Escapists' brilliant but impossible game ideas

[Pegghead]

I'll say it once and I'll say it again, a game in which you play as a wanted fugitive. Using everything from sabotage and disguises to full-on car-chases and gun-fights I guess your goal would be to clear your name.

Set it across an area spanning everything from dense city regions to less populated forest regions and I guarantee it would be a fresh, fast-paced, varied game.

 

[Ickorus]

Multiplayer game

There are two modes to the game. One is an action gae, where you control a mercenary-type character that kicks a lot of ass for cash. The second is as an RTS, where the player controls the people who would normally be NPCs (so like a kingdom or something) and try to beat the other comander-types for control of an area. The mercenaries can choose sides or just resort to banditry if they wish.

Natural Selection 2 does something similar except you have set teams. (Humans vs Aliens)

Spoiler

This video is much older and shows the game in a far less completed state so don't judge it too much:

Something to note is Marines don't get the little robots right away any more, players have to do the initial building until the commander gets the right building down to start producing the robots.

The game is still in beta by the way but it's getting there.

 

[II2]

Local Area Conciousness Lucid Dreaming. Biofeedback IO Neural interface converting with synaptic map entanglement between 2-4 'players'.

Beta testers become devs, as experience architecture and narrative are captured in SimStim recorders, creating scenario 'templates' to impose synaptic mapped resonance foundations to guide players to desirable experiences.

Larger player base develops 'mods' over time, refining the most popular experience templates for sale as 'titles'.

Diverse cults and fanbases start unifying as a larger pseudo-religious institution directing larger scale productions of gestalt consciousnesses communication parties held in enormous temples.

As technology advances, the original, primitive LAC Neural IO's are replaced by fog lets of bacterial computing interlacing all singular and recorded consciousnesses into a constant stream of self updating information, at which point all recorded experience, recreation, knowledge, sexuality and individuality are simulateneously experienced in a both a waking and sleeping state by every human breathing earths atmosphere.

Basically, the forever-all game played by everyone limited only to the imagination of the planet x everyone else.

 

[Innegativeion]

Ok, so if we're talking impossible games, I might as well go all out with the not just the impossible, but the downright

batshit insane ;

Super smash bros., but with every popular video game franchise ever.

Complete with
-custom character option
-a range of costumes for each character
-stages from each IP
-an over-the-top and yet satisfying story mode
-balanced gameplay
-a handful of characters from each IP, not just lone wolves
-bosses from each IP
-a level editor on par with littlebig planet's level editor in the detail. I'm talking putting three "shy guy raceway track"s (complete with shyguys racing across the level) smack in the middle of your otherwise brinstar-esque stage.

Imagine it; Garrus Vakarian going head to head with Ezio auditore,
Mario punching a big daddy in the face,
Master chief and Samus exchanging shots,
Cloud Strife clashing with Kratos,
NiGHTS vs Sora,
Ratchet blasting Feo Germi blasting Clank with ridiculously unrealistic weaponry,
et all, any reasonably successful game character you can think of... or hey, any game character you can think of since 'hey, it's impossible anyway'.

 

[saintdane05]

Ok, so if we're talking impossible games, I might as well go all out with the not just the impossible, but the downright

batshit insane ;

Super smash bros., but with every popular video game franchise ever.

Complete with
-custom character option
-a range of costumes for each character
-stages from each IP
-an over-the-top and yet satisfying story mode
-balanced gameplay
-a handful of characters from each IP, not just lone wolves
-bosses from each IP
-a level editor on par with littlebig planet's level editor in the detail. I'm talking putting three "shy guy raceway track"s (complete with shyguys racing across the level) smack in the middle of your otherwise brinstar-esque stage.

Imagine it; Garrus Vakarian going head to head with Ezio auditore,
Mario punching a big daddy in the face,
Master chief and Samus exchanging shots,
Cloud Strife clashing with Kratos,
NiGHTs vs Sora,
Ratchet blasting Feo Germi blasting Clank with ridiculously unrealistic weaponry,
et all, any reasonably successful game character you can think of... or hey, any game character you can think of since 'hey, it's impossible anyway'.

>NiGHT vs. Sora,
>NiGHT vs.
>NiGHT
>NiGHT

You forgot an "S".

 

[Innegativeion]

>NiGHT vs. Sora,
>NiGHT vs.
>NiGHT
>NiGHT

You forgot an "S".

Look again.

There's an error, but it's not in spelling.

