I think that it would be interesting to see what games have attracted and inspired those who are using jME to create new games. If anyone is game, I'll start ; - ) Basically, I'm an RPG player (and have been, minus about a 15 year hiatus (for military and life-work), since I played and DM'd AD&D in Jr. High and High School), and these are my original computer-based inspirations:
Ultima I-III – Apple ][
Infocom Text Adventures (Zork I-III, PlanetFall, Suspense, etc.) – Apple ][
Wizardry – Apple ][
Eamon – Apple ][
Atari 2600 D&D (unfortunately ; - )
Of course, there are other more recent inspirations, but I'll leave it here for now.
So far as my hometown arcade called Galaxy World went, I loved Space Invaders, Tempest, Galaga, Defender, Tron I, Gauntlet, Missle Command, Joust, and Marble Madness : - ) All good stuff but not my long-time inspirations – although elements of arcade games are still very much welcome in what I came to seriously ~enjoy~… note the puzzles and action-puzzles in Xenosaga I-III and even Final Fantasy XII ; - ) And yes, I still do like action… if its in an rpg and if it's "done right", like in Vagrant Story or Rogue Galaxy.
Now, I won't go into a detailed list since I've always sort of been a gaming freak…I've always said, I'm better at gaming than programming, I just make money at one and lose money at the other.
Half-Life is the #1 greatest game of all time in my opinion, I've played and beaten (on every level of difficulty) every official release ever made in the series. Deus Ex was a really awesome one as well…and I agree the sequel was not nearly as good (there's a third coming if you weren't already aware). Solar Winds was my favorite game as a kid and one of the foundations for Galaxies Beyond. My development of Galaxies Beyond actually started sixteen years ago when I decided I wanted to make a game that mixed first-person shooter aspects of games like Doom with a space combat fighter game like Wing Commander or Freelancer. Yeah, I used to play Doom ][ over dial-up modem on a BBS…the good old days.
Yeah I've played HL2 and the following episodes - the story was great, though I wish the game world was slightly less linear. I realize why they did it though.
For me the greatest inspiration is probably the Free Orion project and the Master of Orion 2 game.
I draw ideas and inspiration from numerous other sources also of course. Some are from such distant past that I do not remember the names even. To name a few: Orion-, Civilization-, Space Empires series, Pax Imperia, Malkari etc.
But very often the very threads here on the forum inspire my thoughts, filling my head of images that could and would be…
Diablo II - Lord of Destruction, I spent so much time playing that I almost failed College! I recently reinstalled it to get my fix again, it's not quite as fun without my friends or any of my awesome items
I always have been a big fan of Blizzard games. I started playing Warcraft when my parents first bought a PC (a long time ago, in a galaxy far away…) and played every Blizzard game that was released since.
Starcraft is my favorite and I hope to write a Starcraft inspired game with jME.
Actually, after giving it a deeper though, I realized I omitted extremely important games from my list:
Silent Hill: I will never forget myself for not putting this one! For those of you who don't know, it is a Survival Horror game that actually scares you, not like Resident Evil
Metroid: Specially Super Metroid, the one for SNES.
My, my... I have been out of touch with my gaming self far too much. }:-@
I love devouring games, I have probably played (and beat) several hundred games. I generally play for the fun (and escape) rather than the difficulty or endurance, so its not uncommon for me to start and finish a game within 48hours.
I always have been a big fan of Blizzard games. I started playing Warcraft when my parents first bought a PC (a long time ago, in a galaxy far away...) and played every Blizzard game that was released since.
Starcraft is my favorite and I hope to write a Starcraft inspired game with jME.
Yep. World of warcraft really let me down and impressed me at the same time though. The game itself is completely uninspired and you won't find a unique aspect anywhere. Although, even saying that. They managed to completely dominate the market. All the rest of the games were exceptional at worst.
Inspirations:
Ultima Online (first real good mmo)
various MUDs
http://www.ffiends.com/Games/StarDart/Game.jsp (first time I saw java employed as a game)
All blizzard titles, the company itself.
Civilization series (yes, starting with #1)
It's an online [or network] heavy list. Really, I think the best games are played in the (virtual) company of others.
I would say classic Nintendo NES games like Super Mario Bros, Zelda, Metroid, Metal Gear, Mega Man etc. Nintendo are very skilled in creating great innovative games and focus more on game play than on graphics.
But of course I need to name some classic C64 games aswell: The last ninja, Green beret, Ghost and goblins, Defender, IK+ etc
Here is the list of games that made impression on me, i might have left some out, but these are those i can remember or could find names with googling:
Spectum
Lords Of the Midnight
First game to really impress me, huge pseudo-random map, adventure/strategy combination of unthinkable complexity at the time it was made.
Chaos
A simple but very fun sorcery duel game. It compelled me to make a clone game like it.
