Being The Dreaded "Idea Guy"

[steve_v]

24 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

in this modern world it seems those who come up with the ideas (let's say for cars or phones) come up with an idea and the toss it down to 1,000 fogeys to their work.

Those 1000 fogeys still need to eat. See option #2, or seek to gain sponsorship of some big company with 1000 spare fogeys.

24 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

Don't flaunt it and say "screw you" because you don't like my idea.

Now you're putting words in my mouth. You may note I haven't written my own game, largely because it isn't worth the time investment for me, let alone for someone else's idea.
While I do have some programming experience, I'm realistic about how much time I would have to invest to gain the skill needed write a complete game. And I'm suggesting you should be too.
My point was, if I'm going to make an investment of my time, for free, be it in utilising skills I have or in learning new ones, why should it be for an "ideas guy"? If you want to lead, lead from the front, not the rear.
Hypothetically, I might be inclined to help if you were to muck in with the actual work, but if your input was inspiration only, then no.

24 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

googling how to do hello world

It occurs to me that this may have something to do with your apparent difficulty... Ma google isn't a particularly good tutor. Have you tried a real course, or failing that, a good book?

Bear in mind that the best courses are not generally free, the skills I have now cost me real money and sweat at a BS job earning that money. Becoming proficient in something as complex as game programming with only google / free online courses may not be overly realistic either.

Edited September 6, 2016 by steve_v

[ZooNamedGames]

21 minutes ago, steve_v said:

Those 1000 fogeys still need to eat. See option #2, or seek to gain sponsorship of some big company with 1000 spare fogeys.

Now you're putting words in my mouth. You may note I haven't written my own game, largely because it isn't worth the time investment for me, let alone for someone else's idea.
While I do have some programming experience, I'm realistic about how much time I would have to invest to gain the skill needed write a complete game. And I'm suggesting you should be too.
My point was, if I'm going to make an investment of my time, for free, be it in utilising skills I have or in learning new ones, why should it be for an "ideas guy"? If you want to lead, lead from the front, not the rear.
Hypothetically, I might be inclined to help if you were to muck in with the actual work, but if your input was inspiration only, then no.

It occurs to me that this may have something to do with your apparent difficulty... Ma google isn't a particularly good tutor. Have you tried a real course, or failing that, a good book?

Bear in mind that the best courses are not generally free, the skills I have now cost me real money and sweat at a BS job earning that money. Becoming proficient in something as complex as game programming with only google / free online courses may not be overly realistic either.

I'm some idiot on the internet how do you suggest a grow a group to help? Post a reward online for the ¢25 I have?

How am I supposed to help when I'm mentally incompetent in everything I do? Instead of complaining about my lack of skill why don't you recognize the fact I can't do anything else.

Time? I've had 14 years to learn skills required by this crap government I'm under and I still don't know crap. So is 14 years of coding worth my effort to produce something you wouldn't buy if you had a gun to your head?

My skills are crap. end of story. I have tried and the prior sentence can be used to describe more about me than you can imagine.

I highly suggest you go through and read this thread carefully as your generic pullstring advice is going to be met with harsh opposition. I've 9 million reasons to hate myself and not try.

[adsii1970]

8 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

I disagree, in this modern world it seems those who come up with the ideas (let's say for cars or phones) come up with an idea and the toss it down to 1,000 fogeys to their work. So your statement isn't true in all circumstances.

Fine. If you can then good for you. But some of us are going to want to commit potentially dangerous harm to ourselves to get even 1% of that skill. Don't flaunt it and say "screw you" because you don't like my idea. Better to be quiet than to insult someone.

I do deal with it. I deal with it every day. I wake up and don't even want to eat because I don't have the motivation.

Got anymore wise crack advice for me?

Geesh, where do I even begin...

How is learning computer programming, assuming that is what you are talking about, going to get you hurt? Yes, it may create stress, but that is created whenever you attempt to learn something new. Outside my townhouse bedroom, I have a big tree full of nests (no thanks to the bird feeder I maintain). Each time this year, I watch the younger birds being taught to fly by their parents. Believe me, there have been a number of juvenile birds hit the ground -- but must of them never give up. They keep trying until they learn to glide, then they learn to fly. It is actually a pretty amazing process to watch. On occasion, there are the juveniles that won't try. They hit the ground and are not injured, but for some reason, lack the drive to keep trying. These are the ones that are eaten by cats and other predatory animals we have living along the Ohio River. 

