My Video Game Ideas

[Tentacruel]

Being an aspiring developer, I thought it might be a fun idea to share some of my random ideas with you guys. And I'm fairly sure none of you are spies who work for publishers that would steal any of my ideas.


Now normally, I'd make this a, "discuss mine or post your own" thread, but to keep it productive, I'll limit it to "discuss mine."


Now keep in mind, these aren't, "Nintendo shood maek a Pokemanz gaem with HD graphix and reel time combat becuz I want a gaem lik that." These are games I actually have some plans on developing in the future. So these are plans/ideas, not wishlists.

[spoiler=Zombie Hour (Working Title)]

So I got this idea while watching some LP's of the popular Arma II mod, "DayZ." A game where you roam around with your friends killing zombies sounds like a great idea, but the sluggish realism of Arma II was a bit of a turnoff for me. Why not create a more arcade-like zombie experience, with more focus on fun game-play than combat simulation? And yes, I did just describe Left 4 Dead.

As you can imagine, coming with an idea for an original zombie game is a challenge in today's gaming world, so I needed to flesh out my idea to make it stand out. This is what I came up with.


-[b]The World[/b]

A procedurally (randomly) generated voxel-based world. This means a 3D grid of blocks or tiles, with the index of a particular item taking up each square, instead of the typical mess of prefabricated polygons in typical games. (Yes, like Minecraft) This would allow for real destructible terrain where applicable, and make procedurally generating terrain much easier.

The world would vary based on the world-type the user selected, like a city environment or a more rural country area. Generally zombies are found near buildings, making more (previously) populated areas more dangerous. However, they would also have the best supplies.



[b]-Gameplay[/b]

Gameplay would involve an FPS-type combat system, with a retro feel. Enemies would be zombies, naturally. You're dropped into the world and you survive as long as possible, finding food and water, whilst killing zombies that try to eat you. Death is permanent. I suppose there would have to be some kind of goal but I haven't thought of anything yet.

To make it more of a survival experience. Zombies would have to be strong. Some random numbers I've been throwing around are these.

A handgun would be your starting weapon. One shot to the brain of a zombie is an instant kill, but even head-shots that miss the center of the zombie's head are 2-hit kills with the pistol. A rifle would allow for 1-hit headshot and 2-hit torso shots. Shotguns would dominate as they always do in zombie games. Ammo would be very limited of course, so you can't just gun down every zombie you see, but I've also considered an easier difficulty setting where ammo is more common, allowing for more action.

What I'm trying to do is create scenarios where engaging zombies is actually a bad idea, so the game isn't just bang bang bang kill everything. Taking on large groups of zombies would be suicide.

Even though death is permanent, in multiplayer if you run out of HP, you are merely incapacitated, and can be revived. Zombies won't eat you unless there is no longer a threat to be dealt with. This means that if you're in a group, you're safe unless everyone dies or people run away.

You will also become incapacitated if you starve.

There will also be an RPG-style status effect system, with conditions like poison, or broken limbs. I have some neat ideas like breaking your leg if you fall from too high and either limping or having your friend(s) carrying you. If you're starving, your vision will start to get blurry, and if you have a broken arm, you can only wield one-handed weapons, and accuracy will be reduced.

Although it might be a stretch, vehicles would be pretty cool, but they would require gas.



[b]Zombie-types[/b] are important, this is what I have so far:

Ghoul: The basic zombie, lumbers around and tries to kill you.

Armed Ghoul: A zombie with a melee weapon. They lumber faster and hit harder.

Vampire: A vampire. They're immune to gunfire and do high damage. If they bite a player in a multiplayer world, that player turns into another vampire. They also have the ability to turn NPC survivors into zombies. And they can fly.

Wight: Zombies that pop out of the ground near you and have debuff attacks.

Runner: Fast zombies that charge players.

Balloon Zombies: On the ground, they're just slower ghouls with stronger melee attacks, but they can inflate, causing them to float into the sky. This would be pointless, but Helicopters are a planned feature. If you run into one they aslplode.

Wizard: Not a zombie, but still an enemy. Yes, this game will have actual zombies reanimated by magic, not some rage-virus crap. Wizards are minibosses with ranged attacks, AoE attacks, and they can summon Skeletons.

Skeleton: Resistant to gunfire and they wield guns. Shots to the torso do little damage, but headshots are effective.

Unnamed Tank thing: I haven't pinned down any solid ideas, but there would have to be an enemy that tanks your attacks.


I'd list the weapons, but so far they're just standard archetypes. It's worth noting that a crossbow is (one of) the only way(s) to hurt a vampire, and there will (hopefully) be flamethrowers.


As you can see, it's quite the ambitious project, so it's still a long way from production.
[/spoiler]


Only one idea for now, feel free to compliment/criticize/flame/discuss.

[Justice Master]

A puzzle game where you control two characters. One in the present, one in the future. Things you do in the past can effect the future and you can send some items that aren't available in the past to the past using a chute that send things back in time. Just an idea, though.