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[The Translocator]

A metroidvania /puzzle/ platformer in which the main character has a water gun which can be used to fill any level, anywhere, with water- which makes jumps go higher, some objects (i.e. keys or boxes) float, some sink, fires go out, holds down some buttons, and some enemies drown.

You would start the game unable to go in the water you create, but eventually get a suit that allows you to go under the water (but weighs you down more than normal), a vacuum that lets you return water to the water gun without resetting the level, remotely activated spraying/vacuuming robots, the ability to freeze the water to use it as a platform, a longer range water gun, gravity flipping that affects the water as well, time rewinding that doesn't affect the water, and I'm sure some other things. A weapon of some kind that you could shoot through the water- it doesn't matter what kind of weapon- but it freezes when you freeze the water.

Other ideas:
A laser to melt ice into water or bombs to do the same- allows you to turn part of the ice back into water, but keep the rest as ice.
A robot that fires that laser.
Fire keys that are destroyed when put into water
Drains that can be activated or deactivated with buttons
Fans that can be activated or deactivated with buttons- can push small blocks of ice or boxes or keys, but not water
Keys that are too heavy to carry underwater but they stay still
Ice boots to prevent slipping
Portal-style fizzlers that reset all the water using sci-fi technology upon contact
Areas you can't shoot water or place the robots in
An ability that inverts water and ice- you have to put the ice where the water is and vice versa
Boxes that are on fire
Electricity- it can flow through the water to buttons but not through ice

I'm sure there are some other ideas that could be added too.

Note: UNLIMITED water. Always. The nature of these puzzles is that rather than managing the *amount* of water the player has, you would have to manage the *position* of that water. Puzzles would be inherently interesting because of the unexplored nature of the interaction between water and ice. For example, water always flows down to the lowest level while ice can be melted in such a way that it does not fall while maintaining room for passage. Of course, you would need to melt the ice in a way that drains the water out of said passageway, which causes difficulties without even designing the level it takes place in. Basically the first 15 puzzles design themselves.

Edit:


Maybe I'm crazy, but to me it's already fun with no gameplay...

[shellbot]

Rugby Jam
You know NBA Jam. Ever heard of rugby? Basically I want to give rugby the 80s-arcade-sports game treatment. Imagine how that shit would play.

President Battle
You are running for president and must win the election by any means necessary. Appeal to as many people as possible, win debates by choosing the correct answers; and if all else fails: there's always bribery, extortion, blackmail, and playing dirty.

*note: the correct answer changes depending on what demographic you are talking to and what demographics you are trying to appeal to.

Peak
Procedurally-generated arcade mountain climbing

Nurtute
Pikmin + Zelda.


I have tons more in my archive, but I've been thinking about these the most lately. And although it doesn't seem like it from the little blurb I put here: "Peak" is the most thought-out, out of all of these. However the more I think about "President Battle", the funnier it gets to me.

[gunswordfist]

translocator, shut up and take my money.

[gunswordfist]

rugby jam would be amazing.

[The Translocator]

translocator, shut up and take my money.

I would if I knew how to program dynamic water and nozzles and that sort of thing. I'm not a wizard, unfortunately.


*I also just thought of some more ideas for the same game and updated my post.

President Battle
You are running for president and must win the election by any means necessary. Appeal to as many people as possible, win debates by choosing the correct answers; and if all else fails: there's always bribery, extortion, blackmail, and playing dirty.

*note: the correct answer changes depending on what demographic you are talking to and what demographics you are trying to appeal to.

If anyone ever makes that, they'd better make sure that you can never actually win a debate- every thing you say has to make someone mad.

It would be a great comedy game, I think. I'm not sure if it was made seriously whether it would work or not- not many people like serious politics. 

[shellbot]

rugby jam would be amazing.

I hope so
I've had that idea in my head for 4 years now.
I should probably just make it already

President Battle
You are running for president and must win the election by any means necessary. Appeal to as many people as possible, win debates by choosing the correct answers; and if all else fails: there's always bribery, extortion, blackmail, and playing dirty.

*note: the correct answer changes depending on what demographic you are talking to and what demographics you are trying to appeal to.

If anyone ever makes that, they'd better make sure that you can never actually win a debate- every thing you say has to make someone mad.

It would be a great comedy game, I think. I'm not sure if it was made seriously whether it would work or not- not many people like serious politics. 

Oh god it would totally suck as a serious game

The way I vision it: 90% satire, 10% social commentary. The debate questions would'nt actually have a correct answer, just whatever answer pisses off your target demographic the least. Or most. Whatever you feel like, I suppose.

[gunswordfist]

you know what they say, if you don't make it someone else will.

[shellbot]

you know what they say, if you don't make it someone else will.

Well I'm going to start up one game a month after I finish Over Yonder. I'll probably be able to bang out some of these ideas within the next year.

2015, the year of shellbot

[gunswordfist]

hopefully it's better than the year of the rigby. good luck.

