I have always been interested in the concept that Rainworld is built upon, specifically the whole "you are a part of a larger ecosystem that doesn't revolve around you" and I love the idea that the creatures have their own problems, and plans that happen regardless of the player.

I have also seen a youtubers devlog (Rujik the comatose) and also love the idea of his game: all creatures are procedurally created/animated and you can breed them all together and create all sorts of random creatures with infinite possibilities, or even create your own possibly with no limits to what you can create.

I want to create some game that combines these concepts together, but I am not sure what the main gameplay loop would be. I was thinking about a world with different environments, where different creature "builds" are best suited for traversing, or even the other creatures in the ecosystem being somewhat randomised creations, making each playthrough unique. I have these ideas, but I'm not sure how to link them together into a fun game that a solo dev could create. Any ideas?

Thanks for any feedback

This is going to be my first post ever on reddit so if I get anything wrong or am doing something off please feel free to correct me.

Furthermore I'd like to state that I never had the time or resources to read the comics or watch every single Justice League Show so if I do get any lore, personalization or details wrong I am VERY open to discussion. I LOVE the JLU Series it's direct dopamine into my veins and talking about it, whenever I can, is one of my favorite things to do.

Lastly, the game in my head operates on the idea that somehow Warner Bros and DC will be fully amenable to let anyone just use their characters, settings, ideas, concepts etc. This game is never going to get made, but I'd still like to share my ideas so that, in the future, if anyone is re watching the JLU and get's the same itch as me, there's something to scratch it.

With that let's get to the meat of these potatoes

THE BASIC IDEA
Xcom but with the Justice League

THE NOT-SO BASIC IDEA
The game takes place a few months after the last episode of the Justice League Unlimited series. The Player Character (PC) plays as J'on J'onzz or Mr. Terrific (or maybe even themselves?) and is tasked with directing and formulating teams of heroes to attend to the many problems on Earth, and the nearby universe. Though it's not that easy, each hero has their own personalities that clash, benefits and weaknesses to being assigned to each unique mission, etc. Furthermore, once a team is sent to a mission, the game goes from team management to turn-based strategy as the PC has to direct the heroes on how they act and fight.

With that there are two aspects to the game. Firstly where the PC has to pick and choose which heroes go where and for what, and second the PC dictates the moves of the heroes they chose during the mission. I'll refer to these two aspects as Watchtower Management, and Field Management.

WATCHTOWER MANAGEMENT
As cool as it would be to simply send Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman on every mission, you're a strategist, and you should know that brute forcing every mission or problem like that isn;t the most efficient way to do things. You should understand the strengths and weaknesses of each hero and assign them to the missions appropriate to them. A nuclear meltdown might appreciate heroes like Captain Atom or the Flash more than the Big three. Furthermore, heroes (even the founding members) get into their little spats along the way due to their personalities clashing, and continually forcing them together on missions would greatly hinder their effectiveness (no matter how good they are), or even lead to heroes resigning from the league. Thus it is your responsibility to ensure that you've got a good balance between a positive work environment and an effective task force. I mean, with funding from Wayne indutries you don't need to worry about money, resources and man power. So just focus on your best resource, your heroes.

Each Hero has 5 traits that help define them, each trait has their own number of categories to help differentiate heroes from one another, The traits are as follows:

Origin (Where or how the hero got their powers, Magic, Technology, or Enhancement)
Residence (The specific piece of Earth, or the Universe, that the hero defends, Metropolis, OA, Star city, etc.)
Loyalty (Basically who or what the Hero will fight for when it comes down to it, Country, Humanity, Self-Preservation, Law, or the Universe)
Ideal (The ultimate goal, aside from common good, of the hero, Strength, Skill, Magic, Science, Society, or Revenge)
Nature (How the hero acts, most of the time, Peaceful, Headstrong, Deductive or Charismatic)

With that each hero is a mix of one of the categories of all five traits. Take Vigilante, he'd look a little something like this:
Origin: Enhanced
Residence: America
Loyalty: Country
Ideal: Skill
Nature: Charismatic

Now what are all these categories even for?

Well they indicate to you as a strategist how any specific hero is going to interact with any other hero or with any specific mission. To illustrate this let's continue using Vigilante as an example.

Let's say two mobs are at war somewhere in America.
Vigilante would be a good choice for a hero to send, given that he's fighting people who utilize the same tools as him (in that they are "Enhanced" not aided by supremely advanced technology or magic, just guns and fists) and the area and it's customs would be familliar to him (Since his residence is America)

Huntress might be a good option to send with him given she's also an Enhanced Hero from America, but they would have conflicting loyalties, Huntress is Self-Preserving which Vigilante, a Patriot, would likely not appreciate, making them both less effective in tandem than they would be individually, if they were to be sent together. On the other hand, they both value skill, thus if the mission would push them to the limits of their marksman capabilites having two heroes with ideals in skill would be highly favorable as it would be hitting two birds with one mission, weighing between these choices is one of your tasks as a player.

Even on individually heroes matter, being charismatic Vigilante might persuade the mob bosses to resort to charming the mob bosses instead of facing the mafias head on (like supergirl, a headstrong hero, would do). Direct autonomy on the choices and actions heroes take in missions will be "further discussed" in the "Field Management" Segment of this post but in general, having heroes of specific natures, ideals, etc. makes it more likely for options and choices that reflect those traits to appear throughout the course of the game.

Again, I'd like to reiterate here that I am by NO MEANS an expert on the lore of the franchise or its heroes for that matter, thus if you feel like I get any traits or characterizations wrong feel free to correct me, but nicely, please.

Furthermore, you also have to take care to actually read the information given to you about missions (think the level/lore descriptions that show up before each level in Kingdom Rush), as not all of them can be directly solved through combat, for that matter just because a mission is combat oriented doesn't mean that any combat-focused hero should be sent there. Like an invasion on an extra terrestrial mine, you might be tempted to just send Superman and Supergirl and be done with it, but a careful parsing through the information shows that the miners were using kyrptonite tipped weapons, thus sending our supers there would make the mission much harder to complete efficiently.

