Design a Video Game

[Murkrow]

You wake up one day and you look in the mirror only to find you're Shigeru Miyamoto. You might be retiring soon so Nintendo are giving you an unlimited budget to keep you a bit longer and get some games out of it. It doesn't even have to be child-friendly because you find out that they secretly own other, more "mature" game developers, so something like Duke Nukem isn't out of the question.

What games do you make?
You can go into as much or little detail as you want, you can describe a storyline, or just the gameplay, or something completely different.



I often think up ideas for games when I'm trying to get to sleep/am in the shower.

Spoiler: Idea 1

Something like Prison Architect (which I haven't played so maybe it isn't at all) except it's a school rather than a prison. There are two parts to the game, build and play. In build you build and you can only go into this mode when the school is closed. During play you can't see anything that goes on in the school unless there's a teacher or security camera there, so you can't see if there are any truants or smoking going on. The game will work out what areas are seen the least by the teachers and make bad students gather there. You can't control the other teachers, just the headteacher, though you can see all of the teachers' lines of sight. You can set the teachers' patrols for when they're not teaching during build mode, though.

There will be other things to keep an eye on, such as student, teacher and parent approval. You can't have too many security cameras without the parents being worried, and you can't have rubbish sports equipment without the students being unhappy.
You start out with a set amount of money so you have to decide if you want a small school with astroturf and security robots or a large school where attendance is taken by book rather than a computer system, and you have traffic cones as goalposts rather than actual goalposts.

Maybe before you start you could choose whether it's a private school or not, with both options having its advantages and disadvantages, and their own playstyles.

And unrealistically, maybe have the computer work out "stories" among the students. Have cliques of friends and have some people avoid each other. Have that feature from roller-coaster tycoon that lets you see everything a certain NPC does (though only if it's their grades or they're in sight, otherwise it ruins the purpose of the game). Some students would be away for days at a time and you have to consider if they're really sick of if they're just faking it, maybe look at their grades or past behaviour for clues.

Spoiler: Idea 2

A Metroid game that, while designed to played in a linear order, allows you to skip a lot of the game if you really want. Locations unlock as soon as they're relevant to the story but have a minigame (but not an annoying bad one) that lets you unlock them earlier in a pre-determined way. That way the game would lend itself to speed runs pretty well. Have you be able to fight the final boss right away but have the fight be considerably easier or the path to the boss be shorter depending on what parts of the game you already completed.

There would be a plot but no cutscenes, just those scenes where there are characters talking and doing scripted things but you're still free to do whatever you want, even walk away from them. That way first-time players would know what's going on and get a better idea of where to go next, but people who have already played or just like exploring can take it at their own pace. Have Samus be a silent protagonist, though.

 

[I liek Squirtles]

I have some ideas! And I can expand a bit on the first one you posted, seeing as I've actually played Prison Architect.

-Zoo Tycoon but with Pokémon.
-A Homestuck game combining all of the genres ever.
-A Disney fighting game not unlike Smash Bros. I've spent lots of time in the shower thinking of victory jingles for the characters in that game.
-Pokémon Conquest but with an actual storyline and all of the Pokémon.
-A huge crossover game including lots and lots of characters from dozens of franchises, including ones that aren't videogame franchises (ie Back to the Future, Divergent, etc) that would have a complicated interwoven plot a la Pixar timeline theory.

There's so much potential for that first idea you proposed. Besides the build and play mode, there could be an administrative mode, deciding which programs to fund (ie music), what clubs to have, dealing with student proposals, etc. There's also dealing with the menu if you build a cafeteria, sports programs if you build a gym, kind of like Game Dev Tycoon. You can even get school reviews yearly, much like the reviews in the aforementioned game. Maybe there are certain types of student that, with certain stats, become teacher's pets and function not unlike a teacher. As for how public and private schools would work: public will never shut down unless you really screw it up, but you have less funding and creative space to deal with; private would let you do almost anything, but you can go bankrupt.

 

[Superbird]

I still really like the idea of a third-person "action" pokémon game, where instead of just issuing commands every turn, you actually control the pokémon while running about on the battlefield trying to attack the other pokémon. At least on the 3ds, the D-pad could be used to select the move you want to use (all pokémon would have access to their moves), and then A/B/X/Y would be the other things, like jumping and ducking for pokémon who are physically capable, and one button to actually use the move you have chosen.

It would be just another pokémon game, except that the battles would be a lot more interesting. And arguably less strategic/prediction-based, but also much more active.

