Another Bog standard fantastic idea
by TreManor · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 08/28/2008 (7:05 am) · 10 replies
Ok, so I know you have read a million threads titled, " GREAT NEW IDEA! " only to get into the thread and find either;
a.) nothing really new
b.)the thread starter is unwilling to discuss the specifics of the idea.
Well I am hoping to buck the trend on at least one of those fronts.
I have an idea for a game that would be a mixof Diablo and the new absolutely brilliant looking Castle Crashers. I have not yet begun the art development for the idea as it only just occurred to me last night ( HEY maybe I buck BOTH trends after all! :D ), however that is only a minor thing at this point.
What I am interested to know is whether or not I might find any help interested in such a project. And if Torque X would work for such a thing.
fair warnign though, I am not sure how much time I can devote to the effort as I am a fulltime parent of two very young children and a full time freelance sculptor of 32 mm fantasy war gaming figures. You can see some of my work at www.red-box-games.com or at www.reapermini.com ( just run a search for Tre Manor ).
Also I work as @D artist for Reaper miniatures as well.
Thanks for your time and forebearance.
Tre'
a.) nothing really new
b.)the thread starter is unwilling to discuss the specifics of the idea.
Well I am hoping to buck the trend on at least one of those fronts.
I have an idea for a game that would be a mixof Diablo and the new absolutely brilliant looking Castle Crashers. I have not yet begun the art development for the idea as it only just occurred to me last night ( HEY maybe I buck BOTH trends after all! :D ), however that is only a minor thing at this point.
What I am interested to know is whether or not I might find any help interested in such a project. And if Torque X would work for such a thing.
fair warnign though, I am not sure how much time I can devote to the effort as I am a fulltime parent of two very young children and a full time freelance sculptor of 32 mm fantasy war gaming figures. You can see some of my work at www.red-box-games.com or at www.reapermini.com ( just run a search for Tre Manor ).
Also I work as @D artist for Reaper miniatures as well.
Thanks for your time and forebearance.
Tre'
#2
BAsically I would like to contribute to the development of a halfway top down dungeon crawl / hinterland adventure type game in which players could choose between, and somewhat customize various character types like barbarian, rogue, wizard, elf, monk, knight, and gnome. the look would be somewhere between Disney and Mignola, and the genre would be iron age Burtonesque Norse dark fantasy. Lotsof humour, tongue in cheek plays at the stereo types of the genre, i.e. Barbarians in nothing but loin cloths and horned helmets, busty femme fatales, Doe eyed elves, dwarves with beards that drag the ground... that kind of thing.
CHaracters would each have drastically different abilities and attributes; Barbarian, REALLY strong, REALLY tough, no magic, really limited ranged ability, dwarves could spot traps and secret doors instantly, resist magic, etc. Elves could fire ridiculously fast arrows and fight with two swords be really fast, but not strong or tough, wizards could cast spells ( duh ) and the likes.... You know Bog Standard fantasy stuff.
Melee would consist of combos and super moves which would be limited by stamina, the stronger the move or more effective the combo the higher the cost of stamina, and when stamina runs out, the fighter can only make basic moves and walk, as running would also cost a little stamina. certain classes would have certain benefits , Barbarian recovers stamina faster, Knight resists damage better, elf runs out of stamina slower, dwarf recovers health faster, etc.etc.
Magic would work much the same.
Characters would gain experience in different ways acording to their given class and some humourous jabs at fantasy stereo types; i.e. barbarian gets more exp from killing higher numbers of enemies faster, dwarf gets more exp by having more gold than the rest of the party, wizard gets more exp by snapping up mane from fallen enemies, elf gets more experience by pulling off fancy combos, etc.
Does this better explain the idea or give this post a little more merit?