An StarCraft game where a group of people are the 'commanders' of an RTS-style army, and give orders to units to fight another army governed in the same way.

The reason it can't be made? Every single unit is controlled by a real person. From the tiniest Marine to the biggest Ultralisk. It would be the most ridiculous game ever.

I've had that idea before.

My proposed solution would be having only a handful of units be human controlled, but have controlled units become significantly stronger.

The rest would be totally under the commander's control, but there could be a lot more of them. Essentially, players would die by being overwhelmed if they don't take advantage of the commander's mindless forces.

Compounding on this, I would propose giving the players bonuses and penalties to their abilities and rewards if they obey or disobey the commander, respectively. For example, say... you get bonus damage against any unit within a few feet of a building you have been commanded to attack. Or maybe you take an armor penalty for attacking anything else while under that same command.

 

[saintdane05]

snipity snip snip

Look again.

There's an error, but it's not in spelling.

An StarCraft game where a group of people are the 'commanders' of an RTS-style army, and give orders to units to fight another army governed in the same way.

The reason it can't be made? Every single unit is controlled by a real person. From the tiniest Marine to the biggest Ultralisk. It would be the most ridiculous game ever.

I've had that idea before.

My proposed solution would be having only a handful of units be human controlled, but have controlled units become significantly stronger.

The rest would be totally under the commander's control, but there could be a lot more of them. Essentially, players would die by being overwhelmed if they don't take advantage of the commander's mindless forces.

Compounding on this, I would propose giving the players bonuses and penalties to their abilities and rewards if they obey or disobey the commander, respectively. For example, say... you get bonus damage against any unit within a few feet of a building you have been commanded to attack. Or maybe you take an armor penalty for attacking anything else while under that same command.

An extra comma?

 

[Innegativeion]

An extra comma?

The "S" was there, just not capitalized.

It's fixed now.

 

[saintdane05]

An extra comma?

The "S" was there, just not capitalized.

It's fixed now.

Thanks. I owe you one now.

 

[Savagezion]

A game where you have to manage a nuclear bunker directly before and after a nuclear holocaust. Up to where the bunker becomes the cradle of a new civilization. You can chose between a Cheyenne Mountain, CERN, and Moscow Metro. I'd imagine it would play like SimCity. Only you can make scouts, wage wars with tribes top-side, become the Brotherhood of Steel and hoard technology.

Speaking of SimCity, it would be epic if you could start off your city in 4000 BC as a bunch of tribal huts; and the maps the size of entire regions. Disasters could be like a barbarian invasion to pillage your buildings or a drought to kill all your crops.

Funny my idea is similar.

There is an island similar to the movie "No Escape" as an "Alcatraz" ala Tropico.

Character Creation: You don't choose what you look like but rather your behavior. (Dossier in Tropico) This game will actually have an avatar that represents you on the main map. Charismatic trait may make people your avatar is near grow more fond of your rule. As well as other traits like that.

Once your character is created, the gameplay starts on the island and a population of 20ish people in the style of the first Tropico minus the buildings. (Perhaps a helicopter drops them onto the island.) Clicking on the people will have tabs ala Tropico which show their crimes, age, needs, and other details. You can control your character's movement.
At first, you scavenge resources that are scattered around the map. (Fallen Trees, loose stones, etc.) You can issue build orders to build huts, lumber camps, and other minor buildings with the wood and stone gathered.
As you progress you gain access to technologies which unlock new buildings and "laws". Different people will have different political stances. The same way Tropico had factions, this will have a similar mechanic. These will be more like guilds so long as they stay appeased by your rule. If your rule oppresses their guild too much they may try to revolt and take you out. If you kill their leader or damage their numbers enough, they will stop revolting but still be unhappy. Numbers and unhappiness of a guild is what stipulates revolts and causes them to become a separate faction. (Think rebels on Tropico) By being a seperate faction, they are no longer bound by your rule and can even issue orders of their own. Such as erecting buildings you didn't order. (Though they can order a building be destroyed, they must attack it).
There will be many laws that address rebels such as exile, which turns them into a rival society on the island. This will basically make them play like an opponent in a RTS. Their main strategy employed will be based on their guild. Militarists will build the minimum buildings needed for survival and go heavy on fortifications and offensive structures. (Traps, arrow towers, etc.)

I could go on for quite a while about this game. Take the economics out of Tropico and instead add in a stronger emphasis on resources and political climate. Thus, many more buildings, edicts, and mechanics. With a smart enough rule, you could be declared your own country.

