Game ideas

[Bregalad]

My current ideas...
-Mario Paint music game for NES
-Zelda clone with sci-fi twist
-3d world runner style game (run forward, jump over holes, avoid obstacles)
-a maniac mansion style game that is essentially one big puzzle, find objects and use them in the correct room, dialog with characters, readable clues, etc.

Sounds cool, I'm especially interested in the Zelda clone with sci-fi twist

1- 360° physics speed platformer: [...]
2- First-person shooter (raycaster): [...]

3- Point and click adventure: [...]

4- FMV sequences: [...]

Sounds very cool, I'd be especially interested in point and click adventure, and maybe FMV sequences.

As for my ideas, are anyonee even interested? It seems this thread has derailed so much already, and we're only at page #2. Oh well I'll give my ideas anyway, and if everyone ignores them that doesn't really matter, since I myself sort of ignore them, considering how few time I dedicate to NES development anymore.

1. The game I have been working on for 10 years, basically a Zelda clone but that is very different from Zelda. It's intended to be more arcade-like, but plays like Zelda.

2. A beat-em-up game based on the same game engine. Collaborative 2 players, and you should go out and beat up large gangs of Yakuzas just alone or with a team of 2 (very realistic, obviously). One male and female hero character. When in single player mode, he can choose which one he plays and the other becomes a NPC that appears only in cutscenes, so this makes 3 alternative storylines for the game : Girl only, guy only or 2 player mode with both playable.

3. Tactical RPGs. I have many ideas for them but I am not sure if I'm ever going to implement any of them. I would do them both in traditional top-down view, Fire Emblem style, or in isometric pseudo-3D view, Tactics Ogre style.

4. Investigation game. No action, only murders to solve, inspired by Ace Attorney series, but without the trials. The problem of those games is low replay values, once you know the murderer, why even play the game ever again? Yet I still love the concept.

5. Metroidvania games. Basically platformers, and you have to find items in order to go further in your quest in order to be able to do more moves.

6. Basically the very traditional RPG, but with less level grinding and probably more storyline than those that were actually released when the NES was a thing

The probability that I'll ever release all 7 of those ideas (because 3. is actually 2 ideas combined) is very low, though

[calima]

4. Investigation game. No action, only murders to solve, inspired by Ace Attorney series, but without the trials. The problem of those games is low replay values, once you know the murderer, why even play the game ever again? Yet I still love the concept.

One of my old ideas, Siberian Express, was something like that. You're on a train that doesn't stop for weeks, watching nice terrain go by, and passengers dropping like flies. Can you unmask the murderer before you're done?

I thought I'd solve the replay issue by making each playthrough entirely random-generated. Markov chains for the discussion, etc. It would still only have enough content for 4-5 playthroughs before you remember everything every character can say, hah; even if the murderer differs, the clues would be enough to solve it quickly.

I had a 3d engine done, a train and a few carriages, and ever-changing terrain outside, then ran out of motivation and dumped it in the bin. It had a day-night cycle, cloud simulation, and really nice atmospheric scattering too. (yeah yeah I know, quit talking 3d on a NES forum)

[Bregalad]

Cool, exept that the real Siberian train does indeed stop every day actually (I never tried - but I looked it up), and a trip from Moskow to the far east is aprox. 7 days, so you should remove the 's' after "weeks".

I do not see how a scenario for an interesting murder could possibily be computer generated - definitely not on the NES. Even if it was, it would be extremely tough to debug it and make sure a coherent scenario is generated in each case, and that there is enough proofs to solve it, but just enough so that it does not become trivial.

If I were to code such a game I'd probably do a tech demo first with a trivial case, and then present the demo to real recognized scenario writers and ask them if they'd be interested in collaborating to the game. If I came with a scenario all by myself it probably would be either quite boring, or ripped off another existing murder.

