Simple game concepts/ideas to gain confidence/morale?

[vitinho444]

Hey guys, I've reached the "peak" of halls disease with my latest game. I think I found the mistake most of us make (at least i do) and that is to take on a challenge to develop a game that is over you/me. What I mean over me/you? Well it's not that we don't have the skills that take to build it, but it's a damaging process on our morale.

My game is a sort of RPG like DayZ, it will have lots of items, Multiplayer, crafting, surviving, a huge map, etc etc, its a very complex game for one team morale imo, and that's the mistake.

So in order to gather some confidence and morale, I'm looking for simple game ideas/concepts (but not too simple like snake... xD) to make my version of those ideas and concepts and thus gaining some confidence to continue my "RPG".

Do you know anything? Thanks

[OldRod]

That's exactly where I was about a month ago. After more years than I care to count, I finally just sat down and forced myself to come up with something simple that I could finish in a month.

I looked at all kinds of games, and listed out the major systems that would have to be written, narrowing down the list to fit things I could actually do and wouldn't take longer than a month. I ended up creating Asteroid Belt Runner. It's a simple game, but it has a lot of systems: player movement, collision, scoring, etc. And the sense of accomplishment I got doing it has spurred me into my next project

Since you are working on something like DayZ, how about making a simple game where zombies come onto the screen from all directions and you have to avoid/shoot them and see how long you can survive? Make some "programmer art" or get some sprites from OpenGameArt.org to use. Start simple. Make a player sprite appear on the screen and be able to move him around with the keys, or with the mouse. Then once that is in, give him a gun and figure out how to make it shoot. Once you have that working, make a zombie appear on the screen and move around. Then figure out how to make the bullets collide with the zombies, etc. Just keep adding small incremental things and suddenly you have a game. It'll be simple, it'll be easy to play, but it will be a game

[Verahta]

Check the one game a month challenge for inspiration

[Sim]

Check the one game a month challenge for inspiration

A link?

[Callan S.]

That's exactly where I was about a month ago. After more years than I care to count, I finally just sat down and forced myself to come up with something simple that I could finish in a month.

I looked at all kinds of games, and listed out the major systems that would have to be written, narrowing down the list to fit things I could actually do and wouldn't take longer than a month. I ended up creating Asteroid Belt Runner. It's a simple game, but it has a lot of systems: player movement, collision, scoring, etc. And the sense of accomplishment I got doing it has spurred me into my next project

Since you are working on something like DayZ, how about making a simple game where zombies come onto the screen from all directions and you have to avoid/shoot them and see how long you can survive? Make some "programmer art" or get some sprites from OpenGameArt.org to use. Start simple. Make a player sprite appear on the screen and be able to move him around with the keys, or with the mouse. Then once that is in, give him a gun and figure out how to make it shoot. Once you have that working, make a zombie appear on the screen and move around. Then figure out how to make the bullets collide with the zombies, etc. Just keep adding small incremental things and suddenly you have a game. It'll be simple, it'll be easy to play, but it will be a game

Seconding OldRod's recommendation!

[OldRod]

Check the one game a month challenge for inspiration

A link?

http://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/art ... medev-3695

Which leads you to:

http://onegameamonth.com/

[vitinho444]

Thank you OldRod that's exactly it. I'm gonna think about it, maybe not in the zombie genre, but something else so i don't lose too much interest.

Check the one game a month challenge for inspiration

I visited it today and it's a good challenge but unfortunately you need to actually create a game, and for that you need the idea/concept first

Thanks though.

[Jackolantern]

Like I suggested to Sim, I would make a puzzle game. Creating a complex, fun puzzle game can be a highly creative, engaging experience, but the low amount of art assets and features required make it a very do-able project in a couple of month's time span. There is also a high demand for quality puzzle games, particularly on mobile platforms.

[Sim]

My stupid puzzle game. People say its sort of fun. I tried not to clone any game, but my favorite puzzles would be tetris and the old school "warrio" (I think that's how you spell it). So I like mixed them together.

http://indie-resource.com/forums/viewto ... =15&t=8194

[vitinho444]

Yeah but I have no creativity to build or solve puzzles

I liked Warrio (If you mean that fat Mario cousin xD)