I was just sitting around and looked out my window when a strange idea popped into my head. It was about a game that had what I thought would be and alright plot point complete with a good twist and alright combat and so on and so forth.

I grabbed a red notebook and started writing and plotting everything I had so far and have been doing so for a week now. Then I wondered if the things I wrote down were ever made into a game would it make it. I also got curious as to who else has done or thought the same.

So I ask, Have you ever come up with (what you call) a good video game idea and if so do you think it could make it?

I certainly hope so I've got them all saved under "begginnings" "middles" or "ends" at the moment though, don't really have any full on ideas.

Yeah, I think a couple of my 'big' game ideas (as opposed to 'small' ones I plan on writing myself) would - if done right - do well. I'm not sure of the technical feasibility of some of them though.

I have a few ideas I know are better than some current games. Hell, I can think of several different scenarios that the creators of Medal of Honor would find difficult to screw up.

However, I personally couldn't make it, as I don't understand coding language, and don't have a studio of my own to use to make it.

I've thought about it. But thinking is the easy part, making the game is the hard part.

My ideas are all crap. I'll freestyle right now for you guys.

Alright. You're a boy who has magic powers, but you can only use them at night. During the day, you have to use sticks of celery as your weapon. What's the catch? Day monsters are extremely weak against magic, and night monsters are allergic to celery! Imagine the disappointment of said boy who has a hard time fighting monsters. He must go on a quest to save hot chick, destroy evil guy, and figure out how to use his magic during the day and his celery at night!

Coming 2010

My single video game idea is rather popular amongst the people that I have told, although it's not completely ironed out or 100% thought through

I'm not really sure if it would make it, if I had support and marketing I'm sure people would buy it, my ideas seem pretty interesting.

My ideas would be a little hard to implement.
But then dual world game play has been done super extra a lot.
Don't know many people who would want a Shenmue meets Grandia 2 kinda game.

I'd be more worried about ripping something off than making a bad game though.

Say Anything:
My ideas are all crap. I'll freestyle right now for you guys.

Alright. You're a boy who has magic powers, but you can only use them at night. During the day, you have to use sticks of celery as your weapon. What's the catch? Day monsters are extremely weak against magic, and night monsters are allergic to celery! Imagine the disappointment of said boy who has a hard time fighting monsters. He must go on a quest to save hot chick, destroy evil guy, and figure out how to use his magic during the day and his celery at night!

Coming 2010

Best idea so far
Anyone got any better ideas?

I have an idea, but I'm worried everyone will call it a Kirby ripoff.

Say Anything:
My ideas are all crap. I'll freestyle right now for you guys.

Alright. You're a boy who has magic powers, but you can only use them at night. During the day, you have to use sticks of celery as your weapon. What's the catch? Day monsters are extremely weak against magic, and night monsters are allergic to celery! Imagine the disappointment of said boy who has a hard time fighting monsters. He must go on a quest to save hot chick, destroy evil guy, and figure out how to use his magic during the day and his celery at night!

Coming 2010

Ha ha that's Flash quality right there. I'd play that

The Lawn:
My ideas would be a little hard to implement.
But then dual world game play has been done super extra a lot.
Don't know many people who would want a Shenmue meets Grandia 2 kinda game.

I'd be more worried about ripping something off than making a bad game though.

Yeah but you gotta remember the video game developer motto (or mine at least). Everything has been done so far so you just gotta do it just as good or better

This isn't an issue for me. I don't need a publisher to fund it, or a developer to assist me in its production. I am doing it myself, with all my own development tools. The only snag is the time it has taken to research, design and implement this "middleware". That said, when I eventually finish I plan to make the whole thing Open Source (i.e. free download), so the marketing issue doesn't really arise. I am, after all, primarily doing it all for myself. Therefore, I don't think of myself as being in competition with anyone, or requiring an audience. Sure, I would be intrigued to discover what some people think about the final result, but I'm not doing it for them, I'm doing it for me.

Being self-taught, self-funded and doing it in my own time you shouldn't expect anything soon.

The thing about this is that ideas are always much better than the results.

I could have an idea about a deep, almost infinite world, combining fps, rts, rpg and simulation aspects creating a world that's better than our own where everything is possible.

Even if I succeed in making that when someone else plays it, they're going to get stuck, right in the beginning, because everything is just too complicated, and my perfect world doesn't correlate with theirs.

I could make an awesome story revealed over 4 games, deeper and more involving than the plots of "at the mountain of madness", but have people hate it, because the mood changes so much.