Additionally, even if you do find a "Swiss Army Knife Hero" that fits most situations you can't send them out too frequently. Every time a hero completes a mission, they get an increase in fame, which could help out in diplomacy missions, but in general the more fame a hero builds the more villains know about them, and the more villains know about them, the better they can prepare to face them.

If all that seems too complex to remember or analyze, recall that you're playing as a strategist, and staying on top of these things would be your job. Though there are some rule of thumb "hurr durr" mechanics so more casual players can still accomplish pseudo efficient Watchtower Management. Generally heroes should face missions of similar origins to them, Zatanna (A magical Hero) should deal with Magical threats (she gets a bonus or something, IDK the specific boosts or detriments any hero gets are still up in the air so feel free to comment). Also, heroes who fight in their area of residence get boosts too.

In general, Watchtower management is about understanding and analyzing what a mission needs and providing the appropriate hero who can supply that.

FIELD MANAGEMENT(Still very loose with what to do here but I have a basic idea IG)

Now once you've sent your team off to wherever, the game focuses in on the select roster you chose. Now this can go about a few ways based on the nature of the mission. Diplomacy missions play out almost like a visual novel or Ace Attorney where you're given a few dialogue boxes to choose from to try and converse to others in a way that benefits you. Having more heroes of a specific Ideal or Nature,etc, boost the chances of dialogue boxes related to those traits appearing. Vigilante on your roster creates a higher chance of "charming" dialogue boxes popping up allowing you to charm a minion to blurt out their master's scheme, or charm a guard to let you into the venue. However you aren't locked onto using that choice as there will always be a neutral positive and negative option given to you so you can always command heroes to say yes or no to what is offered to them.

Alternatively missions could be rescue or combat based which I haven't ironed out much. It's likley to play out like XCOM or fire emblem in that you command heroes to travel across grids per turn to do things and accomplish goals. However I do know that I want all heroes that share an origin to have a unified basic movement and attack based on that origin and a unique advanced movement and/or attach based on them.

OTHER THINGS

Aside from combat and stuff i also haven't ironed out how heroes are going to level up or even if they should? like they're heroes for a reason so starting them off really weak and stuff would be weird? also acquiring them, do you just have a humungous roster of heroes to pick from the start, or do you gain more as you go on? If so why were those heroes not in the or affiliated to the JL in the first place? Lastly I do know that I want to implement a "Leader" system based on that episode where Hawk Girl, Vixen and Vigilante get ambushed by Thanagarians, but IDK how a Leader would work/operate in a game like this. Also STATS should I or shouldn't I, how would they work? etc IDK.

CONCLUSION
That ends my idea so far, if you have any comments suggestions or clarifications feel free to ask them, also if anyone is up to use this idea, go for it, though I would LOVE to help out in any way you'd allow me to.

If you made it this far thanks for reading and I hope you got something from this, have a great day!

My idea is inspired by the old Westwood Studio Dune game series... which is pretty much dead in the water (THANK YOU EA, I say sarcastically). So I figured why not come up with an idea that would use the same core concept, give it a fresh coat of paint. And try to do a little more interesting stuff with it. The Idea I present to you is Colonial Corps.

Main Story

The year is 2520. The human race has expanded far beyond the Sol System and begun expanding into the depths of the Milky Way Galaxy. Countless governments, corporations and independent pilgrims seek to establish colonies in the ever expanding sphere of humanity’s influence. Colonization however is not without its own hazards. Terraforming, securing settlement sights, collecting resources, all expensive and time consuming. To answer the call for colonial assistance, various private militias have sprouted up, dedicated to beginning the efforts of Colonization to whoever is willing to pay their fees. These are the Colonial Corps.Recently, a mineral rich habitable world located in Kepler-1649 or the Anann System. Known as Cú Chulainn, the planet was claimed by the mining and colonization corporation Deep Space Habitations (DeSH). While DeSH was able to lay claim to the planet, they lacked the means to begin colonization and mining operations, and have turned to three major Colonial Corps, each seeking exclusivity in the Cú Chulainn Contract. These three are:

• Astronautical Protectorate (AP), a noble group of Colonial Corps who put the well being of colonists and personnel above profit.
• Stellar Negotiations Incorporated (SNI), a more secretive group known for using stealth and subterfuge.
• Planetary Suppression Force (PSF), an expansive and very aggressive military force willing to do whatever it takes to complete a job.

These Colonial Corps are among the top contenders in their field. Even drawing blood against one another in the past. DeSH chairman, Robert T. Falman has issued a challenge to each Corps, whichever group manages to collect the most minerals from the planet within the given amount of time, while securing the greatest amount of territory will gain exclusive contract with future DeSH colonial development. This is an opportunity none of the three factions can ignore, both for the vast amount of wealth that would come from such a contract, but also the chance to embarrass their rivals once again in the field of battle. As the three make their way to the surface of Cú Chulainn to begin colonization and combat, they are unaware that the whole situation is merely a setup for a more sinister operation.

Game Overview

Colonial Corps is an overhead RTS (Real Time Strategy) game where players command one of three playable factions (four in skirmish) and fight against the other factions in battle with armies built by the player while collecting resources in the form of minerals. There are three game modes:

• Campaign: Single Player mode where players take command of one of the three main factions: Astronautical Protectorate (AP), Stellar Negotiations Incorporated (SNI) or Planetary Suppression Force (PSF), and play through a series of missions while capturing territories on the map. Players need to capture a specific number of territories in order to advance to the next mission and must complete all missions to win the Campaign. Each faction has its own campaign.
• Conquest: A single player mode similar to the Campaign where players try to capture all the territories on the map. However there are no campaign missions and the only overall objective is to wipe out all enemies and capture all territories.
• Skirmish: Multiplayer mode where players can battle one another or AI on pre-generated maps. The three factions from the Campaign are playable, along with a fourth faction, Deep Space Habitations (DeSH).

Each faction shares similar units and buildings, however as their individual units defeat enemies or complete mission objectives they gain experience and levels. At level three, most units can upgrade to one of three new units, some of which are unique to a specific faction.

Details on each faction, their units, as well as a brief summery of the three campaigns can be found in a google docs folder, along with some other minor details that I have provided. Please feel free to leave feed back and suggestions.

