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[Jasmine]

delete me

[braindigitalis]

Sounds sort of like lemmings... I like it, and i think it should be done, but is it really a new genre or is this just another puzzle game?

[Hangedman]

...a group of autonomous beings that are trying to get somewhere...
...slow them down by making them change their route...
...moving objects about the screen to create obstructions...
...force rerouting...
...corridor...

Tower defense?

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

also games like krusty's fun house

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

kagero deception? and the deception series in general, including trapt?

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

the traps you place do sometimes influence the paths of the invaders in those games, but mostly it's about setting up 'combinations' of traps. for instance, put a rock on top of some stairs, so that it'll roll on top of them, and when it smashes them into a wall, put some spikes on the wall, so they hit the spikes, and then some electricty under them if the wall is above water, so they'll be electrocuted after hitting the spiked wall after being knocked down some stairs by a boulder. but the basic idea is the same as tower defense: invaders are coming in and you need to stop them before they get to their goal. it's just that instead of towers you use the typical traps you'd find in a dungeon, and the invaders are heroes trying to save their little sisters from sicknesses and so on

[eiyukabe]

I pitched a game at my first company where you play as a recently hired level designer. The 'game' that you are working on is going to be demoed at a trade show, but a lot of the levels are incomplete, so you have to add things to them in real time while the 'players' (AI-controlled) play through. For example, there might be a level with a locked door but the previous designer didn't get to putting the key in yet. You can't just drop the key in the player's line of sight or they will be confused, so you have to be crafty and put it somewhere they haven't seen yet. You are trying to challenge without frustrating them, so you have to monitor their health and whether or not they are lost. Too many enemies and they will die and feel the game is cheap, too few and they will feel it is too easy and get bored. The AI for a game like that would be beastly, having to simulate/script different skill levels (not all AI players would be experts) and different emotion levels. There is a lot of opportunity for the narrative of the game too, such as hurrying to remove some copyrighted placeholder that got left in that legal wants removed, or fighting off ex-employee hackers that are trying to inject a hot-coffee incident into the game to ruin your company's image.

The studio I worked on the pitch for shut down, and I don't think the parent publisher has any record of this idea, so I'm probably just going to make it myself someday. Not sure if this is a new genre, but I haven't heard of a game like it.

[Brayzen]

Has anyone watched/ read I Am Legend?

Once I become comfortable with game development, I'd want to make a game based on that. Enemies come out during the day, meaning you can only explore at night (I hate cliches). Alone in a city, out of basic instinct you wake up every day with the intention of surviving it. Your house is your bunker and the city is your supermarket. At night, go out and see what you can find in the city. Pick up scrap metal, food, weapons, whatever you need to continue existing.

You can build things to better defend your house (perhaps an auto-turret, mines, traps...) once you have the required amount of materials. Each item requires a certain combination of these materials, so an auto-turret might require a battery, weapon and camera... you get the idea.

In the daytime, the enemies attack. They know where you live, and they'll do their best to get in at you.

As the game goes on, so more enemies are alerted to your presence. This acts as the difficulty curve: the more you explore and upgrade, the more they'll come.

I think the game would end when you have killed the entire population of whatever they are. But I've never been able to decide on a good game over scenario that isn't "being rescued by the military"  

[baconman]

Arrange a video arcade from start to exit as a long board game. You roll to move forward, and then play a game (for score, or against an adjacent opponent on the same machine). Your outcome (usually score) determines a +/- space-movement result which then ends your turn. Losing a vs. match sends the players back to Start (or the latest "save point").

[rivon]

A virtual sheepdog trial would be a fun game I think.

Have a look at

[Filth]

Has anyone watched/ read I Am Legend?
...

This sounds like a great co-op game. Why should the game end, though?

[braindigitalis]

Has anyone watched/ read I Am Legend?
...

This sounds like a great co-op game. Why should the game end, though?

Yeah, there are potentially nearly 7 billion of them and only one of you, its practically impossible to kill all of them, they could just respawn forever in ever-increasing numbers...

[Brayzen]

Has anyone watched/ read I Am Legend?
...

This sounds like a great co-op game. Why should the game end, though?

Yeah, there are potentially nearly 7 billion of them and only one of you, its practically impossible to kill all of them, they could just respawn forever in ever-increasing numbers...

