Torque 2D - Expanding the Universe - 1001 game ideas
by Jay Moore · in Torque Game Builder · 02/26/2005 (11:04 am) · 26 replies
Small ideas that would be fun thread
As we've been playing with T2D all the kinds of game play and new discoveries we've talked about over beers have been amazing... From genres better served by 2D game mechanics, old school retro play we'd love to play again with added twists, etc (side scrollers, adventure, top down RPG / RTS, puzzles, physics games).... This is more of one of those ... what if forum threads...
What if someone made a really fun trebuchet/catapult siege engine game - that doesn't suck (come on Joe I know you want to do it) or maybe a deeper higher quality spear throwing game like Melv posted a few years back... with the physics and collision in T2D this should be awesome to play with.
This is the thread of a 1001 fun game ideas... I know people will be unlikely to post thier brilliant top secret only you can know next killer ap game idea, but how about all the good ones you know you'll never get to...
As we've been playing with T2D all the kinds of game play and new discoveries we've talked about over beers have been amazing... From genres better served by 2D game mechanics, old school retro play we'd love to play again with added twists, etc (side scrollers, adventure, top down RPG / RTS, puzzles, physics games).... This is more of one of those ... what if forum threads...
What if someone made a really fun trebuchet/catapult siege engine game - that doesn't suck (come on Joe I know you want to do it) or maybe a deeper higher quality spear throwing game like Melv posted a few years back... with the physics and collision in T2D this should be awesome to play with.
This is the thread of a 1001 fun game ideas... I know people will be unlikely to post thier brilliant top secret only you can know next killer ap game idea, but how about all the good ones you know you'll never get to...
About the author
Serial / parallel entrepreneur, insight merchant, sailor and red wine enthusiast. Co-founder of BitRaider, out to change the game. An original partner in GarageGames and hosted Indie Game Con `02-`05.
#2
God I love this engine............
03/01/2005 (9:33 pm)
In the style of Harolds Pong game, I decided to make a newer looking Frogger type demo just to get my mind around some of this stuff. Then I'm gonna move onto some real game or another. Still got a million ideas floating around. God I love this engine............
#3
03/01/2005 (9:51 pm)
Space Taxi like on the old Commodore 64... got a prototype going, but no human eye could stand to look at it. 
#4
IMO not necessary to thinking in remakes only, most of the ancient legends of the classic 8 bit games has been rereleased or has a lot of clones. I think T2D have enough power inside to inspire the ppl designing NEW games, instead of a horde of old classic's clones.
03/04/2005 (5:34 am)
Space Taxi 2 just released a few month before, with the help of the original author John F. Kutcher of the legendary ST. More info and playable demo here : http://www.twilightgames.com/spacetaxi/spacetaxi_info.htmIMO not necessary to thinking in remakes only, most of the ancient legends of the classic 8 bit games has been rereleased or has a lot of clones. I think T2D have enough power inside to inspire the ppl designing NEW games, instead of a horde of old classic's clones.
#5
My point in posting this was to prove that ANYBODY can make a game with Torque 2D.
03/04/2005 (9:22 am)
True...Gabor...but I'm just a marketing guy, not a programmer.My point in posting this was to prove that ANYBODY can make a game with Torque 2D.
#6
03/04/2005 (1:20 pm)
OMG wow.. reminds me of the old days basic an C64 with 180k floppy's. Took you 15 minutes to load a game :)
#7
03/04/2005 (1:52 pm)
Wow...you had a 180k floppy...way to advanced for me.