[shellbot]

hopefully it's better than the year of the rigby. good luck.

Thanks! And I intend for it to be exactly like the year of the rigby

[The Translocator]

A game in which you play as the security director of a spaceship immediately following a murder by an alien capable of shapeshifting. The spaceship is isolated, so the alien would have had no way to escape (none of the escape pods have been used yet) but if the alien is able to get to Earth, all is lost. You have to keep as many people as you can alive and eliminate the alien before they can reach Earth. You have to decide who to trust (if anyone), how to deal with the alien, and what to do to prevent panic.
This would work best as a multiplayer top down RTS, I think. I'm imagining 32 player games where 1 is the alien to start out with. Every time an alien kills someone, they become an alien as well. The "higher ups" could give players orders, but it would be up to the players whether to follow them. If someone comes in to the room you're in without warning, do you shoot? If someone leaves their room, do you leave your post to investigate? What if the alien is outside, waiting? If someone tells you they think they know who the alien is, how do you know it's not them?

It would probably be insanely hard to make, though.

[gunswordfist]

it does sound hard. it is a great concept so it could be worth it. also, the aliens goal is to assimilate all of earth, right?

[The Translocator]

Yes, but I'm thinking the alien has some kind of nuclear weapon so if they get to Earth at all, they win.
They only avoid detonating it on the ship because that would be a waste of a bomb. And them.


Another idea:
An RTS where each player programs AI(s), in-game, using specific commands (they can't do anything that breaks the rules of the game, just the usual RTS actions). Then they build things for you, you just watch. You would be setting the rules for when the AI would take specific actions, before you know exactly what the enemy is going to do. Basically it would turn into AI *that you programmed* vs enemy AI *that the enemy programmed*. Then just hold a competition for the game every year, and the winning AI becomes the new single player AI that new players program their AI to fight as a test of ability. It would be a new genre, too. Real Time Typing- yes, there's strategy, but if you can type faster than your opponent then your AI spawns before your opponent's. One game mode has copying/pasting/whatever, another does not.

[surt]

Break Invaders
Breakout + Space Invaders. Earth is being invaded but you are low on ammo so need to reuse your bullets. (I'd be surprised if this hasn't been done before.)

Bloody bastards stole my idea!

[shellbot]

Break Invaders
Breakout + Space Invaders. Earth is being invaded but you are low on ammo so need to reuse your bullets. (I'd be surprised if this hasn't been done before.)

Bloody bastards stole my idea!

Our biggest fear about posting in this thread just happened guys.
Shut. Down. Everything.
Or make your game before someone else does


EDIT:
Idea I just had.

Level-based zelda-like.

Remove the over-world in-between dungeons, each dungeon is a single level. Basically shifting focus from exploring an entire land to exploring a level. I would also probably add a few layers of depth to combat.

Also you would still obtain new abilities ever dungeon and encounter at least 1 end dungeon boss (and possibly a mid dungeon boss too). Dungeons would also try to be expansive (each level taking roughly an hour).

[Praying Mantis]

"None who enter that place ever return."

Basically, make a dungeon crawler centred around the above trope that countless NPCs and characters rattle on about, and examine what it would be like to be the one who doesn't escape. Obviously because we're following the protagonist in those situations, they will be the ones to break the cycle, they will be the first to return. But what if the protagonist doesn't return?

Gameplay mechanics could involve the player spending a few minutes in a town before heading into the dungeon; choosing their gear, gathering food, stocking up on light sources, etc. How the player interacts with the town determines how the rest of the game will play out for them. Once the player gets into the dungeon they would bump into fellow adventures who have been wandering the dungeon for centuries, millenia perhaps. Some would be friendly and useful allies, others would be deceivers and backstabbers, others would be mindless zombies (these would make up the 'mook' generic enemy types). Interactions between others should feel kind of like DayZ; in which you can never know who to trust and who will turn on you.

I haven't really thought of the idea much more than that, but I think that turning the trope on its head presents interesting gameplay and storytelling opportunities. Maybe it could be a short-life roguelike, and the more 'deaths' you have, the more crowded the dungeon gets on each subsequent run. Maybe it's one of those 'play once' type games, and once you enter the dungeon you can't just start a new game (this would mean the interactions in the town prior to entering would have more weight behind them). Maybe it could be a MMO-lite, like Journey. Who knows.

[The Translocator]

Maybe it could play out like this:
Enter dungeon
Collect the item at the end of the dungeon
Find a place to put the item that your descendants will find them (i.e. memorable, obvious, but doesn't get destroyed as time passes)
You die
Take over as your descendant and find the items- the temple traps have already been sprung once and don't reset automatically so you're safe now.

[Praying Mantis]

I like the idea of leaving something for subsequent runs, but the ancestral thing sounds really similar to Rogue Legacy.

[gunswordfist]

then play rogue legacy to make your idea that much better.

[He-Who-Develops-Games]

A top-down shmup dungeon crawler with procedurally generated levels and a gothic-western aesthetic.