Throwing ideas around: what game would you make?

lugaru said:
Hero: team manager Ever play freedom force? Mix that with a Sims/COH (city of heroes) style character creation system and the ability to recruit heroes. You can manage a small team and fight crime downtown while trying to get them to get along and purchase new equipment. Eventually your team will be famous enough to attract a really powerful roster and your playground is global, jumping around X-Com style fighting alien invasions, giant monsters, mad scientists and supervillain teams.
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This.

I had a idea somewhat like this, except that it would be CRPG in a post-nuclear version of a futuristic super-hero universe. A arms race involving genetically engineered super humans, magic, nukes, bio-chemical weapons and super-advanced technology between NATO, the Shangai Pact and a alliance between Fundamentalist Nations ends up in a world-wide war that devastates the world. Most famous super-heroes of that time dissapeared (think Avengers/Justice League, that kind of super-hero teams) during the war.

The game begins thirty years after the war. The world is a radiated ruin where bandits, gangs of superhumans, roving groups of mutated freaks, mad scientists, law-less vigilantes feudal kingdowns, city-states and super-advanced military groups rule over the remants. Few areas of the world are recovering thanks to the help of powerful well-intentioned super-humans and advanced technology, but most areas of the world are Fallout-style shitholes, either because of their climate, the constant fights involving super-humans or even wars between the survivors. In many places, super-humans are discriminated and even hunted. In some places, "Normals" are hunted by super-supremacists. The world is chaotic and there is no unified governament. The remaining, older super-heroes try to restabilish order and restore the rule of the law, while the new generation of anti-heroes and vigilantes prefer to use harsher methods, causing a rift between the old-fashioned "capes" and the brutal "vigilantes." Sometimes the remaining super-heroes are forced to use extreme methods to keep their territory in control. There are rumors that some nations survived by the war and are trying to rebuild. Sometimes those nations are attacked by foreign super-humans, desintegrate in civil war or end up conquered by other surviving countries. Some areas of earth are contaminated by radiation and bio-chemical weapons, turning into deathlands where only hard mutants lurk.

The news of the war spread beyond earth. There are rumors of alien sightings and even rumors of alien invasions by species once-defeated by earth's heroes. Many strange cults dedicated to cosmic horrors from beyond were formed, and powerful dark wizards sell their souls to powerful demons who whisper dark secrets in their ears. New religions around old and new gods spread around the world, and some even believe that the end will soon arrive and only the faithful will survive. Some even say the gods walk the earth. Old and new ideologies came back, and there are reports of a neo-nazist Fourth Reich somewhere in the territory of old Germany.

The fate of most original super-heroes is unknown. Some believe the greatest heroes died during the war. Others believe they evacuated off-world and are trying to build a new, utopian civilization somewhere in the solar system. There are even rumors that the greatest heroes decided to leave the earth and search a new destiny beyond the stars.

The most powerful super-humans died during the war, and the remaining super-humans are usually less powerful due to anti-super chemical weapons or simply though dissolution of their bloodlines. Guns are still useful and can kill most super-humans. Sometimes you will find someone who can laugh at headshots, those are the moments you must give them a super-beatdown, get bigger guns or find a different solution. Demi-god level beings (think Superman, Thor, Hulk...) are very rare, and those are usually influential heroes or powerful villains. Running at the speed of sound is pretty powerful, for example.

The main storyline revolves around a alien warship that crashed near the ruins of Boston. A war between the area's factions begins. Yet, the ship was disapeared. What happened?

You can determine who you are though background: You can be many things, like a alien infiltrator, a old cape, a inventor from a advanced city, a gangster, a vigiliante and many other things. You can determine your origin (City of Heroes style) and from your origin you can determine your powers. Powers are a point/buy system in the first level. You can take a lot of powers, but you will have to take disadvantages, like vulnerabilities, deficiencies or certain low stats. Powers are the classical comic book powers (Strength, telepathy, telekinesis, pyrokinesis, magic, etecetera), but certain less-valued powers in comics are more valued in the game. Being immune to bullets is not "meh", but TOTALLY AWESOME. To use most of your powers you have to spend fatigue. Many powers have multiple combat and non-combat uses. Some powers can mimicry other powers - Powerful telepaths can mimicry invisibility by using their telepathy to force someone's brain NOT to perceive him, strong telekinetics can fly, very strong people can slap their palms to produce sonic attacks - but mimicrying costs two times the fatigue. You can make a non-powered character who uses technology, guns, martial arts and even diplomacy to solve problems. Besides powers, you also have skills that help you, like combat skills (divided into categories and sub-categories that evolute together. Learning more about pistols makes you a lot better with revolvers, and a bit with assault rifles, but you will still suck with a rocket launcher or a hammer), diplomatic skills (Diplomacy, Deception, Intimidation, Leadership, Streetwiseness), thievery skills (stealing, sneaking, lockpicking, traps), medical skills (First Aid, Doctor, Genetics), technological (Mechanics, Biology, Eletronics) and others (Concentration, Willpower, Dodging, Gambling).