I think I am going to take your statement that I've quoted above and break it down bit by bit. It is not my intent to anger you or to cause you emotional distress, but you've buried yourself in a grave of self-pity. There can never be any healing or achieving even the smallest victory until you get tired of the cycle.

14 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

I disagree, in this modern world it seems those who come up with the ideas (let's say for cars or phones) come up with an idea and the toss it down to 1,000 fogeys to their work. So your statement isn't true in all circumstances.

[edited by adsii1970]

Based on your statement, you are wanting to jump the experience train to be the top man - the idea man as you say. This is VERY unrealistic in every sense of the word and in modern corporate practice.  Bill Gates started Microsoft with Paul Allen - and the two men together began as not only idea men but programmers. As their vision began to grow, so did the company. For a few years, they continued not only to be idea men but working alongside the program developers in a very much "hands-on" kind of way, helping to debug lines of programming language, tweaking things here and there. By the early 1990s, they were able to lift themselves up out of the trenches and simply became idea men. It is not enough to have good ideas; you must have some vision from how to get from where you are now to what you see as a final vision.

Until you've proven yourself, and you do this through trial and error, through failure and success, no one is going to go out of their way to give you an opportunity or even to give you personal credit based on what you might be able to accomplish.

34 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

I do deal with it. I deal with it every day. I wake up and don't even want to eat because I don't have the motivation.

[edited by adsii1970]

You're not the only one that has days like this. I suffer from PTSD and to be honest, there are days that I do what I do simply because I have others that depend on me. Then there are the good days. It's not perfect, but I am beginning to find motivation within myself -- the idea that if I can just make it through today while causing the least pain for others, then it can still be a good day even though I feel like crap. It also helps when you decide to give of yourself beyond yourself. What I mean by that is that it actually helps me cope with how rough my day is when I take the time to put someone else's needs above my own. Bake a batch of cookies and take to an elderly neighbor. Go mow the grass of a neighbor that physically can't mow their own. Volunteer to drive a neighbor to get their groceries that, again, cannot do that on their own. Believe it or not, it will work if you give it a chance.

43 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

Got anymore wise crack advice for me?

[edited by adsii1970]

No, you seem to have the market on snarky (no offense meant to that great moderator, @Snark ) responses to others. Sure, you have those who have made comments that are akin to smacking a pinata when it comes to responding to your posts. However, there are others of us who have made comments because we see the road you are on and may have experienced it ourselves. You're not the only one that has to deal with depression. In fact, everyone on the forum either has depression or has to cope with the effects depression has on a family member. If you continue on this path you will lose more than what you realize.

You say you want to achieve something and be someone that is well respected. But before you can ask for others to respect you and place a value on what you can do, you must respect yourself first. People pick up social cues on how to treat us from the way they see us represent ourselves. While you seek, to some extent, to be in the spotlight, I detest being in one. I hate that part of my job - I absolutely hate public recognition especially when it is for simply doing what I am supposed to do.

I do not understand, for the most part, the need to be validated by others - as the way you seek it. To be honest, the accolades of others never last as long as the feeling that you'll get when you know you have done a job well. Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet (Act 1, scene 3), "to thine own self be true..." If you do not like who you are or who you are becoming, you need to be your own hero. You need to be the one that changes what you don't like. Changes you make in your life that are made for yourself are far more likely to be successful than changes you make to please others.

[steve_v]

41 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

I'm some idiot on the internet how do you suggest a grow a group to help? Post a reward online for the ¢25 I have?

You're still being unrealistic. Start something yourself, then look for help, not the other way around.

41 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

your generic pullstring advice is going to be met with harsh opposition.

Sounds awfully like you don't want any advice, as you shoot down anyone who tries to give any.

What do you want, pullstring sympathy?

Aside, you have no monopoly on depression, I know it all too well. Wallowing in self pity solves nothing, go do something, even if it's trivial. Small victories and all that.