Last but not least, I usually prefer when there is a single murder, and that it's really though to figure it out, rather than a series of murder, which is usually excessively gore and does not make the scenario any better.

[dougeff]

How about this idea...

A trading card game. You start with a standard set, as you play the computer, and win, you collect one of his cards. Game ends when you've collected the entire set. Difficulty increases as your collection improves, as the computer's cards will also improve.

[nicklausw]

I want to make a version of Tetris called Soothing Tetris (some other word in place of Tetris), where the game detects what pieces you need, and gives them to you. It also rewards you greatly for small achievements. Basically a game for people who feel like crap.

I've heard making Tetris-styled games can get painful because of copyright though. Is this true?

[Drew Sebastino]

So it only gives you 1x4's?

[tepples]

I've heard making Tetris-styled games can get painful because of copyright though. Is this true?

Relevant topic

[nicklausw]

So it only gives you 1x4's?

Nah, it plays legitimately, but if looks at the openings. If there's just flat ground, it doesn't give you pieces that will end up placing blocks above spaces. If there's just space for a 1x4, it gives you one.

Should I really be worried about whoever owns Tetris taking down a homebrew game? They've had 16 years to get rid of Heliophobe's creation, and it's still there. In fact, that game has "tetra" in the name, and considering how stupid they got with Mino, that's a fairly big deal.

[lidnariq]

So, exactly the opposite of bastet?

[nicklausw]

So, exactly the opposite of bastet?

Yeah, something like that. A game that loves you, rather than intentionally infuriates you.

[FrankenGraphics]

One glaring hole in the nes library is gravity/thrust simulating (with varied emphasis on 'simulation') games, and this is the main reason why i began to dig through nesdev and scanned asm books. Yes, there's solar jetman, and possibly the port on marble madness could be said to be gravity/physics-oriented in a way, but there's so much potential waiting to be unearthed.

There's so many variations on this to be done it's hard to pick. Cave exploration? or excavation? Avoid deadly walls? Flight of the bumblebee? Mario bros/bubble bobble style arcade game? Actual moon lander simulator?

a) My personal favourite theme in my scribble book of game ideas based on gravity/thrust simulators is a submarine adventure where you salvage mysterious artifacts in the sunken city of atlantis. It could be arcadey or metroidvania-style or puzzle or a combination. I'd like to sketch more on at some point.

b) Another favoritised idea is a gravity/thrust based take on choplifter. Rescue colonists from a doomed asteroid/moon base - or squash them if you land too hard!


Another format that could be filled with different genres and concepts that currently has few entries are the isometric ones, which is why i went and posted something in the gfx section. The few games there are, though, show of different vastly different artistic styles to pull it off on the nes (marble madness, snake rattle 'n roll, and solstice are all very different ones).

[DRW]

Does anyone else have any other ideas for homebrew games?

I have some. I guess many people have.
Mine are:
- The fighting game that I mentioned in the other thread.
- The "A Nightmare on Elm Street" game based on the first movie, created in the style of an arcade port from 1984. (Not to be confused with the actual "A Nightmare on Elm Street" game on the NES.)
- A game with vampires and other monsters/demons where you actually defeat vampires in the common ways instead of using a whip and where there are more than one in the entire game. The game would be a platformer, but it wouldn't be a "Castlevania" clone. Also, I imagine a nice storyline.

My opinion about the other ideas:

-Mario Paint music game for NES

I'm not really into music games.

-Zelda clone with sci-fi twist

Would be o.k. if "Zelda clone" means just top-down action adventure and not "a game that feels and plays specifically like Zelda". I don't like it when games are obviously copied from other games, especially when the original game exists on the same console.

-3d world runner style game (run forward, jump over holes, avoid obstacles)

Meh. "World Runner" itself is already pretty bland with its gameplay.

-a maniac mansion style game that is essentially one big puzzle, find objects and use them in the correct room, dialog with characters, readable clues, etc.

Not one of my genres, so I can't say anything about it.

