZ.]

I'd pay myself unlimited money to carry on making the game I'm working on. It would be the most amazingly funded crappy little game ever created.

 

[Valanthe]

Hmm, an MMO First Person shooter, with a persistant world, a la Planetside, but with a twist, Players who select the role of Commander, use an aerial contruction vehicle to build defenses and buildings around Control points which must be captured to provide the resources to build said structures. I am aware this idea was tried with Nuclear Dawn, but I believe it would work far better in a massively online setting, as the social trappings which come standard with those games, a mostly persistant community, guilds, and friends lists, would encourage the team dynamic central to the success of this style of game.

As an aside, because, you know, budget and time constraints are a non-issue in my little world, I would play around with the idea of the Commanders being able to spawn npc grunts just like in a traditional RTS, with these armies serving as the meat of an offensive, and the PC's acting as mercenaries who are specially suited to specific classes.

P.S. Also, not a totally original IP, but an RPG, or even an MMO RPG, set in the world of Magic: The Gathering, I believe the city of Ravnica might work well for this. This idea is courtesy of a long time friend of mine.

 

[JamesCoote]

If I was going to create an original IP, I'd start by writing a novel or maybe a comic.

Having said that, a great comic or book is not necessarily going to translate into a great game. Would you really play a Resevoir Dogs game, considering the film is almost entirely dialogue and set in one room?

Unlimited budget would probably result in a game that never got finished, so I would create a game with a very limited scope that got released and then expand it incrementally

In fact, I'm working as an indie developer at the moment, and I have an independent income source, which is enough to keep me housed and fed. This means I instead have infinite time

So I've been building a game with massive potential scope for expansions but with a simple concept at the core.

It's basically transport tycoon in space. You buy ships and tell them to go between space stations buying and selling different cargo types. I have a list of over 50 expansions that could be added to this, such as tech researching, player-owned stations, AI competitors etc. They're all worthless without having an actual solid, finished game to build them onto.

In any case, to do properly, each one would take at least a month or two to do properly, even with infinite money.

Far more useful than infinite money would be the ability to stop time, so you could work at leisure with out worrying about platforms coming and going, fashions and trends changing and all the other problems to do with projects without definite end-dates

Edit: Actually, infinite monies is great for creating an IP in terms of the amount of supporting artwork you can do. For example, you can get multiple, professionally produced videos, license whatever music you wanted for them and for the in-game music, and comission as much original art, music etc as you wanted. You could also make a very content-rich game with as wide a variety of spaceships, stations etc as you or others could imagine

 

[Vern5]

With an unlimited budget I would by the rights, materials and talent to recreate planescape torment with a semi-updated graphical engine and more pervasive voice-acting.

More realistically, I would create a game somewhat like Skyrim in that it would be a free-form, low-fantasy adventure. The setting would be on the cusp of an industrial revolution affecting a fantasy world (think Arcanum). Your main incentives in this game would either be pursuing wealth, pursuing glory (in the form of accolades given to you for performing certain combat tasks while being affected by a specific handicap *kill 20 giants using only a scalpel and a loin-cloth*), or pursuing wenches (or whatever the male equivalent is).

That's mostly my idea behind the perfect game. A game where you can measure your success in wenches.

 

[Lord Kloo]

EDIT: i didn't get the idea of an original IP...

Anyway.. probably a RPG game with a difference, laws actually have an effect on your life, you are not the god in shining armor come to save the world, not everyone loves you, you don't have a stake in the world, the universe and everything..

You are a hunter, who struggles to survive in a hostile world, only equipped with your trusty rifle, zippo and the clothes you wear..

I declare this to be the ultimate survive RPG game, the weight limit is fixed at your rifle, a few other tools and room for some foodstuffs so you can't hoard billions of tons of crap, and yes money has a weight.. you need food and water to survive and bullets don't grow on trees so it'll either be the knife after a while or fighting other hunters..

The setting is 20?? whilst 99% of humans live in sprawling metropolises some chose another life of adventure and survival, the player will occasionally need to enter the cities but without much cash unlike the urban dwellers, stealth, subterfuge and criminality will have to be embraced to make a living, outside the cities, nature rules and fierce creatures as well as some isolated humans exist and survival of the fittest is the objective..

Of course there will be some massive over arching storyline that continues through your journey but you only pick up pieces and your role is limited to perhaps saving some orphan by the end, a hired gun in the great revolution sweeping through the cities.. you don't walk into the palace and slay the king but you can be sure as hell you'll be swarming up the steps with your comrades in arms..



I like to think of this game as the open world of ARMA meets the lowly nature of the player in early COD games meets the survival and horror aspects of Metro 2033 meets Equilibrium (the movie)..

Once you play through as the lowly surviver, you get to play again as the lowly police man who can either turn to the revolution or sit inside the palaces of the state with a 50. cal mowing down protesting civilians..

 

[ThoughtlessConcept]

With an unlimited budget I would by the rights, materials and talent to recreate planescape torment with a semi-updated graphical engine and more pervasive voice-acting.

More realistically, I would create a game somewhat like Skyrim in that it would be a free-form, low-fantasy adventure. The setting would be on the cusp of an industrial revolution affecting a fantasy world (think Arcanum). Your main incentives in this game would either be pursuing wealth, pursuing glory (in the form of accolades given to you for performing certain combat tasks while being affected by a specific handicap *kill 20 giants using only a scalpel and a loin-cloth*), or pursuing wenches (or whatever the male equivalent is).