08/28/2008 (8:01 am)
Well it was intended as tongue in cheek. Sorry if it came off as harsh.BAsically I would like to contribute to the development of a halfway top down dungeon crawl / hinterland adventure type game in which players could choose between, and somewhat customize various character types like barbarian, rogue, wizard, elf, monk, knight, and gnome. the look would be somewhere between Disney and Mignola, and the genre would be iron age Burtonesque Norse dark fantasy. Lotsof humour, tongue in cheek plays at the stereo types of the genre, i.e. Barbarians in nothing but loin cloths and horned helmets, busty femme fatales, Doe eyed elves, dwarves with beards that drag the ground... that kind of thing.
CHaracters would each have drastically different abilities and attributes; Barbarian, REALLY strong, REALLY tough, no magic, really limited ranged ability, dwarves could spot traps and secret doors instantly, resist magic, etc. Elves could fire ridiculously fast arrows and fight with two swords be really fast, but not strong or tough, wizards could cast spells ( duh ) and the likes.... You know Bog Standard fantasy stuff.
Melee would consist of combos and super moves which would be limited by stamina, the stronger the move or more effective the combo the higher the cost of stamina, and when stamina runs out, the fighter can only make basic moves and walk, as running would also cost a little stamina. certain classes would have certain benefits , Barbarian recovers stamina faster, Knight resists damage better, elf runs out of stamina slower, dwarf recovers health faster, etc.etc.
Magic would work much the same.
Characters would gain experience in different ways acording to their given class and some humourous jabs at fantasy stereo types; i.e. barbarian gets more exp from killing higher numbers of enemies faster, dwarf gets more exp by having more gold than the rest of the party, wizard gets more exp by snapping up mane from fallen enemies, elf gets more experience by pulling off fancy combos, etc.
Does this better explain the idea or give this post a little more merit?
#4
Barbarians in nothing but loin cloths and horned helmets, busty femme fatales, Doe eyed elves,
_____________________
Nothing but Busty doe eyed femme fatale elves in only loin cloths?? I am sure that would be a hit with most teen males....
Seriously however, "HOW" you have described it thus far sounds like a slightly more in depth version of "Gauntlet" I am not sure if you are familiar with the series, its quite fun actually, or was when I last played it several years ago.
From my reading other posts on new ideas, I know a few questions people will ask, and often they come out sounding harsh, so I will ask them first, in hopefully a non harsh way :)
1) What makes this idea new, or is it only new to you.
2) Do you just want to play this game, or really BUILD it (if you make figurines I would dare say you like using a creative touch to bring things to life, (I like marketing) a free figurine with every game sale, and a nice book, now thats not profitable but I love classy game companies.
3) Have you worked out more than just "I like this flavor/feel for a game" Obviously you have a vision of what you like "Disney meets Mignolia" etc. Can you elaborate more, or post pics/links for folks who are less aware of those art types (I am sure most folks know disney, but at least I myself am ignorant of Mignolia) being a curious person I will go out and research it for MY sake, but many folks won't.
4) Everyone has ideas, and most people say "ideas are useless!!!" what they mean usually is, Ok you want me to spend 100 hours bringing your idea to life then you take credit (NOT GONNA HAPPEN), or "So you got an idea for a shooter?" (Its called Duke Nukem or DOOM or Quake etc)....basically no one I know is a mind reader, you have an idea that appeals to you, so make it appeal to THEM, what about this game will appeal to other people?
5) its a New idea, but is it unique, was it meant to be? You use the phrase "Standard" fairly often, what is it about this game thats exciting you? Gnomes explode when hit (everyone loves gnome suffering), do the barbarians have to hold their loincloths down like Marilyn Monroe over the air vent when hit? YOu know, what makes it "Grab YOU"? Share a little of your passion/Love so we can go Hey, I don't care how standard the idea sounds working with this guy is gonna be FUN and his input is gonna be critical to making a game thats interesting and great to play.
