The only game that I've seen a bit and thought was a bit strange to be so hyped was VVVVVVVVVV.

But, I never played it, so I could be dead wrong...

The thing about indie games is that they tend to cater strongly towards small niches. Thus a top 10 list by someone who favours old school platformers is going to be different from a list compiled by a strategy gamer, a puzzle gamer, an indie RPG gamer etc.

That said, I too am scratching my head over Star Guard. I just played it, and while it's a pretty solid retro-styled platformer there's a whole bunch of fun flixel Flash games out this year that I enjoyed more.

I'm also wondering why Spelunky was left out. It's possible that's because the original beta release was back in December 2008, although the actual v1.0 release was this September. Brilliant game, Spelunky.

Quote: Although your point against AAAAAAAAAAAAh seems weird, I don't remember there being any shooting at all

I was meaning the game genre (tunnel shooter though that mightnt be the right term) where youre in a limited environment with things rushing towards you, star wars (the arcade game) was the first instance I believe

Quote: You do realize that your entire rant places originality above immersion and challenge, and that you in fact use originality as your single metric to judge those ten games in that category, right?

fun etc depends on the person reviewing, one persons pleasure is another persons poison.
Originality is a metric without debate

btw Im thinking now
A game in a graveyard, zombies pop out of the ground u use your flashlight to 'disolve them'. OK the concept prolly aint the best but hopefully I can do the presentation well

btw2 - ta, Ill check out Spelunky

Quote: Originality is a metric without debate

Not really. Originality depends on the reviewer's experience, and consensus that something is different enough to be called original. Also, people will not generally drift towards something which is revolutionary, but something familiar which does something a little differently.



[Edited by - WazzatMan on December 20, 2009 3:41:09 PM]

You should just go buy and play Dark

So you're complaining about originality, yet so far your three ideas have been:

A/ create your own car + then race them around a track <- super generic
B/ alien syndrome clone but with decent lighting <- clone
C/ A game in a graveyard, zombies pop out of the ground u use your flashlight to 'disolve them'. OK the concept prolly aint the best but hopefully I can do the presentation well <- about the most derivative idea you could possibly come up with

Not only that, but all three of those ideas are currently being made by various indies/major studios as we speak. Fantastic!

You say you're thinking but I'm having trouble believing you. Honestly, if you're that insanely hypocritical I think you may want to give up on game design because it's clearly not your strong point. Actually, if you have to search the internet to get ideas in the first place, you should definitely give up on game design. That's just pathetic, man. I can look at the floor and find inspiration for a game, yet you sit here and complain about originality while proposing nothing but super generic crap.

Here's what actual thinking looks like:
Let's take your generic zombie idea. Now let's take the generic act of fighting zombies and change it up. Let's say, we're an evil overlord and we want to protect our zombie hordes so they can cause as much destruction as possible. Instead of being in a graveyard, let's go somewhere less obvious for them like... a sunny tropical island. Now there's tons of light to kill our zombies, so we'll change the flashlight into a "darklight" which sucks up light instead of creating it.

So you have a group of zombies trying to eat people on a tropical island and you need to multitask by placing/controlling darklights which suck up the sun and keep your zombies alive long enough to do massive damage.

There you go, a brand new combination of mechanics which aren't totally overdone and no platforming is involved. Go make it.

Quote: A/ create your own car + then race them around a track

<- super generic

I was meaning 'actually' create the car from building blocks, eg choose how many wheels where to place them etc + then race your contraption, (u have to design it well or else it wont move forward)
I dont think this idea has been done before has it?

Quote: B/ alien syndrome clone but with decent lighting <- clone

yes I admit originality lacking

Quote: Not only that, but all three of those ideas are currently being made by various indies/major studios as we speak. Fantastic!

who, I know B is but the other 2

WRT zombie game, I dont know of any game that uses light as the weapon, though if u know of one let me know I might alter my game if its already been done

Quote: Here's what actual thinking looks like:

this coming from someone who has this as his homepage
http://pgstudios.org/ <- great examples :)

to go with these 'totally original' games we've got 'totally original' titles as well

lets see we've got

Falling Forever
Oozing Forever
Towering Forever
Hunted Forever
Falling Forever

hmm thats given me an idea Ill call the zombie game
ZOMBIES FOREVER

actually I think I understand where some confusion is coming from.

If I see a game with
a lawnmover going around a hedgemaze mowing flowers being chased by little old grandmas

I see a 'pacman' derivative. It doesnt matter if theres no ghosts or pills its basically the same gameplay.

Now if I replace zombie's (though vampires are better since theyre the ones that traditionally sunlight harms) with say boxes of chocolates, is the game really that different? Actually its not.

The story,characters,setting etc are just window dressing

got vampire game up + running (alter the torches FOV to concentrate the damage u do to the vampires)


btw - for that car game, a better description is u build them from scratch like with lego + not like in other cargames where u customize existing cars

Quote: Original post by zedz
btw Im thinking now
A game in a graveyard, zombies pop out of the ground u use your flashlight to 'disolve them'. OK the concept prolly aint the best but hopefully I can do the presentation well

Is this supposed to be an "original" game idea? Yea no one has ever created a game where you kill zombies, oh wait.....

Quote: Original post by zedzI dont know of any game that uses light as the weapon, though if u know of one let me know I might alter my game if its already been done

Using Y instead of X as a weapon does not create an original idea, so now you point a light at a zombie instead of a gun, not a real big changer there. Maybe there are other thing you can do with light maybe like requiring them to position mirrors in a certain way to be able to kill the zombie quicker and add an element of a puzzler into the game or what not.

Quote: Is this supposed to be an "original" game idea? Yea no one has ever created a game where you kill zombies, oh wait.....

oh wait alright :),

whoops :) if u read my next post u will see where you (and others) are getting confused

you are confusing gameplay with presentation

just in case u missed it, here it is again

Quote: Now if I replace zombie's (though vampires are better since theyre the ones that traditionally sunlight harms) with say boxes of chocolates, is the game really that different? Actually its not.