Your very own game idea

[Popadoo]

Your character is called Felix, and he is a magical frog with super-powered legs. You must save the swamp from a deadly villain called Professor Not-So-Fungi, an evil mushroom content on destroying the swamp and turning it into a shopping mall.
You use your amazing jumping abilities to surpass platforming puzzles. What little combat there is consists of kicking different types of mushrooms in the face. There are also hallucinogenic mushrooms that attack Felix and begin special levels in which you delve into the mind of Felix and learn the truth of his origins. These levels will be similar to the Scarecrow levels in Batman: AA.

Wow, for an idea I came up with on the spot I'm pretty proud of this.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

A game where people put in their game ideas, give up all rights to them and give me permission to sell them on.

It'll sell millions I tell you, millions.

 

[PissOffRoth]

This is the perfect thread for idea snatchers! ^-^

Precisely! *shifty eyes and paranoia*

 

[Hagi]

Funny how you can easily see which ideas have a chance (hint: it's not the ones with huge 3D destructible environments) and which ones will never ever even be started on.

most indie games are basic, simple and usually 2D for a reason....

Also to everyone: your game idea sucks [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_221/6582-Why-Your-Game-Idea-Sucks].

 

[TheHappySquid]

I'd probably go with a 3rd person city wide zombie apocalypse sandbox game. Your only goal is to get out, unless you don't want to. Total populations, random events such as diseases, food drops, and other nonsense. I'd also have a barricade setup to prevent people from just taking a car and going, or maybe I wouldn't. I think it would be what's called the easy ending.

This happens in every single one of these threads. It's not your idea alone.

 

[Use_Imagination_here]

I have several, but they all suck.

 

[andreas3K]

Cyborg Samurai Detective. It's like a combination of Devil May Cry and Deus Ex.

 

[Judgement101]

A 2D platformer where you play as a Spanish Plumber named Gario and his brother Huigi tags along occasionally to save Gario's girlfriend who is constantly in another Villa.

 

[TriggerHappyAngel]

You are a bald guy with glasses named Cortez, you fight with/against monkeys and this is the 4th game in the series.

 

[CRRPGMykael]

Funny how you can easily see which ideas have a chance (hint: it's not the ones with huge 3D destructible environments) and which ones will never ever even be started on.

most indie games are basic, simple and usually 2D for a reason....

Also to everyone: your game idea sucks [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_221/6582-Why-Your-Game-Idea-Sucks].

Weird...having destructible 3D environments usually saved an otherwise TERRIBLE game like Red Faction: Guerrilla...ohwell

NO,MY IDEA DOESN'T SUCK.IT WAS ORIGINALLY FOR A "What do you want in the next GTA game" THREAD,OK?!RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

 

[Hagi]

Funny how you can easily see which ideas have a chance (hint: it's not the ones with huge 3D destructible environments) and which ones will never ever even be started on.

most indie games are basic, simple and usually 2D for a reason....

Also to everyone: your game idea sucks [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_221/6582-Why-Your-Game-Idea-Sucks].

Weird...having destructible 3D environments usually saved an otherwise TERRIBLE game like Red Faction: Guerrilla...ohwell

NO,MY IDEA DOESN'T SUCK.IT WAS ORIGINALLY FOR A "What do you want in the next GTA game" THREAD,OK?!RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Do you have any idea the amount of work it takes to build an engine to handle destructible 3D environments? The amount of art resources requires? The amount of bug testing needed?

If a company is able to either put that amount of work in or pay enough money to license another company to do it for them then I'm not sure they still classify as indie.

 

[lRookiel]

my Indie game would probably be another creativity game like minecraft or terraria (Love terraria) something along those lines.

 

[CRRPGMykael]

Funny how you can easily see which ideas have a chance (hint: it's not the ones with huge 3D destructible environments) and which ones will never ever even be started on.

most indie games are basic, simple and usually 2D for a reason....

Also to everyone: your game idea sucks [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_221/6582-Why-Your-Game-Idea-Sucks].

Weird...having destructible 3D environments usually saved an otherwise TERRIBLE game like Red Faction: Guerrilla...ohwell

NO,MY IDEA DOESN'T SUCK.IT WAS ORIGINALLY FOR A "What do you want in the next GTA game" THREAD,OK?!RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Do you have any idea the amount of work it takes to build an engine to handle destructible 3D environments? The amount of art resources requires? The amount of bug testing needed?

If a company is able to either put that amount of work in or pay enough money to license another company to do it for them then I'm not sure they still classify as indie.

This is why I think Amnesia:The Dark Descent is awesome.An indie game(whose indie roots can still be seen,mind you) that almost feels like mainstream.It doesn't exactly have 'destructo-physics',but uhm...well,play it,you'll like it.The actual story behind development is pretty interesting too.

