I recently came up with an interesting idea while thinking about the current Console System War. It would make for an interesting concept for a game. For instance, the basic idea would be that the player runs his own gaming company. He would begin by coming up with a design for his companys new console system (It''s specs and cost. Higher specs means higher manufactoring costs, but a more powerful console. Lower specs means easier to break even in sales). In addition to console development, deals must be made with development groups to create a launch line-up of games (Would use a library of fictious companies and games as options for the player). Buy-outs will also be an option to the player (and thus making that companys'' games exclusive to your system). For first and second party developers you''ll be able to tweak things such as focusing on different attributes of a game (Sound, GamePlay, Testing, Graphics, etc.). You will also be able to set the budget and release dates for the games. The system used would be a day-by-day progression, with the ability to pause and adjust the level of time progression givin to the player (just like most Strategy Games, i.e. Hearts of Iron). Sales Charts will be given to the player on a weekly and monthly basis, and to keep things interesting a ficitional Gaming Magazine would be put out monthly giving reviews of the latest games. The amount of time spent on the different attributes given to your games affects their scores and reviews (reviews are simple "poor gameplay, great sound effects, Has anyone ever heard of Testers?, awsome graphics" etc.). Higher scores means slightly higher sales). I haven''t seen any really good business simulation games as of late, and just thought a light-hearted sim like this would make for a good freeware/shareware game. Do you guys think it would be worthwhile to put this idea to good use in any way?

I think a sim on toilet repair could be just as fun. Also, a sim on selling pool supplies. Maybe a sim for secretaries?

BlazeNWO-
if you''d like to do this as freeware/shareware (something perhaps Bishop did not see) then by all means go for it. I think your idea will mostly strike a fancy for other game developers, but if your intention was only for a small audience, why not try and make it? However, I don''t think the overall premise will be that exciting to people who aren''t interested in the actual development of games....just the playing of them.

Hopefully Bishop_pass was being sarcastic in his response because he assumed you wanted a game with mainstream appeal. Think of game development like cars. The vast majority of people just want a really fast good looking car that drives great. They don''t care how it''s made, or in many cases how to fix it even. It''s the same thing with games. Most people just want to play them, not design and build them. But, if your intention to build the game is just for a small niche market, I think some people out there might find it interesting.

Yea that was my intent (which is why I said "freeware/shareware"), but Bishops entitled to his own opinions.

quote:
a game with mainstream appeal.

Indeed, why is developing a mainstream game so frick''en important?

We used to consider underground (alternative, independant,etc..) rock bands as "sell-outs" when they tried to gain mainstream acceptance (*cough* Metallica)...

There is a market for such games (else Spiderweb Software and the like wouldn''t still be in buisness) and they can and do make money.

Don''t mind Bishop, he''s just cranky.

Niche games have a place, but make sure that the audience is there. Heck, those stupid Drug Wars games always get a lot of use because 40% of college students are either actively selling drugs or have sold drugs in the past. It''s something they know, and it''s something they like.

Writing a niche game is like being a good comedian. You need to know your audience, and make elements of their lives seem more fun than they actually are. Look at some of the sig lines around here. There are different parse error gags and little insider jokes that abound wherever computer geeks gather. Likewise with artists and designers. Work that sort of thing into the game.

This is a really neat idea, and I think it could work really well.

If you''re really devoted to the concept of game development, then you probably know enough to engage in it at some level. Given that, would the elements presented by such a game comprise an in depth enough model to actually be representative of the process? If yes, then I think most who have knowledge on the subject, (like us) might actually prefer to expend their energy on designing or working on real game development problems. If not, then I don''t think such a game simulation would hold much excitement for many.

On a further note, you might want to evaluate why everyone is here in the first place. What are the elements which draw one to this niche? Those elements include a liking of surreal worlds, fantasy worlds, visually exciting elements, strategically exciting elements combined with the above, competition among fellow players, action, etc.

A railroad sim offers many of the above: visually exciting elements, action, a growing and changing world, a little bit of fantasy in its own way.

As for toilet repair or selling pool supplies, such things can be made fun as well. If you want to make game development a game, and make it fun, I''m sure you can find a way. But, truthfully, toilet repair could be made fun as well.

yeah, never mind him - I think that it could work well, regardless of the actual game developers. Maybe you remember MadTV, a TV management sim. If it´s easy enough to control then it can be fun no matter what the theme.

The title "sim" is misleading. Really, I don''t think that it needs to be a faithful recreation of the process it''s named after. If you get a handful of the most prominent challenges faced by game designers, a few of the most heartrending disappointments they experience, a few of the most exciting and satisfying moments they experience, and a handful of inside jokes that will only make game designers laugh, then you''ll have a pretty fun little game there.

It doesn''t have to be particularly stimulating. I think that my favorite part of any sim game is when I do something that''s roughly analogous to something I did in real life, and I can try something different. Then the fun comes not from the game, but from the interaction between the game and the player''s own experiences in the real world. When one of my Sims catches the stove on fire, I laugh partly at the antics on my computer screen and partly at my memory of the black splotch on my kitchen ceiling. That''s a good laugh.

quote: Original post by bishop_pass
I think a sim on toilet repair could be just as fun.

Bishop! For shame! For a guy who's developing the gameplay mechanics for the synergy involving a man's thighs and horse flesh (*ahem* ), I'd expect more 'thinking outside the box!' Would you have yet another first person shooter or real-time strategy game?

I think this could make for a cool little economic business game. The game industry has a lot of flavor, and you could add quirky little things that you wouldn't normally find in a Tycoon game. Your progress could be affected by disgruntled programmers who code in lewd content (as happened with one of the Sims games); you might have to manage the exhorbitant salary requests of pretty boy wunderkind genuises; outsourced companies may not provide content or deliverables on time; you might have a choice of having your guys burn the the midnight oil and make Christmas or miss the deadline.

You've got relations with the press as an aspect (and bribing them with press junkets). You've got the game websites and USENET opinion to deal with (take a standoff approach like the big guys, or get on there and sell your game with the hardcore if you've got enough style).

You might even want to get so detailed that the player chooses the outfitting of his studio (hmmm... do my workers REALLY need flatscreen monitors?). You might even grow big enough that you work on multiple titles and have to manage alot of talent.

There are alot of different and fun ways to go with this. Hardly "toilet paper repair" sim material at all. Go for it!



--------------------
Just waiting for the mothership...

[edited by - wavinator on January 12, 2003 6:01:53 PM]