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| 26 SEP 2006 at 12:34pm |
alkis21Schattenjger
Posts : 2112
Joined: 23 OCT 2002
Location: GR
Status : Offline | This question is mostly directed to independed developers, but I'm sure you've all experienced real-life moments where you thought "Hey, that would make a great adventure game story/puzzle/feature", so feel free to share them.
I have several examples that inspire me. Sometimes it's something I see in the movie or read in a book, other times it's something I experience in real life.
For instance, reading the 2nd book of Stephen Kind's 'Dark Tower' series, I came upon the phrase "Go on then; there are other worlds than this". For some reason, I thought I could picture an entire gaming environment just by concetrating on that phrase. That's how Other Worlds was baptised.
One day, I was removing a curtain planning on putting it in the washing machine. Being the clumsy ape I am, I lost my balance and ended up tearing it in half. Before throwing it away, I noticed how amasingly strong and long the cord was. A thought crossed my mind then, a rope is so often used as an inventory item in adventure games, why not use a curtain cord? That's how the 'rope' puzzle in Other Worlds was born.
Sometimes you struggle for an idea for weeks, and when you describe what you want to a friend or relative they immediately come up with a good one, just like that. I had thought of the 'Thoughts' system in Diamonds in the Rough and I had written the implementation code. One thing was bugging me though; what would it look like? Everything I'd think of (books, notepads etc.) felt overused and uninteresting to me. I discussed it with my fiancee and she simply said "Why not post-its?". Why not indeed.
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| 26 SEP 2006 at 1:11pm |
KamisoriXSchattenjger
Posts : 1700
Joined: 15 MAY 2004
Status : Online | Well, even me and my friends never finished one adv game we started making for me it's always because i like to write. I'm no good in creating puzzles and co but I like to pretend to be one hell of a writer :-*
[IMG]http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/971/kamisig94ct.gif[/IMG]&&&&If the Earth would be a Sphere, and not a Disc, I wouldn't be so afraid to fall of the Edge...
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| 26 SEP 2006 at 5:49pm |
KAPIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 64
Joined: 25 AUG 2004
Status : Online | Well for me it's two things....the first is story...If the story is interesting and a bit different from the norm then the inspires me to start creating. The second is location. I love 3D modeling and texturing and when I open up 3D Max its like looking at totally blank canvas. If the location intrests me and I can really visualize the place of the story then I am totally there for making the game. The other thing is challenge. As an independant developer I like to push the boundaries a bit... be it better graphics, better sound, or new and interesting puzzles. We see so much of the same sometimes that I think we tend to get complacent in our design. (Not insulting indy developers here just my humble opinion!!) If I can work all those things into a game.....then I am inspired to start, develop, and finish it with a smile.
LATEST PROJECT : www.platinummediadesign.info
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| 26 SEP 2006 at 6:05pm |
IviniaGuild Master
Posts : 4459
Joined: 7 JUN 2003
Location: US
Status : Offline | It's all about the ladies. evelopers tend to keep quiet about the AG groupies, but they have a huge following. The late night parties at the mansions and on the yachts...its really an incredible incentive.
*crickets chirping* :
Honestly, nothing beats the rush of having someone enjoy your work. The initial inspiration for me comes mostly from movies and history. I've found that traveling tends to be the biggest inspiration. I like to go off the beaten path to see whats out there. On several occasions, I've started with a simple idea and visited locations to learn more about it and found that the story started to write itself as ideas came flooding in. So for me, being an adventurer at heart and traveling are the biggest inspirations.
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| 26 SEP 2006 at 6:49pm |
Alan ThornSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 240
Joined: 8 JUN 2005
Status : Online | One stormy night many years ago an aged, crusty man appeared at my door. There he stood clothed and damp, and I suspect most of us would've found his stained teeth, or the sight of his remarkably long nostril hair as being quite, quite repellent. But my attention was drawn irresistibly towards the wooden box cradled in his arms- a box with no markings, no insignia, no handle. It was quite a puzzle, and so with some hesitation to my own safety I invited him for tea. And that was how it all began.
