Ludum Dare has a 48 Hour game programming contest where they give you a theme and you create a game around it. How about some of that here? Someone mentions a theme and we think of a way to make a fun game out of that theme. Don''t just say stuff like "an RTS with dinosaurs as units" because that tells you nothing. Describe some gameplay mechanics, why it fits the theme, why it''s fun, or why it''s different. For the first theme, how about _pimps_? I can''t think of a single game that has been made with that theme in mind (although the way things are going, there will be one in a year or two).

Pimps? Easy...

A pimp is an extremely charismatic individual, yet ruthless. The charisma is necessary to attract and keep the hoes attached, the ruthlessness to keep them in line and keep getting paid. The tasks that need to be accomplished to be a successful pimp include finding a place for the hoes to turn tricks, ensuring that the hoes feel reasonably secure (and that no punk goes wild on your ho, or pays the price if he does) and keeping the law at bay. The game therefore devolves, if that''s an appropriate term, into a personality simulator: some hoes will really love you, some will just stick with you because it gets them off the street, some will be real "uppity" and will need to be put in their place ("where''s my money bitch?" *slap* "you ain''t never gon'' keep Daddy''s money from him again, is you?"), etc.

24 hours huh?

okay...your basic top-down arcade game as in Robotron...the player controls the pimp. with the screen representing something like a four player version of the old ''break out'' game...each screen corner shows a street corner, with the street in the middle.

There are four basic characters:
the Hoes.
The "Johns"
The cops
and other pimps trying to steal your buisness.

players can run around the screen and have can pick up and throw things.

Players must run around and pick up the "johns" and throw them at thier hoes (which gives you cash...the more hoes you have the more cash each "transaction" makes)...but players must not get caught by the cops...and must keep thier hoes from being arrested too (you do this by picking her up off the street corner and throwing her to a different spot where there are no cops)...if you get caught, you automaticly pay off the cop (takes all your money), and if you have no money the game is over....other pimps will come by and tray to steal your hoes...just pick them up and throw them to the cops or to some other location (if you pick them up you gain all the money they have)...you can also steal other pimps hoes (pick them up and throw them to your corner...game is over when you have no more hoes or get caught without money....

basicly a ''old school'' simple arcade type game...just trying to think of something that can be made in 24-hours

how is that?

quote: Original post by MSW
basicly a ''old school'' simple arcade type game...just trying to think of something that can be made in 24-hours

a.) He said 48 hours.
b.) He said design (Someone mentions a theme and we think of a way to make a fun game out of that theme), not "make" (as in program).

quote: how is that?

Honestly, I wouldn''t play it. No offense but it''s basically an arcade pick-up and drop-off game, like the origina Mario Bros. The pimp elements are just applique, which makes it gross (throw johns at hoes?)

Besides, this could be a text game. Even 24 hours suddenly seems like a lot.

Opps...he did say 48 hours, my goof.

Yeah it''s a arcade "pick-up and throw" type game with the pimp theme pasted on top...not realistic at all (why should it be?)...48 hours should give enough time to both develop the game and play test it, make gameplay refinements, add new game objects and such...

Which leads to this question:...Do we have 48 hours to come up with a game design, no matter how complicated or ambitious it is (a game that would take a full time development team two or more years to produce)? Or the design for a game that could be made in 48 hours?

I didn''t mean that you actually had to make the game, nor is the 48 hours even relevant. I just wanted to see what would happen when designers quickly design a game from a theme.

I usually hate it when gamemakers release those "applique" games like you said. Take an existing game with new assets, names, and then call it a new game.

I really like the personality simulator idea. It captures the essence of the theme and there aren''t too many games that use that type of gameplay.

New theme: _dinosaurs_. That''s a tough one that Sid Meier is still wracking his head over.

dinosaurs...

How about a game where you lead a herd of them?
It would be kind of like an RTS from the perspective of a unit...kinda like Giants, Pikmin, or Sacrifice.

You would be forced to deal with predators, food supply, weather, droughts, etc. I think it would need some pretty good writing skills to come up with good stories for a herd of dinosaurs though...

when attacked you might make some call telling the herd to run, or guide them to set up a defense. Maybe even attack another herd to drive them from a prime location. Survival of the fittest. Nesting and raising little sauruses could be interesting... I''d like to spend some more time on this idea but I gotta got to class now...

um...this is Kugels, it doesn''t like my password anymore...

quote: Original post by beantas
I can''t think of a single game that has been made with that theme in mind (although the way things are going, there will be one in a year or two).

Here''s two, the first one has been around for at least 8 years, maybe ten.

http://mysticbbs.com/pimpwars/

www.pimpwar.com


£§

Dinosaurs:

I''ve been working on a game basically centered around oversize reptiles with Silvermyst (intended to be MMO) and there are many directly applicable ideas and themes here.

The player can "become" any dinosaur of any species, with a variety of pros and cons. Dinosaurs need to feed and reproduce, but players will also desire to explore the game world (which must be very interesting; we can go wild here and add the advent of the ice age, asteroids, etc). Because certain areas are bound to be both more densely populated and contain more resources than others, dinosaurs will need to compete - which often means fighting.

Dinosaurs of the same (or similar, or disparate as the designers see fit) species can cooperate to obtain greater returns than their individual efforts. To make things interesting, however, you limit the dinosaur communication to gestures, grunts, roars and the like. In essence, players need to establish efficient non-verbal forms of communication.

Specific scenarios may include the rise of man, the decimation of the species, etc, etc.

quote: Original post by Oluseyi
To make things interesting, however, you limit the dinosaur communication to gestures, grunts, roars and the like. In essence, players need to establish efficient non-verbal forms of communication.

Specific scenarios may include the rise of man, the decimation of the species, etc, etc.

Interesting. So textbased chatting is not allowed during gameplay? I bet traditional MMO ppl will hate that

It fits the theme well (although yes it could be done with just reptiles or any other animal). I think one of the reasons why people love dinosaurs is because they have such strange and beautiful adaptations to their environment and the game emphasizes that.

I think parts of this idea, minus the MMO aspect, was one of the options that Sid Meier came up with; controlling a species of dinosaur and having to survive a hostile dinosaur land. But he said he couldn''t create a fun game out of it. I wonder why.