6) You mentioned contributing, are you more interested in joining a project perhaps, or are you really set on your ideas for a game, most things in life as you know don't just fall together, you don't contribute to minatures or family life, and the same goes for a game that can take thousands of manhours to make :), what would your contribution be?, These sites draw out the most creative people, I have a billion ideas myself, and guard most of them jealously because like so many others I believe I have something unique (A seed never planted never grows however), Not that we should throw away our precious ideas, I am only saying that most people won't respect your most brilliant ideas if they don't say "Hey thats a heck of a lot better than mine"
7) Do you have a storyline, you know evil dragon steals the bacon, and the knights are all hungry?
Main heroes or just generic characters you roll up.
Any specific "feel" are your characters called, avatars, toons, characters etc, you know the "idea of the game outside the game" or is it just meant to be a "Lets toss colorful characters into funny fantasy situations and kill some monsters"
8) Was I harsh? I hope not, I just see this as the typical stream of "I got an idea" "So what" "no its a great idea" "see this other thread" "end of thread" conversations here.
I wish you Success!!
Work Smart,
Work Hard,
and Have Fun.
08/28/2008 (8:54 am)
----------------------------------Barbarians in nothing but loin cloths and horned helmets, busty femme fatales, Doe eyed elves,
_____________________
Nothing but Busty doe eyed femme fatale elves in only loin cloths?? I am sure that would be a hit with most teen males....
Seriously however, "HOW" you have described it thus far sounds like a slightly more in depth version of "Gauntlet" I am not sure if you are familiar with the series, its quite fun actually, or was when I last played it several years ago.
From my reading other posts on new ideas, I know a few questions people will ask, and often they come out sounding harsh, so I will ask them first, in hopefully a non harsh way :)
1) What makes this idea new, or is it only new to you.
2) Do you just want to play this game, or really BUILD it (if you make figurines I would dare say you like using a creative touch to bring things to life, (I like marketing) a free figurine with every game sale, and a nice book, now thats not profitable but I love classy game companies.
3) Have you worked out more than just "I like this flavor/feel for a game" Obviously you have a vision of what you like "Disney meets Mignolia" etc. Can you elaborate more, or post pics/links for folks who are less aware of those art types (I am sure most folks know disney, but at least I myself am ignorant of Mignolia) being a curious person I will go out and research it for MY sake, but many folks won't.
4) Everyone has ideas, and most people say "ideas are useless!!!" what they mean usually is, Ok you want me to spend 100 hours bringing your idea to life then you take credit (NOT GONNA HAPPEN), or "So you got an idea for a shooter?" (Its called Duke Nukem or DOOM or Quake etc)....basically no one I know is a mind reader, you have an idea that appeals to you, so make it appeal to THEM, what about this game will appeal to other people?
5) its a New idea, but is it unique, was it meant to be? You use the phrase "Standard" fairly often, what is it about this game thats exciting you? Gnomes explode when hit (everyone loves gnome suffering), do the barbarians have to hold their loincloths down like Marilyn Monroe over the air vent when hit? YOu know, what makes it "Grab YOU"? Share a little of your passion/Love so we can go Hey, I don't care how standard the idea sounds working with this guy is gonna be FUN and his input is gonna be critical to making a game thats interesting and great to play.
6) You mentioned contributing, are you more interested in joining a project perhaps, or are you really set on your ideas for a game, most things in life as you know don't just fall together, you don't contribute to minatures or family life, and the same goes for a game that can take thousands of manhours to make :), what would your contribution be?, These sites draw out the most creative people, I have a billion ideas myself, and guard most of them jealously because like so many others I believe I have something unique (A seed never planted never grows however), Not that we should throw away our precious ideas, I am only saying that most people won't respect your most brilliant ideas if they don't say "Hey thats a heck of a lot better than mine"
7) Do you have a storyline, you know evil dragon steals the bacon, and the knights are all hungry?
Main heroes or just generic characters you roll up.
Any specific "feel" are your characters called, avatars, toons, characters etc, you know the "idea of the game outside the game" or is it just meant to be a "Lets toss colorful characters into funny fantasy situations and kill some monsters"
8) Was I harsh? I hope not, I just see this as the typical stream of "I got an idea" "So what" "no its a great idea" "see this other thread" "end of thread" conversations here.