Combat is turn-based and squad-based. Scenery is destructible, physics are a important factor in the game. Enemies are as smart as they should be (a army of invading aliens is smarter than some raiders). Technology is a matter of location - Most areas are fallout-style shitholes with standard tech, only few areas are futuristic places with laser pistols, flying armors and robots. Bullets are mostly rare and only turn plentiful in the endgame. Advanced weaponry is rare and expensive. Unlike Fallout, bullets don't grow on trees.
 
Not really a concept for a game directly but more of an idea I have been walking around with for a while.

Its premise is that humanity has been invaded once more by aliens and just barely beat them with their sole experimental super space fighter.
The general population is getting fed up of the alien invasions, occupation, and the consequential reconstruction after the aliens have been driven out.

Rather then defeating alien menaces in humanity's desperate hour of need the people want the government to prevent alien invasions in the first place.

The government hires the player who is a sort of military handy man whose job it is is to convince alien invaders that Earth is the most terrible place in the universe to invade.

From the start the player is explained what attracts alien invaders to our planet, some aliens are attracted to well ordered societies while others prefer anarchistic ones.
Some like clean planets, while others are attracted to cesspools.

By convincing one alien invader to leave Earth alone, another may be attracted, requiring the player to be vigilant the whole time.

Unfortunate the player has two opponents; the military who sees alien invasions as good reasons to spend billions into experimental weapons and shine as the liberators of Earth, and an alien interstellar organization that searches for worlds ready for invasions which information they sell to would be conquerers.
Earth happens to be on top of their list and they really don't want it to disappear from that position or list.

The player wins if every alien civilization is convinced to stay away from Earth.
 
If I had money to create any game, I'd hire the original devs to make Van Buren with the TORN engine and then rip off the mechanics in thje ultimate fantasy cRPG.
 
Alternity adapted for PC with a focus on modifiability and online gameplay like NWN, only done better. One of the better RP systems IMO, simple yet powerful, flexible, and useful for many things. I'd imagine that the single-player campaign would allow for many paths with combat being a very difficult route to take (due to the combat system generally being more damaging than most CRPGs).
 
Some kind of 1st person shooter that would be more than a romaticed shooting range; soldiers would have morale, which would make fight worse and eventually run away (if possible), and with max difficulty, you would die even from a single bullet to the right place. You could heal minor wounds yourself (but not anything like in Farcry 2), and for bigger wounds, you needed to call for medic, who would try to come if possible. Wounds would also affect fighting on both you and others, so a guy with a bullet in the stomach could just lay down and try to shoot that way, and would eventually bleed to death if medic couldn't come fast enough. The player could choose his class in single player too (like medic, who could heal himself better, or sniper, who would be more accurate etc.)
 
Hmm, thinking about it more. I'd like too see a zombie post apocalyptic squad based game. Isometric and all that shit. Only it would be sorta RPG based too. Think fallout with a diverse combat system and zombies. Plus it would have survivors etc.
 
A combat sim - something like Operation Flashpoint but much more realistic and looking and feeling like Microprose's flight sims from late 1980s, but in greater resolution.
The player would be a soldier in a Soviet-style army fighting against a smaller, less advanced country.

There would be several functions that one would be able to choose in the beginning of the game and a big interactive campaign.

The game would be very brutal - there would be anti-partizan operations where civilians would be killed. Humans would sometimes die with a gory death.
 
The Dutch Ghost said:
Its premise is that humanity has been invaded once more by aliens and just barely beat them with their sole experimental super space fighter.
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That makes it sound like a sequel to Galaga or Zaxxon or Defender or any of the classic scrolling space shooters. I like that idea.
 
UniversalWolf said:
The Dutch Ghost said:
Its premise is that humanity has been invaded once more by aliens and just barely beat them with their sole experimental super space fighter.
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That makes it sound like a sequel to Galaga or Zaxxon or Defender or any of the classic scrolling space shooters. I like that idea.
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In a way it does make fun of that concept but my idea was more for a comedy strategy game in which you have to perform all kinds of actions to drive away alien scouting parties who want to see if Earth is a good place to take over.

At the same time you have to keep the military at bay who would like nothing more than an alien attack to test their newest super ship/weapon, and the alien organization who markets Earth as a great place to invade.