That's mostly my idea behind the perfect game. A game where you can measure your success in wenches.

That's not an original IP.

 

[Zen Toombs]

Either a standard MMO or MMO shooter where you can actually have a significant impact on the world around you. Quests wouldn't be "collect 12 boar spleens", if there were quests at all. It would be sortof like a simplified Eve Online without the jerks, or a more complicated Urban Dead.

That's mostly my idea behind the perfect game. A game where you can measure your success in wenches.

That's not an original IP.

I will argue that until I don't know what we're yelling about anymore.

P.S. Also, not a totally original IP, but an RPG, or even an MMO RPG, set in the world of Magic: The Gathering, I believe the city of Ravnica might work well for this. This idea is courtesy of a long time friend of mine.

WANT

....Can I change my answer?

 

[CatmanStu]

Mine would be an open world game in the manner of Bethesda rather than Rockstar where you and your partner (hetro or homo) have to escort their child to a place where you can set up a new home and then create a life in the shadow of a looming sociological catastrophy (oppression, war, invasion) but never be part of it. Every choice you make, whether it be a sociological one like stealing and dialogue, or a survival one like killing, has no effect on you as a character but has a profound effect on the development of your child; steal and lie and your kid will have no repect for society and become a hooligan, spare someone who would have killed you and they learn compassion and empathy.
This would carry over, as in Mass Effect, to the next game where you take control of the child as a young adult where you can either carry on in the same manner as the character grew or change, for better or worse, with the world around you having to adapt to that change.
There would be no stats or leveling the game would be about the sybioses of existense and society as well as the example we set for others. There would be one artist and one WRITER for every NPC so that they all have as much place in the world as the player.

 

[ipop@you]

Hmm, viking based definitely.

One idea is a single-player RPG in which you take the role of a viking and you have a massive open world that stretches from the western coast of Norway to the middle of Russia and all the way from Svalbard to Turkey. It would be set during the height of the Byzantine Empire and the main quest would have you travelling the river routes of Russia to join the Varangian guard but you'd have loads of side-quests along the way. It's basically a game based on Turisas' albums, not exactly an original IP but I've not encountered anything similar in the video game world.

The other idea I have is similar but instead of going east and south through Europe, you head west and south, mainly to Britain for all the typical pillaging action you expect from Vikings but also to parts of northern France (Normandy) and maybe even a bit of Germany.

Alternatively it could be both of these ideas combined so you can go right across Europe as well as parts of Asia and Africa. I suppose this last one really, if I have a unlimited budget.

 

[Summerstorm]

An Strategy/Roleplaying game hybrid. Where you play an immortal/undead necromancer who at best is a neutral-okayish guy or at worst is a completely evil monster.

You play his rise to power bringing doom and death to the world. Priorities is in storytelling, moral choices.

 

[Sprinal]

Hmmm to choose...
WEll I would like to see a game where it was an RPG with a realistically sized world (maybe about the size of Australia but the the dynamic climate of mainland Europe as well as northern Africa and the west of the Middle East) and you could walk all the way if you wanted (or take a mages teleporter, a cart, silt strider, Dragon, etc) now if you were to take one of the other options there could be random encounters and you would essentially be able to wonder around the convoy (assuming you took it) and then go back to sleep as you pleased.

Now the plot for this game would be about as relevent as X's plots. The economy would also be as awesome. And you could buy just about anything. Your character's race and class would be extremely restrictive yet no matter you could still end up as a rich bastard at the end. The Number of Voice actors would number around 1000-3000 to allow for awesomeness.

The combat would be similar to Elder Scrolls yet would not be required. As you could just be awesome like that (unlike modern Elder Scrolls games).

Sometime in the middle there would be a large silvery tube seen flying through the sky (path will be the same yet final resting place will not. Time will be randomly rolled yet even if you miss it the news will spread and you can find it) this tube will have smoke flying out the back and will crash in the middle somewhere and you will need to find it (as it will leave a smoking crater that will make it easier. Plus the mages will be all over it. out of this tube there will be "Terrans of Terra" who will all be Cyberpunks and the ship will have NATO written on the side.

Once this has happend once you can next play through play as one. They will have a quest line and you may have to kill them for the other lines. Yet a Heavilly armed Carrier with the capacity to level entire continents rescue ship will arive to help them and be an envoy. You can then use shuttles as tranceports to major settlements (there would be no normal fast travel) and these would be extremely fast. They could transport goods and stuff as well. Plus the mothership would be a trade location to.

As a result you could be a mage carrying a .50 cal LMG that is enchanted to shoot flaming bullets. Now I can only dream. Also there would be dragons, Daemons, Elves, Dwemer (steampunks), Humans etc. It would be awesome.


Hmmm might write this down...

 

[Zhukov]

I've said this before, but...

I would make a survival horror game set almost entirely underwater. The player character is in a scuba suit, or perhaps one of those old-timey Big Daddy deep sea diving suits.

The setting would give a perfect excuse to make everything dark as hell. There would be an oxygen meter to keep the player moving and add an element of stress. You could have safe zones in the form of boats and/or underwater habitats.

Also, enemies. Oh, the possibilities. I love the idea of walking the sea bed, looking up, directing my meagre light source into the murky waters and catching a fleeting glimpse of a great tentacled mass, nigh-formless but unmistakably alive, writhing through the beam.