Edited September 6, 2016 by steve_v

[ShotgunNinja]

On 9/1/2016 at 5:08 AM, ZooNamedGames said:

Every day, I wake up and think of a new world and idea I'd love to make real but then I'm reminded- I can't. Whatever I try to make I am constantly unable to since I lack the ability to.

Generally these ideas are for video games or cinematics and to answer some questions which always show up- I have tried to learn how to create video games but failed miserably. 

You need to start from the beginning. Learn how a microprocessor work, how the stack is used in function prologues/epilogues, how to write code in low-level languages. In this order. I see many failing because they skip these steps and go straight to high-level languages, but without the base they will never understand how things really work and will take stuff as magic blackboxes. Those that succeed instead, they learned that magic do not exist and that blackboxes must be ripped apart.

Gamedev is a nice incentive to learn, especially when you are young. It also has graphical feedback, that is quite satisfing when learning.

 

On 9/1/2016 at 5:08 AM, ZooNamedGames said:

I can't make cinematics as my PC is far too weak and I lack the knowledge and the software to make anything worth the effort.

Even in this sense, start from the beginning. Don't fire a modelling/animation software and expect to learn by trial. They are too complex, they grew organically along with the technologies involved. Most of them are just messy. Start from learning how meshes are stored and animated instead. How bone-based deformable meshes work. Think of data.

 

On 9/1/2016 at 5:08 AM, ZooNamedGames said:

But the big issue is- no one wants to take suggestions or be led by someone else. As others have told me, people hate the "idea guy". Sadly, I am

This is not the big issue, you are just an engineer in being. Is not like somebody is born as an 'idea guy' and another is born as a 'make things happen guy'. You need to make conscious choices in how you want to relate to everything.

[Camacha]

2 hours ago, ZooNamedGames said:

I disagree, in this modern world it seems those who come up with the ideas (let's say for cars or phones) come up with an idea and the toss it down to 1,000 fogeys to their work. So your statement isn't true in all circumstances.

The people that are in a position to do this, generally have had to go through the motions to get there. That means having done the, or at least an alternative form of the work that someone has to do. Starting in such a position is a dream and an illusion. Even if you manage to somehow get there without doing all the other bits, chances are you will be gone very soon, because lacking the proper experience, nothing good will come of it.

 

1 hour ago, ZooNamedGames said:

My skills are crap. end of story

The first half is true. Of course it is. We have already established that to become good, you need to fail, and you have not failed enough to become good. It also shows why the second half is nonsense. It is not the end of the story. It is just the beginning. Learning a new skill is not about become great by magic. It is about sucking every time you try. And sometimes sucking more. That is part of the deal.

Edited September 6, 2016 by Camacha

[Slam_Jones]

My best friend and I come up with ideas all the time.  In a way, we're both the "idea guy."

The only way to get good at something is to practice.  We all start off with little to no skill in a particular field... what matters is how motivated you are to go out and practice that skill.

For example, I have tons of ideas for video games.  But I know that in my situation, these will never become any more than concepts if I don't try.  You can try and fail, sure, but you can also try and succeed.  If you don't try, you will only ever fail.  You will learn from failure, yes, but only if you try.

Everyone who ever became great at something, started by being terrible at something.

So what do I do about it?  I download Unity, I start reading online, gathering skills and resources to be able to accomplish my dreams.  Is it a quick easy process?  Of course not!  If it were easy, everyone would do it.  But personally, I am setting goal for myself: small projects that I know are within my ability and skill.  Then, push the boundary a little bit... incorporate some features of code that I am not fully familiar with.  By doing this, I force myself to learn the new stuff in order to proceed.

If a task looks insurmountable, like climbing a mountain, just break it down into steps.  The more steps you can break it down into, the easier each step will be.  Once you start realizing, "hey, I've already go half of my list implemented," then the rest of it will happen much easier and smoother.  Once you have the momentum, try not to lose it; it can be hard to pick that speed back up again.

The best thing you can do is try.  Choose a starter project that you KNOW you can complete.  Then pick a project you are unsure you can complete, but isn't impossible.  The more you struggle and learn, the easier it will become.  The more momentum you build up, the easier it is to continue.

