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[AyItsMatt]

Hello there! I am looking for a name for a game I am working on, it's a shooter platformer where you have to collect a key to open a door to get to the next level.

Here is some short footage of the game:




 

[Thaumaturge]

Hmm... Does the game have an associated story? That might provide some inspiration towards names, perhaps.

[AyItsMatt]

This game is in the prototyping phase at the moment, I am currently working on the story for it.
Its going to be a short game.

Lan (Player)

The Plot summed up so far:
There was a Careless mercenary called Lan . He was on the way to complete a mission for "Garth", when he decided to take a short cut through Jungle. Lan has no clue what Garth wants you to do for the mission. He says for him to look for a house in the jungle, short story, Garth was looking for a girls phone number.

Someone had suggested the name GunLine to me, but I want something that could describe the game.

Edit: here is some updated footage of the prototype.

[Thaumaturge]

Hmm... So, it's an action-packed adventure, all with the final goal of... getting a girl's number?

In that case, you might perhaps lean into or suggest the dissonance there. Perhaps something like "A Vital Mission", or "A Serious Job", or "Mission: Numbers".

[michaelplzno]

I don't recommend you ask other people to name your game. Naming the game defines it in a lot of ways, and asking someone else to name your game is like asking someone else to tell you what game to make. If you want to do that, you might as well apply to a game studio or microsoft or google or something and they will deffo tell you what to make. You should want to name your game yourself, if you don't want to name it, you probably don't want to design it, and then you need someone else on your team to do all that creative work.

[AyItsMatt]

Alright, Thanks for the help

[AyItsMatt]

I've decided that the game will be called Gunline Mission : Numbers

[Thaumaturge]

I don't recommend you ask other people to name your game. Naming the game defines it in a lot of ways, and asking someone else to name your game is like asking someone else to tell you what game to make. If you want to do that, you might as well apply to a game studio or microsoft or google or something and they will deffo tell you what to make. You should want to name your game yourself, if you don't want to name it, you probably don't want to design it, and then you need someone else on your team to do all that creative work.

I don't think that I agree.

For one, names are sometimes, and for some people, one of the harder parts of the work--harder even than some of the other creative elements. For another, some people might like much of the creative work--but not the naming. For a third, asking someone for help in a creative element of the work doesn't make the work theirs--it's one contribution amongst many creative decisions.

And, well, I don't agree that the name so greatly defines the work. Indeed, I daresay that if one were to ask different developers to make a game for a given name, you'd nevertheless to a significant degree get different games from them.

I've decided that the game will be called Gunline Mission : Numbers

I'm glad to read that you've chosen a name. ^_^

[michaelplzno]

I should be less vehement: *to me*, the name is a big part of the project and does define it. Different devs would make a different game based on different names, but how many different games would a single dev make based on whatever name they are given? If I were to say "make the game 'Angry Car'" there are a lot of ways to make that game but I think each developer who tackles the project would have one concept based on that idea.

Second, just because naming is hard work doesn't mean its good to outsource it. I'm not saying you have to do 100% of making a game yourself, but somehow when I see some of the famous high artists (making sculptures and paintings) who hire "technical artists" to actually make their ideas and then go around selling the stuff it makes me grumpy.

Third, letting others contribute is good, one of my best reviewed games is https://eggfun.io in that most people seem to like it, but the idea of making a game about eggs came from another dev I'm friends with.

I guess its pride, the same reason the devil is still in hell, that I want to make the game myself and not have to say "thank you" to some other party for the help.

@AyItsMatt let me know when you have a playable version and I'll give it some friendly critique!

[Thaumaturge]

I should be less vehement: *to me*, the name is a big part of the project and does define it.

That's fair--we do all have different creative processes and tendencies, after all. ^_^

Different devs would make a different game based on different names, but how many different games would a single dev make based on whatever name they are given? If I were to say "make the game 'Angry Car'" there are a lot of ways to make that game but I think each developer who tackles the project would have one concept based on that idea.

I don't know... I could see myself going through a few options before settling on the one that I most like.

Second, just because naming is hard work doesn't mean its good to outsource it. I'm not saying you have to do 100% of making a game yourself, but somehow when I see some of the famous high artists (making sculptures and paintings) who hire "technical artists" to actually make their ideas and then go around selling the stuff it makes me grumpy.

I can see how that might be, I think--but a name is far from so great a part of the work in most cases, I would say.

To extend the analogy, I would say that it's more like a famous painter asking people to suggest a good frame for a painting that they're working on--one that will complement it. The painting is still itself, and the final decision of which frame to take--if any--still lies with the painter--but suggestions give them access to options that they may not have been aware of.

I guess its pride, the same reason the devil is still in hell, that I want to make the game myself and not have to say "thank you" to some other party for the help.

Hahah, I've been there, I daresay! I fear that I can be finicky about letting others contribute to the visuals of my games, for example.

But this can in fact hinder one's work, I daresay. Sometimes a third party has the more skill in a given field, and--with direction from the central artist--may produce something better and nevertheless within the intended vision--or, indeed, something closer to the intended vision!

For myself, I don't have a problem with giving thanks to others for aid.

[michaelplzno]

Just to be a butthead, not really disagreeing but I figure for the sake of a rich and meaningful discussion I should chime in again here:



This piece is called "Neigh Sayer"

It was not clear to a lot of people it was a horse till I pointed it out that the image was a horse. You can see it looking to the left side of the canvas with 3 legs visible. Would you say that the work here is in the name or in the drawing itself?

[J-Snake]

Just call it Dangerous Dave.

Btw. wasn't Minecraft coined by Paul Eres? The tricky thing about names is that you cannot go back in time and repeat the same experiment with a different name. So you never really know the impact of naming, regardless what other people are telling you.

[Thaumaturge]

Just to be a butthead, not really disagreeing but I figure for the sake of a rich and meaningful discussion I should chime in again here:

...

This piece is called "Neigh Sayer"

It was not clear to a lot of people it was a horse till I pointed it out that the image was a horse. You can see it looking to the left side of the canvas with 3 legs visible. Would you say that the work here is in the name or in the drawing itself?

Oops, it seems that I missed this post! Sorry about that!

To answer, I would say that the painting is--to my mind--by far and wide the main of the work, and that the title merely adds to it and gives some direction towards the artist's intent for the painting itself.

[michaelplzno]

Dangerous Dave is a great name, I gotta admit that.

I heard that Notch bought Paul a desk for compensation for coming up with that name. It is a nature vs nurture kind of question though.

Edit: Actually I changed my piece to "A Horse by Any Other Name"

[J-Snake]

Dangerous Dave is a great name, I gotta admit that.

You are probably too young to get the joke