I’ve only made mobile games so far which are heavily focused on randomized game play. I’ve admired games like Fruit Ninja, Doodle Jump, and Zombieville which all provide replayability without having premade levels similar to Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, etc.
I think this is easier on the developer because rather than spending a ton of time coming up with levels, you could just develop a nice algorithm that randomizes game play for the user. If I ever were to take on the task of creating a PC game it would most likely have a ton of randomization as well. Games like Minecraft or Terraria have mastered this technique that provides the user with an endless amount of replayability.
So what games have influenced you as a developer? What key features have you implemented in your games because other games did it so well?
Don’t know if it’s easier, But I love me some minecraft, I like it because U can build a fort to keep out baddies or play peaceful and make anything, and so much more
However, I can understand your take on randomized or procedural levels. We took that approach in Starfall: Ronin, which, anyone can see, was heavily inspired by Steambirds (as well as a fan-made X-Com game we stumbled across once).
I find the entire landscape of the game industry fascinating. My designs span several different genres, so if I were to categorize the games that inspired me most:
RPG: Final Fantasy… all of them, Legend of Zelda Tactical: X-Com, Vandal Hearts, Tactics Ogre Strategy: War Commander, Starcraft, Farmville (don’t be horrified that I put them in the same category) 4X: Fatelords, Xenocide 3001, Neveron FPS/TPS: CoD, BF, Halo, Gears of War MMO: WoW, Rift, Star Trek, EVE, Ultima Platform: Megaman, Super Mario Bros, Strider, Ninja Gaiden (the original)
There are the two things I strive two do: be innovative and tell a great story.
All games in Valve’s Half Life universe have influenced me. Each game has a great storyline and the portal games were incredibly innovative. the Assassin’s Creed series also has a bit, but the story got a bit too messy for my liking.
I take away different things from different games. The Myst series is probably my biggest influence though. When I first started playing those games the thing that really inspired me was how incredible and weird and creative everything was–I was 11 when I first picked up Myst, and it was simply the coolest thing I had ever seen. Since then my concept and designs have all been influenced by the surreal style of those games, particularly Myst III. I’ve always tried to create a “Myst-like” atmosphere in my stuff (if its appropriate, of course). My main project I’m working on (thread here, although I’ve gotten lazy and haven’t updated it in a while) is very much inspired by these games.
Another big influence is, strangely, Dune 2000. While it was somewhat overshadowed by Command and Conquer, there’s still a lot I really like about it. It was the first RTS I ever played, and again it was one of those things where, when I was kid, everything about it was so cool. A lot of the building/unit designs are really great in my opinion, even if the gameplay is somewhat cumbersome. A lot of more sci-fi designs have been influenced by that game directly or indirectly.
Lately, another big one for me has been the Portal series. I’ve only played it recently, but I really like how the basics of the gameplay is so simple (2 portals), but such complex puzzles can be built off of it. Plus, I love how they manage to blend such great comedy into the game without cheapening the story or make it feel completely ridiculous. Playing Portal 1 and 2 has inspired me from a gameplay standpoint in a lot of little ways–for instance, in most cases you can look around and are free to move during major events, which I hadn’t considered doing in my game (partly because Myst takes a more cinematic approach, which I also like), but found I enjoyed having the freedom to look where I wanted to and observe different things as events where happening.
Castle Story - Due to the fact that it is such a small indie scene, they inspire me beyond compare, the fact you can go, maybe I can get to this stage.
Not really true… You can only punch trees so much before it gets boring as hell. I played minecraft for ages and now I can’t touch it, in fact it makes me feel sick for some reason.
Hmm, you learn, get inspired to some degree by almost every game, in a positive as well as in a negative way.
But i remember that at a certain stage i was influenced a lot by Buggy Boy and made four of those in a row (the first and the third one were the best).
Shadow of the Colossus, probably. Halo, too. Actually, not Halo itself, but the first few Macworld Halo trailers in 99-2000, which showed off a game that Halo ultimately wound up being nothing like, because of the Microsoft buyout and the rushed development on the Xbox version. The Macworld 2000 trailer version of Halo was much more of an expansive, open-worldish joint.
I grew up playing games that technically, wouldn’t be considered proper games… SimCity and MS Flight Simulator were my absolute favorites. I think this affected the way I think about games as a whole.
To me, a game isn’t about telling a story to the players, it’s about creating a universe, in which players can experience situations that later become the stories they will tell about the game.
As a developer, the game that really influenced me the most was Spore. Not the Spore that got released in 2008 though, the Spore we wished had been, from the '05 GDC video. I first saw that video during my first semester in game design college. It made a VERY strong impression on me.
I wish they would make a Warcraft IV… perhaps use WOW graphics sense when they are small they will look really nice.