Welcome to r/gameideas! This subreddit is a place to share your ideas for games and mechanics as well as a place for readers to find inspiration. "Game ideas" is a broad category, so to help keep the subreddit tidy and easily navigable for readers we have some requirements and expectations we'd like you to follow if you are going to post.

First:

• read and understand the rules
• If you need clarification message the mods
• Posts that violate the rules will be reviewed and removed if necessary

These rules exist to promote higher quality posts and encourage users to put more thought into their idea and the way it's presented.

Second, use the links below to find and contribute to popular threads and find other resources. This list will update periodically.

Have you imagined a storyline, characters and lore that you think would be great for a game?

• Share Your Lore, Story and Other Related Ideas Here

Do you have an idea for a small game, or just the beginnings of an idea that you can explain in a big paragraph or less?

• Share Your Short, Sweet and Succinct Game Ideas Here

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Do you have a game idea that can be summed up in a short post? Share it in the comments!

Please limit your comment to a large paragraph or less.

Walls of text and multiple paragraph comments are subject to deletion.

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Did you...

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Share it in the comments below!

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Hey fellow gamers!

I've been pondering about the underutilization of light and shadow mechanics in games. While they often serve as atmospheric elements, their potential for gameplay mechanics seems largely untapped. So, I'm here to spark a discussion and gather some unique ideas from all of you!

Imagine a game where light isn't just a visual effect but a dynamic tool that can shape gameplay. Here are a few examples to get the creative juices flowing:

1. Light as a Weapon: In this game, players can harness beams of light to damage enemies or even heal themselves. Imagine strategically positioning mirrors to redirect sunlight onto foes, or wielding a flashlight that emits different types of light for various effects.

2. Manipulating Objects: Light could interact with objects in intriguing ways. Perhaps certain objects only become tangible or usable when illuminated, or casting shadows onto specific surfaces could reveal hidden mechanisms or pathways.

3. Revealing Paths: Picture a scenario where shining a colored light reveals or conceals different paths. For instance, a red light might make certain platforms disappear, while a blue light unveils hidden passages.

4. Environmental Puzzle-solving: Light and shadow mechanics could be integral to solving puzzles within the game world. Players might need to strategically position light sources to cast specific shadows, revealing clues or activating mechanisms necessary to progress. Imagine using beams of light to align symbols or creating shadow patterns that unlock hidden chambers.

5. Illumination-induced Effects: Changes in illumination levels could dynamically influence player behavior and abilities. For example, altering the brightness of an environment could affect gameplay mechanics, such as modifying movement speed, altering perception, or triggering specific events. Players might need to adapt their strategies based on the ever-changing lighting conditions, adding depth and variability to the gameplay experience.

These are just a few ideas, but the possibilities are endless! I'm eager to hear your thoughts and suggestions. How do you envision light and shadow mechanics being utilized in games?

Looking forward to your creative input.

You have multiple characters but only one can exist in the world at once. So this isn't about multiple party members.

In practice you'd have characters A, B and C and swap between them.

What's the point of this mechanic:

Allow the player to have multiple builds at once. Next time you find a huge sword that's too heavy for you to use just equip it on your tank character.

Spice up boss battles. Boss battles can get repetitive when you die a lot. With this mechanic you fight the boss with a melee character, die, come back with a mage, die, come back with a tank.

Alternative to fast travel. The frequent praise to the first dark souls is how the world felt big and connected.

Other Souls games would have bigger worlds which also were well connected, but Dark Souls still stands above in World design.

I think it's because you didn't have fast travel for a large chunk of the game. When the only way to travel is on your own legs then every step counts and every mile has its weight.

Real distance isn't about size. Real distance is about time and effort. Fast travel is convenient but it kills that sense.

Starfield is a good example, the world is the biggest Bethesda has ever made but its over reliance on fast travel makes it feel disjointed. The world is huge but you don't travel the miles that connect it.

Anyway all of this is to say that having multiple characters allows the game to replace standard fast travel with a system where characters act as fast travel points.

Since you have three guys you can have them travel different paths. Any character serve as an anchor for the others. When they want to travel they swap places with one another.

Now you can still be at many places at once and try different areas if one is too difficult but you can't travel anywhere you'd like.

You get part of the convenience and preserve the size of the world.

https://youtu.be/oVR9RPqhLqI

I created this system out of boredom, and I don't know what to build around it. I was thinking some sort of puzzle game. Any ideas of levels, mechanics or even full games to be built around it?

Ok, so a bit of a random thought that hit me the other week.

I used to work from home (one of the many laid off lately) but was thinking about VR being used for work productivity instead of monitors. Having a flexible work space where windows can be any size and put anywhere would have been very helpful in my last job.

The twist here is that your virtual desktop is on a space ship.

The ship's layout could be customized to match the size and layout of the players play/work space. A stationary setup could work for those who just want to play from their office chair but a whole room or even house could be setup with the right equipment.

As far as details for mechanics of the MMO itself I don't have too many specific thoughts. Just something that is more on the realistic side of things without too much focus on combat.

The idea of a house scale VR experience where windows can be displayed where ever I need for work is appealing but then at the end of the day I can move to my ships helm. Being able to have a YouTube and Reddit windows flanking my cockpit as I get these self sealing stem bolts three systems over also seems like a nice way to make a boring space MMO task about as exciting as just sitting at my computer. Which, while not all that exciting, is what I do all day anyway so I might as well get those stembolts delivered.

Overall just a bit of a goofy idea. I just feel it would be neat to combine a VR Space MMO with the basic functionality of an existing PC to make the game feel more livable.

This is a game idea I got from a dream today, it is an online game about protals(Infinity Portals, when you go in the game for the first time you are given a randomly generated portal on a small island, there are trillions of possible portals because: there will be 500+ color combinations, 300+ portal shapes, 100+ layouts on the islands like for example a forest or planets let's say and there will be also a small chance to get a legendary one. (also everything on the island like the portal layout and color will fit together and some layouts colors and shapes will be banned from being together because they will look off) Well how can you actually get a new portal? Of course go in the portal to explore. The dimension you will go to will have the layout and color of the island AND the dimension itself will be randomly generated but heavily affected by the portal shape. In the dimension you need to do a challenge and then you can go back, once you go in again the challenge will be different (there will be probably over 1000 different challenges)once you have enough mana you can finally reincarnate, then you can reroll and even get some gear that will give you boosts. Well, where is the online aspect? There is a server list to visit the portals of other people and yes there is a flexing aspect in this. The game will be priced at about 5-10 bucks and will have no microstansactions

2D Post Apocalyptic Looting and Cooking Restaurant Game

Gameplay Summary:

You own the last open Restaurant and Hotel in post apocalyptic world. And thats not because you want to make alot of money but because you want to bring the people back together. Risk your live on dangerous explorations and cook the best dishes in the world. Will you succeed ?