1- 360° physics speed platformer: You know, the genre started by Sonic the Hedgehog, which inspired a multitude of clones.

Could be interesting.

2- First-person shooter (raycaster):

I'd really like such a game on the NES. But I hope you don't do any of the following things:
- Lifting the plot directly from "Doom" (space marine fighting against demons).
- Doing some cutesy thing like fighting squirrels or whatever.
I'd prefer a "normal" approach: Some good guy fighting against bad guys. Maybe some freaky opponents, but nothing that gets too much into science fiction or fantasy. If there's only one first person shooter on the console, it should be with regular humans in a relatively realistic setting.

3- Point and click adventure:

Not my genre.

4- FMV sequences:

It would depend on the game and how far the video scenes are incorporated into the gameplay. If they're just cutscenes, you could make sequences for basically every game. For example, you could invent FMV scenes for "Super Mario Bros." So, FMV doesn't say much about the game itself yet.

1. The game I have been working on for 10 years, basically a Zelda clone but that is very different from Zelda. It's intended to be more arcade-like, but plays like Zelda.

What does arcade-like mean? Like "Gauntlet II"?

2. A beat-em-up game based on the same game engine.

Meh. There are already so many beat-em-up games on the NES. And due to the fact that you have to defeat all opponents on the screen until you can advance, the genre is always very slow-paced. If you can do a faster one, though, it might be interesting.
One question: What will the female character look like?

3. Tactical RPGs.

Not my genre.

4. Investigation game.

Not my genre.

5. Metroidvania games.

Depends whether you're forced to run in circles until you find some hidden item, like in "Metroid". I guess a game where there are many paths and you definitely find the stuff to go on if you just visit all paths would be alright. But a game with a lot of "riddles", a.k.a. items or passageways hidden in random locations and you have to shoot at every tile to eventually find everything, that's too boring to me. It's also the reason why I sold my "Metroid" cartridge again after watching a longplay of that game.

6. Basically the very traditional RPG, but with less level grinding and probably more storyline than those that were actually released when the NES was a thing

I'd really love an RPG game with a good storyline on the NES. The plot should be at least as good as in "Final Fantasy Adventure". However, I don't really like those turn-based fights. So, I would suggest either the typical "Zelda"-like battles, i.e. opponents are just part of the world and you can fight them as you go along. Or it would be good if you could invent an original way for battles. I.e. a single fighting screen different from the regular map. But the battles are not just choosing stuff from a menu, but something creative.

[lidnariq]

If you can build bastet, you can change it from "intentionally most infuriating" to "intentionally a bit too helpful" by simply changing:

in BlockType BastetBlockChooser::GetNext(const Well *well, const Queue &q){
[...]
//always returns the worst block if it's different from the last one
int worstblock=find(finalScores.begin(),finalScores.end(),temp[0])-finalScores.begin();
if(BlockType(worstblock) != q.front()) return BlockType(worstblock);

Change that 0 to nBlockTypes-1, because temp is the sorted array of "what score does the game think the player could achieve if I gave him block type X", where 0 is "lowest score and therefore most unhelpful block"

You could also change the CDF blockPercentages to something a bit more friendly, but it's not as huge a change.

[Bregalad]

Meh. There are already so many beat-em-up games on the NES. And due to the fact that you have to defeat all opponents on the screen until you can advance, the genre is always very slow-paced. If you can do a faster one, though, it might be interesting.

Note taken ! I do not know how exactly to make it "faster" but I'll try. Perhaps having enemies with less health, but then I'm afraid the game would be too easy. Well I first have to develop the game, and then I'll see how it'll be tuned.

Outisde of Double Dragon series, and Battletoads but which is only partially a Beat-em-up, I didn't know there was so many. There's a Final Fight spinoff, also. One particularity for the game I have in mind would be that there would be a few alternative path available. It could make it more worth replaying than if it was simply linear.