 

[Hagi]

This is why I think Amnesia:The Dark Descent is awesome.An indie game(whose indie roots can still be seen,mind you) that almost feels like mainstream.It doesn't exactly have 'destructo-physics',but uhm...well,play it,you'll like it.The actual story behind development is pretty interesting too.

I agree, Amnesia is brilliant.

But that's also due to it having very smart developers. They hide their game's shortcomings as much as possible. It's a dark game so lesser texture and model quality is harder to notice. The art-style was probably picked in large part for a, imho, bit more painterly aesthetic as opposed to a high-definition realistic aesthetic. Simple sounds are used for immersion as opposed to photo-realistic environments. etc.

It's all picked to ensure maximum effect with minimum resources. But if you were to actually put it's resources side-by-side with a real mainstream game you'd likely see that it'd fall way behind.

And I think that's how you make good indie games. Simple resources and mechanics used in such a way to achieve maximum effect.

And however you spin it, fully 3D destructible environments and realistic physics aren't exactly simple.

 

[CRRPGMykael]

This is why I think Amnesia:The Dark Descent is awesome.An indie game(whose indie roots can still be seen,mind you) that almost feels like mainstream.It doesn't exactly have 'destructo-physics',but uhm...well,play it,you'll like it.The actual story behind development is pretty interesting too.

I agree, Amnesia is brilliant.

But that's also due to it having very smart developers. They hide their game's shortcomings as much as possible. It's a dark game so lesser texture and model quality is harder to notice. The art-style was probably picked in large part for a, imho, bit more painterly aesthetic as opposed to a high-definition realistic aesthetic. Simple sounds are used for immersion as opposed to photo-realistic environments. etc.

It's all picked to ensure maximum effect with minimum resources. But if you were to actually put it's resources side-by-side with a real mainstream game you'd likely see that it'd fall way behind.

And I think that's how you make good indie games. Simple resources and mechanics used in such a way to achieve maximum effect.

And however you spin it, fully 3D destructible environments and realistic physics aren't exactly simple.

Nobody said they were SIMPLE,but I do have to agree,Amnesia set the example for all indie developers out there.

 

[Hagi]

This is why I think Amnesia:The Dark Descent is awesome.An indie game(whose indie roots can still be seen,mind you) that almost feels like mainstream.It doesn't exactly have 'destructo-physics',but uhm...well,play it,you'll like it.The actual story behind development is pretty interesting too.

I agree, Amnesia is brilliant.

But that's also due to it having very smart developers. They hide their game's shortcomings as much as possible. It's a dark game so lesser texture and model quality is harder to notice. The art-style was probably picked in large part for a, imho, bit more painterly aesthetic as opposed to a high-definition realistic aesthetic. Simple sounds are used for immersion as opposed to photo-realistic environments. etc.

It's all picked to ensure maximum effect with minimum resources. But if you were to actually put it's resources side-by-side with a real mainstream game you'd likely see that it'd fall way behind.

And I think that's how you make good indie games. Simple resources and mechanics used in such a way to achieve maximum effect.

And however you spin it, fully 3D destructible environments and realistic physics aren't exactly simple.

Nobody said they were SIMPLE,but I do have to agree,Amnesia set the example for all indie developers out there.

To me this:

Let's suppose you're part of a small team of developers who want to make an epic indie game.What's your gaming idea?

implies that it should be simple.

You can't really do anything but simple with a small team of developers.

 

[CRRPGMykael]

This is why I think Amnesia:The Dark Descent is awesome.An indie game(whose indie roots can still be seen,mind you) that almost feels like mainstream.It doesn't exactly have 'destructo-physics',but uhm...well,play it,you'll like it.The actual story behind development is pretty interesting too.

I agree, Amnesia is brilliant.

But that's also due to it having very smart developers. They hide their game's shortcomings as much as possible. It's a dark game so lesser texture and model quality is harder to notice. The art-style was probably picked in large part for a, imho, bit more painterly aesthetic as opposed to a high-definition realistic aesthetic. Simple sounds are used for immersion as opposed to photo-realistic environments. etc.

It's all picked to ensure maximum effect with minimum resources. But if you were to actually put it's resources side-by-side with a real mainstream game you'd likely see that it'd fall way behind.

And I think that's how you make good indie games. Simple resources and mechanics used in such a way to achieve maximum effect.

And however you spin it, fully 3D destructible environments and realistic physics aren't exactly simple.

Nobody said they were SIMPLE,but I do have to agree,Amnesia set the example for all indie developers out there.

To me this:

Let's suppose you're part of a small team of developers who want to make an epic indie game.What's your gaming idea?

implies that it should be simple.