When coming up with an idea for a game it's important to always keep a level head, and to know when to stop, to know your limits. Sure, it's great fun dreaming about making an amazing trilogy (I know I have), but you often lose sight of where you really are, what you can do. And when you just dig deeper and deeper you get the players lost, and when you finally get to make the game you don't remember where to start, or how. You want to cram everything you have into the same game, and since your space is limited you end up just briefly touching every subject, resulting in a very unsatisfying, yet daunting experience for the player. Keep it simple, and try to look at it from a strangers eyes, someone who doesn't know everything about it already.

That said, I think that several of my ideas can, and will, make it in the gaming industry. Hopefully my trilogy will be among them.

ive thought about it but i highly doubt their good enough

I've thought about it, but fact is that if you send in an idea there's little to no chance of you getting either any credit for it, or it just won't be accepted. So I've thought about it, but I'll wait until I get some sort of influence or friend that can make it happen.

Well, there are plenty games to make. Many game developers fail to see the point of a fun game, I'm not saying all games do there are some really good ones but some are meh and I could think of a better one in about 2 minutes.

Nah, I like outdated concepts like Semi-Linear Storylines, Non-Customizable Characters and Turn Based Combat.

Though there might be a market for my 3-6 Hour Action Game idea (A short action game with multiple characters, branching storylines and tons of replayability)

Considering some of the stuff around now, yes very much so.

I wish some of my ideas were out there. I would play them. But I mostly think of ways to add to or improve existing titles, like thinking of the issue of making a working Mercenaries MMO, as a sort of mind challenge.

i had an idea a while a go which started as an idea for a graphic novel/comic book, and it eventually evolved into a video game. gameplay would be like the legend of zelda meets assassins creed. the story was kinda long for me to do any sort of summary now, plus i havent figured out the details or how it ends. but it did have some interesting ideas. if you are a fan of tv tropes wiki, then you would understand me when i say that it averts, subverts, and inverts a lot of tropes that are usually played straight. if you dont go to tv tropes wiki and dont know what i just said, then you suck.

I was told on 2 separate occassions by different professional game designers a pretty brutal lesson. Take this with a grain of salt:

No one gives a crap about your story.

At first I thought it was rude, but after some thinking and discussion it made sense. Games are not movies, books or plays. No one will buy your game if it isn't fun first. A good story can help set the atmosphere and can drive the gameplay as well. Story is a means to keep the gameplay progression cohesive.

That doesn't mean forget about story, but think of how it will interweave with the gameplay. Also as important, if not more, is art style, flow, ambience and audio.

Say Anything:
My ideas are all crap. I'll freestyle right now for you guys.

Alright. You're a boy who has magic powers, but you can only use them at night. During the day, you have to use sticks of celery as your weapon. What's the catch? Day monsters are extremely weak against magic, and night monsters are allergic to celery! Imagine the disappointment of said boy who has a hard time fighting monsters. He must go on a quest to save hot chick, destroy evil guy, and figure out how to use his magic during the day and his celery at night!

Coming 2010

Still the best idea in this thread. By far. Presentation is everything.

Ideas are all nice, but following through is another matter. Anyone who plays video games can probably think of an idea that could become a smashing game, but realizing that idea is where the fun starts. If you're into that kind of thing; I can guarantee from some personal experience that few understand what kind of corporate bs you have to go through to "make it" in the game industry. In the end, it's really not that different from many other IT-related office jobs, unless you're fortunate enough to be among the core developers (and you get there through said corporate bs). That's probably an awesome job-- the tantalizing smidgen at the end of rope right in front of the hamster wheel they have you sweating on.

You know, people make careers in the game industry. That more or less says it all to me.

I have an awesome idea, but I know that it will never make it to the market for following reasons:

1) Its unique quirky and strange (sort of).
2) Its from unknown developer (me).
3) Its has puzzles that go beyond the "push brick into the slot/pull the lever" formula.
4) It leaves no place for sequels. Or they will suck.

raankh:
Ideas are all nice, but following through is another matter. Anyone who plays video games can probably think of an idea that could become a smashing game, but realizing that idea is where the fun starts. If you're into that kind of thing; I can guarantee from some personal experience that few understand what kind of corporate bs you have to go through to "make it" in the game industry. In the end, it's really not that different from many other IT-related office jobs, unless you're fortunate enough to be among the core developers (and you get there through said corporate bs). That's probably an awesome job-- the tantalizing smidgen at the end of rope right in front of the hamster wheel they have you sweating on.

