What should i choose?

[Xaleph]

Ok, here`s the thing, I have some ideas I want to work on, however, i cannot decide what to choose. Anyway, I would appreciate all input on the idea`s. Here`s a list I put together:

1. A simple browser "classic" browser game based on character development. It`s all serverside, so no fancy javascript interactions on maps whatsoever. It`s magic based, but in the real world. Kind of like.. hmmz. Harry Potter. Anyway, you start of as a teen, the first cycle means you learn stuff, new skills, choose professions and hobby`s. You can specialize in certain hobby`s like brewery or broom flying or stealing. You also learn to combat ( which is basically you vs. the computer in an arena style page ) y. The second cycle means you are done learning stuff, you can explore the world, and every time you advance far enough, new regions become available. Every region has new gear, weapons, enemies and skills. After the second cycle, you get the option to "buy property", meaning you can start buying a house and later on a shop. If you decided to become good at brewing, you can buy a shop where you get cool advantages. You can sell potions, to real people ( all automated though ) and if you buy new functions for your shop, you can get 1.xx % money. However, still needs to be looked at. Because not all professions or hobby`s are going to have a shop in the end. Ohh, and, after the first cycle, you can also battle other players for fame, glory and money. If you decided to become thief for example, you can steal up to 20% of the other guy`s purse. ( there`s a bank for safe keeping obviously). Anyway, still needs a lot of things to be looked at, but I kinda like the idea. Besides, I`m a Harry Potter fan and hate the fact there`s no real MMO kinda browser game where this stuff is implemented.

2. An augmented reality game for mobile devices. The thing here is very cool. You download an app for your phone ( iPhone/Android) and after you downloaded the game, you start getting text messages. There`s no real story here yet, people need to think "what the hell?!" Anyway, after x messaqges you get a phone call in scrambled voice asking for an ID. The ID is obviously stored in the App so you there`s going to be "voice recognition".

OIh, there`s not really any text messaging or phone calls, it`s all stored in the App itself, however i kinda like the idea that people really have to text and phone, so yeah.

Anyway, once you IDed yourself, you learn that there are several terrorist cells active in your region and it`s up to you to collect information. This actually requires you to go to places like the nearest train station or some museum. Because both iPhone and Android offer good geolocation features, you can validate that the person has actually been there. I haven`t thought of the interaction what to do next, however, I suppose i`m going to let them take pictures of stuff which they have to send to the "boss/supervisor".

Also, and this really is fun, i`m going to try to make it so that different people with the same application have to meet up in real life. However, they are not going to actually meet each other, instead, they are each other`s "enemies.' As in, go to place xx and look for suspicious individuals. If the timing is correct, 2 or more people are going to look suspiciously around, which actually makes the game feel more realistic.

Also, before you begin your story, ( and it`s going to be a huge tree full of decisions) you need to awnser a few questions. Either you like mathematics or biology. This because, once in a while you`ll get some puzzles or problems which you have to solve in order to advance.

Another major part of the storyline was going to be something like: go to position x and look for a black briefcase. However, this requires a lot of money/people to fix, because real people have to set up the briefcase. And besides, if there are so many players all over the country, they cannot really go to one central spot. So different events have different items. You see the problem, it requires a lot of real time information and resources. Anyway, this project is way to big for one person to handle, so it`s not viable. Besides, in order for this to make it believable, it needs a very good story line. A story which actually makes you start thinking. Besides, in order for people to meet up, there have to be enough players in one area to actually get this thing working. Otherwise, it`s just an app.

Anyway, it requires a HUGE decision tree and thus a huge story. The kind which I cannot contemplate.

3. An webbased strategy game. It`s like a resource gathering space game. Your civilisation has been forced to move in to the deep space and you need to settle in on uninhabited planets and start rebuilding a society. This idea is TOTALLY not new, however, I`ve never really seen a good implementation where the storyline was interesting enough to keep me playing. Trust me, even my idea`s as of yet are not great.