Remember - the only person who can stop your own creativity is YOU.  Nobody can take away your imagination, no matter what they say or do.  Only you can find the strength and willpower within you to do what truly makes you happy.  It won't be an easy road you will go down, but it will be one that ultimately leads you right where you want to be, if you stay true to it and never give up.  Being pessimistic about your skill or the market you plan to work with will only ever slow you down and make you question yourself.

The last thing to leave you with is this: if you have no fire inside, you will not complete your goals.  If you truly do not have the motivation, then you will not succeed.  The is an old Greek Fable I am unable to find on Google, but I'll try to say it here: (sorry if I butcher it, but I'll make sure I hit the main points)

-----

"There once was a man who came to an old philosopher, hoping to learn his ways.  When he found the philosopher, he was contemplating a river.

'Teach me, o great philosopher, that I may become smarter than my neighbors.'

The philospher regarded the man for a moment, and then beckoned him over.

'Look into the water, what do you see?' asked the philosopher.

The man looked into the river, but saw only his own reflection.  He stared for a moment, then began to turn to the philosopher.  However, at that moment, the philosopher pushed the man's head below the water, holding it there while he struggled.  Eventually he let up.  The man fell back onto the bank of the river, coughing and spitting out water.

'What is the meaning of this, old man?!' he yelled, indignantly, rising to his feet.

The philosopher only smiled.

'You see, many say they wish for knowledge, but it is not truly what they seek.  When your thirst for knowledge becomes as strong as your thirst for air,' he says, gesturing to the river, 'only then can I teach you.'"

-----

The point is, you will only truly learn when you feel the NEED to learn.  You will only truly accomplish your goals if you are able to find that fire inside.  It your life is comfortable, then more likely than not, you will take the path of least resistance, and give up your dreams.  This is the worst thing you can do.

Good luck!  I know it is difficult, but I know you will be able to find the fire within yourself to accomplish your goals

Edited September 6, 2016 by Slam_Jones

[Just Jim]

I've been reading thru this, and I've seen my name mentioned a couple times. I'm not sure if this will help or not, but I do understand your frustration in a way. I don't know exactly what's going on in your life, and that's fine, it's not really any of my business. But myself, about 10 years ago I broke my back pretty bad. Bad enough that 3 of the best doctors in Florida all said the same thing. Not 100% fixable, and messing with it could make it much worse. And overnight I can't do half of the things most people take for granted, like running or climbing stairs.... and I darn sure couldn't do a lot of the stuff I used to love doing, like working out. Plus I got put on permanent disability.  Permanent... as in rest of my life permanent. So I can't go back to work anymore, no matter how much I miss it.

And for the next couple years after I broke it I was just about the biggest jerk on the planet. Not the lovable old coot you all know today... lmao. I lashed out at everyone and everything that got near me, and made life really miserable for everyone around me. But there came a point were I just tired of being miserable all the time, and I slowly realized if I didn't change, and soon, I was going to swirl into an abyss of depression I would never come back from.

The biggest thing I needed to realize was yes, there's stuff I can't do anymore.  But there's always been stuff I suck at (pardon my language) and always will. Stuff other people do so easily, like auto mechanics. My brother in law is great, and can tell what's wrong with an engine just by listening. But to me, it's just an engine, and my skills at auto repair mostly involve Triple-A and a tow truck. And I tried my hand at computer languages... that's not happening either. I'm really good at geometry and spacial mechanics, but programming languages just look like so much gibberish to me.

So I began to ignore what I couldn't do anymore... what's the sense?  All it did was make me more miserable, and torture everyone else near me. Instead I said screw it... I'm a decent enough artist and musician. And while I may never be onstage again, that's no reason to stop playing or painting. Only now my attitude is much different... To be quite blunt, now I could care less what other people may think, or if it impresses anyone or not. I'm in this for me, and me only... and I do the things I do because I enjoy doing them.

Which brings me to Emiko Station. I started that almost a year ago now, and much to my amazement, a lot of people are still reading it and apparently really enjoying it. So much it's picking up nearly 1000 views a day. Now please understand, I'm not bringing it up to brag. I'm mentioning it because I'm 54 years old, and until a year ago I had no clue I could write anything that anyone would be interested in reading.  