Responding to both, that was something I'd considered. I do like the infinitely respawning idea, but at the same time I want there to be something to work towards. It would have to have some very good creative aspects to it (like Minecraft for example) for it to make the player want to keep playing indefinitely.

I did constrain the play area to a city though (not the world!), i.e. I Am Legend is set in New York, but that's far too generic and overused as a setting imo.

Well, the basic concept is there. Whether I make it one day or someone else does, it is one of my "dream" games.

Also, I absolutely agree with the co-op element. I love a good cooperative game, there aren't enough out there. You could both go out hunting, or one could stay and build upgrades while the other explores...

[Savick]

Rather than make my own thread I'll just stick this in here. The game is about a circus strongman who has a circus cannon for a head. (Mannon the Man Cannon) He can shoot out a number of projectiles/useful things, but has been cursed by (I'm thinking pirate wizards) to shoot out monsters from his cannon/face too. So, when going through a level (probably in a platformer)there's a predetermined chance you'll shoot out some enemies to deal with. They do what enemies do and try and kill you etc. I guess I could have "trigger points" to where the player would step/jump over it and then enemies would fire.

I just feel taking some control from the player to shoot out the enemies is a bad thing?
I would love some feedback~!

[BattleBeard]

 A game where you must fight using your penis. Grab girls through platformer action, defend them/douge enemies, take girls to your bedroom, carry up to 3, and then after 10 seconds your penis-power meter is either fulled 1/4,2/4, or full depending on how many girls you brung. Then you shoot sperm at aliens/zombies/mothers

 The amount of girls makes you go slower, depending on how many you carry.

Hustlin' yo

 

[Mr_Goober]

There's something that I liked in the Half-Life, although they were a tad bit linear.

the concept of nonlinear exploration was always one of my favorites. Although it isn't an invented concept, I dont think that I've seen many games which use it is the primary goal.

I started to appreciate nonlinear exploration when I started to make large puzzling maps in Minecraft Classic. MY friend Shaun and I learned that you could make so many awesome structures and at the same time make them jump puzzles in order to progress.

[antymattar]

Tower defense?

Tower defense is it's own genre in my opinion. The theme of it is destruction of streams of creatures that gradually grow in strength or number. This is achieved through the building and upgrading of missile turrets.

Some tower defense games can include obstruction, but I don't think its a definitive part of the genre, anymore than it would be in a sports game that has team members obstructing other team members, or in an RTS game where a  unit is moved into the path of a fleeing enemy unit to slow (and prevent) it's escape.

Consider obstacles being the central theme of a game, rather than an optional design feature as part of some other game genre.

also games like krusty's fun house

I'd consider that to be a platform puzzle game, but it does overlap a little with the obstacles genre. I was visualising my idea in overhead view, but I've no reason to limit it to that. It could be realised as a platform game too I suppose.

How would it differ from Krusty? In Krusty, the bricks serve the role of stepping stones, rather than obstacles. They appear to create pathing rather than obstruct it, and the objective is to help creatures to a destination, rather than hinder them.

The game "Desktop defense" still used the above mentioned.

[Musenik]

How about a game where the player controls successive generations of families over a vast sweep of history? It would be a narrative with a simple, core mechanic where you cooperate and compete with peers for resources, where you spend resources not only to keep the family alive, but use them to raise children to be capable of surviving change. Where how you raised children affected how they interact with each other as children and adult siblings. Where interactive stories reward or penalize, but their purpose is to immerse the player in how cultures changed as civilization advanced. Where major goals are to make discoveries, elevate the family social status, or go on short, heroic adventures.

just wondering,

[MadWatch]

the concept of nonlinear exploration was always one of my favorites. Although it isn't an invented concept, I dont think that I've seen many games which use it is the primary goal.

Isn't this the base concept of any metroidvania game ?
What would be, for you, a good game with non linear exploration ?

[Supermini_man]

I'd call that the metagame genre. A game about a game.

I disagree about putting the game in another genre. The genre is defined by the game's mechanics, so I think the game fits into the "simulation" genre, since it's simulating a job as a game developer.
Now speaking of the concept itself: I think it's pretty nifty, kinda like Game Dev Story but without being always in the office.