What would your dream game be about?

[TJPrime]

I'm going to be developing my own game soon, but I have no idea what it should be about. Any suggestions on what I should make it about?

[NovaSilisko]

Start small! Making your first project your or anyone else's dream game is a recipe for problems and disappointment.

[xrayfishx]

1. A 2 player game with a world as big as Earth (randomly generated). It would be a post-apocalyptic setting, with lots of technology still functional. Kind of like DayZ. Both players would start at random places in that world and the goal would be for them to find each other so they can rebuild the civilization. May contain zombies, but definitely not as many as in DayZ or worse, L4D. Also, rebuilding civilization would not be a part of the game.

2. An Orbiter-KSP mix where you could have an extremely realistic solar system with n-body physics and all that stuff, but you could still build your own rockets.

3. TES-style RPG with a bigger world and more realism (magic would still be there, but it would not be an unexplainable force, it would still follow some basic laws).

4. A Mirror's Edge style parkour game. Possibly more realistic and with the possibility of finishing it without killing anyone or getting shot.

5. Any game with a story that, after I finish it, makes me wish I hadn't played the game yet because now I will never play this awesome story again without knowing what comes next - notable examples: Portal 1/2, Far Cry 3, Dishonored, Battlefield Bad Company 2, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Mirror's Edge.

[pebble_garden]

Yeah, I agree with NovaSilisko. Identify what you're passionate about, design a game mechanic around it, and start small.

[WinkAllKerb'']

Take your time and get the basis on a secure environnement, good project could be easy target in the shark pool. &+1 Nova

[IcarusBen]

A game that combines the best aspects of Minecraft, TES, and KSP. The Elder Scrollscraft Program.

In all seriousness, though, a randomly-generated infinite TES-style FPSRPG would be nice.

[cesarcurado]

How about a game like simcity and tropico, with a different than usual thematic (space/post-apocalyptic colony maybe?).

I've always imagined a game like kerbal space program (with less drag and drop from part list), where you craft weapons and gear for your military while dealing with the effects of war with an equally powerful neighboring country. The things you can craft would range from small arms to tanks and planes I guess.

Imagine dealing with government demands and needs with resources that may or may not be scarce and with the production complexity + costs of each weapon, battling with other equipment producers over government's choice.

[Omicron314]

For a first project, why not a simple projectile-physics-based game? The player could progress through a series of challenges in which he/she must complete objectives of increasing difficulty; for example, the first mission might be to simply shoot the cannon's projectile straight up, but later challenges might involve getting the projectile to hit a target somewhere on the screen or intercept another projectile. Kind of like a combination of Angry Birds, Simple Physics, but with more math.

As for my dream game, I've always hoped for Felipe Falanghe and Vladimir Romanyuk to team up (perhaps merge their software?) into the ultimate space-exploration game. Or perhaps just SpaceEngine's planned space exploration game begin with the dawn of manned exploration, and have the player develop infrastructure in their own solar system before venturing out into the unknown. Or maybe that combined with something like Spore or (potentially) Thrive, where you must evolve your creature first. Also, a more extensive version of Civilization V (with battles akin to those from the Total War saga) taking the place of civilization stage.

How great that would be . . . But its probably setting the bar a little high. Just recognize your limits and create what you feel is in your power to accomplish.

[Dispatcher]

The question the OP should ask is, "what game would I want to play?". If there is no answer to that, then perhaps the game is not worth making.

[tychochallenge]

create a couple of games like flappy bird first (extremely simple and addicting) and earn lots of money. Then hire game programmers to make a massive multiplayer game like WOW.

[KvickFlygarn87]

A hyper-realistic space game.

[WestAir]

Just remember two facts:

1.] You'll get out of it exactly what you put into it. [Time, energy, detail]

2.] You are not a AAA studio. You cannot build an AAA quality game.

If you go into this with those two facts in mind, you'll get something great in return. I personally have a project of my own going that I've never told anyone about. It's an indie project I've been working on for a little less than five years now, with no less than 2 hours / day dedicated to working on it. (At times as much as 10 hours / day). The quality is utterly amazing, but I've set the bar so astronomically high it is impossible for me to finish in this life-time without getting help from a lot of equally skilled people like myself.

I only keep at it now because it's become a fun hobby, and I never expect to finish the project before I die. Realizing the impracticability of success is probably the greatest drive there is.

[xcorps]

Red dead remption meets TES IV.

[DJEN]

Super Mario 64 + Yume Nikki + Journey = Specks

Rockman(Megaman) classic series + Super Mario World + Castlevania series + The Legend of Zelda series + Super Paper Mario + Limbo = Protagonism

Earthbound + Middens = Baroque

Minecraft + GMod = CU-berse

Of course, the games that are included in this set should be very obscure to you people who bask in the clean-cutness of modern games, the wide ambience of sandboxes, and the complexity of DOS games.

But that's just what I am, a casual. Just don't go all elitist on me saying "You must be immature since you like a uncreative platformer franchise like Super Mario Bros." Or stuff like that.

Edited June 4, 2014 by DJEN

[Special Agent Sigvan]

I would make:

Hotline Miami + Running with Rifles + Titanfall + KSP + Red Dead Redemption + GTA 5 + FTL: Faster Than Light + Dark Souls + Gratuitous Space Battles + Democracy 2 + Space Engineers + Gunpoint + Luftrausers + Uplink.

What would this be?

I would pay $60 for it...

[cantab]

I'd rather play ten excellent games than one "perfect" one.

[Deadpangod3]

Minecraftian Space Program.

[xxjetterxx]

Mirror's edge meets KSP, meets team fortress, meets minecraft, meets burnout paradise, add some disco tron lights in too

kappa kappa.

[vger]

If you go into this with those two facts in mind, you'll get something great in return. I personally have a project of my own going that I've never told anyone about. It's an indie project I've been working on for a little less than five years now, with no less than 2 hours / day dedicated to working on it. (At times as much as 10 hours / day). The quality is utterly amazing, but I've set the bar so astronomically high it is impossible for me to finish in this life-time without getting help from a lot of equally skilled people like myself.

Dude... kickstart that puppy.

[Guest]

A realistic but fun Space Game... Like... KSP... But you can't pilot individual ships. You can move to different Ships/Stations to control them.... It would be exclusively multiplayer, So that your friends could do Individual Stuph... and you must launch rockets in order to space... and you could mine asteroids, have realistic reentry, Asteroid Impacts destroy stuff.... It would be sci-fi-ish but not hyper-Star Trek.

Like KSP + Space Engineers.

[DJEN]

I'd rather play ten excellent games than one "perfect" one.

Diversity is key indeed.

[Whirligig Girl]

I want a space game with Cubes of Influence, Cubical planets, and super-interesting mechanics for gravity. Like each side of the cube pulls you straight down.