It took me 53 years to figure out I'm pretty good at this writing thing, and maybe I should pursue it further. But looking back, I don't know if the same thing would have happened if I wrote something 20 years ago, or it took this long for my goofy brain to accumulate enough random trivia, or what. All I know is it took a long, long time to figure out. And this is something we all have to deal with.

In fact, I would argue the real goal in life is just trying to find that special something you can do better than anything else. Some are lucky and find it early, others like myself may take decades... and unfortunately many can't find it at all.

But you can't let it stop you, or drag you down. There are too many beautiful fun things out there to let reality get in the way. Seriously, take it from an old coot.... you sound really stubborn... good!  All you need to do is redirect that stubbornness in a more positive direction. To hell with what anyone else thinks, find something you like, and do it because you like to do it!

If others don't get it, that's their problem and their loss, not yours!  

 

Edited September 6, 2016 by Just Jim

[ZooNamedGames]

I thank you all for your kind words of wisdom for me. I hope that I one day heed it since things (obviously) are only looking more shaky by the minute.

If I was progressing with my life then it would be one thing, but I'm completely stalled out.

So finishing things that will impact my life is on the board but I doubt I'll put that much effort in but maybe I'll wake up one day and change that. 

[Ten Key]

6 hours ago, ZooNamedGames said:

. . .how do you suggest a grow a group to help?

Well, weirdly, it looks like you have a bit of group trying to do just that growing right here.

20 hours ago, ZooNamedGames said:

I quit because I had no choice. I could slam my head against the wall trying to brute force my way through the problem spending hours, maybe days and weeks trying to find how to solve this tiny problem that someone set me up to do as a way to test what they just explained to me or quit. If I was stumped on something that was supposed to be challenging, then that would be something but I'm getting stuck in essentially spots people never imagined people could.

I had a terrible time with fractions when I was in elementary school. Conceptually I knew what they were, but when it came to dealing with them mechanically I really struggled. I am very "right brained", and I have a tendency to think "visually"-- asked any sort of question, the first thing my brain does is offer up a picture. What do onions smell like? Boom, picture of an onion. So I handled fractions my manipulating pictures of pie charts in my head. 

I got pretty good at it, and managed to make it all the way to algebra in the sixth grade before my little trick wouldn't work any more. I could still do it, but not fast enough to get through the tests. And show my work? Forget it. 

And it was frustrating, and I was miserable. And then one day we were working an equation and had smashed it down to something like 17x = 5    ---->    x = 5/17     And I remember staring at it. . .It's a division sign! A fraction is nothing but two numbers separated by a division sign!

CLICK

Sometimes the brain just misses a critical piece of information. It's frustrating and embarrassing, but it happens to everyone. Sometimes we just don't understand what we don't understand.

 

Having said all of that though, it really sounds like. . .

6 hours ago, ZooNamedGames said:

I've 9 million reasons to hate myself and not try.

. . .is the whole of your problem. Learning is a skill that demands a person be able to face and accept their own ignorance. It sounds like your mind erupts in a fit of self-loathing every time it encounters a barrier during the learning process. It's a real and serious problem, and you are not alone in your suffering, but you must get past this problem before you try to tackle anything else. 

[Bill Phil]

Start small. Get a few bucks, and buy Doom II. Or get FreeDoom, which is free. Then get Zdoom. Why? Because it's one of the easiest video games to make mods for in history. There are programs out there that are dedicated to making maps for Doom, and those maps are just two dimensional images. But you can go even further than that. It's simple on the surface, but very flexible and capable. And the best part? Only the complex stuff requires coding. It's not even that much. You can go to the zdoom wiki and just copy everything.

But you want a big, fancy looking game? But the rules of game design transcend platforms, and even history. So, learning some stuff with Doom would be valuable.

[ZooNamedGames]

anotber difficult aspect is that I tried to ask for testing game concepts but no one responded to the thread. So it's not like I tried to find a possible idea.

[pxi]

I'm assuming this is what you're referring to?

How do you propose testing this concept?  Your post heavily implies that you don't have anything to test beyond an idea, so I'm slightly confused as to how you propose to test multiplayer functionality?  Do you have a design document we can refer to, or perhaps a non-computer related card-game system you plan to use (I'm assuming this one since you reference Pokemon)?

