I'm a second year computer science student, and I figured I'd see what I could do with a game, just to practice, and if it turns out okay, to add to a portfolio. I stumbled upon the JMonkeyEngine and it looks really promising. I'm in the preliminary stages of designing/planning a game, but I need a few ideas. I want to get a handle on what exactly it is I'm making before I get to far into the coding. More than a few times, I've handcuffed myself and had to rewrite an entire program because the way I was programming didn't mesh well with a feature I wanted to add later.
Anyway, the crux of this post is just to try to get some ideas for interesting/unique features, twists, slants, or whatever I could put in the game. It won't be a huge, professional thing, so I want something in it that will set it apart from the rest.
My basic (very basic) idea so far is this. I want to make an FPS with RPG elements, set in present day, or the near future. Kind of like Deus Ex or Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. But less superhuman-ness, more of a regular guy. I also would like a lot of it in dirty, grungy parts of a city, like slums or the ghetto. But that's really all I've got as far as game concept goes.
I'd appreciate any ideas you guys have of something you'd like to see in a game. No matter how big (You should be a female wizard in a fantasy land full of fairies and walking bananas, none of this slum stuff!) or how small (You should have newspaper blowing accross the street).
Just throw anything out there, no matter how impractical, or how beyond my abilities it is, I might me able to take something away from it. Obviously, I'm not nearly as well versed in Java as most of you are, but I understand how Java works, and I've been scouring the wiki, forums and javadocs over the past couple days. I'll probably be asking for help a lot as I try to develop this thing.
Anyway, any ideas would be appreciated. 
While Playing a Game i want to have fun and kill some time.
As i am pretty busy with work and studying for school, so i don’t want to spend hours only to be able to walk around and do basic stuff (because the UI is so complicated or overloaded with unnecessary stuff).
I just want to start a Game and have a bit of fun right away.
(I spent countless Hours in EQ1, but i don’t have that much time on my hands now anymore).
Check out Swarm and Tower of Goo at http://www.experimentalgameplay.com/.
Fun Games don’t have to be Big and Complex.
Granted, you can’t play above Games longer than 5 Minutes, but thats what i’m looing for right now. just a little bit of Fun to distract me from Work and School
Boobies!
Gentleman Hal said:
Boobies!
I suggest you change your nickname from Gentleman Hal to Pervert Hal. :P
I suggest you change your nickname from Gentleman Hal to Pervert Hal.
Why ? There seem to be nothing wrong with boobies as by today nearly half of the people have some. :D
As nearly half of the people have two of them, you could say that statistically everybody has one…
…oh no, now I can't get the picture of single-boobed people out of my mind :roll:
Ahem, back to topic: I hate when a game makes too much "promises" that it doesn't hold. E.g. When you show doors or drawers, and all of them are locked, it's kind of cheating. Or if there is a small wall, and it looks like you could reach the top, but there is an invisible barrier, such things… Basically gameplay is more important than look (at least to me).
Landei said:
...oh no, now I can't get the picture of single-boobed people out of my mind
Arrgh, you infected me with that picture... :|
On-Topic: The most important thing of any game in this area: it needs a good story
Good graphics are essential (with regards to effects, HUDs, models - etc). If it looks rubbish less people are likely get into the game enough to get a feel for the storyline, however good it may be.
darkfrog said:
I suggest you change your nickname from Gentleman Hal to Pervert Hal. :P
I suggest you change your name to... erm.... shutupfrog; HA, have at you cad!
To be honest I don't think any one thing makes a game. You can't really makes the graphics 10x worse just because you've made the story 10x better etc etc.
You're right, somehow every part counts. But on the other side, look at Wii Sports: the graphics is simple, but its fun to play, because of its controls
A very good point Vardamir. I have a Wii and actually play it (as opposed to my PS3 which, apart from Super Rub a Dub http://www.us.playstation.com/PS3/Games/Super_Rub_a_Dub I haven’t really found any games I prefer to play to the PC), but I do find the graphics quite annoying sometimes. I must say though, Zelda was the only one I’ve played that I didn’t really think much about the graphics.
For me, if it's not multiplayer I probably won't play it.
For multiplayer games one of the biggest aspects is community. For example, in my personal opinion WoW is a boring game (you'd realize that too if you played it without anyone in there 
)…but many people play it because their friends do, or they have a guild they constantly do missions with, or they participate in the forums…on and on…
Stimulation
Yes. Multiplayer! That's very important nowadays. Again, i have to point you to the Wii. For me its only fun, if i can play with some friends. Hm, the problem is, i dont have friends, so the Wii was a mispurchase 
The best games i remember were Space Quest and Leisure Suit Larry. They were good, because they were really funny. What was the last game that made you laugh out loud in front of your PC/console? But as soon as they changed the controls to click and point, it wasnt that funny anymore.
Vardamir said:
You're right, somehow every part counts. But on the other side, look at Wii Sports: the graphics is simple, but its fun to play, because of its controls
Ah but I don't think just because graphics are simple that means they are bad. Take a look at all the games by Kenta Cho over at ABA Games. They all have really simple graphics but look amazing. As long as the graphics are consistent and appropriate to the style of the game it's fine (which Wii Sports is).
To me bad graphics are when games add things like bloom and all the latest shader techniques thinking that alone will make it look good. The only example I can think of off the top of my head is Oblivion (the 360 version at least). All the screen shots look amazing but as soon as you play the game you realise it has horrible HORRIBLE character animation and LODing (again possibly only LODing issues on the 360).
Looks pretty awesome on a powerful PC. ;) It's a shame their AI they touted for so long sucks so bad. 
Vardamir said:
What was the last game that made you laugh out loud in front of your PC/console?
Maniac Mansion / Day of the Tentacle
The Secret of Monkey Island
Vardamir said:
What was the last game that made you laugh out loud in front of your PC/console?
I guess I'll answer this, too... Half-Life 2. There are a few funny parts in there with the characters, but what came to mind was the very last level, using the super gravity-gun to paint the walls with Combine bodies. But then again...I am a bit weird...