"Death" means different things in different games. In the older games death was a means to a quick reset for a failed challenge. Overcoming that challenge became the means by which the player derived satisfaction from the game. More modern games deliver other forms of satisfaction via narrative, social interaction, or customization so the satisfaction of overcoming a challenge became less important to the over all satisfaction player's received. In fact frequent deaths would hinder the satisfaction the other game elements would deliver. The reemergence of frequent death games is a response to a niche market of people who want the satisfaction of over coming a challenge more than other types of satisfaction. Granted this market once consisted of the entire hardcore video gaming populous but things have changed, arguably for the better.

I see hand holding as more an artifact of the increased complexity of games. Back when it was one button for jump and one button for run/throw fireball the player did not need a tutorial. Now that we have different damage types, player statistics, and customizable everything; the player needs more guidance to get properly into the world.

Being a published author doesn't mean having a 500 page novel in Barnes and Noble. Getting an article published in a journal/magazine will suffice, and should be a minimum prerequisite for anyone a game dev team would want to work with. Most writing a person does for school is to reach an arbitrary page count. There is no need for it to be easy to read or make sense. It is only when an author works with an editor with the intention of releasing for the general public do they get real writing experience.

To expand upon Gregg Williams's suggestion of using "sensor bars" here is a little code of how I would implement an Break out style bouncing dynamic which is what I think the OP is asking for:

Code:

function ReactWithBrick(Ball myBall, Brick myBrick){
  if(myBrick.IsInside(myBall.x - myBall.radius, myBall.y) && myBall.dx < 0){
    myBall.dx = -1*myBall.dx;
  }
  if(myBrick.IsInside(myBall.x + myBall.radius, myBall.y) && myBall.dx > 0){
    myBall.dx = -1*myBall.dx;
  }
  if(myBrick.IsInside(myBall.x, myBall.y - myBall.radius) && myBall.dy < 0){
    myBall.dy = -1*myBall.dy;
  }
  if(myBrick.IsInside(myBall.x, myBall.y + myBall.radius) && myBall.dy > 0){
    myBall.dy = -1*myBall.dy;
  }
}

One thing is for certain you understand the principles of animation, and have the patience to create animation to illustrate your ideas. I would pimp those skills a little harder if you are looking for people to collaborate with. Idea guys are a dime a dozen, talented 2d animators are rarer and much more valuable. Plenty of people can draw but most don't have the patience to grind out the sheer quantity of assets to make an interesting game.

As for your game designs, keep your intros focused on the overall feel of the game. A brief blurb about the plot is OK but focus more on what the player will be doing/trying to do. Where possible use comparisons to known games/game genera then state what your game will do differently.

For example: "This game will be a open city diving game like Crazy Taxi with a focus on delivering bootleg liqueur during the age of prohibition. The game will involve avoiding the police and competition between other rum runners on who gets to the speakeasy first."

A point by point description of each game dynamic can come later in the document. I like writing a design document from a top down perspective. Start with the most general description in the intro. Expand upon each element in the intro into a general description of the game dynamics. Finally do a detailed description of each mechanic that creates the dynamic.
Extra Credits did a good video on this a while ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uepAJ-rqJKA&feature=youtu.be&noredirect=1

Remember your design document exists to convey ideas efficiently to other game developers, not sell your game to the general public. You can make assumptions about your audience's familiarity with certain generas and gaming conventions.

Perhaps a SHMUP that consists of a group of ships flying in formation. The player can change the formation in response to different bullet patterns. However tracking multiple ships and knowing the right formation to take for a specific bullet pattern might be a bit much for one puny human brain to do in real time.

The problem with finding a programmer or anyone with the skills to help make a game is that they probably want to make their own game. So the incentive to help you has to outweigh their desire to work on their own project. Here are a few things that can provide that incentive:
Money
Fame (a project that already has a following)
Art (for their own project)
Creative Control (the ability to make your project more their own)

There is untapped potential in being creative with bullet hell hitboxes. Not only must you navigate the maze of bullets, but you must also have the bullets navigate you.

I've made tons of bullet hell games and I still have no clue what you're trying to say.

 

I think he wants to make a game where the player's hit box is some sort of strange geometry such that a bullet can pass through the player if they position themselves just right. Perhaps even making the bullet pass through mandatory by having the collideable parts of the player's ship take up more space than the area between bullets.

