Well… now that the compo is over, it seems that maybe this is a good time to discuss the possibility of pooling all our talent together and creating a single game. I know it wouldn’t be easy to do, but if we all could create manageable chunks, then “glue” them all together, we could have a fun, complete, and very playable game with commercial quality depth.

Back in the “classic” systems days (like the 2600), a single person could create an entire game… but even those were created by full time employees. For most of us, we have to work on this stuff in free time around work, school, family, etc. And while Pong for 2600 is somewhat impressive, on the VB it really just doesn’t cut it. The graphics, sound, and gameplay expectations are really much higher than older systems.

Some ideas of games that should possibly be made (popular, interesting, could work well on VB, and different from already available games):
Street Fighter style fighting game
RPG of some sort
FPS of some sort
Legend of Zelda
others?

There’s probably a lot more categories than this, but here’s a quick breakdown of a standard game, which could be independently done… by people with many different talents of differing levels (and not just coders):
code:
title screens, menus, intermissions
game engine (depending on game, probably has several categories)
-play controls/physics
-main gameplay
-boss gameplay
-other sub-gameplay
graphics engine
audio engine
misc algorithms
technical management (helping non-coders work within system limitations, getting data into correct format for code)
others?

non-code:
background/sprite/title/menu graphics
music/sound effects
story/plot
project management
others?

I don’t have a web accessable server, but I’m sure we could set up a CVS somewhere, or just use sourceforge, github, or similar site.

So… any ideas, comments, criticism… anyone up for the challenge? How do we get this off the ground (and keep it off the ground 😉 )?

DogP

Here are all the threads I could find about game ideas:

virtual IDEAS
VIRTUAL GAME IDEAS
Ideas
Game Ideas

There are a few good ones that haven’t been mentioned in this thread yet.

Also, I love KR155E’s idea of combining genre’s. I especially like the idea of combining a puzzle mechanic with other forms of game-play, like the “Puzzle Quest” series of games (RPG version of “Bejeweled”) or “Henry Hatsworth” (Platformer + “Tetris Attack”) on DS.

[akumie]

I still think my game ideas were not that bad ^^

The game I really want to see ironicly is Brutal Sports Football but unlike the atari jaguar version I want soccer instead of american football

Its an atari jaguar game where you can use swords and the like to kill you oponents players 😛

Would be really fun and the red is good as blood
The opponents are winning so you break the goal keepers arms 😛

The referee gave your player a red card for killing opponent so you use opponents dead bodies head to kick it at referee

• This reply was modified 14 years ago by akumie.

I would love to see a zelda type of game. We never got dragon hopper, and I think it would really fill a void that the vboy has.
Now when I say ‘zelda type’, I’m thinking an adventure game where you start off and have to explore and kill enemies. Find items to upgrade your char, other items to let you re-explore area’s you couldn’t get too (like link and the raft..or metroid and turning into a ball ect..) Hidden areas, shops, walls you can walk thru.
There are many games like this metroid, simon’s quest, zelda 2 would be side scrolling. Zelda would be more of a top view. The vboy can do both well..wario was a great side scrolling adventure, but I was thinking grafix wise more on the likes of Jack bros. Having each char (enemies and friends alike) in 3-d from the top view would look amazing. Puzzles could also be in 3-d…dropping blocks or jumping down from upper levels to gain access or kill monsters on lower levels could be done very well and cleverly.
I guess I would also want (hard to ask for things when you can’t code) a game that could only be done on a 3-D device. With unique elements in it. Not just a rewrite, but a great unique 3-d game.

-Eric (my 2 cents for what its worth)

Okay… I’m compiling a list of game types with some examples… if anyone has any new ideas, try to get them in ASAP. I’d like to get comments, and put up a survey for vote soon.

Here’s what I’ve gathered so far (in no particular order):

Action Adventure (Legend of Zelda)
Platformer (Super Mario Bros, Mega Man, Castlevania)
FPS (Doom, Descent, Wolfenstein 3D)
RPG (Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy)
Fighter (Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat)
Run and shoot (Bangai-O, Robotron, Smash TV)
Beat ’em up (Battletoads, Double Dragon)
Action Strategy (Horde, Rampart)
Puzzle (Tetris, Bust a Move)
Inventory Adventure (Kings Quest)
Rail Shooter (Space Harrier, 3D Worldrunner)
Simulation (Racing, Flight)
Destruction (Rampage)
Survival Horror (Silent Hill, Resident Evil)
Sports (Mainstream, Track & Field, Olympics)
Ball and Paddle (Breakout, Virtual Block)

Feel free to comment on these, particularly on suitability for the VB (3D, controls, etc) and fun factor. Combinations are cool too… these categories are really more of a description of types than limiting a game to a specific genre.