What does arcade-like mean? Like "Gauntlet II"?

Nope. Basically the game plays like Zelda or Final Fantasy Adventure, with a top-down view, screen-by-screen scrolling. But there's few RPG elements, you can only build up your health, attack and defence. There is almost no storyline and definitely no backtracking needed. No save, the game is supposed to be beaten in one play through whose duration would be approximately between 0:30 and 1:00. There is a linear game made of 6 stages, but each stage is unlinear.

One question: What will the female character look like?

She will be very attactive, obviously. More seriously, I haven't done the character design for that game yet. The heroes are supposed to be repented yakuzas.

Not my genre.

Who knowns, maybe someday I'll make a game which is so amazing it'll convert you to the genres... or not. I still have to release my first "real" game.

I guess a game where there are many paths and you definitely find the stuff to go on if you just visit all paths would be alright. But a game with a lot of "riddles", a.k.a. items or passageways hidden in random locations and you have to shoot at every tile to eventually find everything, that's too boring to me. It's also the reason why I sold my "Metroid" cartridge again after watching a longplay of that game.

The original Metroid is in my opinion pure garbage, so I perfectly understand. This genre is pretty low on my priority list, but I enjoyed the late Castlevanias (such as SOTN) very much. Basically it'd be a platformer with RPG elements, so the exact opposite of my RPG with no RPG elements I'm making right now It do not have to be anything like Metroid nor Castlevania. Since I'm only 50% motivated for the genre maybe this'd work best with a collaboration with someone else.

I'd really love an RPG game with a good storyline on the NES. The plot should be at least as good as in "Final Fantasy Adventure". However, I don't really like those turn-based fights. So, I would suggest either the typical "Zelda"-like battles, i.e. opponents are just part of the world and you can fight them as you go along. Or it would be good if you could invent an original way for battles. I.e. a single fighting screen different from the regular map. But the battles are not just choosing stuff from a menu, but something creative.

Yes, I wanted to come with a battle system that was basically a perfect balance between extremely old-scool turn based battles, and moden dynamic battle systems. The reaons why a good 90% of JRPGs are often boring after the first few hours of gameplay is because you spent your time doing "Attack Attack Attack" and the battles are boring.

By solving that single problem and forcing the player to not use "Attack Attack Attack" all the time, you have to not be lazy and come up with a battle system that is balanced. 80% of RPGs penlize you for using magic by wasting Mana, so players will refrain from using it, and that creates a boring battle system. So by using a system where you do not need Mana to use various techniques, and where the techniques of each characters are completely different to other characters, I hope to be able to come with an interesting to play RPG. I'd also want to get rid of levels altogether, so that there will be no grinding. Or maybe just have a party's level, but definitely no level for individual characters, and make it in a way so that the game is technically beatable no matter how low your level is - but a high level just makes it easier.

The only thing I really planned is that all 4 characters have a different learning system for their techniques. One has the traditional learning with level ups, one learns by getting hit by the enemy, one learns abilities by simply buying them in shops, and one learns by equipping weapons and using them long enough. This variety would made it more interesting than a system where all characters learn and progress the same way.

I have still no idea how the battle system would work exactly, so this is fully open. RPGs that already does that are for example Live a Live, where the HP is full at the start of each battle, and where Mana does not exist - the only penalty for using bigger techniques is that you need to spend time before they're executed, and increase the likehood of them being cancelled. This makes the game much more enjoyable.

[FrankenGraphics]

I have still no idea how the battle system would work exactly, so this is fully open.

If you want to come around the ammo/mana conservation problem (i feel the same about these things), you could have a dynamic cooldown of your design. Outline would be that it takes x hits/turns/moves/actions/seconds/a combination of two prerequisites before you can use this or that, except that you _can_ use the abilities earlier than the cooldown dictates by some sort of sacrifice - be it health points, upper hand, secure position, or an increase of fatigue.