 

[Butterfree]

I had an idea for a game in a dream once and I still think a tweaked version of that idea would be really neat. (It's somewhat similar to a game called Jahooma's Logic Box, which was created way later than that dream, but not identical.)

Basically, each level has an infinite white grid. There is a special block placed on one square of the grid; this is the input block. Another block, an output block, is placed on some other square of the grid. (There can sometimes be more than one of these, but initially there would be one of each.) The game includes a lot of different colored blocks (not necessarily only one square on the grid), each of which takes one or more inputs and returns one or more outputs derived from those inputs. Your job is to arrange the blocks on the grid between the input block and the output block such that the input provided by the input block results in the output the output block specifies. (If there are multiple input and output blocks, you have to connect them all so that it all fits, one way or another.) On harder levels, the input and output blocks may change rapidly in sync between various values, such that the blocks you build in between them must provide the correct output for each of the inputs, not just one. Also, sometimes the grid could contain other special blocks that must be connected because they perform some unique necessary step not otherwise available to you.

It's basically programming! But on a grid, with blocks. In the dream you had to move around the grid to collect blocks to use and there was some mechanic about how far you could move; I'm not sure if that would make sense for an actual game like this but could provide some variety and a natural way to limit the player's resources.

 

[Kung Fu Ferret]

I have some ideas! And I can expand a bit on the first one you posted, seeing as I've actually played Prison Architect.

-Zoo Tycoon but with Pokémon.
-A Homestuck game combining all of the genres ever.
-A Disney fighting game not unlike Smash Bros. I've spent lots of time in the shower thinking of victory jingles for the characters in that game.
-Pokémon Conquest but with an actual storyline and all of the Pokémon.
-A huge crossover game including lots and lots of characters from dozens of franchises, including ones that aren't videogame franchises (ie Back to the Future, Divergent, etc) that would have a complicated interwoven plot a la Pixar timeline theory.

There's so much potential for that first idea you proposed. Besides the build and play mode, there could be an administrative mode, deciding which programs to fund (ie music), what clubs to have, dealing with student proposals, etc. There's also dealing with the menu if you build a cafeteria, sports programs if you build a gym, kind of like Game Dev Tycoon. You can even get school reviews yearly, much like the reviews in the aforementioned game. Maybe there are certain types of student that, with certain stats, become teacher's pets and function not unlike a teacher. As for how public and private schools would work: public will never shut down unless you really screw it up, but you have less funding and creative space to deal with; private would let you do almost anything, but you can go bankrupt.

Speaking of your first idea, ILS...



I actually found a video of the original Zoo Tycoon for PC where someone used a downloadable program called APE (Animal Project Editor), and put Pokemon into the game using Mystery Dungeon sprites and cries from the game. It was pretty cool.

And Zoo Tycoon 2 has some Pokemon mods scattered throughout the Internet.

 

[Murkrow]

There's so much potential for that first idea you proposed. Besides the build and play mode, there could be an administrative mode, deciding which programs to fund (ie music), what clubs to have, dealing with student proposals, etc. There's also dealing with the menu if you build a cafeteria, sports programs if you build a gym, kind of like Game Dev Tycoon. You can even get school reviews yearly, much like the reviews in the aforementioned game. Maybe there are certain types of student that, with certain stats, become teacher's pets and function not unlike a teacher. As for how public and private schools would work: public will never shut down unless you really screw it up, but you have less funding and creative space to deal with; private would let you do almost anything, but you can go bankrupt.

Yeah I had ideas like that, too.
There could be organisations like a student council and a parents association who pressure you to do certain things. Not unlike the advisors in Sim City?

The students would have timetables and so would the teachers. Initially the computer would decide what lessons are when but there could be an option for the more advanced players to timetable the lessons themselves.

Private schools would also let you set entry requirements. The students would have interests and could join clubs based on those interests. Maybe if you have enough students with a certain interest and enough funding in that area then you could become a specialist school.

Another idea I had would be to put in easter eggs. Like how in Roller Coaster Tycoon you could rename a guest Michael Schumaker and he'd suddenly be amazing when riding the go-karts. (apparently)

I had an idea for a game in a dream once and I still think a tweaked version of that idea would be really neat. (It's somewhat similar to a game called Jahooma's Logic Box, which was created way later than that dream, but not identical.)