For merging several types together… that sounds good, but I think we’d need to make sure we keep a common “feel”. We don’t want the first 1/4 of the game to be Zelda, then switch to Mario, then Bangai-O, then Doom. We also don’t want it to feel like a bunch of demos stuck together with duct tape 😉 .

Wario Land did a good job IMO… they made a common control for the game, even though throughout the stages you got upgrades, which changed gameplay a lot (flying, flames, etc), as well as swimming stages. Then the bosses had slightly different controls, and they threw in a few mini games between stages. This all really merged together nicely.

DogP

Whatever this game turns out to be I think that ideally it should make good use of the 3D effect. So ideally I’d like to see a FPS, rail shooter or simulation. Of course the 3D could be used in other game types too – Wario Land is a good example, but I’m not sure puzzle games or fighters will gain anything from VB-ification.

IMO, a railshooter would be good, maybe taking a little advice from the 3DS development where some fella was saying how its better to have things going away from you than coming at you in 3D (a reverse space harrier), so maybe the game view could be looking back as the ship/plane/tank/ornithoptor moves forward and you have to take out things that are chasing you & receeding as you pass them, could lead to some interesting visual perceptions when you pop your head out from the VB unit and reality keeps receeding (bit like the way everything moves up when you look away from guitar hero having followed the downward movement for some time)
A 2P option needs to be figured into this too.

Thanks for the input… wouldn’t a rail shooter be kinda difficult with D-Pads though? I think that’d be shooting mechanics similar to Insmouse. An analog pad, or light gun (heh, VB light gun) would be much better for those games IMO.

DogP

DogP, oh yeah i was totally missing the input method, I kick myself now as i never got on with FPS on the cube or N64 analog sticks, only wii and DS, point & shoot or stylus. I’ve been spoilt with the wii point & shoot mechanic, which opened up these games for me again.
So no def not a railshooter, tut blimey, whoever thought that would be a good idea……

I’m now going along the lines of bound high with its top down view but make the goal reach the top like in your supa bounce trying to avoid upper platforms as you bound your way up, so maybe if a platform is above you it blocks your view so you have to try and move past it and then bounce back on its top surface to gain more height, just a thought…..

Just wanted to poke here and let you guys know I still REALLY like this idea and am making some behind the scenes progress… but I also have some other higher priority stuff to take care of in the next few weeks. So… keep the ideas/input coming, and hold tight… we’ll get this going!

DogP

I don’t think this game should conform to any traditional standards. It should be the ‘piece de resistance’ of the Virtual Boy. Something that utilizes all of the VB’s strengths… The 3D should be a pivotal part of the gameplay not just an effect, it should make proper use of the dual D-Pads, the stereo sound, and the immersion of the VB. I want a game that is only possible on our red buddy. That said, I am not a fluent coder so I will not be able to contribute in that realm but I’ve been sketching up a few ideas that I think fit the bill (I could also contribute writing music for the soundtrack). I will post some ideas when I’m home and the boss isn’t looking over my shoulder. LOL

I would like to see a racing or Space Harrier type game. Both would make very good use of the VB’s 3D.

The problem with aiming using the right D-pad could be avoided with restricting the aiming to predefined angles. 3D cross hairs could help too.

I had another idea for a game-play element that could be used with good effect in many game genres: the “timed button sequences” of GoW or Heavy Rain. It could work well in platformers, action-RPGs (e.g. Zelda, Mario RPG), inventory adventures, and many others.

Discuss. 😉

Just a quick bump… we’ve got some great ideas here. I’m personally trying not to jump into this just yet, since I’m working other indirectly related stuff (new gcc, libraries, link cable, etc), and starting too many projects at the same time can be disasterous (at least for me).

If anyone wants to take charge, feel free… otherwise, stay tuned and we’ll get this going.

DogP

I’m looking at least to get a bit of expirience for VB Coding. Did this project get started?

I’m not much for graphics but I’ve been a programmer for over three years on C# and C++ but have no problems working with C.