I wish you Success!!
Work Smart,
Work Hard,
and Have Fun.
#5
Well first off the idea certainly is NOT new. I have a funny feeling that if I get a new and completely original idea the at best it probably would not work and would not be worth the attempt, ..........at worst the entrie cosmos might just implode.
I am quite familiar with the Gauntlet games, and I would say that remaking a game as successful as teh gauntle franchise sounds like a pretty damned good idea. :D Hey it has worked for every single developer who has come after Doom hasn't it? Ho wmany damn ways can you point and shoot anyway? :P
I am currently working up some sketches for the character archetypes that I will try to get posted soon.
I would want to create very identifiable characters with unique personalities, screw complete customization most people just wind up with bollocks anyway. We'll give em some characters they can route for and have a lot of fun running around bashing, frying, thieving, pincushioning, blasting nasty green toothed beasties with. I would not see any actual dialog for the game, just some unintelligable gibberish and pantomime.
Did I write Mignolia, I meant Mignola, as in Mike Mignola creator fo the Hellboy comic.
A dragon stealing all the bacon from the hungry knights sounds EXACTLY like a great chapter for the game.
Then maybe some fat gobbies could kidnap all the children from a village to mash into jelly for peanut butter sandwiches. Or for the annual Ruins of Greimerschtruchberg company pick nick Bar-B-Que.
Absolutely, positively, NO saving the damn world or averting cataclysmic diasasters! Oi! Can no one think of anything original!?
What grabs me about the idea is the thought of having some actual FUN with fantasy and evoking some nostalgia for the classics of the genre, and maybe poking a little fun here and there. I mean who would not love to spin like a top through a crowd of cartoony goblins weilding a battle axe the sixe of a......... big thing that would have to be invented in such a world...... snarling some unintelligible gibberish and laughing like a deranged lunatic! You can't tell me THAT doesn't sound liek so much fun it's scary.
Sure it has all been done, there are more Euro-centric Tolkienesque fantasy regurgitations on themarket than you can shake a stick at, but they are ALL SO FRIKKEN SERIOUS! Where is the fun, where are the laughs? Castle Crashers is about it, and I do not feel like they quite covered all the bases, REALLY damn close, but not quite.
Anyway I will try to get some concept art up later...........
And if anybody steals this idea, at least have the decency to do a good damned job while you are at it! Oi!
Tre'
08/28/2008 (10:49 am)
Not harsh at all Chad.Well first off the idea certainly is NOT new. I have a funny feeling that if I get a new and completely original idea the at best it probably would not work and would not be worth the attempt, ..........at worst the entrie cosmos might just implode.
I am quite familiar with the Gauntlet games, and I would say that remaking a game as successful as teh gauntle franchise sounds like a pretty damned good idea. :D Hey it has worked for every single developer who has come after Doom hasn't it? Ho wmany damn ways can you point and shoot anyway? :P
I am currently working up some sketches for the character archetypes that I will try to get posted soon.
I would want to create very identifiable characters with unique personalities, screw complete customization most people just wind up with bollocks anyway. We'll give em some characters they can route for and have a lot of fun running around bashing, frying, thieving, pincushioning, blasting nasty green toothed beasties with. I would not see any actual dialog for the game, just some unintelligable gibberish and pantomime.
Did I write Mignolia, I meant Mignola, as in Mike Mignola creator fo the Hellboy comic.
A dragon stealing all the bacon from the hungry knights sounds EXACTLY like a great chapter for the game.
Then maybe some fat gobbies could kidnap all the children from a village to mash into jelly for peanut butter sandwiches. Or for the annual Ruins of Greimerschtruchberg company pick nick Bar-B-Que.
Absolutely, positively, NO saving the damn world or averting cataclysmic diasasters! Oi! Can no one think of anything original!?
