I've made a concept for a top-down airship game where you can be an engineer, infantry, captain, or admiral, with larger ships almost always having crew members rather than being solo-piloted.
Does such an idea sound fun to /v/ though? Before I embark on a project that takes effort.
The following reading is optional, I largely just wrote it for myself.
>Make 2D browser-based engine in Java where the server sends data to the clients as quadtrees for better performance with large/numerous objects
>build on top of the engine an airship-piloting/walkabout game and a few objects ships can be built out of, getting the game engine in a testable state as quick as possible
>create a pipeline for making those objects, and a construction/destruction system
>test on LAN giving clients randomised latencies, making sure lag compensation works well
>create a huge amount of pseudocode-generated content, as well as premium content which is the same but looks cooler
>introduce spawn points which can be built by players, and require a nearby robot body for the player to inhabit
>release game on a hired server with a small area that is NPC-dominated (AI is easy to create for this game)
>lol you're actually reading this huge block of text, you earned a promo code for more cat pics, just say "memes"
>make it so that NPCs more and more rarely inhabit player-created bodies, forcing players to try and get more people into the game (getting someone to spawn at a spawn point is as simple as giving them a link, they can be playing with you in mere seconds)
>phase out NPCs and expand game area as playercount increases
>make sure game can last forever without losing significant money by purchasing a server only upgraded when necessary, and allowing players to buy powerful components for real money that can end up being stolen or destroyed so that everyone already having premium doesn't mean there'll be no revenue
>>334444764
>Basing your game around what /v/ thinks
>Binding spawnpoints to URLs
That's a pretty interesting concept OP. Also neat to hear a game idea that focuses more on the technical side of things instead of just a story like most /v/ ideas.
>>334444935
/v/ is very critical, I like that.
>>334445010
To be honest I wish I could give the game more soul, but I think that if I did that I'd do it in a second version of the game which would come years later, and I'd do it in a way that's more dynamic, i.e. players are the biggest part of the story of the world rather than just individuals going through an MMO's permanent quests.
I'll probably attempt to make a working version of this game at the end of this trimester, it'd be good to get the experience of making a game like this early on.
>>334444764
I would rather you make a game about a kitty that swims in a tub.
>>334444764
>"I'm an ideas guy!"
Look at this man.
Look at this man and laugh.
>>334445651
At what point did I say "I'm looking for someone to make this for me"?
An idea guy is someone who says what they'd like in a game expecting someone else to do the work.
I'm really just seeing if it's an idea popular enough to be worth making.
>>334445345
We must think bigger. Make it an ocean.
>>334445345
this desu
>>334445875
Ignore the memery. Make the game anon, it sounds fun.
>Pseudocode
>Generated
>>334444764
Memes
>>334444764
>Java
Stopped right there. Pick a better engine or nothing at all.
>>334444764
sounds neat
>>334446539
>>334446773
Java's easy to implement in a web browser though, and I know how to program with it.
>>334444764
Man i was watching that gif for ages thinking "gee thats long for a gif" without realising it was looped.
Sounds interesting, OP. I would at least give Airship Engineers a try.
memes
>>334446424
Have you never played a game where adding content to the game is as simple as copying and modifying text files?
Like, in Dwarf Fortress, you can add, remove, and modify tags from creatures that make complex alterations to their programming.
>>334447961
I've been thinking of calling it "Venusian Skies", it's a catchy-sounding name and I was thinking of having the game set on Venus.
eggman here, sounds fun. Not sure what to say about the NPC bit.
More importantly, how do you get a cat to like water?
>>334448151
Are you planning on making the game full 2d like the .io games, or is the 2D just a base for the engine?
>>334448504
Not sure what you mean by 2D as a base for the engine, but it's strict 2D like the .io games. Except that I might split the atmosphere into 3 separate layers, between which airships will go based on their buoyancy. Also, I might make it so that the airships have separate floor and roof layers.