Im not sure about the Genre yet. Maybe as simple RPG/ Farming SIM Like Stardew Valley or maybe like Cult of the Lamb ? Any Suggestions are welcome

Mechanics:

The Game hast 2 main mechanics Exploration/Fighting and Cooking

Exploration/Fighting -

Fighting in a Bindung of Isaac Like Manner exploring multiple rooms or buildings and After every looted room you can decide wether you Go back or you Look further for more Loot. You are on the Hunt for Food to create your dishes. And other props to establish and upgrade your hotel and restaurant. As enemies there are different options dependant on the catastroph and the setting of the world.

Cooking - Need to manage the time of a Customer + multiple dishes and Drinks at the Same time. Like in overcooked. Serve all customers in a given timeframe.

Some Customer will give you a benefit for Future explorations. More time / Health / better weapons / Tipps

You can either fail the run by dying on exploration. Or Not managing to make enough Food for the Clients to often → People will get mad and Invade your Restaurant and destroy it.

Story:

Intro/Tutorial

After an apocalyptical desaster (reason not defined) you (an from childhood trained assassin to kill) live some time alone in the new world.

Gamestart

And so you decide to create the last open Restaurant and Hotel in a post apocalyptic world. In a world where everyone looks first after himself you decide to bring the people back together. And recreate the society. On your journey you meet friends that help you fullfill your dream and enemies that want to see you and your dream dead.

Will you succeed?

An online survival game where the lore is that an island has been a site of genetic engineering small creatures to be large and imposing and big ones to be small. You can select a human, a creature, or probably something a bit in between and you just survive. Playing as a creature you start out in a juvenile stage and gradually grow into an adult. As a human you collect resources, survive, and make bases out of abandoned testing facilities.

Examples of gameplay scenarios:
You and your friends are in game connected proximity VC, playing as human, and you're trying to ward off a giant amoeba player crawling through the corridors trying to eat engulf you... but you've just unlocked big firearms
You're playing as a small elephant like creature that lives the lifestyle of a prairie dog. Humans can craft your tusks into arrowheads, and some are nearby
You are a human and witness a massive beetle with horns like a triceratops stampede over to your tent, you haven't advanced far yet so you only have spears. This is enough to ward off the beetle but small, miniature tyrannosaurus like creatures begin to bite at your knees in the night.
You are a towering, building sized herbivorous mantis, that uses your claws to pull tree branches close to your mouth. Humans alone are not a threat to you, but they know your favorite eating hotspots and have set traps..

one specific idea I had for a creature would be an enormous dragonfly. You're kind of a glass cannon for your size but you can still devour sizeable prey, your juvenile stage is aquatic and you cannot fly in this stage but instead ambush unsuspecting players at the river bank.

A mainly text based game with differing options on how to respond. The ‘goal’ of the game is to successfully date as many women in a in game fortnight. Some actually like the player and enjoy the dates, others will take more effort and time (in reality they’re avoiding the player)

At the end of the fortnight, you get statistics saying how uncomfortable you made certain women. How they stopped going to their favourite hangout spots to avoid seeing you (bit of foreshadowing in game) They only go out with friends now. They blocked your number, social media’s.

Might be a good twist and maybe a way to help people understand how their actions make people uncomfortable.

Gameplay Summary:

The Player controls the new President of The Fanian State successor to the now conquered Fourth Fanian Republic who is now forced to navigate the new political situation as the opputurnists and rebels plot against him. The primary goal is to rebuild the capital city of Galiana and change the ruined nation into something that won't collapse the moment the occupiers leave while keeping the citizens and occupiers happy. The game would also change depending on the player's choices in a visual novel like cutscenes where the president has to decide the future of the state and deal with his personal life. The game ends once the occupation ends and a puppet regime is established.

Mechanics:

The game Capital Reconstruction Section would be similar to the city builders with the twist of the city being already built but ruined by the war so you instead rebuild it. The nation-building part would be reforming the collaborator state into something functional and would be the most customizable part of the game. Will you make a one-party democracy or a real one? Will you restore the Pafian Dynasty or declare yourself a king? Will you turn Fania into an ally of the Occupiers or sell out to the oligarchs and make the state into a colony? The choice is yours. As for the cutscenes, they would happen either during the weekly reports, during a national or personal crisis, or finally, once a reform happens. You would also have to manage the opinions of the Occupiers, the Citizens, and the rest of the collaborators or risk being overthrown and getting a game over.

Story:

The game is happening in a post-war world and focuses on what drives people to collaborate with the enemy and how that affects everyone around you. The President is not a monster or a hero. He is a man who is made to make tough decisions and has to deal with hate from not only his countrymen but his family too. The fate of the Fanian State rests in his hands.

If I break this down to anyone who doesn’t know what Murim is, it’s basically Chinese/Korean equivalent to superpowers+magic? Kinda. Most cultivation manhua(comics) are about fighting agains other clans or groups of cultivators. Cultivator are people who gain power through meditating and taking in the energy of specific attributes for their own uses. Things like poison or lightning or super vague topics like yin and Yang which can mean anything from like balance in general to fire and ice. There are cultivation manuals for picking your attribute basically and martial art manuals for things ranging from swordplay to defense or movement techniques. There are also plenty of other applications like arrays which can affect an environment like making something invisible or “enchanting” weapons. You can find plenty of stuff like that in novels and the like. But I’ve never found a game that truly tries to encapsulate everything. Things like clans, and factions like the orthodox, unorthodox, and demonic. A super in depth game. It doesn’t have to look good because of how complex it is but that would definitely be a plus.

The release of Ubisoft's latest disaster Skull and bones made me realize how long it's been since we've had a good pirate game where you sail along the open sea, so lately I've been dreaming up my own pirate simulator.

