I come from /agdg/, looking for an idea for a game. I don't know what kind of game, what characters or what. I tend to seek out inspiration before I structure out the dev process.
So, what aspect of history and humanities do you think is a little under-rated, that might be worth looking into for amateur gamedev? Setting, city, time period, the story behind some specific building or work or dynasty?
Really vague I know! But maybe something comes to mind?
>>1132800
Medieval peddling
>>1132824
Hmm, any particular aspect? Peddling as in, just trade? Europe, or elsewhere? What's your favorite aspect of medieval peddling? Don't mean to interrogate, just looking around for inspiration
>>1132800
I've always wanted to see some kind of either strategy game or RPG or maybe some kind of hybrid game where you run a mercenary group in the Italian wars.
Your goal would be to amass money and notoriety, and who cares who wins in Italy as long as you make out well.
>>1132800
The three kingdoms period of China is pretty underused despite being the second deadliest conflict worldwide besides WW2.
>>1132842
Yeaaaaah! That sounds awesome. I read a great book by Italo Calvino that this reminds me of. "The Path To The Nest of Spiders." Had a kind of humor in the everyone for themselves feeling. Fun book if I remember, it's been a few years.
That's one to write down for sure, thanks.
>>1132830
Traveling from the countryside to a town, then to other towns. Basically something like Oregon Trail, but instead of shooting bison for the 4 lbs of meet you carry back you sustain yourself with trading goods, bills, and currency.
A comfy road trip basically, an adventure where progress is about meeting people, getting away with merchant schemes, and taking/avoiding risks instead of just killing your way through mobs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKvq2NQk70Y
>>1132800
Still waiting for a game set in the 16th century Eastern Indies.
Piracy, proxy wars, adventure, first contacts, huge wealth... It has it all to be honest.
I just want someone who turns the book in pic related in a game
Sid Meier's Pirates! but in the Renaissance/Enlightenment Mediterranean Sea.
holy crap, hit the goldmine for good ideas. Honestly I was just expecting to be told to fuck off.
>>1132854
dont forget dealing with annoying noble fares to pass through their territory, deal with robber barons/bandits, shipwrecking in the middle of the sea, transporting mercenaries/levies in some war/crusaders...
Greek marketplace simulator. Try to peddle your wares while telling the neighborhood philosophers to fuck off. Don't push them too hard or they'll convince you material goods mean nothing and you'll give all your belongings to the poor
>>1132854
This sounds pretty damn comfy, for sure.
>>1132870
For a more controlled narrative kind of game, I'm imagining temporarily posing as nobility and then realizing everyone believes you, and then from then on assuming the role
>>1132851
I really know nothing about China, wouldn't even know when the three kingdoms period was. Might make it hard for me to dig in with details.
>>1132857
I don't think I can read that book.
>>1132800
A monument building game where you feel/math your way through a huge building project like a Gothic Cathedral, a Jama'a Mosque, big palaces and castles, etc. Plan, build in steady steps, deal with artists and patrons, and try not to let it crumble before it's complete.
>>1132887
>I'm imagining temporarily posing as nobility
The problem with nobility is that they would have a lot more political influence in the plot. A middle class merchant type would have a lot more freedom to avoid all that unless they specifically engage in it themselves.
>>1132883
Final boss is Diogenes
>>1132892
Unique! Could be pretty interesting. From a programming standpoint, it might be hard to make a variety of actually unique structures. Though someone posted some 3D fractal architecture shit earlier today that was pretty impressive.
>>1132906
Yeah I meant like 2/3 of the game you're peasant/merchant/traveler, but then you disguise for some reason, and realize everyone believes you, so final 1/3 is almost like a different game, where people think you're a count or something just because you say you are (also I think the idea of lack of medieval "id" is really fascinating)
>>1132920
That might end up making 2/3 of one game, and 1/3 of a completely different game, however.
>>1132887
>I don't think I can read that book.
yeah, that I know of there's only versions of his book in current portuguese. Its a shame, its legitimately a lot better than Marco Polo's work
Here is its wiki page though:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fern%C3%A3o_Mendes_Pinto
>>1132920
You could focus squarely on a single type of architecture, like just Gothic cathedrals. You're a "master" builder hired by a bishop to build him the most swank church in the region, but you've got rivals also building in other towns for other bishops.
>>1132887
The dynasty warriors games' story mode is a good entry point into three kingdoms. The 2010 TV show is also great. Really, the setting has alot of potential for a game. For example, the crown prince affair would be a pretty great plot for a game (due to indecision on heir problems, a bunch of people turned on each other and killed each other leading to the destruction of the kingdom)
“Over the centuries, mankind has tried many ways of combating the forces of evil... prayer, fasting, good works and so on. Up until Doom, no one seemed to have thought about the double-barrel shotgun. Eat leaden death, demon...”
― Terry Pratchett
Ok I have to go to sleep, but these are great. I'm going to use this thread as basis for some more brainstorming tomorrow. Obviously feel free to drop any other ideas!
>>1132934
>>1132920
You could also design the game as a sort of vertical Bridge Builder where your goal isn't the complete design and construction of a whole Gothic cathedral, but instead the building of as tall a spire and interior as possible. You accomplish this by adjusting the height of pillars, the curve of arches, the placement of support buttresses, and the reduction in weight of walls and roofs (making them thin or carving out whole sections) to build as high as possible.
The largest church spires in the world are currently over 500 feet tall.
Thanks for the good inspiration, friends!
>>1132800
Bronze Age diplomacy game where you play a negotiator traveling between empires, your mission to ensure that no warfare breaks out and all parties' interests are dealt with effectively.
The negotiations get more complex and the risks greater the later the levels go. You could explore the societies of Egypt, Hattusa, Crete, Assyria, Babylon etc. Watch out for sneaky political, economic, and religious factions that will try to foil your efforts.
>>1132912
>stand in his sunlight
>his hp dwindles down
I know it's cheap but the battle system is broken as fuck anyway.