[KerikBalm]

On 9/5/2016 at 11:40 PM, ZooNamedGames said:

 97% of my ideas are ones that people will say "eh" and never look at game (if they even get close to a download button). Others have hit nail on the head by saying most ideas only the person with the idea are interested in, others either won't be interested or care about it. So again; to what benefit is the effort? If I make a diamond (to me) and no one cares to look, then what's the point of making it?

Here's the major problem... ideas are a dime a dozen. Even "good ideas" are a dime a dozen.

Its the hard work that is the limiting factor. You think of yourself as an "idea guy"... but almost everyone has new and creative ideas. Its a bit arrogant to think that you're a special snowflake for these ideas. Particularly if these ideas aren't even interesting to other people (they say "eh" or you're the only one that thinks its a diamond).

If its not even worth it for you to make the effort for something you think is a diamond, then it sure as heck isn't going to be worth the effort for someone else.

Don't be the "pointy haired boss" from Dilbert

http://assets.amuniversal.com/6c8d6c104abd0134aaad005056a9545d

[Green Baron]

7 hours ago, ZooNamedGames said:

anotber difficult aspect is that I tried to ask for testing game concepts but no one responded to the thread. So it's not like I tried to find a possible idea.

Hello,

step by step, maybe you could try on a high level, without going too much into programming and computation. If you don't know yet (I haven't read through the whole thread so the following is maybe just obsolete blabla), these tools might help to abstract from the low level and get going faster:

 

Blender for 3D-modelling. Others have said it before. It has a basic game-engine and physics built in after you managed the design part. I'd suggest version 2.7. And books for learning. There is a huge community with a lot of knowledge, many tutorials and examples. With Blender you avoid the math and programming thing.

Godot for game engine concepts. It's huge, free and open source. Forget Unity/Unreal blabla. Only problem, it lacks documentation, but it gets better. So you get the basic game concepts fast, and the scripting language is easy to learn, even for non-programmers.

Scripting language for Blender and Godot is comparable.

 

Set yourself small goals, you won't program an orbiter or ksp without 5 years of programming experience and a team of programmers. Modell a part of an idea in Blender and animate it. So it'll be a little more difficult to fail :-)

These tools are free and open source and of higher quality than many programs you have to pay for. With the examples/tutorials/communities on the internet you could be able to write a little platformer or a dungeon crawler in Godot. And they don't need a big pc.

 

[Camacha]

12 hours ago, ZooNamedGames said:

anotber difficult aspect is that I tried to ask for testing game concepts but no one responded to the thread. So it's not like I tried to find a possible idea.

That is how the world works. You come up with great stuff and still you have to carry it to people for anything to happen. People are naturally inert. They are comfortable the way they are, so if you want to get anything done, you have to roll up your sleeves and get to work. I will again point out the example of Google. They came up with a society changing idea, pitched it to all the relevant players in the field and guess what happend: nothing. Those players had a good thing going and saw no reason to shift gears due to a good idea. In the end, it meant their downfall, of course, but it also meant Page and Brin had to do it themselves.

This applies anywhere. Any line of work, game development, friendship, inventing - you name it.

[Camacha]

19 hours ago, ZooNamedGames said:

I thank you all for your kind words of wisdom for me. I hope that I one day heed it since things (obviously) are only looking more shaky by the minute.

If I was progressing with my life then it would be one thing, but I'm completely stalled out.

So finishing things that will impact my life is on the board but I doubt I'll put that much effort in but maybe I'll wake up one day and change that. 

I respectfully but strongly disagree. You are not completely stalled out. You have been working with creativity and quite a bit of fervour for the past week. How so, you ask? You have been countering all of our suggestions, ideas and encouragements with well worded replies. There was not an argument that you did not manage to bend into your hopeless advantage. Even though it was your depression that put you to it, it has been your creativity and your talents that did the hard work and that crafted the arguments in a skilful fashion. Even without knowing it, your talents boil to the surface, even if that happens for unfortunate reasons. You are not useless. You are not without talent. You happened to fall into a place that anyone can fall into.

[ZooNamedGames]

19 hours ago, pxi said:

I'm assuming this is what you're referring to?