The Endless Sea

Single player, open world, souls like 

It takes place in the fantasy, sea filled realm of Solaria. You play as William, a 20 something year old human that is tasked with finding 5 pieces of a magic conch shell to pay off a debt he owes to the local governor. You start off with nothing but a frigate, barely any crew, and one or two starting weapons. And after a tutorial to get you accustomed to the game's main mechanics, you are let out into the open world with the warning that the further you venture from the middle start, the more treacherous the waters will be. 

The story is semi-linear similar to tears of the kingdom, where you have the initial task of collecting all the artifacts, but there are 5 long quest lines in order to collect each shells pieces that you can do in any order.

Unlike most games in this genre, you don't create your own character, as William is his own established character with his own appearance and personality. He is basically a sarcastic yet likeable goofball who is kind of a douche bag and is willing to get his hands bloody, but is still a good person who is willing to do the right thing. 

Character building is not all that different from other games in this genre.The main currency you will find is gold, and while it is used to buy stuff from shops, it is also used to boost up stats such as base health, base stamina, and base damage. Also, you can use it to buy skills that boost your character in various ways.

As for ship building, you can go to a harbour and use gold to upgrade its stats, decorate it with flair, and equip different weapons on different sections of the ship; front, left side, right side, and back.

While on foot, it is your typical 3rd person overhead view in games like Assassin's Creed, Sekiro, etc. For combat, the game is similar to the Witcher where you focus on parrying with humanoid enemies wielding weapons, where pulling off successful parries will open an opportunity to attack without getting parried yourself. While for larger monstrous enemies, you need to focus on dodging similar to every other soul's, and pulling off a dodge at just the right time will allow you to do a flurry of blows to do massive amounts of damage. You also have a gun in your off hand that can do crazy amounts of damage, but using it will put it on a cool down timer, creating a system where you need to pull off your shots whenever you can while fighting. There are also spell that you can equip up to three of that do all kinds of crazy things such as summoning a giant tentacle to thrash around and to damage to your enemies, shoot a stream of water that does minor damage but temporarily stunned them, and other stuff like that, and just like the guns they are on a cool down. You also have bottles of rum that act as your way of healing mid fight, but you will need to refill by buying or finding them.

As for ship combat, it is very similar to black flag, where you pan the camera to the part of the ship you want to fire from, and right click to aim, then left click to fire. With any variation in combat being the different weapons you can equip.

Whenever you get a ship to low enough health, you have the option of boarding it. Most of the time you just need to kill a certain number of enemies before the ship's crew surrenders, where you then steal any gold they had, take crew mates to add to your own, and steal any ship weapons that you can equip while at a harbour. 

As for your crew, they are basically the life blood of your ship, whenever you take damage while at sea, you lose certain amounts of crew members, and when you run out of crew, your ship is sunk and you die. They also help you kill enemies while boarding ships, and you can even take one with you while on foot, and will act like permanent spirit summons from Elden Ring. You can of course get more crew mates from boarding ships, finding the cast away on island or in the middle of the sea, or hiring them from town. You also have legendary crew mates with crazy abilities that boost your ship once they're added to your crew, and even have their own unique personalities and dialogue while on the ship for following you on foot, and will participate in cut scenes if with you at the time. You will most find these guys in optional dungeons or side quests. 

The size of the map is large, with there being the 5 major areas, and 5 mini areas. The stuff dotted across the map are islands that aren't explorable but only there for decoration, islands that are explorable but don't contain all that much, larger islands, fortresses, towns, and the many horrors that you will encounter while sailing across the open sea. Each section of the map also has its own unique theme with unique enemies, dungeons and encounters. And the map starts of as blank, but is reviled as you explore, similar to Ghost of Tsushima

The larger islands are where you will be spending your time on foot outside of the towns, and are what you would expect. Enemies to stop your path, hidden secrets such as treasure and items, mini dungeons. 

Towns are basically hubs where you will start quests, progress main quests, shop for items/gear, upgrade your character/ship, it's basically the town in every RPG ever. There is one for each region, both big and small, with the large ones being city sized and the small ones being small fishing villages. You are not allowed to fight or kill anyone while in the city, unless you are doing a quest that requires you to fight, in which case everyone will flee the scene when things are going down.

Fortresses are very similar to the ones in black flag, you first need to destroy the fortification while trying not to get hit yourself. After you do that, you and your crew will charge into the fort, where you will need to fight your way to the fort commander, who will act as a mini boss. Once you defeat him, you get a heap of gold, you completely reveal that section of the map, and you can fast travel between fortresses you defeated.

Dungeons are divided into two camps, mini dungeons that are on large/small islands or in the middle of the ocean, and the large dungeons that contain the different pieces of the magic conch shell. Mini dungeons are similar to the ones in Elden Ring, take at most 10 minutes to beat, have one or two items to loot, and end with a mini boss to get gold and or a legendary crew mate. The larger ones on the other hand are LARGE, containing tons of secrets, hidden pathways, multiple mini bosses, and end with a massive boss fight to collect a legendary item and a piece of the conch.

Bosses are divided into four categories. You’ve got the humanoid enemies that you can parry, but have unique attributes to make them trickier to fight, large monsters similar to any Fromsoftware fight in the last decade, legendary ships, and legendary sea monsters. Legendary ships are basically the hardest ship fights in the game, and are very elusive, really only being in the outer rims of each map section. If you’ve managed to defeat it, you automatically board them and fight their captain as a min boss, and are rewarded with a heap of gold and a legendary ship upgrade if you beat them. Legendary sea monsters are similar, as you fight them on your ship, but they have their own unique attack and movement patterns. Also, similar to the big octos from Wind Waker, they do not show up on the map, and reveal themselves if you venture too close to a flock of birds flying in a big circle. Killing them will give you a legendary item or spell.

Side quests are your run of the mill variable side quest that involve various activities and stories like hunting people/ships, doing errands, hunting for treasure, etc. And will give you gold, items, and crew mates. 

All the collectables are completely utilitarian, they are either cloths, weapons, ship upgrades, crew mates, and spells. Any story that you want outside of the cut scenes you can read from the journal entries in the bestiary or item description.   

