Game Brainstorm

Hey! 

This week I had to think of game ideas for my project. I wasn’t sure about my ability to create a game quite yet so my ideas are bases on levels of difficulty.

My first idea is to create a platformer game. A platformer game is basically a game that relies heavily on jumping and climbing to navigate the player’s environment and to reach their goal. Examples of these types of is games are like “Geometry Dash”, “Super Mario 3D Land” and “Hollow Knight”. Although I know that these games are very simple, but I still think that they can still be very entertaining. I know that platformer games are usually made in 2D but I will make mine in 3D since the Unity tutorials teach you how to create games in 3D. I hope to look into 2D games next semester. 

Super Mario 3D Land - Mariowiki

Here is the trailer of Super Mario 3D Land

Another idea I have, based around this concept, is Parkour games. This is basically the same thing, but the only difference is that it looks better in 3D. An example of this game is “Mirror’s Edge”. Here is the trailer for the game:

I could have the player being chased by enemies and the player must reach their goal by jumping on platforms without being attacked. I could also add a timer to make it more interesting and fun.    

I looked up unity tutorials on YouTube to see how they are made and from what I saw, it doesn’t look “too” complicated, but my main concern is that the video is over four hours long. Hopefully the process isn’t as complicated as it seems. This is my first time making a game so I don’t know whether to start off easy or challenge myself and go for the more difficult game to create, but we’ll see in the future. Here is the link to the video I watched: 

I would like to create these types of games because I enjoyed playing these games when I was younger and I always wanted to know how they were created.

My second idea is an arcade video game. This is a genre of gaming that focuses more on fast-paced gaming activities and it also improves your hand-eye coordination skills. These types of games can also be called “Endless Runner Games”, this is when a player runs non-stop and has to jump or duck to avoid hazards. Examples of these games are “Crossy Road”, ”Temple Run” and “Subway Surfers”. I’m pretty sure we’ve all downloaded these games on our phones at one point.

Crossy Road - Medium

Subway Surfers - Game World Observer

I like these types of games because they’re simple but still entertaining and they don’t take too much of your time. These games are good for when you want to pass some time and don’t know what to do. Although the job of a game designer is to try and get people to play their game as much as possible, but personally I also want to focus on people’s mental health and also physical health. Playing games is fun, but if you create a game that is too addicting then people are just going to be glued to their screens.

These games can be made using Unity3D. I searched up some Unity 3D tutorials on YouTube for these types of games and they look easy enough to follow, but again they are very long. Here is the video I watched on YouTube: 

This video explains how to make a game like “Crossy Road” using Unity 3D. As you can see the duration of the video is very long, but I guess if I take my time with it then it would be grand.

Here is an example of an arcade game or “Endless Runner” game made with Unity 3D: 

As you can see it looks simple enough to create, but it just takes a lot of time. I previously said that I wanted to challenge myself and this type of game is more challenging to create than my previous idea so let’s see what happens in the future.

My third idea is a racing game. A racing game is a game in which the player takes-part in a racing competition with any type of land, water, air or space vehicles. You can either drive in the third person perspective or first person. Examples of these games are “Mario Kart”, “Asphalt” and “Forza”.

Mario Kart - Engadget

I loved playing racing games when I was younger, especially Mario Kart. Mario Kart wasn’t the average racing game. The game had the ability to collect items along the way to sabotage your opponents. I loved this concept.

I think people get attached to racing games because cars are around us all the time, but how often do you have the ability to press the pedal and see how fast it can really go? These games allow the player to do that.

I don’t want to create a regular boring racing game. I want to make the game challenging and fun so I’m thinking of adding obstacles along the tracks and the player could also collect power-up items along the way, sort of like Mario Kart. 

I searched up Unity tutorials on YouTube for how this type of game is made and from what I saw, it looks challenging. Here is one of the tutorials I watched: 

If I decide to create a racing game then I would like to learn how to add power-ups and animation to the game. I would also like to create obstacles such like ramps, puddles and cones etc. and also build my own track. I would also have to learn how to add a timer and a position ranking to the screen.

My fourth idea is a FPS - First Person Shooter game or Survival Games. These games are one of my favourite games to play. This game genre allows you to fight combat in the first person perspective. I am also willing to create a survival game in the third person perspective. I’m interested in making this type of game because of games like Call of Duty, Warzone, and PubG. 

Warzone - Game Guides

This type of game is way more complex to create, but maybe it won’t be that bad if I take my time with it. I looked up Unity tutorials on YouTube for this type of game to get a better understanding of how the game is designed and made. The tutorial I found looks like it would take a very long time to complete so I need to see if it is worth it. Here is the link to the tutorial I watched:

Some people are against FPS games because they feel like it promotes violence and anger. FPS games are only sold to people 18 and over because studies say that if young people play while their brain is still developing then this could potentially bias them toward response strategies for the rest of their life.

Source where I read the information from: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/shooting-video-games-health-1.4237361

However, I really like this idea because First Person Shooter games are very popular nowadays. I think people find FPS games appealing because you get to experience combat in a way. The players feel like they're totally in control of their environment and destiny, therefore making the game very addicting. 

If I were to go down this road of creating a Shooter game or Survival game then I would really like to find very detailed assets such like objects and scenes as I think it would really make it aesthetically appealing especially for this type of game genre. I would also like to learn how to apply animation to the game and learn new C# codes to put in the scripts.

All in all, I would love to create any of the games I’ve listed above. However, my main concern is that I spend too much time working on a complicated game and won’t have time for my other modules. I need to make sure I create a game that is simple (simple enough) yet is still entertaining and challenging.