A Few Game Ideas
Intro:
Having a bit of a lazy Saturday today, so I’m just going to jot down some game ideas I have brewing quickly:
Game 1: Co-Op VR Climbing game, Don’t Look Down Together
This concept is a Two-player CO-OP climbing game with mechanics similar to The Climb but with a few notable changes. Players pick between 2 characters; one has a grapple rope, while the other has ice picks. While climbing, the players will have to tactfully use their unique abilities to climb the mountain, with certain sections requiring the use of rope, ice picks, or both! Players can also grab onto each other’s backs to boost themselves at the cost of lower stamina, helping promote co-op player engagement. There will also be a 2v2 mode where two teams compete to see which pair can climb the course the fastest.
Game 2: Spaceflight Sim (cross of ace combat and star citizen ship combat), Project Starless Night
This project aims to capture the energy of the Japanese version of Ace Combat 3, a game that was unfortunately neutered for an international release, resulting in mediocre sales. (Note: find out more at https://tcrf.net/Ace_Combat_3:_Electrosphere) This game will feature a sci-fi story about the limits of man in a branching storyline as you decide where you stand in an escalating war between rival countries and corporations. Missions will take place both in the atmosphere and in space with various futuristic aircraft and weapons to choose from. Ideally, a local co-op game mode will be included, where you can let a wingman fly by your side while dogfighting over the future of humanity. This game will also have a VR mode with a fully interactable cockpit and immersive cutscenes.
Game 3: Story-focused Tabletop AR game, My First Month in Degres City
This concept is a linear X-Com-like story game where players move through Degres City, fighting gangs, upgrading their augments, completing jobs, and building a life for themselves under the neon lights. Players will often control 2-3 characters during missions and make allies as they move through the campaign. However, players should know that friends only stick around for a limited time before they end up dead or as a foe in the hyper-competitive deadly Degres City. This game would ideally utilize AR glasses such as the HoloLens 2 or NReal Light. However, current technological limitations might make this game more suitable for mixed reality HMDs like the upcoming Project Cambria or Apple’s HMD.
Game 4: Doom-like VR Shooter, OTBN (Operation: Take Back the Night)
This game is a simple VR Shooter focusing on fun over all else. This game will be similar to Half-life Alyx but without concentrating on instilling fear in the player. The player will fight through linear open combat sections, taking down many enemies and upgrading their limited arsenal of powerful weapons through a weapon crafting system. That’s it, that’s the whole game, no complex story, no cutscenes, no advanced rendering techniques, no fully physics-based movement, just dumb fun.
Game 5: Hack and Slash RPG, unnamed
This game is nowhere near as fleshed out as the other projects, mainly because it would probably require more resources than all of them (except for game 3). This game would be similar to Scarlet Nexus and Nier: Automata and offer a casual, fun experience exploring a sci-fi world dominated by cyber warriors.
Game 6: Part Visual novel, part turn-based, unnamed
While editing this article, I came up with this idea; I would like to make a game similar to Citizen Sleeper and Disco Elysium. Mostly because currently, I’ve been dumping more effort into my writing and would like to expand that into more creative outlets, such as a primarily text-based game. Also, this concept would be much easier to execute in a quicker timeframe, as I already have the knowledge needed to create at least a prototype of this game in the Unity Engine. As for the game’s theme, it would probably be best to try something in a fantasy or modern setting, as I should try something more personally challenging than science fiction.
Conclusion:
These games are very complicated, and each has several technical challenges that I need to overcome. All of them are probably infeasible without a team, as I lack the artistic ability or Carmack-like focus required to carry any of these projects to completion by myself. Instead of just giving up, however, I will take some of these game ideas and significantly reduce the scope, resulting in a minimal viable product that I can produce on my own to learn and grow as a designer and developer. Hopefully, I will have more to share on my upcoming game projects soon.