What grabs me about the idea is the thought of having some actual FUN with fantasy and evoking some nostalgia for the classics of the genre, and maybe poking a little fun here and there. I mean who would not love to spin like a top through a crowd of cartoony goblins weilding a battle axe the sixe of a......... big thing that would have to be invented in such a world...... snarling some unintelligible gibberish and laughing like a deranged lunatic! You can't tell me THAT doesn't sound liek so much fun it's scary.
Sure it has all been done, there are more Euro-centric Tolkienesque fantasy regurgitations on themarket than you can shake a stick at, but they are ALL SO FRIKKEN SERIOUS! Where is the fun, where are the laughs? Castle Crashers is about it, and I do not feel like they quite covered all the bases, REALLY damn close, but not quite.
Anyway I will try to get some concept art up later...........
And if anybody steals this idea, at least have the decency to do a good damned job while you are at it! Oi!
Tre'
#6
Another good game in the bash em for bash em sake was Golden Axe. Not as "fun" oriented as some but fun.
I liked Dragons' Lair for Goofy style Fun. And wouldn't mind a "horde of barbarians" to control while sending them to their doom fighting armies of goblins and death traps and feeding them to dragons and letting them be squished by giants clubs, you know in order to save the wor....err the children from being turned into jelly sandwhiches.
:)
08/28/2008 (1:43 pm)
Hehe no you said Mignola all proper like I just mis spelled/qouted you, sorry about that.Another good game in the bash em for bash em sake was Golden Axe. Not as "fun" oriented as some but fun.
I liked Dragons' Lair for Goofy style Fun. And wouldn't mind a "horde of barbarians" to control while sending them to their doom fighting armies of goblins and death traps and feeding them to dragons and letting them be squished by giants clubs, you know in order to save the wor....err the children from being turned into jelly sandwhiches.
:)
#7
08/28/2008 (2:45 pm)
Check out: Frayed Knights made with Torque, humorous RPG. Not the same style as you're thinking, but perhaps something to help the indie juices flow by looking at other indie games with similar premise.
#8
your going to need atleast 6 month to a year to release your first alpha.
so considering this most games that i think will be successful are going to be run by people with good pc's capable of producing a lot of power and they are coming *off the shelves* now.
If you havent made any games yet or tried development i think your best bet is to do what i did and join a team where you can produce more art and learn what your going to need to know as a producer.
But on the other hand anythings possible.
I am way to busy to help you with your development unfortunately so i apologize for my lack of help in advance.
I belive many other developers will also be to busy to help you but you may get lucky our producer did but shes been working on the project for some time.
main question is if you want to be a producer do you really know how to make a game?
If not i suggest you start learning asap if you have a lack of time.
Billbop_Visions
08/28/2008 (6:44 pm)
Never used torque x but i would advise using tgea.your going to need atleast 6 month to a year to release your first alpha.
so considering this most games that i think will be successful are going to be run by people with good pc's capable of producing a lot of power and they are coming *off the shelves* now.
If you havent made any games yet or tried development i think your best bet is to do what i did and join a team where you can produce more art and learn what your going to need to know as a producer.
But on the other hand anythings possible.
I am way to busy to help you with your development unfortunately so i apologize for my lack of help in advance.
I belive many other developers will also be to busy to help you but you may get lucky our producer did but shes been working on the project for some time.
main question is if you want to be a producer do you really know how to make a game?
If not i suggest you start learning asap if you have a lack of time.
Billbop_Visions
#9
08/29/2008 (4:52 pm)
You can make another class called the drahken, which are half human and half dragon. 
Torque 3D Owner Edward
In this post your idea is??
Quote
"I have an idea for a game that would be a mixof Diablo and the new absolutely brilliant looking Castle Crashers."
End Quote
As full time house dad and producer of Fantasci Hidden War. I understand lack of time. But if your going to critic other short posts, lets see some more meat to the idea.