If you could program and create your own video game, what would it be like?

[ VERY NSFW] It would be like this.

BTW, check out the Red Dungeon ;)

It would be a total immersion, virtual reality experience of scuba diving in the greatest dive locations in the world. Many of those locations are fragile and may soon be destroyed by the ongoing impact of human activity on the environment.

I would love to see a first person shooter gameplay applied to a hidden object game. kind of like prop hunt for TF2 But I’m talking about a full sized game that revolves around a scavenger hunt. For some reason I would find that entertaining & relaxing.

@Dr_Lawrence I’ve been playing Endless Ocean Blue World which is a pretty good scuba diving simulator.

It would be a game where you explore the earth basically: Climbing mountains, deep-sea diving, braving frozen tundras etc. You could have weapons to kill dangerous animals, but the point of the game would be to bravely gone where no man has gone before.

For passionate aspiring game designers, that’s a huge question. The medium has so much potential for complex storytelling, the ideas behind a game that even comes close to that potential require volumes of descriptions.

However, the general design for a truly enriching game would be focused around character community within the game. An example of a game that moves in this direction is Red Dead Redemption. With its complex cinematic storytelling it develops characters that you then see interact with each other and can yourself interact with to some degree, though the repetitive violence throughout the game hinders this aspect, I think. Too many “serious” games focus too much on single, usually empty characters. The copout for these spiritless designers is that the main character is supposed to be the player, therefore needs no personality of its own. It’s pathetic.

It doesn’t matter how many elaborate game mechanics are shoved into games, until developers learn to devote their creations to the principles of storytelling, games will never reach anywhere near their potential.

Heavy Rain is a great example of what the future of complex games may look like, it is basically an interactive movie where you, the player, effect the point-of-view and flow of plot. This allows you to become “one” with the characters, through more than spectator but through interaction—through effort. Demanding skill is not the point—demand effort from your players. That is what connects them to the story. The character’s effort becomes the player’s effort, thus opening up beautiful unconscious sympathies allowing the story to flow through the the players exposed soul! This is something that can not be achieved by the general audience in movies and books—it forces participation that only a minority achieve with less interactive mediums.

These are more principals for game design than what you would normally call ideas. My ideas for specific games I keep until they are developed into something that can be effectively shared. It’s not that I do not want to share them, it’s that I must keep them in my world before they enter the harsh real world. It’s a psychological thing. Besides, basic ideas are easy to come up with; it’s developing them into practices that people need help with.

This is not exactly a game, but would be very useful for people with autism spectrum disorders. Just virtual interaction with other people, but with subtitles telling what the nonverbal cues (facial expressions, body language) mean. A tool like this could greatly enhance the intensive coaching needed to bring autistic people up to a level of social competence.

@stranger_in_a_strange_land That could help some members of the gaming community that aren’t autistic, as well.

@zophu I suspect that many dedicated gamers have some level of autism. It’s something they can excel at without social skills.

A massive sandbox-style first person zombie shooter.

There have been a few games made like this, but none of them have met up to what I have in mind.

Picture this, the ability to freely roam an entire suburb, city, rural area, etc. fighting zombies, building barricades, putting together supply raiding parties, scavenging for food, fighting bandits, etc.

Pretty much anything that has some heft and can be picked up would be able to be used as a melee weapon and there would be hundreds of guns. Everything from single shot .22 rifles to military assault rifles.

There would be drivable vehicles too.

Could we have melee weapons, like golf clubs, chainsaws and crowbars? Either way, I’m there dude. It sounds like a good idea. Some have been made, but they always feel pretty restricted…you can’t fool me through the novelty of hucking TV’s at walking dead dudes, damnit. XD Actually planning stuff out and looking out for your resources sounds fun to me.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard Yeah! That would be awesome! You make me think all the sandbox games I’ve played fell short of their potential! A spreading zombie infection over the course of a few days gametime, over an entire region. Between settlements and along highways. Await rescue? Attempt escape? Rebel against or diplomatically assess the overaggressive military containment forces? Or are you too busy just trying to stay alive? There’s a ridiculous amount of money for whoever gets that one out. Who under the age of 40 doesn’t have a zombie survival plan?

It would be an evolution simulator in the early stages, where you select certain mutations yourself every couple of thousand years, which then compete in the environment on their own (not like that pathetic Spore where you tuck on body parts like Dr. Frankenstein). It would then go over to the civilisation phase which would be like a mix of empire earth, but with added focus on actual civilisation and city building, like a mix of Empire Earth, Sim City and Caesar 4, on a 1:1 scaled global map, starting in the tribal era and culminating at the space age, where it then shifts over to space civilisation stage, where you start to colonise and conquer the galaxy. That stage would play in a fully 3d Galaxy and would play like a mix of Galactic Civilisations empire building, with Nexus-style space battles. Near the culmination of that stage, you would be able to colonise new galaxies and eventually the entire universe. At all points throughout the game you would be able to micro manage the game as you would during the civlisation stage, down to individual units.

A virtual reality game where you could maybe put on a mask/helmet and have it seem like you are really in the game itself. Something that would stimulate your mind so much (something like a lucid dream) that you could even feel pleasure or pain. (Maybe many wouldn’t want to play a game like this).

@Symbeline, yes! Just about anything could be used as a melee weapon. Even a package of toilet paper if that’s all you had available. There would be lots of scripted events too. Like helicopter attacks, tactical nuke strikes, plane crashes, traffic jams, etc.

@zophu, exactly what I was thinking!