Since that night my life would never be the same again. The box and its contents are mine now, all mine; and I keep it safely on a shelf close by. I've been thinking about making a new game, I have. Perhaps an adventure or perhaps not. But the box and its contents inspire me. They'll guide me for sure. They'll guide me.
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| 26 SEP 2006 at 7:01pm |
KAPIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 64
Joined: 25 AUG 2004
Status : Online | Thats a pretty cool way of sayin it Alan......I like that. Nose hair and all....
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| 27 SEP 2006 at 3:13am |
KingRyanSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 281
Joined: 25 JAN 2004
Status : Online | I can't tell you what inspires an AG, as I've never made one, but I can tell you what inspires me as a writer, and the answer is: just about anything.
Anything from something somebody is wearing to a quote I read to the weather forecast ... there is some strange mechanism in the back of my head that transforms everything I see and hear into possible storylines/characters, and immediately lets me know when it has something good. It's kinda fun. I love to go to a busy part of the country and watch people and try to guess what their life story is ... mind games like that lead to unbelievable possibilities.
[size=14][b]Currently Playing:[/b]&&Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis[/size]
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| 27 SEP 2006 at 7:56am |
alkis21Schattenjger
Posts : 2112
Joined: 23 OCT 2002
Location: GR
Status : Offline | Good stuff people, keep them coming.
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| 27 SEP 2006 at 2:40pm |
jamarchandSchattenjger
Posts : 1665
Joined: 10 OCT 2002
Status : Offline | From the great studios, the major inspiration is > money.
From independent developers, the inspiration is divided between money and other things.
 &&&&[move]Actually playing SHIVERS and Rhem 2[/move]&&
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| 27 SEP 2006 at 5:38pm |
jalexSchattenjger
Posts : 2503
Joined: 5 MAR 2003
Status : Offline | I am probably the wrong person to ask because I only made one game and never tried it again. It was a full length AG but it was never sold. It was done on the Amiga 500 and I gave a copy to my friends and relitives and they all said they enjoyed it very much but I thought the graphics where so bad that I lost interest in it. If the internet had been around then I might have gotten more incentive to work on it some more. I thought the story was good but it would never go over because of the bad graphics and I never learned to do decent art work. The story was a lot like Pandora Directive but of course I hadn't heard of that one yet. It had a lot of cool ideas that I still havn't seen done to date but the art work took away from all the good things it had. Most of the puzzles were inspired from my work as a cable tv engineer. I also owned an auto repair shop at the time so I got some from there as well. I took trouble-shooting and made it simple for anyone then made puzzles out of it. I think that made for good puzzles because trouble-shooting is pure logic and a lot like detective work. The story ideas came mostly from books and tv shows of the time. Programming or story telling was never hard for me but the art work was impossible. I have to hand it to the indies that make games alone because I think it's really hard for one person to posess all the skills needed to make a good AG. Good luck on your new game.
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| 27 SEP 2006 at 10:32pm |
alkis21Schattenjger
Posts : 2112
Joined: 23 OCT 2002
Location: GR
Status : Offline | Jalex, do you still have that game? Did you ever upload it (or a demo version) on the Aminet? I still have a fully functional A1200 and I'd love to try it.
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| 28 SEP 2006 at 1:26am |
ShadowWalkerJourneyman
Posts : 997
Joined: 27 JUL 2005
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By jalex (27 SEP 2006 5:38pm)
I am probably the wrong person to ask because I only made one game and never tried it again. It was a full length AG but it was never sold. It was done on the Amiga 500 and I gave a copy to my friends and relitives and they all said they enjoyed it very much but I thought the graphics where so bad that I lost interest in it. If the internet had been around then I might have gotten more incentive to work on it some more. I thought the story was good but it would never go over because of the bad graphics and I never learned to do decent art work. The story was a lot like Pandora Directive but of course I hadn't heard of that one yet. It had a lot of cool ideas that I still havn't seen done to date but the art work took away from all the good things it had. Most of the puzzles were inspired from my work as a cable tv engineer. I also owned an auto repair shop at the time so I got some from there as well. I took trouble-shooting and made it simple for anyone then made puzzles out of it. I think that made for good puzzles because trouble-shooting is pure logic and a lot like detective work. The story ideas came mostly from books and tv shows of the time. Programming or story telling was never hard for me but the art work was impossible. I have to hand it to the indies that make games alone because I think it's really hard for one person to posess all the skills needed to make a good AG. Good luck on your new game.