>>334448361
Hmm, don't really like the NPC idea?
It's intended to be a placeholder for a lack of players but if I could fill the servers up quickly enough I wouldn't have to use them.
>>334448819
Hm. I'm having a hard time picturing how the crew system would work in a game like that. I could see having the engineer as having to just keep a ship operational, but it would likely need its own set of game mechanics. Unless the infantry jump out in fighter-type craft, I can't see how that would come into play, but if it is I suppose it would play similarly to a Captain but with a smaller vessel? And I suppose Admirals would command Captains around the field?
Unless I'm entirely wrong about all of that. I could certainly see Engineers or Infantry as being suitable with FTL-like mechanics.
>>334444764
OP you haven't made game concept, you've just outlined a general theme. What will the game actually be? What will be the objective? Within what boundaries will players be able to perform objective? What tools will the players have? How will the player interact with those tools? How will players perceive the game world? What other factors come into play?
I see this every fucking day, retarded fucks who think a theme is a game idea. And taking an existing game and changing the theme isn't either, I see that all the time too. I hope to God that /v/ is a sample of the dumbest of humanity and not humanity in general because fucking hell.
>>334444764
If making games was possible someone would have done it by now.
>>334449442
I wouldn't make it so that it's clear cut who's the captain, who's the admiral, who's the engineer, and who's the infantry.
My intent is that people spawn on a ship and sort themselves out.
Five things I should probably clear up about how the ships work:
>You can build ships on other ships, so a ship can be a carrier. You could even have a carrier for carriers.
>Ships can collide, and cause damage if the collision has enough force behind it. You could give a ship a very strong and heavy bow with doors on the sides, so a ship full of infantry can board another ship
>Sinking a ship from a distance is rather pointless unless you see them as a safety hazard, because a ship that's crashed on the ground is unlootable. Thus, there's good reasons to board.
>Players are not expected to be permanent crew. Someone looking for quick fun could join a ship from a spawn point list that's advertised as "In combat, requiring infantry".
>You'll need people to man the guns.
>spent several minutes trying to detrmine where the gif loops
I'm stumped
>>334449928
Those weren't clear?
I suppose they weren't.
>what will the game actually be?
Airship building & combat game.
>what will be the objective?
None really. A lot like the .io games.
If this game works out well I'd make sure there's more to do though.
>Within what boundaries? What tools?
Construction in this version of the game would be a lot like Space Engineers.
>How will players perceive the game world?
Top down, viewing themselves as either a character or an airship depending on if they're piloting or not.
Protip: write a GDD and keep it to yourself until it actually gains traction and you start making real progress on the actual thing. Getting started is the biggest hurdle and ideas are everywhere, it's the implementation that interests people.
>>334450819
GDD?
And yeah, getting started is a problem, especially as I don't know anything about making a server and client for a networked Java game, nor do I know what graphics programming to use.
>>334450993
Stands for "General Design Document". It's a detailed document about all aspects of the design. At a bare minimum, it should have:
>Short description of the game. If it's longer than a couple sentences you're overthinking it here
>Core mechanics, break it down and go in depth about what you actually do in the game
>Game flow, how the fuck everything fits together
>Why this game is going to be fun. Also helps to list similar games and what parts you're looking at them for.
>Controls, seems useless but actually does a lot in helping you to work out how it's actually going to feel to play.
>Interface design, especially in an engineering game. Mockups in paint are good enough, you mostly need layout.
It's important to make one and stick to it because it keeps you on track, heavily limits feature creep and - best of all - you can change the design if it turns out to suck without having to actually implement it.
Once you're happy with that, that's when you start prototyping and THEN finally start pitching it to people.
tl;dr don't be an ideaguy
>>334452327
It's a simple enough game that I've pretty much gone over how everything fits together already, I might as well just get to programming soon.
I'm more likely to add some game-breaking feature if I attempt to document the idea :P
