Game Mechanics When You Run Out Of Steam

[deviousdaemon]

Hello GM community. I hope this is the right place to post this. I was wondering what you guys do when you run out of ideas for games, or are just generally stuck? I've been stuck in a bit of a rut for a little while now and I wanted to know how you guys get out of it yourselves. Thanks.

 

[nvrogers]

If you want inspiration, I suggest that you first get away from the computer. Go outside, walk around, and look for something that catches your eye. Look for something you can turn into a system. Just last night I realized that water droplets skittering around in a hot pan would be a great base for the movement system of a game. I based an entire jam game around a cloud that looked kinda like a bird. Look for inspiration where you least expect it.

 

[Yokcos]

I based an entire jam game around a cloud that looked kinda like a bird.

I kind of want to hear more about this. How do you turn a cloud into a videogame?

 

[nvrogers]

I kind of want to hear more about this. How do you turn a cloud into a videogame?

There was actually a series of clouds that all looked vaguely bird-like, and they each had a wispy trail behind them because it was a windy day. One of the "bird clouds" was half submerged in another cloud that just looked like a normal cloud. All of that combined gave me a surprisingly vivid mental image of this bird-cloud-thing that would slowly diminish in size as it flew around (since it was leaving a trail behind it) and would have to regain its size by plunging into other clouds. So, I designed the gameplay to be as fluid as possible while making the bird rapidly shrink, therefore forcing the player to fly through clouds in order to keep going.

Here's the link if you want to give it a try. Its pretty rough around the edges (with some pretty bad design choices in certain places), but I got most of what I was going for.

 

[deviousdaemon]

I find that it's difficult to get any inspiration from nature. It might just be a fault of mine.

 

[AlphaChannel]

I find that it's difficult to get any inspiration from nature. It might just be a fault of mine.

Don't limit yourself to nature. Man made objects/concepts can also inspire. Machinery, cities, social interactions, boardgames, sushi, robots, pest control. You name it. The world is full of things.

 

[Nocturne]

Play games outside your "comfort zone"... for example, if you like platformers, try playing an RPG, or a MOBA, etc... modern games tend to have a mix of many different mechanics and ideas, and you'd be surprised the ideas you can get from one genre to cross over into another. Also play classic games and see what they did. Classic games generally revolved around a single simple mechanic, and this can provide great inspiration for your own games, which can borrow or update or combine these mechanics in new ways. I also recommend reading comics and books and watching films (sci-fi/horror/fantasy in particular).

 

[Coded Games]

I agreed with Nocturne I find playing other games to be a very good source of inspiration. Find a mechanic/idea in a game you like and figure out how you can improve on it or put a spin on itand make a game out of that.

 

[Yal]

I also second Nocturne about playing games outside of your comfort zone for inspiration... and I really recommend retro games as well. Early NES games in particular often are so simple you can see their game design in itself because its graphics design is easy to ignore, not to mention many of them pioneered game mechanics and that they often have a very low number of game mechanics, making analysis not too hard but still kinda engaging. I remember reading an article that analyzed the first Zelda game and noted that the path you needed to take through a dungeon was more or less linear with only short detour dead-ends along the way, which meant it would be hard to get lost while it'd still feel like you explored a maze.

I actually find playing BAD games help a lot, too... you'll experience how not to do things in a very tangible way, and that helps you avoiding mistakes in your own games. I also find it kinda inspiring when a game makes you think "I could do this better" - the game just gave you a project idea. You can also get the same effect from watching shows that take apart bad games (e.g. AVGN and BrutalMoose) but you wouldn't FEEL the bad design the same way.

 

[Shihaisha]

I agreed with Nocturne I find playing other games to be a very good source of inspiration. Find a mechanic/idea in a game you like and figure out how you can improve on it or put a spin on that and make a game out of that.

And this is exactly how and why we got a zillion crappy clones of Temple Run, 2048, and Flappy Bird. If one doesn't have any inspiration for their project, perhaps it's time to rethink if they should make that project at all, instead of trying to invent a method of forcing themselves to continue it.