#8
03/04/2005 (5:54 pm)
I'm going to port my existing puzzle game, Twin Distress, into T2D. I should then be able to add some animations to the blocks when they disappear from the screen & other eye candy. I know, I'm not sure how much programmer art can be considered eye candy, but it's worth a shot! :-)
#9
I'm about to start my 2D mini project (I have a full blown TGE project on the go), which is basically going back to the good old days of C64 overhead shoot 'em up. It maybe cheesy, but if there's one way to learn a bunch of cool coding techniques, it's by way of the shoot 'em up. :)
03/05/2005 (5:02 am)
I think everyone into 2D games should do searches for 8bit games or similar on Google.I'm about to start my 2D mini project (I have a full blown TGE project on the go), which is basically going back to the good old days of C64 overhead shoot 'em up. It maybe cheesy, but if there's one way to learn a bunch of cool coding techniques, it's by way of the shoot 'em up. :)
#10
Really educational and inspirational thingie.
I've often fantasized of crowd control game. There's a city and people walking the streets. Most of them are "green" - a normal state. However, some are dissatisfied, yellow and some are inciters/restless - red. If yellow person meets two or less greens, they are converted. if red person meets two greens yellows or four greens, they're converted to reds. So red ones are kinda "virus" plus, when they gather (say, three) - they start disrupting peace, demolish, etc. Player controls riot gear robot and has to disperse dangerous crowds, channel mob, arrest reds cought in disrupting peace.
Losses from broken window shops, cars etc mean negative score.
I recently read about modern and not fully tested crowd control techniques, some interesting stuff, for example, stink bullets, where snipers aim for especially disruptive and inciting persons, and shoot them with non-lethal bullet that emanates strong smell, so others are avoiding contact with the person. or sound very focused sound beam that renders people helpless etc. Very arcade-ish, if you ask me :)
03/05/2005 (6:17 am)
If you need inspiration, visit Home of the Underdogs. Astounding huge database of old titles, crosslinked like in Amazon, fine search by titles, genres, even themes.Really educational and inspirational thingie.
I've often fantasized of crowd control game. There's a city and people walking the streets. Most of them are "green" - a normal state. However, some are dissatisfied, yellow and some are inciters/restless - red. If yellow person meets two or less greens, they are converted. if red person meets two greens yellows or four greens, they're converted to reds. So red ones are kinda "virus" plus, when they gather (say, three) - they start disrupting peace, demolish, etc. Player controls riot gear robot and has to disperse dangerous crowds, channel mob, arrest reds cought in disrupting peace.
Losses from broken window shops, cars etc mean negative score.
I recently read about modern and not fully tested crowd control techniques, some interesting stuff, for example, stink bullets, where snipers aim for especially disruptive and inciting persons, and shoot them with non-lethal bullet that emanates strong smell, so others are avoiding contact with the person. or sound very focused sound beam that renders people helpless etc. Very arcade-ish, if you ask me :)
#11
03/05/2005 (11:27 am)
Cool idea Nauris. Chris Calef, a programmer who works in our office here, had some similar ideas a while back. Maybe you guys should hook-up (though you're both very busy :).
#12
03/06/2005 (2:01 am)
Oh, someone else dreaming of pacifying violent crowds? Then there must be something with the idea after all :D
#13
03/15/2005 (5:59 am)
Something that I found inspiring was actually sites like nick.com and cartoonnetwork.com. Although they are basic flash games, there are some really cool things out there
#14
Massive motherships. Sort of like asteroids in that your defending your mothership from attack. But you could easily add in ai friendlies e.t.c to really keep the battles going :)
Fly in any direction and defend your mothership. Hyperspace to another section and so on.
The other idea i have is a stickman kungfu game :). Stcikmen becuase its easy to create and still unique, and kungfu well becuase its kungfu.
Make it similar to the old international karate games where you take on upto 4 players at once.Multiple opponents on multiple levels.
03/16/2005 (4:49 pm)
The first test i was going to do when i buy torque 2d is something akin to Homewolrd 2d.Massive motherships. Sort of like asteroids in that your defending your mothership from attack. But you could easily add in ai friendlies e.t.c to really keep the battles going :)
Fly in any direction and defend your mothership. Hyperspace to another section and so on.
The other idea i have is a stickman kungfu game :). Stcikmen becuase its easy to create and still unique, and kungfu well becuase its kungfu.
Make it similar to the old international karate games where you take on upto 4 players at once.Multiple opponents on multiple levels.