You know, people make careers in the game industry. That more or less says it all to me.

It's not that bad. Unless you work for EA. Independent studios are where you want to go. There, even if you're a small player, you can have a voice.

It is a job, but it can be a fun job. But you will work crazy hours and most people burn out after 3 years. Many people will take a hiatus for a year or more before going back. As an engineer, it's twice as bad as the rest, even if the pay is great.

But I can tell you, after 8 years of making accounting software, it was a very refreshing change. Chances are you'll change again after 10 years, no matter what career you choose. Why not pick one that you love?

Say Anything:
My ideas are all crap. I'll freestyle right now for you guys.

Alright. You're a boy who has magic powers, but you can only use them at night. During the day, you have to use sticks of celery as your weapon. What's the catch? Day monsters are extremely weak against magic, and night monsters are allergic to celery! Imagine the disappointment of said boy who has a hard time fighting monsters. He must go on a quest to save hot chick, destroy evil guy, and figure out how to use his magic during the day and his celery at night!

Coming 2010

Hey I played that game! It was called NIGHTCASTER! it BLOWED BAWLS!

I have a game idea that is basically a single player mumorpurger and set in a post-apocalyptic future. (I have the backstory worked out, but much too long to post) and you basically play as a leader of a division of soldiers, leading them in an FPS/RTS hybrid in various Locales around the half-destroyed world in varying scenarios in a freestyle "Conquer the World" game. Doesn't sound too great summarized, but got nothing but praise for the fleshed-out ideas.

Railu:
I was told on 2 separate occassions by different professional game designers a pretty brutal lesson. Take this with a grain of salt:

No one gives a crap about your story.

At first I thought it was rude, but after some thinking and discussion it made sense. Games are not movies, books or plays. No one will buy your game if it isn't fun first. A good story can help set the atmosphere and can drive the gameplay as well. Story is a means to keep the gameplay progression cohesive.

That doesn't mean forget about story, but think of how it will interweave with the gameplay. Also as important, if not more, is art style, flow, ambience and audio.

No offence, but I can't help but wonder if that sort of attitude is half the reason why game stories generally suck in the first place. Story is incredibly important. A game can have great audio and ambience, but if there's no good story there, then in the end it just feels like fluff.

j-e-f-f-e-r-s:
No offence, but I can't help but wonder if that sort of attitude is half the reason why game stories generally suck in the first place. Story is incredibly important. A game can have great audio and ambience, but if there's no good story there, then in the end it just feels like fluff.

Well, pointless fluff games do have their place; the Smash Bros. series has a terribly contrived story at best, but it's still fun and very popular. But it is kinda ridiculous to say that the story doesn't matter; just look at Half-life, Mass Effect, Bioshock...most of the best and best-selling games recently had elaborate and well-designed plots. Any developer that says the story is irrelevant is either totally inexperienced or cares more about money than about making a good game.

I have a few ideas I think would make it in the market.

j-e-f-f-e-r-s:

No offence, but I can't help but wonder if that sort of attitude is half the reason why game stories generally suck in the first place. Story is incredibly important. A game can have great audio and ambience, but if there's no good story there, then in the end it just feels like fluff.

LOL, none taken. Like I said, it wasn't me who said it first. Their whole point is, don't for a second think that because you have an idea for a story that it will sell your game. If you don't have good gameplay to begin with, your story won't mean jack squat. If you just want to tell a story, there are far easier and simpler ways to do it that won't cost millions of dollars and thousands of man hours.

Their whole point is, if the game is fun, you almost don't need a story. A good story makes a good game even better. However, this was also a quote from about 4 years ago. I think games are transitioning more into an art form now, so I think story carries more weight than it used to. But the theory holds true, because there are still many excellent games with very generic stories.

Every time I get an idea it gets made. Im getting suspicious. Tin foil hats, spatula weaponary and raptor proof window guard made of celery (I got a tip off Raptors dont like it)!

We all have ideas, be them good or bad. However without the ability to gather a team and build the game idea in question, said idea can transcend into the following things:

1) The past - Forget it and move on.
2) A Book - Your ideas are there, all you need is a pen and paper and alot of spare time.
3) Webcomic - Woe betide you if it sucks...
4) Porn - Rule 34 (Apply this to 1, 2 and 3).

i often find myself scribbling ideas for games down. Usually its concepts of the gameplay mechanics. I always suppose i could find some bizarre writer to put a story to the chaos the spews from my mind.