OK...so how does this work?

#1 Yeah, you just throw an idea in the air and see if it catches on. Then people can input their ideas and you get a game design ;) Well.. not that easily.

But dont ask for people to make the game for you, because that's just never going to happen. If you are thinking of getting a dev team together, I suggest you get at least a small semo or some sort of proof that you mean to follow through (a complete design doc for example). Then people know you arent just ideas ;)

#2 Thanks. At this point I AM just ideas. I have nothing to work with BUT ideas. :) Looking at what games are hitting the main stream market today (God Bless the Indies!) it would seem there is a need for idea people. I just wish I had the skills to do a demo at least...

#3 I'd suggest searching the resources for Chris Taylor's design document template... it really helps you see what you need to set out when designing.

other than that post an idea and see how the community recieves it... expect to be flamed for some things but everyone who replies should have something constructive to say ;)

#4 Sorry to say, ideas are never in short supply. Good ideas, on the other hand... ;)

Another thing to do is pick up a few books. I'm a huge fan of self-teaching, and the game dev section of the local bookstore should have a few nice books to help you out. Specifically, coding and art, because you can't expect to put a team together and run it without knowing what your people are talking about(and your people won't always know how to put things in plain english for you, so it's best to know their languages).

And subscribe to Game Developer Magazine! Can't stress that enough, it rocks, and the articles are awesome.

#5 Well I had this idea about a FPS in WW2! *LOL* Sorry...could not help myself. :) I see GOOD ideas are in short supply

The flames I can do without but constructive advice is always welcome. :)

As for the "self learning" path. I have to pass. I'm a Gamer...not a programer. I play games to RELAX. I know how most game makers are treated and in all honesty those who MAKE the game never get the credit they should! Alright...I'm off my soap box now. I'll look for Chris Taylor's design document template and see what I can apply but I'll never be a programer again. Anyone is welcome to work with my ideas. Now I have to get them down so you all can understand them. :)

#6 Relax? What games do you play? :~P Just kidding!

#7 Well...I try to play a bunch of different types but my favorites of all tyme are the Puzzle types. Puzzle solving with a storyline. 7th Guest, 11th Hour, The Zorks, Light House. The Mist line, though nice looking, were empty on the story line- but still good.

CRPG's- Those old Gold Box SSI D&D games; D&D types of all kinds; Dungeon Siege Series ; Temple of Elemetal Evil.

RTS: War Craft, Star Craft, Age of Mytholgy, the Tycoon line;

odd 3rd person games like Fallout and Fallout 2...where humor and theme mate with a good game engine. Diablo was fun for a bit but it was limited to what you could do.

FPS- I got sucked in with Tribes for the pseudo social aspects and fresh ideas in outdoor team play but am burnt out on them now. Too many of them are World War 2;or space war.

FPRPG- Neocron (Cyberpunk Pay to play Demo only); Morowind; Vampire; Enclave.

Other: Uplink <- I have no clue how to file this one.

So I guess I have weird taste in games. ;)

#8 If you want to work on games as some sort of designer-type, you should look for a chance to level design or something similar. For instance, I might be able to use someone to help make the towns, etc. in Mythale RPG. Of course, there's still alot of things that need to be added to Mythale RPG to make it possible - the problem is that I have 2 jobs and am still finishing up some things for Ecoheroes (another game I made that's mostly waiting on some art - though I plan to tweak a couple things too).

Alternatively, you could just beta test (or even alpha test) games for people. There are probably lots of people on GG who would like someone to play their games.

Your choice in games isn't all that unusual. I like RPGs and strategy games with the occaisional action game (like Unreal Tournament - which I don't actually own).

You can download demos of both of my games at http://fletchgames.tripod.com .

#9 Roy -

Can you explain your goals a bit better? So far, I understand that:

* you have some ideas for one or more game designs
* you don't want to be a game programmer / artist

What do you want? Are you looking to hire a team to implement your game designs so that you can publish them? Are you looking for people to just "talk shop" with about game design? Are you looking to get an industry job as a designer or producer?

Something else?

--milo
http://www.starshatter.com

#10 My post was to just find out how things are run here in regards to posting an idea. I did not want to offend anyone or sound like a dumb ass.
I was then going to see what would be the suggestions on the next steps for someone who has the artistic and programing skills of week old road kill.

I just wanted to drop my ideas in hopes someone could take it and run with it. I could not call myself a designer...I mean what could I do w/o art or programing skills. I only have a few ideas...if that's a designer then hell yeah ;)


I have beta testing time under my belt for various Co. I would list them but the NDAs are still on file and active for all but MSFT...some were so bad I would call it alpha testing.

Steve- what type of towns/maps you needing...I also have over 25 years in Roleplay- 10 years in DM'ing. Story line is NEVER a problem :)

Any way...thanks for the advice and suggestions and questions- I will try to fill in the blanks and make an understandable "pitch" for my ideas.

#11 Heya Roy. :) I don't think there's any harm in posting ideas and getting the think tank perking. I think most would welcome it. Even if a game is never born of it, it may help other developers get the juices flowing and/or break through design walls. I've always seen GG.com as an anvil ideas are shaped on. There's tons of talented people here. Just be ready for the good and equally bad. :)

#12 Tyler,
This thread is a pretty good collection of various game ideas, contributed by large amount of people.

#13 Nauris,

You need to take the
from the link bud.

- Melv.

#14 Hey Tyler! :) The hardest step for me is streamlining my idea(s) into readable english w/o giving examples from other games...but I'm almost 1/2 way through that form by Chris that Ian sent me to.

I'm not going to do the FULL form. Most of it I don't understand. Should I do a new post on the idea or keep it here?

I can't look at the link given above...btw

#15 Roy:
Well, I already have a list of cities and game ideas for quests that happen there. These cities need to be made, and extra stuff needs to be added. I can do the work, but the game would probably be better with the ideas of more than one person determining the storyline and so forth.

More programming needs to be done to add more script commands and stuff, but everything can be started. Combat, etc. works. Basically, everything works, but changes need to be made. And minor things need to be added.

The art isn't started yet because they're still finishing up the art for the other game I made - Ecoheroes (which isn't an RPG).

What you would actually be doing is inputting some of the content. This includes several things: dialogue, enemies in combat, map design, ally design, etc. It involves using a suite of programs I've developed solely for the purpose of inputting stuff into Mythale RPG. Said programs aren't particularly user-friendly. They're fast to use once you get used to them, but it's hard to figure out how to use them.

You can download the demo at http://fletchgames.tripod.com . It includes all the development programs (such as they are) as well as some documentation (which probably has some things that are wrong, and most likely is confusing). The fastest way to figure out what I'm talking about is to take a look.

But you'll need Java version 1.4 or higher too, and that's not included with the download. You'll need to get that from http://java.sun.com . It WILL be included with the final version of the game, but it's just a pain having to download it every time you download the game.

#16 Thanks Steve- I'll pull everything tomorrow and take a look if I can help :)