How do you propose testing this concept?  Your post heavily implies that you don't have anything to test beyond an idea, so I'm slightly confused as to how you propose to test multiplayer functionality?  Do you have a design document we can refer to, or perhaps a non-computer related card-game system you plan to use (I'm assuming this one since you reference Pokemon)?

That it is.

My plan would be to just test the idea over text. What you can do would be explained in advance and you'd play it out from there. Multiplayer would be tested by just that- testing the idea over text with 2 or more people. The Pokemon aspect actually has more basis from the video game series than few card game. 

12 hours ago, KerikBalm said:

Here's the major problem... ideas are a dime a dozen. Even "good ideas" are a dime a dozen.

Its the hard work that is the limiting factor. You think of yourself as an "idea guy"... but almost everyone has new and creative ideas. Its a bit arrogant to think that you're a special snowflake for these ideas. Particularly if these ideas aren't even interesting to other people (they say "eh" or you're the only one that thinks its a diamond).

If its not even worth it for you to make the effort for something you think is a diamond, then it sure as heck isn't going to be worth the effort for someone else.

Don't be the "pointy haired boss" from Dilbert

http://assets.amuniversal.com/6c8d6c104abd0134aaad005056a9545d

Please read the thread before posting; I've seen this type of response 113 times now. 

7 hours ago, Camacha said:

That is how the world works. You come up with great stuff and still you have to carry it to people for anything to happen. People are naturally inert. They are comfortable the way they are, so if you want to get anything done, you have to roll up your sleeves and get to work. I will again point out the example of Google. They came up with a society changing idea, pitched it to all the relevant players in the field and guess what happend: nothing. Those players had a good thing going and saw no reason to shift gears due to a good idea. In the end, it meant their downfall, of course, but it also meant Page and Brin had to do it themselves.

This applies anywhere. Any line of work, game development, friendship, inventing - you name it.

I can roll up my sleeves but I can't test an idea within my own head. I need outside thinking.

6 hours ago, Camacha said:

I respectfully but strongly disagree. You are not completely stalled out. You have been working with creativity and quite a bit of fervour for the past week. How so, you ask? You have been countering all of our suggestions, ideas and encouragements with well worded replies. There was not an argument that you did not manage to bend into your hopeless advantage. Even though it was your depression that put you to it, it has been your creativity and your talents that did the hard work and that crafted the arguments in a skilful fashion. Even without knowing it, your talents boil to the surface, even if that happens for unfortunate reasons. You are not useless. You are not without talent. You happened to fall into a place that anyone can fall into.

I may have creativity and wit, but I don't have a high diploma like I should and I've nearly completely stopped on the process to getting one. That is where I've stalled out, finishing the basics of what I have to do to get anywhere.

Edited September 7, 2016 by ZooNamedGames

[pxi]

6 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

My plan would be to just test the idea over text. What you can do would be explained in advance and you'd play it out from there. Multiplayer would be tested by just that- testing the idea over text with 2 or more people. The Pokemon aspect actually has more basis from the video game series than few card game.

Have you considered using or adapting tabletop roleplaying or strategy systems like D&D/Warhammer etc?   There have been many cases where people have prototyped computer games using existing systems with modified rulesets.  You might also consider something like tabletop simulator if you're realistically intending to do this over the internet.

Ultimately if you want to maximise the possibility of getting help testing out your concepts, you're going to want to make things as easy as possible for people.  That means having something to sink their teeth into.  At the moment you're talking about things in such a vague way it's nigh-on impossible to give any feedback.  It also, rightly or wrongly, gives the impression that there isn't anything to actually test.

My suggestion is to go write an actual pitch for this idea - something that conveys to people what the game is about, and how it works.  All I've surmised at the moment is Pokemon, Ghostbusters, and NASA.  I don't see how these concepts fit together, and I've absolutely no idea what genre of game you're aiming towards.  You're asking people to give up their time to help you, you need to provide something that gives an incentive to people.  For example, I like 1v1 fighting games, if you were to tell me that you want to make 'Ghostbusters x Pokemon' in the same vein as 'Marvel vs Capcom', ignoring the obvious copyright minefield, you'd have my attention.

What is it about your concept that would inspire me, or other forum-goers to drop everything and help you make this idea a real thing?