You can't really do anything but simple with a small team of developers.

OK,let's bring the Amnesia example back into this...

Is Amnesia:The Dark Descent an indie game?Yes.
Is Amnesia:The Dark Descent developed by a small group of people?Yes.
Does Amnesia:The Dark Descent have a physics engine?Yes.
Is Amnesia:The Dark Descent of 'epic' quality?Yes.
Was Amnesia:The Dark Descent simple to make?No.
Did anybody imply that Amnesia:The Dark Descent simple to make?No.

The fact that I EVEN PLAYED Amnesia:The Dark Descent is one of the reasons why I started this(along with the 'next GTA features thingy' on GTAForums)thread,because Amnesia:The Dark Descent= Epic Indie game to me(the POINT of the topic).

 

[Hagi]

OK,let's bring the Amnesia example back into this...

Is Amnesia:The Dark Descent an indie game?Yes.
Is Amnesia:The Dark Descent developed by a small group of people?Yes.
Does Amnesia:The Dark Descent have a physics engine?Yes.
Is Amnesia:The Dark Descent of 'epic' quality?Yes.
Was Amnesia:The Dark Descent simple to make?No.
Did anybody imply that Amnesia:The Dark Descent simple to make?No.

The fact that I EVEN PLAYED Amnesia:The Dark Descent is one of the reasons why I started this(along with the 'next GTA features thingy' on GTAForums)thread,because Amnesia:The Dark Descent= Epic Indie game to me(the POINT of the topic).

A physics engine doesn't give you destructible environments....

For actual destructible environments you need a LOT more. You need a huge amount of extra models for all the possible destructible pieces. You need a very advanced physics engine that doesn't just calculate stuff being thrown around but also takes into account things like structural integrity, different materials, dynamic collision etc. You need a very efficient database system to keep track of every single little change in the environment. You need algorithms to immediately detect which objects are and which objects are not in a certain small area.

For actual destructible environments you're beyond the engine used for say Oblivion and Fallout 3. That one's keeping track of millions of objects, their locations in the world and their health and stats and it's still a bit buggy and not entirely stable, and that's with extremely simple collision for all the in-game items (which fly at rocket speeds as soon as you touch them).

If fully destructible environments were something that could be done by small teams don't you think we'd be seeing them in quite a few games by now?

 

[CRRPGMykael]

OK,let's bring the Amnesia example back into this...

Is Amnesia:The Dark Descent an indie game?Yes.
Is Amnesia:The Dark Descent developed by a small group of people?Yes.
Does Amnesia:The Dark Descent have a physics engine?Yes.
Is Amnesia:The Dark Descent of 'epic' quality?Yes.
Was Amnesia:The Dark Descent simple to make?No.
Did anybody imply that Amnesia:The Dark Descent simple to make?No.

The fact that I EVEN PLAYED Amnesia:The Dark Descent is one of the reasons why I started this(along with the 'next GTA features thingy' on GTAForums)thread,because Amnesia:The Dark Descent= Epic Indie game to me(the POINT of the topic).

A physics engine doesn't give you destructible environments....

For actual destructible environments you need a LOT more. You need a huge amount of extra models for all the possible destructible pieces. You need a very advanced physics engine that doesn't just calculate stuff being thrown around but also takes into account things like structural integrity, different materials, dynamic collision etc. You need a very efficient database system to keep track of every single little change in the environment. You need algorithms to immediately detect which objects are and which objects are not in a certain small area.

For actual destructible environments you're beyond the engine used for say Oblivion and Fallout 3. That one's keeping track of millions of objects, their locations in the world and their health and stats and it's still a bit buggy and not entirely stable, and that's with extremely simple collision for all the in-game items (which fly at rocket speeds as soon as you touch them).

If fully destructible environments were something that could be done by small teams don't you think we'd be seeing them in quite a few games by now?

Yeah,thanks for the lesson,but I'm already aware of the difference between a physics engine and a destructible environment.The point of the thread was YOU ARE AN INDIE GROUP DETERMINED TO MAKE SOMETHING EPIC.It could be complex and difficult,but sincerely the only good games(that revolutionize things and do something really impressive and original,I.E. Minecraft) I've played lately are indie titles(with the big boys from the E3 announcements still not out yet).Do you know the story behind the development of Amnesia:The Dark Descent?They had a lot of trouble with paying the employees,getting a publisher,and so on,but they overcame those things and made something which is pretty much one of the best indie games ever.Yeah,I know,an indie group making a 1st person sandbox with a fully destructible city and real-time stuff like workers coming and rebuilding a wall is pretty far fetched,but whatever,it's just a hypothetical question :/