A treasure chest is compelling if there is something to buy with that treasure. Similarly an artifact is worth while if it benefits the player in some way. The Evil Overlord solution would be the best way of compelling the player to defeat the tower without having to develop any in game rewards.

If you are doing random monster spawns you could have 3 evil overlords, which on the player kills will reduce the matching enemy type in the next iteration of the game while the other two grow stronger.

This is a little mean spirited but here goes:

There should be a GTA style free roaming arbitrary murder game where the NPC's spout text bubbles pulled from the unmoderated comments section of Yahoo and YouTube. The game would use a central database to keep track of how often each comment gets the NPC who said it killed by the player, and the level of violence the player visited on the NPC.

A high score list would be updated regularly with the most infuriating comment as chosen by the entire player base's NPC kills.

The standard five star police chase mechanic could be implemented so that players have to be a bit reserved in their murder sprees.

This would be an interesting social experiment and great catharsis when you run into those annoying internet comments.

There are many games ideas I could build around Alchemy, but few that I could really do justice to in 48 hours. If it gets chosen I will probably do a matching gem puzzle game.

I am drawing a blank on Glitch, Parallel Worlds, Connections, and Alchemy.

You Must leave it behind: Some time management game where it is not possible to complete all the goals.

@Slader16
Go right ahead, I am posting my Ludum Dare "strategies" so that more people can have a better Dare. Pre Ludum dare is a very exciting time.

How do I see what they are voting on?

You need to create and account and sign in to the ludumdare webpage. Once you are logged in you can vote for the theme and see the 20 themes that are in the final round of voting.

Call it cheating, but I come up with a preliminary game idea for each of the 20 themes. Once  the final theme is chosen I flesh out the preliminary idea and start development.

We do out best to limit the scope of our development and work with technologies that we are comfortable with. Ludum Dare is not the time to try something you have never done before (unless it is complete a project). It is the time to do something you know how to do faster.

It is never too early to make plans for Ludum Dare. Especially asking time off work to recover and seeing the slightly terrifiedimpressed look in your coworkers eyes when you tell them what you are about to do.

Sim ant was created long before the RTS genera was even a thing. It had many interesting ideas which could be expanded upon with what we have learned about RTS's in the intermediate years.

Like wise sim ant had some interesting features not seen in other RTS's like: The over world and competing ant nests, larva maintenance, backyard view with multiple colonies, rising ground water, NPC's like the spider and human foot.

I would like to see sim ant remade with newer graphics and a merger of the original game's dynamics with more precise RTS controls and resource management. Ideally I would like the user to lay down pheromones to attract workers, soldiers, or diggers to certain areas. That way the game can keep its chaotic ant AI but pair it with more strategic control over strong points and food sources. Maybe make it a bit more like Dungeon Keeper.

So parts of the member center are back up as of Friday 7/26/13. However it looks like all my provisioning profiles, certificates, and App ID's are gone. The profiles and certificates I downloaded before the crash are sill working. Are any of you having the same problem? I have contacted apple, but for some reason their customer service people are swamped.

Shields can be either strapped to the fore arm, or held in the hand. If they are held in the hand they tend to be perpendicular to the holder's forearm for extra mobility and so the elbow doesn't peak out beyond the protected area. Strapped shields cover the wielders elbow and run parallel to the fore arm.

Usually shield fighters put their shield side forward for more protection and to have more wide up space with their sword arm. It is not uncommon to have the sword pointed slightly backward in a guard stance so that the wielder does not have to pull back before swinging.

Color me interested. Your artwork seems very well suited to game development. Sending Email.

I am trying to get to my provisioning profiles in the apple developer page, but every time I click on the link:

https://developer.apple.com/membercenter/

It redirects me to a "undergoing maintenance" page. This has been going on all day and I expect some sort of message from apple on one of its other pages as to why this feature is not working. Are there other ios developers in TIG Source having similar issues?

Two player game, on person plays first-person parkour like Mirror's Edge.
The second player controls the tetris machine which the first player is inside. Player 2 has to try and crush player 1, or prevent player 1 from reaching the top within a certain time by matching rows (if they stack up the player could climb them and reach the top).
Player 1 has to reach the top
This could be awesome

This would be an easier game to make if it were two person 1 screen, and the parkour player handled like super meat boy (wall slide double jump). He could wall slide the falling piece to get higher, and the brick player would have to move the falling brick to prevent them from getting a path.