Anyway, everyone knows those simple farm games right? Elements of those games come back in this idea. Not on a fine level of detail, however, you start of with one ( isometric square ) map, where you can start building your city. However, as you gain experience, this map gets bigger and bigger. And instead of just make buildings and upgrade them, you can also use the land available to grow different kinds of crops. There`s going to be a huge focus on social and possibly cultural progress so you can create museums, artifacts, gardens et cetera. Also, if you design your city like in the US ( meaning: you divide your buildings into blocks) it will recongize this, which in turn will provide different means of transportation. If you do it like the Japanese do, meaning you divide it to groups ( blocks.. yeah i`ll look into it ) it will offer different options.

Also, if you grow, you dont expand into new cities ( which is still possible for xxxxx money ) the grid itself grows too. This also means the buildings get visual updates. Also, every player gets it`s own planet. Every planet has it`s own benefits. Some have huge resource bonusses, others have huge wealth bonusses et cetera. The key is, you really get to create your own city like Sim City.

And, like i said, the key is to grow culture. So if invest heavily in armoury`s, defense, offense, military buildings, the culture will gradually change. Work bonusses, worse resource management ( heavy spending on military technology right?) better production speeds et cetera. If you focus on peace, you learn new technology faster. Resource management improves, sustainability et cetera.

Each culture has its own benefits as well as their disadvantages. If you play on offense, you can attack more and earn more experience that way, and a peacefull society has better defense due to technology. Due to the fact you have better resource management, you can salvage more for each farm you work. If you are an economist, you can earn more due to better prices.

Oh, yeah, every planet / player can attack other nearby planets. Invading them or even occupy them, thus collecting x% of the income. This project really looks cool and is actually the one I want to make, however, this one`s huge too. It requires a lot of game logic, as well as graphical stuff. So again, not a one-man job.

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So, what do you guys think? Which one should I choose? Please don`t pay attention to any spelling mistakes. I`m not native English and it`s late, so there`s bound to be many errors. Just want to know what to do.

Thanks

[hallsofvallhalla]

yeah hard decision. While I love browser based text games I am learning the market is quite saturated, but not saturated with good games. I haven't played a really good one is some time. Well not one to really get me addicted or even get me to sign back in. I have been wanting to build one on the Gurps universe and make it vast but then I worry that i will go through all the work and end up with no reward. It can be hard to gather players these days.

I won't comment on the phone app as I am not into them even .0001%.

Strategy games are always great.

[Xaleph]

Yeah it`s hard. I`ve been sitting on the ideas for some time now, i really haven`t had the time to work out simple demo`s. But the last option ( 3 ) the space strategy really appeals most to me. The augmented game tops everything, because, i mean, how cool is it to wake up at 03:00 AM to hear a scrambled voice telling you your location has been compromised? Should scare the sh*t out of people right? Any way, it`s not a viable one man job to do, so i suppose the choice can be limited to 1 and 3.

Halls, thanks a lot for the input, for the rest, what do you guys think?

[62896dude]

All three ideas are absolutely brilliant! I agree that number two is out, it sounds amazing, but there arent the resources/people available for that kind of job yet. As for 1 and 3, I think that I would be more tempted to play the first option because i too love harry potter, but I would also definately play the third choice too, as I love those sorts of stratgey games, never knowing when your neighboring planet could raid yours!

[Jackolantern]

I really think that augmented reality games are a flash in the pan. Of course I could be 100% wrong; I have been before (I said the Wii would be Nintendo's last console some years back). But it strikes me as technology for technology's sake. We have a camera on our computers/devices, software can interface with it, so heck, lets do it. I don't feel it adds much to the playing experience, and can actually be a detraction due to poor scanning, environmental lighting conditions, etc. Maybe I am on the completely wrong end of this. Who knows?

I would suggest one of the browser games. There are a lot of them out there, but I feel there is room for compelling content.

[62896dude]

Yeah, i totally agree. And at this point, there are so many BBgames that now it is a matter of "Who can create the most different, innovative game with many never before seen features!" And that is really the way to go these days. Personally, I love this, because it keeps pushing the industry to do bigger and better things!