I may finally have it ...
by Jeremy Alessi · 07/14/2006 (12:10 pm) · 7 comments
In the past I've created a lot of games. In the beginning I did a lot of original stuff ... but truth be told I didn't have the technical skills to pull them off right. After a while I started getting more conservative from a design standpoint. I created a few games mainly based on other games I liked. The best games though I usually find are the most innovative and different ... these sort of games are usually created without referencing other games but instead just some real life concept the designer hopes to capture on the small screen. I know this isn't always true but it's something I think happens more often than not.
Today I finally put together a little prototype of something I've been kicking around which isn't based on other games but rather a crazy concept in life which always kind of facinated me. After getting the prototype together ( which is really super simple ) I realized that I may have stumbled onto one of those games that I respect so much. It could be a Tetris, Geometry Wars, Orbz sort of thing. A concept so simple and elegant and yet somehow undone (ok Geometry Wars isn't too innovative but at the same time there's nothing else like it).
There's still so much to decide on how I should tackle the concept as a full blown game that I can't comment on anything else. All I can say is this one should really make me proud!
Today I finally put together a little prototype of something I've been kicking around which isn't based on other games but rather a crazy concept in life which always kind of facinated me. After getting the prototype together ( which is really super simple ) I realized that I may have stumbled onto one of those games that I respect so much. It could be a Tetris, Geometry Wars, Orbz sort of thing. A concept so simple and elegant and yet somehow undone (ok Geometry Wars isn't too innovative but at the same time there's nothing else like it).
There's still so much to decide on how I should tackle the concept as a full blown game that I can't comment on anything else. All I can say is this one should really make me proud!
About the author
#2
07/14/2006 (1:35 pm)
So...whats the idea? :-)
#3
However, you look at it though it's a very elegant game which took only 40 hours to create initially and yet offers up much more in terms of gameplay.
07/14/2006 (1:56 pm)
Grid Wars is actually a take off of Geometry Wars ... created for the sole purpose of mocking it initially (unless there's more than one ... This ). I'd say the only game you could really say it's ripping off is Robotron ... but Stephen Cakebread said he'd never even played Robotron and that he came up with Geometry Wars for the sole purpose of testing the dual analog sticks ... it wasn't meant to be a full game initially. Still, like I said above it's not really innovative but there's nothing else like it. It's like they're all remixes of the same song but Geometry Wars is head and shoulders above the rest.However, you look at it though it's a very elegant game which took only 40 hours to create initially and yet offers up much more in terms of gameplay.
#4
as a game designer you are your own worst demographic playtester
until then it's pre-emptive to think of it as "the one" and it sucks to get your hopes up
can't wait to play what you've got - I've enjoyed your games in the past
(rooftop racers was my favorite - better than AA)
07/14/2006 (4:32 pm)
have other people play the prototype and gague their reactionas a game designer you are your own worst demographic playtester
until then it's pre-emptive to think of it as "the one" and it sucks to get your hopes up
can't wait to play what you've got - I've enjoyed your games in the past
(rooftop racers was my favorite - better than AA)
#6
07/14/2006 (5:29 pm)
Oops, you are absolutely right on the Grid Wars thing. THough the mechanic still has TONS of predecessors, for instance Crimsonland. Quibbling over that stuff aside, Geometry Wars is excellent, and arguably the best implementation of that mechanic since Robotron. I still like Robotron a little better, but it's fun nonetheless!
#7
07/14/2006 (11:12 pm)
Hehe, Joshua of course is spot on. Unfortunately, the gameplay is far from what anyone would recognize as a game yet. I'll have some real testing in August sometime. Right now it's just gut instinct that this will be a good game. Probably not a 'Tetris' ;) ... as always my enthusiasm tends to give way to exaggeration ... but I know it will make for a fun game even though I doubt it will be legendary in reality. 
Torque 3D Owner Andy Schatz
By the way, not to be a jerk, but there's TONS of stuff like Geometry Wars, Grid Wars for instance. The only thing that's really unique about it is that you can play it on the dual analog, and it is unique within it's distribution space. GW is really a very blatant ripoff, but still a great game.