Func_Msgboard: So I Have To Make A Game In 9 Weeks...

Posted by starbuck on 2008/02/13 16:21:06

Here's the story. There's a competition this summer called Dare to be Digital. The idea is that teams of 5 students without much industry experience pitch an idea and a dev plan for a new game. Then if the organisers like it and think you can actually make it, they fund your accommodation and pay you a fair bit to go to sunny Dundee, Scotland and work on it full time for 9 weeks.

I've got a team together and we're wondering what game to make. I think they're looking for original ideas, unique gameplay, and a realistic scope of project. I don't think they're really interested in a generic shooter, even if it was very well executed.

One previous winner was Ragnarok, a 3rd person game where you control a character using a guitar hero controller, and when you encounter monsters you have to beat them by copying the notes they play and out-soloing them. Very cool. Another winner was a game called Climbactic, a 2-player cell shaded game where you control characters trying to climb up terrain with cliffs and boulders blocking their path. You have a rope and have to use physics effectively to get up, it's a very clean simple idea.

I've got a few questions:

1. We're looking into affordable engine licenses for whatever game we decide to make. The budget is only �200, so we can't use the Unreal 3 engine. Does anyone have experience with the open-source/cheap engines such as Instinct Studio (actually a complete dev platform), Torque, or Ogre, and if so what would you recommend?

2. For those in the know, what would be your advice on pitching a game in a presentation? Should we, say, focus 50% of the time on the game itself, 25% on the marketability, and 25% on the schedule and plan to develop it? What will the game execs listening to our presentation be looking for?

3. Any general tips for when you're trying to develop and decide on game ideas? It's a little messy at the moment. It seems like everyone and their dad has a "killer game idea" they've always wanted to make, but it's usually either completely unfeasible in the time, or just plain bad. Any tips for inspiration? I'm thinking mainly gameplay/game ideas here, the plot/style is secondary I think.

Finally, if anyone has any gameplay ideas they'd like to share, I'd love to hear them. I especially like games that use time/physics/gravity in a way that hasn't been done before. Thanks!

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#13 posted by gone on 2008/02/21 10:45:27

oh dear

Well

#14 posted by PuLSaR on 2008/02/27 18:09:44

you know I'm a fan of puzzle maps/games. fps without monsters and lots of puzzles/physics was my dream until Portal came out. for now I'm thinking of haunted house game idea where no monsters exist to affect the gameplay but the entire house is alive and scares and tries to kill the player. this should be kinda atmospheric horror game with lots of sounds/effects/physics/dynamic lighting to scare the player instead of monsters. another feature of such game is different types of sight or even movement in different location (rooms). complete chaos everywhere. some time tricks also possible.
that's my idea

PuLSaR...

#15 posted by distrans on 2008/02/28 02:49:46

Like the haunted hotel in Vampire: The Masquerade?

Distrans

#16 posted by PuLSaR on 2008/02/28 11:16:18

something likу that but even more weird and much longer

Scampie's Idea Rocks.

#17 posted by biff_debris. on 2008/02/28 11:32:43

That would be a great game -- you'd have the core gameplay of guiding some Mr. Magoo-esque character, who is given to wandering into trouble, and could have all kinds of side characters and incidents. I'm speaking in general, not just in Starbuck's case.

Yeah

#18 posted by bambuz on 2008/02/28 16:41:58

reminds me a bit of all those garrys mod videos and the chains of objects triggering each other (can't remember the term for it)...

You Might Find This Interesting:

#19 posted by bear on 2008/03/12 20:26:17

James Salt from DICE talks a bit about their design process for battlefield heroes:

http://www.fz.se/filer/?id=5396

I Didnt Read It

#20 posted by DaZ on 2008/03/12 21:52:55

"well we liked TF2, and we haven't made an original game since bf1942 so we figured we would just rip valve off totally"

Sorry, its been a long day :/

Well It's A Movie Clip

#21 posted by bear on 2008/03/12 22:27:40

and it's mostly general dev tips with heroes as an example.

#25 posted by onetruepurple on 2016/06/24 10:17:18

What happened to this project?

#26 posted by Izhido on 2016/06/24 16:11:48

I'm a bit more interested in understanding what line of thought moved these guys, who explicitly stated not to be interested in "generic shooters", to ask this very forum for help...

OP I Have An Idea

#27 posted by Shamblernaut on 2016/06/24 17:53:43

a generic shooter is fine, but after every kill you need to attend the funeral of the person you killed.

it's edgy enough that the anti-video game violence people will love it.

goals include:
- console the widow of the soldier killed.
- write a moving eulogy to bring the hardened uncle of the soldier to tears.
- become a good male role model for the soldiers children.

#28 posted by Izhido on 2016/06/24 18:10:30

A good role model for the children... whose dad you just killed? Boy I'd like to see that...

...

#29 posted by bal on 2016/06/24 18:13:18

You guys do realize this thread is 8 years old? :)

#29

#30 posted by khreathor on 2016/06/24 18:44:23

we came with fresh ideas after 8 years of research

@bal

#31 posted by Shamblernaut on 2016/06/24 21:32:09

no... no I did not.

brb making a widow-consolement simulator.

Time Spent

#32 posted by Qmaster on 2016/06/26 02:00:50

Spend 80% of the time planning, 15% making the game, 4% bugfixing, 1% cramming for release.

#35 posted by metlslime on 2017/07/10 06:37:15

that was a weird one. It was clearly spam, but it was advertising a pretty good flash game from about ten years ago that i probably posted about in the browser games thread, (or the pc games thread before it was called that.)

#36 posted by [Kona] on 2017/07/10 23:44:16

It could have been an alternate dimension metlslime that never gave up on promoting that good little flash game.

6 posts not shown on this page because they were spam

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