 

[Yal]

And this is exactly how and why we got a zillion crappy clones of Temple Run, 2048, and Flappy Bird.

Nah, that's because people try to cash in on a familiar concept. There's tons of Five Nights At Freddy's clones and fangames as well, it's just much much easier to clone something like Flappy Bird.

 

[Nocturne]

And this is exactly how and why we got a zillion crappy clones of Temple Run, 2048, and Flappy Bird. If one doesn't have any inspiration for their project, perhaps it's time to rethink if they should make that project at all, instead of trying to invent a method of forcing themselves to continue it.

That's NOT putting your own spin on things, that's making a clone and there is a BIG difference. Look at Dan Fornances game Rivals Of Ether. It is most definitely inspired by Super Smash Brothers but is most definitely not a clone! But then look at a game like SkyFar compared to Luftrausers and that definitely is a clone... Most game mechanics can be boiled down to only a few core elements, and making something truly original is almost impossible at the moment (VR is/will change that), but there is still a massive scope for mixing different game mechanics to get great new results. My own game SpaceOut mixed space invaders and breakout, both of which are well known game mechanics, and merged them into one game to make something that (afaik) hadn't been done before.

 

[Shihaisha]

That's NOT putting your own spin on things, that's making a clone and there is a BIG difference. Look at Dan Fornances game Rivals Of Ether. It is most definitely inspired by Super Smash Brothers but is most definitely not a clone! But then look at a game like SkyFar compared to Luftrausers and that definitely is a clone... Most game mechanics can be boiled down to only a few core elements, and making something truly original is almost impossible at the moment (VR is/will change that), but there is still a massive scope for mixing different game mechanics to get great new results. My own game SpaceOut mixed space invaders and breakout, both of which are well known game mechanics, and merged them into one game to make something that (afaik) hadn't been done before.

I understand the difference. Taking basic concepts from other games and making something cool on top of that is totally fine, if you know how to do that.

I was talking more about the inspiration thing. If one works on a game and needs someone to kick their butt every once in a while, to bump their inspiration or whatever, most probably that means they aren't making the game they truly love or enjoy making. It's like going to an online forum and asking, guys, I don't want to eat my spaghetti, what should I do to eat it? Don't eat it, that's what.

Making a game that you don't have ideas and inspiration for hardly ever will result in something good. Another poorly made clone of a popular concept is the most probable outcome. Maybe it's better to think carefully and start doing instead something you'll have inspiration for. Whether it is a different game project or something not even related to game development. That's what I basically meant.

 

[Phil Strahl]

Here's my personal list of themes you can (and should) look at from different angles, maybe there's something to get you on track again

• Versions of Me
• Reverse
• Endless Night
• Moral Compass
• Tie-Breaker
• Symbiosis
• Copy of Copy
• Feature Creep
• Uncanny Valley
• Un-Follow
• Close to Home
• Vanishing Point
• Next City
• Strings Attached
• For the Record

 

[Warspite2]

Or you can do like me...I take a break from the computer screen and go sailing (if you have a sailboat), kayaking, biking or driving. It kind of gives me a recharge and clears my mind. It also gives me time to think of ideas and solutions

 

[Xer0botXer0]

Well..

To be honest Im working on a game that I so dearly want to play when it's done. And the best part is that when it is done I can always change it to make it more interactive, more gripping.

 

[Adrien Dittrick]

Watch anime, watch movies, read books, and play videogames, all of them which should follow the general theme of the game you're trying to make.

 

[mariospants]

I posted an article on tumblr about this once...

http://mariospants.tumblr.com/post/128309629467/lucid-game-development-or-ideas-that-you-lose

 

[Paolo Mazzon]

Don't force ideas for anything but jam games. I just come up with ideas randomly, so when I get home or whatever, I open up my writing software and jot down a quick broad design outline. Do it every time you have an idea, and next time you want to start a project, filter through them and see what still appeals to you. Don't, however, buy a game, play it for 20 minutes, decide it is the coolest thing you've ever seen and start making a stripped down version of it; you won't get far.