I have some more ideas but they are more storyline concepts than game concepts.
 
A heroes-like game, in a viking setting, the game would be mostly turn-based, but combat would be real time to visualize the chaos and carnage of a real battlefield. kind of like a mix between heroes and diablo.
 
Well i guess it would depend on what type of game i wanted to make.

Say for a fantasy game.

There would have to be several beginings dependent upon class/race/abilities/nationality/religion etc.

Tied into the the above would decide if you started off the game with the main quest or "stumble" upon it.

There would be multiple factions and conflicting quests or goals.many quests and factions would be dependent on the Class/Race etc.. stated above.

This would be to encourage the player to create different characters and make the game a bit different everytime you played.

Skills/feats or whatever you want to call them would be dependent upon the same and there would be a points system to raise them to the next level.In class skills/feats would be normal cost and cross class ones would cost much more dependent on their level.

For example taking a in class level one skill may cost 10 points but taking a cross-class one may be double or triple and the cost would increase with each suceeding level of a cross-class skill taken.

Real magical items and powers would be rare and hard to obtain.Early on playing a magic character would be hard,as it should be,but later with much work and patience you would be rewarded.

Weapons and armor would be based on an artisan system.Say at master level both would be extremely durable.Damaged armor/weapons would be useless.There would also be no field repairs.No one is dragging around an entire blacksmith shop in their back pocket.

Armor would stop damage(not reduce it).Damage would occur with a hit on a weak or unprotected spot.Certain weapons would be able to pierce armor.Damage would not be hit point based but location based.

Unarmored or lightly armored characters would have a better chance of doging attacks but if hit would more than likely suffer crippling or fatal damage.

Areas would have multiple levels of challenge.This would be to make it worthwhile for higher level characters to return to older places.

A dynamic world where not only your actions but actions taken by others or out of your control help to shape it and your adventure.

Multiple endings based upon an assortment of criteria.

Free extra content unless it was an actual expansion to the game.

There is a lot more,and much more detail that goes into the things above,but i could spend six or seven pages going into all of what kind of game i would make and thats just for a high fantasy RPG.

I have some other ideas on Sci-Fi,WWII,and sports games that i wouldn't mind making.
 
a good game? simple:

I would lock Tim Cain, Leonard Boyarsky, Jason Anderson and Chris Avelone inside a vault with a bunch of good programmers and such and would patiently wait for the result! :D
 
Serge 13 said:
a good game? simple:

I would lock Tim Cain, Leonard Boyarsky, Jason Anderson and Chris Avelone inside a vault with a bunch of good programmers and such and would patiently wait for the result! :D
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Several months later

As the doors are opened the first sign of struggle can be seen, from random acts of destruction against objects, to blood stain, to various traps made of random objects which purpose is to impale or decapitate anyone walking into them.

As no one responds to the calls of the search party, they go deeper into the vault, as they do the signs of struggle increase and parts of the vault are hidden in darkness as the lights have been destroyed.

Then suddenly one of the search party's members hears a sound in the distance, armed only with flashlights they head towards the source.

One of the party member's is about to struggle over something, several beams of light are aimed at the object responsible only to show the grizzly sight of bones; Human bones!

Most of the flesh has been torn of it but the marks of teeth are still visible on it.

Then once again the party hears a sound and turn around, shining their lights into the corridor they were about to enter.
Several hunched figures can be seen, surrounding something, their bodies casting a shadow against the walls with the light upon them.

The slowly one rises up and looks into the direction of the source of the light.
Despite his face being covered with a beard and blood stains and his hair grown long and unmaintained the face of Chris Avellone can be recognized.

He has a feral look on his face with bloodshot eyes while his teeth are exposed like an angry dog, bits of meat can be seen between them.
His clothes are almost torn to pieces and scratches and cuts can be seen on the exposed parts.

Then the other figures look up, one of them is Leonard Boyarsky whose is in the same state as Chris, being more animal than man.
The others are revealed to be members of the programming and the sound team who were initially locked up with Tim Cain, Leonard Boyarsky, Jason Anderson and Chris Avelone.

Then finally the thing they have been surrounding can be seen, it looks like a half eaten animal carcass until one of the team members recognizes the half torn face; it is Tim Cain, or what is at least left of him after the group had a piece of him.

The various members of the search party look at each other

The Dutch Ghost "Say Serge 13, when you started this brilliant scheme of yours, you did make sure that they had enough food and drinking supplies as well as the means to entertain themselves during off hours, did you?"

Serge 13 "Ehh, well..." Serge 13 realizes he did forget one important and crucial part in his plan
 
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