Basically, each level has an infinite white grid. There is a special block placed on one square of the grid; this is the input block. Another block, an output block, is placed on some other square of the grid. (There can sometimes be more than one of these, but initially there would be one of each.) The game includes a lot of different colored blocks (not necessarily only one square on the grid), each of which takes one or more inputs and returns one or more outputs derived from those inputs. Your job is to arrange the blocks on the grid between the input block and the output block such that the input provided by the input block results in the output the output block specifies. (If there are multiple input and output blocks, you have to connect them all so that it all fits, one way or another.) On harder levels, the input and output blocks may change rapidly in sync between various values, such that the blocks you build in between them must provide the correct output for each of the inputs, not just one. Also, sometimes the grid could contain other special blocks that must be connected because they perform some unique necessary step not otherwise available to you.

It's basically programming! But on a grid, with blocks. In the dream you had to move around the grid to collect blocks to use and there was some mechanic about how far you could move; I'm not sure if that would make sense for an actual game like this but could provide some variety and a natural way to limit the player's resources.

There'd have to be an intuitive way to let people know what colour does what. The "colours" could be numbers and the input is a number too? The blocks you go through just multiply its own number with its input to make the output. The blocks would have fractions as well, so numbers can get smaller instead of just getting bigger all the time.
Not sure how to show what direction the output will come out. If it just outputted it in a straight line from where it came in, it'd be sort of similar to Fractran I suppose.

 

[hopeandjoy]

Yeah I had ideas like that, too.
There could be organisations like a student council and a parents association who pressure you to do certain things. Not unlike the advisors in Sim City?

The students would have timetables and so would the teachers. Initially the computer would decide what lessons are when but there could be an option for the more advanced players to timetable the lessons themselves.

Private schools would also let you set entry requirements. The students would have interests and could join clubs based on those interests. Maybe if you have enough students with a certain interest and enough funding in that area then you could become a specialist school.

Another idea I had would be to put in easter eggs. Like how in Roller Coaster Tycoon you could rename a guest Michael Schumaker and he'd suddenly be amazing when riding the go-karts.

There actually was a school tycoon game once. It wasn't completely like your idea (no private schools and you could always see), but it existed.

 

[Byrus]

I really, really want a video game where you just play as some bigass dragon and burn down villages and shit.

 

[Light]

I had an idea for a game in a dream once and I still think a tweaked version of that idea would be really neat.

You should maybe play Spacechem!


Usually my game design process goes as follows:

• Wait for life to give me inspiration for an idea I can't resist trying.
• Flesh out some details by obsessing over it for a few weeks.
• Make a vague schedule for when I plan to have certain parts completed.
• Realize my scope is way too huge for anything I can manage.
• Give up.
• Repeat.

I currently want to do a small story-based game in RPG Maker, so it might actually work this time. It's about a mental hospital.

 

[I liek Squirtles]

^That sounds super interesting. What time period is it set in?

 

[Light]

The present. It's set in a hospital for teenagers, and you play one of the doctors.

 

[Murkrow]

BUMP LOL

I had an idea:

A game that's basically a mobile game. It doesn't matter what the game is so long as it has ridiculous amounts of microtransactions in it.

But you don't pay real money to progress in this game, the actual game is that your player character is living in a world where that kind of mobile game is literally the only source of fun in the world, and you have to manage their life so that they go to work, have enough money to pay bills and eat, but also their "fun" meter is full enough (by playing that mobile game) that they can be bothered going to work.

The game-in-a-game mobile game is actually playable in-game, and if you want you can play without microtransacting, so you can wait 24 irl hours for that arbitrary timer to count down or whatever.

 

[Kung Fu Ferret]

I want a new Zoo Tycoon for PC, maybe similar to the Xbox version, only focusing on variety instead of have numerous subspecies of lion or tiger, and not having to research as much, and whatnot. Also make different expansions of said re-reboot.

I miss the Blue Fang days. Their contract with Microsoft ran out back in 2009, and they went bankrupt in 2011. I loved hearing the guests scream as a kid. If I let out an animal on purpose, I'd start laughing maniacally.

EDIT: And the ability to make a more realistic zoo..... WITHOUT needing over 9000 mods.

 

[Ether's Bane]

A Nintendo MOBA.

 

[Dar]

An RPG where you have the option to not be the hero. You could stand up and go against the big bad, or you could just live out the life of a civilian. However, no matter which path you take, the progress made by the villain is entirely time-based. He could be taking over a neighboring village as you sit on your front porch, or if you go down the path of action, do the same because you took too long doing sidequests. Also, the player would preferably be able to switch between playstyles at any time. Maybe if you aren't the hero, NPCs could try and stand up to him.