#15
".. and thats the object of the game, to find parking."
03/18/2005 (10:18 am)
Clamdigger. Ive been pining for a remake of that game since it was referenced in an ATHF episode on cartoon network.".. and thats the object of the game, to find parking."
#16
Remade, it could be one part sneaker, one part minigame puzzler.
03/22/2005 (11:18 am)
I've got a couple of ideas - but one I'd like to see someone else try is a Paradroid remake. The concept of Paradroid was that a small robot could infest a larger one, using a minigame. Larger ones had better weapons and were tougher. If that droid gets droid, the small droid reverts back to it's small defenseless self.Remade, it could be one part sneaker, one part minigame puzzler.
#17
03/22/2005 (12:54 pm)
Paradroid ROCKS... I used to spend hours on that game... ahh my C64 
#18
I"ve been trying to write an engine in C++ that would do what I needed to pull this story off, but I'm just not talented enough yet to do so. It looks like T2D is exactly what I need to create the game I've always wanted to create!
03/24/2005 (2:12 pm)
I'm all about classic 2D RPG's myself. Story is where it's at for me. When I get the money to buy T2D I'm going to be creating a full-fledged RPG with a graphic style similar to Chrono-Trigger or Secret of Mana. However combat won't be real-time, it'll be more like the earlier Final Fantasies (FF4J or 6J). The story and design on the main characters has been done for months, and it's good. My brother has been running Table-top D&D and Superhero RPG games for over 25 years, and he has quite an imagination. We worked together and put out a story that gets me excited everytime I read it. It's going to be good.I"ve been trying to write an engine in C++ that would do what I needed to pull this story off, but I'm just not talented enough yet to do so. It looks like T2D is exactly what I need to create the game I've always wanted to create!
#19
I'd say re-hash an old idea, make it look pretty, and sell it to as many stupid people as possible... soo many stupid people, not enough games.
But seriously, what about those infinite worlds that I've read about on gamasutra? There are many interesting possibilities there - like a space shoot-em up where the entire universe is never-ending (up to the limits of the largest computer-generated number, at which point the player has probably crumbled into a pile of disintegrating bones). An infinite variety of enemies based on archetypes, that can mutate into different shapes and configurations to adapt to the players gaming style. What about a game called ping-pong? Players over the net can ping other players, and the quicker you pong back, the more points you get. If you get out-ponged you lose health. Graphically it could be represented as nuclear missiles launching from various points on the planet, and laser defenses trying to shoot em down or something.
Thats just a couple I thought of on the spot.
03/30/2005 (7:33 am)
My precious ideas are too good to reveal! Tremble at my mighty talent!I'd say re-hash an old idea, make it look pretty, and sell it to as many stupid people as possible... soo many stupid people, not enough games.
But seriously, what about those infinite worlds that I've read about on gamasutra? There are many interesting possibilities there - like a space shoot-em up where the entire universe is never-ending (up to the limits of the largest computer-generated number, at which point the player has probably crumbled into a pile of disintegrating bones). An infinite variety of enemies based on archetypes, that can mutate into different shapes and configurations to adapt to the players gaming style. What about a game called ping-pong? Players over the net can ping other players, and the quicker you pong back, the more points you get. If you get out-ponged you lose health. Graphically it could be represented as nuclear missiles launching from various points on the planet, and laser defenses trying to shoot em down or something.
Thats just a couple I thought of on the spot.
#20
I think Wright's speech at the GDC is bringing this mode of thinking back into light, thank god. Sad that these days I get 1/100 the length of gaming that I used to get on a game designed for a floppy disk.
03/30/2005 (7:47 am)
"An infinite variety of enemies based on archetypes, that can mutate into different shapes and configurations to adapt to the players gaming style."I think Wright's speech at the GDC is bringing this mode of thinking back into light, thank god. Sad that these days I get 1/100 the length of gaming that I used to get on a game designed for a floppy disk.
Torque Owner Eugene Schaeffer