Inspiration?

Game Development
1

After forever I finally joined this site as an official member, and I’ve been looking into writing my own game for quite a while now. Inspiration is pretty hard to come by though, and I honestly have no clue what the story would even be about.

That being said, I’m curious as to how other people come by inspiration in their writing, if they actually have a way of going about it. I know that inspiration is one of those tricky things that could strike you at any time, but you never know.

Also, in hopes that I could maybe come across some ideas to get this going…? If you could play any type of ChoiceScript game, but you’re too lazy to make it yourself and haven’t seen it done before, what would it be?

2

Hm, well I don’t write games but when I need inspiration for writing other things I start a movie marathon either for things that relate to the genre I’m writing in, or could give me character ideas. I make sure I watch a lot of movies for the marathon so I don’t accidentally rip something off, just use a hodge podge of various ideas with my own twist on them

I’d very much enjoy a Choicescript game in the Western genre, I’d make it myself but most things involving computers, especially programming, are anathema to me.

3

A movie marathon, you say? That’s actually not a bad idea. Surprised I never thought about it myself to be honest… Thanks for your input! :slight_smile:
A Western themed game could be interesting, though I’m not sure if I could do one justice. My knowledge on the subject is a little… less than what would probably be needed. And by that, I mean it’s basically limited to whatever I picked up by playing Western-themed video games that probably aren’t even that true to the time. Like Gun and Red Dead Redemption. xD
Haha, programming can be difficult, though I’ve always had a knack for anything related to technology. I’m hoping that’ll translate to ChoiceScript as well. I’ve looked through the coding in the past, and I think I could definitely work with it.

4

Well, I form my ideas but thinking “There are some games I want to play or stories I want to read or both, but they don’t exist so I am going to make them.”

I actually have several ideas I could do, but I settled on Samurai because I thought it was the easiest, and it is best to start simple. It turned out I don’t take my own advice very well. Just remember that however simple your idea is, it will always be much harder than you expect.

5

Also, check this thread http://www.choiceofgames.com/forum/discussion/170/inspiration-for-a-game.../p1

6

Thanks, Scarlet. I did originally have one idea, but that was back when I was on ChooseYourStory.com, and I just couldn’t get into the system for writing on there. I might just try it now, rewrite some of it and then convert it to ChoiceScript, see how it works out.

And thanks for the advice, I know it will always be harder. Especially when you’re the kind of person who subconsciously can’t accept things to be simplistic. I always make things overly-complicated, whether I want them to be or not.

And thanks for the link, I’ll go check that out.

7

I am the same sort of person. Not when it comes to game mechanics, but in plotting. It is nice to have complicated games, but it is always best to be simple when starting.

8

I’m glad that I’m not the only one. Of course, I don’t think game mechanics should ever be complicated. But plots and story-lines, most definitely. It makes everything much more interesting. Also harder to follow through with, but at the same time… I feel like it would be extremely self-gratifying to make something that’s complex and entertaining at the same time.

9

It is very self-gratifying indeed. But yeah, you will end up constantly missing deadlines like I always do.

10

I hate deadlines so much… If it weren’t for the fact that they probably do help me accomplish things, I would never set them for myself. It can be just stressful. And stress sometimes does horrible things to me… Otherwise, I’m alright with missing deadlines. Like… meh. Things happen.

11

Well, if you are planning for a very long term project then go for it. I’m not saying you shouldn’t make nice complicated stuff. Just to give you a heads up. Personally, I’m quite bad at being focused so I try to make my projects short-term so that I may have time to start on other things. So yeah, different folks get different strokes.

12

Yeah, I know what you mean. If I’m interested in something I can keep with it, no matter how long-term. Thanks for all your input though, hopefully everything will turn out working, whatever I decide to go with. Maybe I’ll start out with something shorter, sort of a test run, so I can get reacquainted with coding… But again, thank you. :slight_smile:

13

What inspires you?

-A type of story?
Winning a race with honest and dishonest competitors? Fighting your way to the top in an organization? Going on a quest to find the treasure or rescue someone? Explore something? Get the girl/guy?

-A setting?
A fantasy empire? A galactic confederation? Detroit? The wild west? Ancient Rome? A haunted orphanage?

-What kind of conflict do you want to present to the player?
Fighting? Making strategic choices? Social interaction?

-What would you like to describe?
People? Buildings? Guns? Ghosts?

-What kind of atmosphere would you like to write about?
Romantic? Creepy? Military? Paranoid?

-What do you want to focus on while writing?
Facts? Descriptions? Atmosphere? Dialog?

With the game I am writing it worked like this?

Main inspiration was the setting (A magnificent fantasy empire) and the story (Try to become emperor/empress).

I already had a fairly detailed setting, and had been thinking of using it for a board game where players try to become emperor.

So the conflict will be mainly social (intrigues, strategic alliances) with some military style conflict. I envision court scenes here, people who care about things like etiquette and honor,
but also things like assassination attempts, a duel or leading your troops in a desperate action, of course dressed in some gorgeous uniform.

I like romance so I want to include that (I can see a formal ball with all the characters splendidly dressed, illegal meetings with forbidden lovers in lush gardens etc).

Thins I like to describe are social customs, buildings, landscapes, making the setting come alive.

I want an atmosphere of wonder and awe for this great empire, with growing tension and paranoia when things come to a point.

And I was focusing on description, but found that my game worked better if I included more dialog.

So I would say, start with stuff that really inspires you, whatever it is, and work from there. If you are thinking about parts of your game when you’re not working on it, you’re on the right track.

14

Keep in mind that you can do a lot of different things with choicescript, from a campaign to found a multi-planetary empire to a single conversation with your significant other about your relationship.

So use this to do what YOU like, your game will probably be the better for it.

15

Although it’s the accepted convention, you don’t HAVE to write in prose either… If it works for your game. For the game I’m making (sci-fi) you constantly get messages from your overseer, but I write those parts in script format since it’s not taking place in front of you.

“Stuff you’re saying to a person”

Prose description of what’s happening. There’s a beep from your intercom.

[Incoming Transmission]
[Decrypting…]
[M.O.M.]: What are you doing?
${player_name}: Response.

–
Just saying that world building, atmosphere, and breaking up the monotony doesn’t have to shouldered by just one function of the game.

16

Actually, I have to second TwoSoul here. It would be very interesting to see something which doesn’t take prose form.

17

Thanks ya’ll for the responses. I’m looking into a few more things, but after everything I’ve seen and the posts on here, I’m starting to get some ideas. The wheels are turning, I guess.

Also, I’d have to third that idea. It would be something new, for sure. I don’t think I’d be the one to tackle it, but if it was done right, then it could be really interesting.