 

[1nfinite_Cros5]

You want an impossible game? Here's one that spawned in my head awhile ago.

Your player character wakes up in the morning to find that he (or she) is the last person on Earth. Everyone, man and animal, has suddenly and unexplainably disappeared from the face of the planet. So you're left to find out why.

"Hey," you begin to say, "How is this impossible? This sounds like a standard set-up to any game."

Here's the kicker: You can explore every single place on Earth at your leisure. Any location you can think of is free to go to in a literally seamless world: Earth. Cities, towns, natural and historic locations are all given attention to detail.

The main course is to find out how this calamity happened. The first several hours of the game is traversing the planet with whatever methods you have. Bikes, automobiles, planes, you get the idea. Every source of transportation has been left behind in empty houses and parking lots for you to use.

There are several clues scattered throughout the world that you have, along with several other player's playthroughs, to find on your own. I have actually developed a full-scale plot in my head, but I'd rather keep it to myself as a surprise in case I ever break into the industry.

Also, there is a survival element. Now you would be asking, "How is there a survival element in a game where not a single person or animal could touch you? Everyone is gone. It's just you." That's the thing. You're a human surviving for yourself. You have to remember to eat, drink, and sleep regularly like a normal person. Searching for supplies opens the exploration of the world so you can find what you need. There's also environmental survival, where you survive natural weather and worldly hazards on your own. You develop heat stroke for staying too long in a hot desert, hypothermia for staying in a cold, wet area for extended periods of time, and these can be avoided by wearing the appropriate clothing. Falling off cliffs or high enough areas results in instant death, naturally.

And the last element of survival is psychological torment. See, humans are social beings. We depend on the interaction of other people to function normally. With every person and animal absent from the planet, your sanity gets lower, and your tendency to suicide increases. You keep your sanity in check by reading, watching movies, listening to movies, and if you can't find all those, you can always find a fast car and speed down a long road to develop excitement, building up positive feelings.

As I said, there is a deep plot going on, and the pieces are scattered across the entire globe. The player has to figure out everything out on their own and put the whole puzzle together. It won't be just an exploration game. It will be THE exploration game.

How do you like them apples?

 

[Lugbzurg]

The hypothetical RTS/FPS hybrid.

Basically smash together Command and Conquer and Battlefield. Command and Conquer for its base biulding, unit production and resource gathering. Battlefield for its vehicular combat, FPS elements and expansive maps.

More detail is not worth going into. EA does have the resource to pull it off, but obviously they arent about to. Plus they would probably botch it horribly in some way anyway.

Brilliant Idea: A first-person shooter that isn't brown, doesn't have a cover system, doesn't have regenerating health, doesn't have nearly every single character dropping the F-bomb over and over and over again like it's on their "word of the day" calendar, isn't realistic and is actually challenging.

Serious Sam 3. Its been made, and its all of those things.

There's been a lot of brown in the environments in the Serious Sam series, though. And the third one doesn't have all of those things, along with the avoidance of "gritty visuals" and maybe "random decay". A couple other things I forgot to mention.

 

[laser-gods]

Here's one I've had for a while now.

It's an open world, third person action/rpg/adventure game. You play as a 'Hunter', basically a Blade/Van Helsing style monster hunter who protects the city from supernatural creatures. You can customize your appearance, gender, clothes etc. and also choose your method for killing monsters, be it technology and weapons, magic or martial arts.

You can also customize your home base, main vehicle, armor and weapons. You can traverse the city parkour style, levitate around if you use magic, drive around in your motorbike/car.

Basically you'd move around the city, respond to monster sightings and rumours, investigate, hunt down and kill whatever you come across. There'd be all sorts of enemies - vampires, werewolves, zombies, ghouls, cultists, mutants, demons etc.

The kicker is your character can become affected by the creatures he fights. Got bitten by a vampire? Eventually you'll turn, and be forced to scrounge for blood and avoid the sun while fighting evil. Attacked by a werewolf? Better watch out for the next full moon. Cursed by demon? Hello super strength goodbye human acceptance...

 

[Justyn Stahll]

I would love a game in which you just survive, for those of you that have played UnrealWorld kind of like that, except bigger. The game would'nt like you, nope, everything will be against you Weather, People, and even the Gods themselves. Also Perma-Death, you die, you die, no reloading/saving/autosave. You can influence the world around you, kill a serial killer and there will be less murders, kill a law-enforcer however and criminal activity goes up.