Hello There!
So what if the graphics suck! What if you are a lousy programmer! Who cares! The one who plays it.
I LOVE TEXT GAMES! They make my imagination wander about. So if the graphics are lousy but the game story is fantastic, keep on! You could be a programmer who lacks the skills to make the game artsy fancy....but you could have put together an awesome story together.
Maybe others can polish it up. But the credits are still yours, and they may have their names in it.
And everyone enjoys it!
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| 28 SEP 2006 at 7:40am |
jalexSchattenjger
Posts : 2503
Joined: 5 MAR 2003
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By alkis21 (27 SEP 2006 10:32pm)
Jalex, do you still have that game? Did you ever upload it (or a demo version) on the Aminet? I still have a fully functional A1200 and I'd love to try it.
When I went to the IBM I retired my Amigas but I still have a 3000 and lots of floppies. I hope to fire it up one of these days and see if I still have the game. It was also on the hard drive but I don't even know if it still works. I am restoring my 59 Bonneville so I don't have too much time to play around wth computers rght now. I never uploaded it because there was no internet here then. It was on three floppies. It was written with Amos if you have heard of that one. It's a program kind of like Visual Basic.
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| 28 SEP 2006 at 7:58am |
alkis21Schattenjger
Posts : 2112
Joined: 23 OCT 2002
Location: GR
Status : Offline | Of course I've heard of AMOS Basic. If you ever find your game, you know where to find me. There's a very active Amiga online community who loves to play these kind of independent projects.
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| 29 SEP 2006 at 7:52am |
jalexSchattenjger
Posts : 2503
Joined: 5 MAR 2003
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By alkis21 (28 SEP 2006 7:57am)
Of course I've heard of AMOS Basic. If you ever find your game, you know where to find me. There's a very active Amiga online community who loves to play these kind of independent projects.
I will definatly do that. Yep, those old Amigas were great computers in there day. I would have stayed with it longer but I was working for a computer store and I had to learn IBM anyway.
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| 29 SEP 2006 at 5:51pm |
Jonas KyratzesIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 89
Joined: 30 NOV 2003
Status : Online | I think it varies very much from project to project. When I wrote The Infinite Ocean, the list of inspirations was huge (link goes to part one of a making of - SPOILERS!) and ranged from Star Trek to Tracy Chapman. With The Museum of Broken Memories, it was the title. It just popped into my head and everything developed from there.
But in general, I think it's about being open/receptive to the world. Ideas come from everywhere - anything from a song lyric to an image of the war in Iraq might inspire you to create something.
http://www.jonas-kyratzes.net&&Writer, game designer, filmmaker, actor, director, etc. Mostly just hungry.
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| 30 SEP 2006 at 3:05am |
| Deleted User | Programming juggsashakin' algorythms to the dialog?
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| 30 SEP 2006 at 9:48pm |
KAPIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 64
Joined: 25 AUG 2004
Status : Online | I was rereading this thread and thought about something that totally slipped my mind.....Other Developers! I get jazzed talking to other developers and hearing about what they are doing or playing a game where I actaully know (in a way anyway) the people responsible for the content. Both Jonathan Boakes and Agustin Cordes, and to a lesser extent (because I never talked with him personally but admire his game very much) Matt Clark have been ENOURMOUS influences on my current project and I would probably NOT have continued to develop PERCEPTION without thier support and influence. So....there it is....I get inspiration from OTHER people CRAZY enough to say HEY I WANNA MAKE A GAME!
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