Play time is in the range of Red Dead Redemption 2 and Tears of the Kingdom, the story will take you a good 20-30 hours to finish, while completing/collecting everything will take hundreds of hours. 

Note: Edits after posting are basic grammar fixes.

Introduction to the Game Concept:

Close your eyes for a second. Take the"Popeye Meets Sindbad" cartoon and reimagine it as a Cuphead-inspired 3D boss rush action game. This Game has Popeye in a visually stunning Island using the old-school rubber hose animation style with the boss rush & energy of Cuphead but with the Character action melee gameplay style.

each section of the island is a distinct stage, ending in unique boss fights that challenge players to master the game's mechanics.

Main Gameplay Loop:

The core gameplay loop involves navigating the island using the fluid, stretchy movements characteristic of rubber hose animation for both movement and combat. Players will tackle environmental challenges, defeat minions, and strategize against bosses to progress through the game.

Design-Wise think how Nintendo would do a Mario Character action game. no difficulty sliders or a long linear skill tree path. just using some combos, the cartoon physics and environment to have some stylish fights.

Core Mechanics:

• Rubber Hose Movements: Utilize the distinctive, fluid animation style for dynamic combat and exploration.
• Spinach Power-Ups: Gain temporary abilities that enhance combat tactics, crucial for defeating tougher opponents.
• Combo System: Engage in a rewarding combat system that encourages players to chain moves creatively for maximum effect.

Gameplay:

Players can choose from two characters, each offering a unique way to experience the eggcellent game world

1. Speed Character: Experience Auto-Running adrenaline-pumping levels where you race from stage to stage. Utilize the "egg copter" to glide, use a spin move to slow down & preform insta turns like in TRON ,execute precise homing attacks, and dash past obstacles. The goal is to navigate through each level as quickly as possible without cracking, testing your reflexes and speed.
2. Bounce Character: This gameplay is centered around a vast, grey hub world that you can explore and recolor. Each bounce has the potential to unlock colors, which you use to paint and transform the environment around you. As you explore and solve puzzles, your actions bring the hub world to life, revealing hidden areas and new aspects of the story.

Mechanics:

• Speed Mechanics: Focus on agility and quick responses, with mechanics that support fast-paced gameplay and risk/reward decision-making.
• Bounce and Paint Mechanics: Use a bounce height mechanic to access and activate paint dispensers. Painting the hub world not only changes its appearance but also affects gameplay by unlocking new paths and solving environmental puzzles.

Okay so you know those FPS action games where you, as the main character, are able to do things no normal human is, and throhought your journey you kill a lot of enemies?

Yeah okay so, imagine a game where YOU are instead one of those grunts sent to stop the main character, who has killed hundreds of people like you already. Idk about the plot but I guess something can be made up. As for the gameplay, it would consist of the main character, well, trying to achieve their main character stuff, and throhought their journey you'd be one of the NPCs sent to kill them, if you die you switch to another NPC close to you.

The main character themselves would move and act like a real person is controlling them, and would be able to do bullshit no other NPCs can do. They'd also probably have animations different from all other NPCs since in most FPS shooters you don't see your player model.

To demonstrate a general idea of how the game would look like here's a video demonstrating what it'd be like to go against Gordon Freeman as a CP/Combine soldier, it's pretty scary and I took inspiration from it https://youtu.be/o6-sbQjRjrE?si=UR_9UZzY8ckpSFE6

I think it'd be interesting to see an action game from the perspective of a random grunt most people wouldn't even think about when killing them

So imagine a game like this:

1. There are characters you can select to add into a city or other location, they can walk around and visit places on a routine based on their variables.
2. Characters have either have voice acting, or a realistic text to speech (with emotional affect) that's generated in-game, and script lines for accepting gifts, talking, etc.
3. You can do social activities with them. They give gifts, remember birthdays, will invite you to parties/social gatherings. etc.
4. Moderate social interactions between characters, IE: Rivalries, jealousy, heck, if certain settings are enabled, perhaps more on the grim side, IE: Crime, murder, robberies.
5. Town events continue in the newspaper.
6. Characters will remember certain events, and recall them. They also spread positive and negative gossip.
7. They also have occupations in different roles.

Basically, the sims, but more focused on direct interpersonal communication with actual voices. Also, in 2D, preferably but not necessarily so.

Also:

1. Modding community can provide different characters with their own dynamics to add into your game. These can be dropped into the characters folder and loaded into the game.
2. Modders can also provide different locations or lore scenarios.

That's a base idea for a game I've had for a while now.

It might be a little bit of a stretch to call this a “Soulslike” system, but here’s what I’m thinking:

• Third person shooter, but you can “lock on” to targets with your crosshair and move the crosshair around the enemy. The crosshair would have a lower aim sensitivity when it overlaps the enemy mesh, allowing for more precise aiming while being able to quickly swap between targets

• I think this would work in tandem with a bullet foresight system (visualizing the bullets before they are shot, allowing for a quick parry system like Spider-Man PS4).

What do you guys think? I’ve been playing around with this idea for the past couple of days in my head. On one hand, it might be too easy for the player to lock onto targets and just start shooting, but with the added challenge of dodging incoming bullets I think it could be engaging.

Game Title: "Shadow Forest: Macabre Hunt"

Synopsis:

"Shadow Forest: Macabre Hunt" immerses players into the dark and mysterious depths of a French forest where supernatural creatures lurk. Players take on the role of a fearless hunter who must navigate through the haunted woods, solve esoteric puzzles, and confront the terrifying monsters that inhabit the forest.

Gameplay:

1. Exploration:

Players explore the dense and labyrinthine forest, seeking clues about the mysteries surrounding it and collecting resources for their survival. The atmosphere is oppressive, with twisted trees and strange noises creeping through the foliage.

2. Survival:

Players must evade the monsters that roam the forest, using stealth and cunning to stay alive. The monsters are fast, agile, and lethally dangerous, forcing players to be constantly on their guard.

3. Puzzles:

To progress in the game, players must solve esoteric puzzles that test their intelligence and knowledge of the forest's mysteries. These puzzles may involve manipulating esoteric symbols, collecting ritual objects, and understanding local legends.