OR!

A Crusader Kings like game where you don't lead a single charcter per say but a family as it goes through history

JUST A THOUGHT!

 

[Pearwood]

And get those lazy dwarf bastards to do things when it matters.

If you made the dwarves even remotely intelligent would it really be Dwarf Fortress though? They've got to be incompetant suicidal morons, it's the dwarven way.

 

[War Penguin]

I gotta say, there a lot of good ideas that the Escapist users come up with.

I got three. Some are easier to do than others, but I don't think they're impossible.

1) A tournament game where you create your own character(s). You can design their clothes, their features, their combat style, their weapons, their background. Think of it like Spore, in a sense. It'd be a mostly online game, however. You play against all of these characters that other users have created. You can either make a melee using samurai or a gun toting futuristic robot! Or hell, a gun toting melee robot samurai! You also can create whatever powers your character has. Can (s)he fly? Is (s)he fast? Is (s)he sneaky? Can (s)he fly? I figure that the way that you can balance this out is by doing an RPG style point system when creating your character. For example, if you invest all of your points in speed, your character will be more take less damage.

I hear Unreal Tournament is sort of like this, but it doesn't go into as much depth as I had hoped.

2) A "Run Lola Run" style shooter. Now I no this is far from impossible, but I have yet to see this done: You play through a reasonably sized campaign as one of a handful of characters. Each character has their own attributes and play styles. One character uses stealth, while the other uses acrobatics, etc. It would be kind of like TF2 if it had a story. The campaign would essentially play the same, but you would see it differently through each of the characters eyes.

3) A 16bit fantasy game that plays like The Legend of Zelda, but has an open world like Skyrim. I just want more 16 bit games. You don't see them that often.

 

[malestrithe]

A Final Fantasy Tribute Game. Sore of like Kingdom Hearts, but way more convoluted. I want a game that is so self referential to Final Fantasy as a whole that its very existence is a wall to people that have not played every game in the series.

It will be the most self referential Final Fantasy project ever to come out of Square Enix. Sort of like Dissidia, but an actual RPG instead of a fighter.

None of this every game in the series has a Cid bullshit: every weaponsmith you meet is named Cid, probably as some badge of honor.

Every NPC you meet are characters from other Final Fantasy Games.

Tifa owns a bar called Final Heaven, and Terra is runs the orphanage upstairs.

Locke owns a place called Rachel's, which is the front for his thieves' guild.

Rikku, Yuffie, Vaan, Penelo, and Shadow also have their own thieves guilds as well. Balthier and Fran do not have one because they don't need it.

Have a travelling singing troupe consisting of Edward, Yuna, and Julie Heartlilly,

Vivi, Lulu, Magus, and other magic users in the game teach you magic.

Someone named Bartz runs the Chocobo Farm.

All of the kings from other games in the series are kings in this one. Laguna exists in this world as some sort of reporter. His two buddies are his body guards in this world as well. Any character that was a soldier in the earlier games is still a soldier in this one.

The villains are brought over from older games and they still have similar motivations. The nihilist club, Sephiroth, Kefka, Kuja, Ultimecia, Seymour, Vayne Solidor, Galenth Dysley, Goblez, etc still want to destroy the world in their own unique way. The ultimate villain will always be chaos, but he has minions called Meteor, Behemoth, Bahamut, Atma, Ultima and so on.

Why pick one setting when you can throw in everything into this universe? Make it the ultimate convoluted mess that Have the techno magic of FF7 exist right next to the pure magic of Final Fantasy 9 and the magitech of FF8. Don't even bother to explain it. Just say it is the way it is and be done with it.

Even the summons are brought in from other games, but they use characters from previous games as summons. The Knights of the Round Summon will use 12 main characters from each of the Final Fantasy games. Have some sort of Two brothers summon where its Edgar and Sabin. Any character that does not fit any other way will be used in a summon somehow.

The plot should be as stock as they come. You start out weak and you end the story when you kill god.

The only concessions to modern gaming is that is is an MMO and that you can make your character.

You pick one of three 4 stock options (Fighter, Mage, thief, other), then you choose one of 4 sub options (Red mage, black mage, white mage, blue mage etc). Then you pick what region of the setting you are from, (Ivalice, Gaia, Spira etc) which dictate what style of weapons, magic, and dress you start out with.

Never going to happen, but would be interesting to watch.