[ZooNamedGames]

9 minutes ago, pxi said:

Have you considered using or adapting tabletop roleplaying or strategy systems like D&D/Warhammer etc?   There have been many cases where people have prototyped computer games using existing systems with modified rulesets.  You might also consider something like tabletop simulator if you're realistically intending to do this over the internet.

Ultimately if you want to maximise the possibility of getting help testing out your concepts, you're going to want to make things as easy as possible for people.  That means having something to sink their teeth into.  At the moment you're talking about things in such a vague way it's nigh-on impossible to give any feedback.  It also, rightly or wrongly, gives the impression that there isn't anything to actually test.

My suggestion is to go write an actual pitch for this idea - something that conveys to people what the game is about, and how it works.  All I've surmised at the moment is Pokemon, Ghostbusters, and NASA.  I don't see how these concepts fit together, and I've absolutely no idea what genre of game you're aiming towards.  You're asking people to give up their time to help you, you need to provide something that gives an incentive to people.  For example, I like 1v1 fighting games, if you were to tell me that you want to make 'Ghostbusters x Pokemon' in the same vein as 'Marvel vs Capcom', ignoring the obvious copyright minefield, you'd have my attention.

What is it about your concept that would inspire me, or other forum-goers to drop everything and help you make this idea a real thing?

it is planned to be done something along those lines, I'm just not wanting to use the world "roleplay": as per 2.2j.

Well with the above issue I can't provide detailed information unless given outside of the forum; which this being my only social outlet leaves me a slave to the rules.

Each of those ideas are unique. They aren't mean to be put together as each would be their own game. They are not meant to be X v Y anything. Each is unique and not meant to be put with another.

Your curiosity for one. Or just plain explorative spirit. Or course if that isn't enough you can get more information by posting, which no one did.

[Camacha]

1 hour ago, ZooNamedGames said:

I may have creativity and wit, but I don't have a high diploma like I should and I've nearly completely stopped on the process to getting one. That is where I've stalled out, finishing the basics of what I have to do to get anywhere.

It would be great to get a diploma if you can. However, it will not be the end of the world if you cannot. You still have your creativity and wit. That is what gets you through life.

[Slam_Jones]

Well here's a question: are you going to acquire or the skills or just hope they fall in your lap?  Are you going to make an effort or just whine about how difficult it is?

Once you have a working platform, you can ask for help.  At this point you're just procrastinating.

So what is it?  Are you gonna start building this figurative house or are you gonna stand around with your hands in your pockets?

Edited September 7, 2016 by Slam_Jones

[pxi]

9 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

it is planned to be done something along those lines, I'm just not wanting to use the world "roleplay": as per 2.2j.

Not a mod, but I was under the the impression that the roleplay rules related to roleplaying on the forums - as in posting as a Kerbal character or corporation etc. - not that all mentions of things like D&D were verboten.

14 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

Your curiosity for one. Or just plain explorative spirit. Or course if that isn't enough you can get more information by posting, which no one did.

And yet, when asked to explain what you have, you're not exactly forthcoming.  It's like getting blood from a stone.  You could take the opposite approach and think 'hey, I've gotten no responses, maybe I should provide more info.'

[Camacha]

Just now, pxi said:

And yet, when asked to explain what you have, you're not exactly forthcoming.  It's like getting blood from a stone.  You could take the opposite approach and think 'hey, I've gotten no responses, maybe I should provide more info.'

Welcome to the internet, here are the rules:

1) Content
2) Content
3) Cats

[ZooNamedGames]

30 minutes ago, Camacha said:

It would be great to get a diploma if you can. However, it will not be the end of the world if you cannot. You still have your creativity and wit. That is what gets you through life.

But a diploma gets you a job. Not having one makes life much harder, even with creativity and wit.

28 minutes ago, Slam_Jones said:

Well here's a question: are you going to acquire or the skills or just hope they fall in your lap?  Are you going to make an effort or just whine about how difficult it is?

Once you have a working platform, you can ask for help.  At this point you're just procrastinating.

So what is it?  Are you gonna start building this figurative house or are you gonna stand around with your hands in your pockets?

So far putting my hands in my pockets has yielded grander results than the alternative.