4. Combat:

Although avoidance is often the best option, there will be times when players must confront the monsters directly. Each monster has its own strengths and weaknesses, and players must employ appropriate strategies to defeat them.

5. Immersive Story:

The story unfolds through notes, intimate journals, and artifacts scattered throughout the forest. Players uncover the dark secrets that have transformed the forest into a nightmare realm, as well as the hidden truths behind the monsters that haunt it.

Monsters:

1. Blood Boar:

A massive boar covered in ritualistic markings and sinister symbols. It charges intruders violently, tearing through everything in its path with its fangs and razor-sharp tusks.

2. Moonlit Boar:

A spectral boar that only appears at night, illuminated by the moon's glow. It is faster and more agile than its daytime counterpart and can blend into the darkness to surprise its prey.

3. Stealthy Roe:

A slender and silent deer that moves stealthily through the woods. It uses its sharp antlers to impale its victims before dragging them into the darkness.

4. Ghost Stag:

A majestic stag that seems ethereal, as if made of mist. It can teleport through the forest, appearing and disappearing at will to disorientate its pursuers.

5. Death Fox:

A fox with black fur and luminous eyes, which summons vengeful spirits to track intruders in the forest. It uses trickery and magic to ensnare its prey and lead them to their demise.

6. Life Fox:

A fox with vibrant and shimmering colors, embodying the beauty and magic of the forest. It can guide players to safety and help them thwart the traps of other monsters.

7. Death Wolf:

A monstrous wolf with sharp fangs and glowing eyes. It relentlessly tracks its prey, using its brute strength and lightning-fast speed to pursue them until they are exhausted.

Environment:

The forest is a mysterious and dangerous place, with winding paths, putrid marshes, and eerie clearings. Ancient ruins and sacrificial altars bear witness to the forest's dark past, adding to its sinister and oppressive atmosphere.

A first-person hybrid between a dungeon crawler and an RPG game, with a dark medieval fantasy setting.
where you can raid generated dungeons full of enemys and players that search for the exit or the main loot chest OR you raid an Player build dungeon full of traps,puzzles or enemys and search for his main chest and maybe he is there to protect it himself.

You choose a Class (no details here)
you join in a simple room with an chest in the middle that is yours, you can stack items in here
you use an item to open a rift to a another random dungeon
Every dungeon is a procedural generated, with the exception of premade chunks.(Traps or doors for example are premade)
when you have joined there will be maybe other humans too in this dungeon, the size of the dungeon makes also the minimum spawnpoints for humans.
every dungeon has also NPC enemys you can loot,it has traps you need to avoid or disable with knowledge/puzzle,you can find little chest too.
-somewhere in the dungeon is a rift thats brings you back to your single room with your chest.Or you find the main chest and loot it so an rift opens beside it to bring you back to your own chest.
-you can also find resources and blueprints for your own room,because you can build your own dungeon out of your room to protect your own chest from player or enemy raids
-the moment you stack your first item in your chest is the moment an very individual token is generated that will connect your room to the matchmaking.The token system is easy to store and will always be updated when something changes in your dungeon. you dont need to be online for others to raid your dungeon.
-every time you build something for your dungeon to protect your room the token changes,because the token itself is saving what kind of parts you used in what angle in the x,y,z axis.(like portal 2 editor,bloodborn,binding of isaac or the editor talespire.
-so an transfer how your dungeon looks like is only a very tiny kb big file and build itself out of the parts every user has on his harddrive.
-the bigger your own dungeon gets to protect your chest the bigger the chances that an npc raid joins your dungeon to get your chest or even other players get randomly spawned in your dungeon.
-when you die in an (non palyer) dungeon and die there other players can loot you,when some loot is not taken and all player leve the dungeon,the rest of the player loot goes to the big hidden chest in the dungeon itself. Next time other players spawn in this dungeon they can loot all this items out of the chest when they find it.
-for player dungeons its the same, your chest automatically gets all the loot players have not taken with them when they go.
-but more items in the chest mean higher chances the dungeon get an raid
-al dungeons have a timelimit that depends on how big it is
-the fight system is more like mount and blade,you move your mouse to the left your character make an hit towards the left side, this goes in every direction, you step a little forward your character makes an piercing attack.Magic and range classes have just less damage,aiming is harder and so on.
-when you build your own dungeon you are forced to make player/enemy spawns far away from the chest in a specific range.Make floor,walls and so on is the cheapest,traps,heavy locked doors and so on cost way more. You pay for placement dungeon things with gold,you get 90% of the full amount back when you deconstruct it.after 30min you dont get any gold back when you deconstruct something in your dungeon that was placed 30min ago(this prevents players to store gold in form of useless dungeon parts) you cant give other players gold or items but give friends access to your chest when they join your dungeon.
-from the beginning you can add 1 or 2 friends in a group list and raid with them together,you cant enter as duo or trio in small beginner rooms, you will always join a small or bigger dungeon.(this also prevents a little noob raids). Friends always spawn in your chestroom, that can also be decorated, before you all spawn in a another dungeon when only one of you used the item for it.When a friend loots your chest and leaves the dungeon to his own chestroom and than cancel the friend list, is your fault and part of the game.
-when you raid an dungeon and kill an enemy a very rare item can be used to collect his soul.This can be used to give an enemyspawner you can place in your dungeon this soul so that this enemy spawns when ever a raid joins your dungeon.
-npcs in your dungeon are friendly to you but friendly fire is always on.
-some npcs can get corrupted and have very random stats,armor and weapons.They can spawn with a raid in your dungeon when the dungeon is too big or to many high value items are in your chest.
-when specific things in your dungeon hold npcs in one place so that they cant get to the chest,they stay there until your clear your dungeon.when a dungeon is not cleared you cant build something there and cant open a rift into an another dungeon. so always be sure enemys get killed by traps when you are not home.
-enemy npcs and players cant raid your dungeon at the same time. To prevent trap npc enemys in your dungeon so that humans cant spawn into it, enemy npcs will despawn after 12 hours and your dungeon will be for a short time (1 hour maybe) get very high chances of being raided by players.
-gold can be collected from players,npc,small chests.The gold you store in your main chest in the chest room is always connected to you as long as you are in your own dungeon, so when you build something it automatically gets used. You can give friends access to your chest means also they can build or deconstruct things in your dungeon. So be sure you can trust them.When you play with strangers they cant leave the main chest room and cant interact with anything.
-loot in your chest can be sold for gold when they are at least 30min in your chest.
-you can also extend the room of your chest when you pay gold.
-the chest itself can be decorated, like the room.
-the chest also can be locked(not for friends with access) this means an enemy must wait until its unlocked (players just press E and wait) the lock can be upgraded(with a limit ) an specific classes can unlock things faster.specific doors also need to be unlocked
-the whole game also has a time-limit, every time you join a dungeon you have 25min to find the exit rift or the main chest because the areas around the mainchest and the exit rift corrupted and would kill players.(how an dynamically build dungeon gets smaller with random spawning deadly areas is also to complicated for me)
-player dungeons are raid protected for 72 hours after the first raid,it doesnt matter how succesfull it was. And dont forget less value stuff in the chest also reduces the chances the matchmaking will send you players, npc enemys can raid every time between the 72 hour cooldown.

Aeronautica is a funny factory simulator game where you are an alien who learns to make and sell aircraft to fly away from Earth, using alien technology and introducing humans to aviation technology. You have hide your alien person from people.

Closest reference by gameplay and atmosphere - Graveyard Keeper

"Bud Howe: Robot Hunter"

Open world game set on a 1:75 scale map of the Portland Metropolitan Area in Oregon (231 sqkm playable area compared to ~17,300 sqkm in real life).

In an alternate future, the US Federal governmemt has made the ownership and manufacturing of EX-9 robots - deadly killer humanoid robots which sometimes like to disguise themselves in lifelike human skin - illegal.

You play Bud Howe, a "profit-seeking" bounty hunter who seeks to make his fortune by hunting down as many EX-9s as you can.

The cops won't stand in your way as you have your certified Robot Bounty Hunter license issued by the Federal government and you have a range of vehicles, aircraft and teammates at your disposable.

With your earnings, you can buy safe houses, mansions, vehicles, weapons and attachments, aircraft, hangars, clothes and much much more. You can also invest in businesses and enjoy yourself at many entertainment venues (bars, clubs, strip clubs, arcades, theaters, large malls etc). There are 4 airports, 2 jetports and 3 heliports on the map. There is also a rideable metro system and a fictional rideable monoral line (Portland Park Line serving the downtown and surrounding area).

You do get paid for "killing" the robots, but increased payouts and XP is awarded for the capture of the robots intact and with minimal damage. Beware, there are also NPC bounty hunters hunting robots, so competition is fierce.

In the game, there are also three main media outlets: the fictional Channel 10 News Portland, ASC Portland 9 and ONN America (Oregon News Network America). Many of their broadcasts can be seen around the city, on billboards, bus stops, shopfront screens and street screens. Sometimes, when you've either captured or deactivated ("killed") an EX-9 robot, cameramen and reporters from one of the three news station may scramble to the scene to report on the incident and get a few quick words from you. (ONN America is different from ONN International - an affiliate namesake station - another fictional media outlet, which according to ingame lore was shut down a few years ago after going bankrupt.)

The main campaign storyline has you employed by Von Braun Research Labs, a multibillion dollar New York-based corporation, to investigate the illusive "Savior" robot, a fully sentient EX-9 who presents himself as a "messianic figure" to other EX-9 robots and is thought to be the mastermind behind several attacks across the US and Canada as well as the continued production of lifelike human disguises, hellbent on achieving his goal: the robot takeover of America. You are tasked with investigating how he operates, his contacts and whereabouts, destroying his secret production facilities and halting his clandestine self-replication operation. After gaining your Robot Bounty Hunter license, you are then able to embark on the full campaign storyline.

Welcome to r/gameideas! This subreddit is a place to share your ideas for games and mechanics as well as a place for readers to find inspiration. "Game ideas" is a broad category, so to help keep the subreddit tidy and easily navigable for readers we have some requirements and expectations we'd like you to follow if you are going to post.

First, read and understand the rules. If you need clarification message the mods. We'd prefer to answer questions and provide guidance before you post rather than after. Posts that violate the rules will be reviewed and removed if necessary. These rules exist to promote higher quality posts and encourage users to put more thought into their idea and the way it's presented.

Second, use the appropriate link below to find and contribute to popular threads and find other resources. This list will update periodically.

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So imagine a 3rd person game, similar to the classic freedom fighters game.

In the game, you play as patient zero in a zombie outbreak. You bite people and recruit them to your cause. You can then take control of that zombie and tell other zombies where to go and what to do. As your herd grows you will get to unlock a tree of mutations to make your herd more powerful.

Civilians, police, and then the army will get involved to try and stop you. There is multiplayer pve where you could have multiple zombie players OR play as a cop who can recruit civilians to fight against the zombies with a similar upgrade structure for pvp.

The game is as gory and violent as you'd expect with loads of satire in it kind of like helldivers in that respect.

You get the gist of it, this would be the best way to describe what it would be like. It wouldn't be click and move although Baldur's Gate 3 was a pretty good example of one where it was, but rather you play in first person with ability to toggle view just as in Skyrim. Nobody has really done something like this so there are maybe some things to think about on how to adapt Forgotten Realms as a setting to such a type of game and which region to start out in.

The setting would be in Forgotten Realms from DnD, maybe in the latest setting but there are so many possibilities if a game like this was done for what is to be mentioned below.

There would be a whole lot more role-playing options than in Skyrim including ability to dedicate yourself to a deity or visit their shrine for boons depending on DnD mechanics, whether it be Selune, Helm, Lathandar and the others.

Alchemy would still be a thing but maybe would use different ingredients and same goes for crafting or smithing. Maybe there would be a skill tree or something similar along these lines. Races would go according to Forgotten Realms lore including for creatures like vampires, werewolves and other. The magic would probably be more extensive I think?

There would be alot more factions or content than in Skyrim most likely and settlements you can visit with houses you can buy maybe as well as enemies depending on Forgotten Realms lore all the same. This includes ongoing wars or skirmishes and many more you would find in a Forgotten Realms setting.

You would be able to choose so many different "paths" for your character I imagine and more so in Skyrim?