Competition Theme Ideas

Summary:

A thread for discussing possible themes for Competition #5.

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Competition Theme Ideas

rbwhitaker 23 Apr 2015 05:06

With a month left (minus a day) it's time to start looking at possible themes for the upcoming Competition #5.

With Competitions #1 through #3, we had a game that we used as the theme, and then pulled some tropes from the game that people could reuse or mix-and-match to come up with whatever game they wanted.

In Competition #4, we went with the very broad theme of "Sword and Shield."

Keep in mind that the theme has always been optional. Whatever is chosen does not require people to follow the theme. It's more of a way to help people come up with ideas and possibilities.

We've got a couple of weeks before we have to decide anything official, but it's probably time to start thinking.

I'm OK with choosing a broad theme like last time, or returning to the game-based theme, but I think my personal vote would be to go with another broad theme.

All ideas are good ideas at this point!

Re: Competition Theme Ideas

rbwhitaker 23 Apr 2015 05:17

I'm going to throw two ideas into the ring. But keep in mind that I think I've already got a game in mind that I'll probably tackle (regardless of the chosen theme) and I'm sort of arriving at the theme ideas by working in reverse from my game idea. So yeah… a bit of a bias.

1. Opposites. Black v White, Good v Evil, Tiny v Giant. Whatever you want. Just something that showcases two things that are wildly different from each other. (I'm debating whether to make this a little more specific, to some specific opposite like the ones listed, but I'm leaning towards just keeping it as broad as possible.)

2. Circles, Arcs, and Curves. In one form or fashion, your game includes circles, arcs, curves, ellipses, spheres, etc. This may be a circular playing area, things that travel in circles, circular playing pieces, or something else. Just something that isn't a straight line as an important piece of the game.

Keep the ideas coming.

Re: Competition Theme Ideas

Marcus42 24 Apr 2015 02:04

I'd rather go with a broad theme as well, but, coincidentally, I've also already got a plan for what I'm going to make for this competition no matter the theme, so it doesn't matter too much to me. If I were to make a suggestion, though …

3. Choices. Some aspect of the game involves choice, whether it be in playstyle, in story progression, or purely visual appearance.

Last edited on 25 Apr 2015 18:00 by rbwhitaker Show more

Re: Competition Theme Ideas

rbwhitaker 24 Apr 2015 02:37

Ooh! I like this idea too! Not sure if it fits the game I've got in my head, but I'm sure I could make it stretch. (Not that I have to necessarily follow the theme anyway….)

Re: Competition Theme Ideas

Ninjaboi8175 24 Apr 2015 04:19

All three of those sound good to me actually. If we pick even one of them we shouldn't have any trouble making something out of them. ( I actually drew up inspiration for my entry from those three so now I'm a bit bias :P )

Re: Competition Theme Ideas

rbwhitaker 25 Apr 2015 17:59

I'm going to put another idea out there too. This one has nothing to do with my current game idea. Part of me likes the idea of just having a long-running list of potential competition theme ideas that we can add to whenever we want or whenever we think of one.

4. The Button. Perhaps your game is a one-button game. (Making a game where you've only got one button is an interesting thought to begin with.) Maybe the game controls a ship, and all you can do is choose when to fire. Maybe you have lots of buttons, but one that does something spectacular. Maybe it's a trivia game or a reflex game where it takes skill to push the button at just the right time to beat your competition. Maybe it's a thematic/storytelling element with a button that detonates a nuclear weapon. Whatever it is, somehow a button is key.

Re: Competition Theme Ideas

Ninjaboi8175 26 Apr 2015 03:01

5. Overkill. Have something happen that is overkill for what it intends to accomplish. Like using a nuclear bomb on an ant, putting a gallon of hot sauce on salad, slicing a man into hundreds of pieces when just one or two slices would have been plenty.

Last edited on 26 Apr 2015 03:01 by Ninjaboi8175 Show more

Re: Competition Theme Ideas

Marcus42 28 Apr 2015 00:17

Unless more people have ideas, in which case, bring it on, I think we should probably start narrowing down which theme we want to use, because so far we've all pretty much liked everything. Due to all three people who've posted on here already knowing what they want to do, and the first three options being more easily worked into an already existing idea, I think we should probably go with one of those. Of course, if someone really wants to go with one of the other two or a new idea entirely, that'd be okay with me, I'm just trying to move things along a bit.

Re: Competition Theme Ideas

rbwhitaker 28 Apr 2015 02:05

I'm not opposed to letting the idea generation go on for a while longer. I think we've got time. We've still got 3.5 weeks, and sometimes we don't have a theme until a few days before the competition starts. Of course, I'd rather have a theme well before that…

I definitely agree with you though Marcus. I think I like the broadness of the first three ideas. The other two we have so far are great too though.

Before officially narrowing things down, I think I might prefer to have somebody who doesn't already have something planned weigh in. I'm assuming those people are out there somewhere (PiscesMike, Swatacular (who probably is going to also not follow the theme)).

I just changed the top nav to point to Competition 5, and I'm going to also post it on the Updates page. I think we should give ourselves a few more days before trying to decide on anything.

But yeah, if you've got ideas, now's the time to post them!

Tick tick tick tick...

Re: Competition Theme Ideas

Marcus42 28 Apr 2015 02:47

Okay, I have no problem with waiting for a bit longer, but it would be nice to have decided on the theme prior to just a day or two before the beginning of the competition.

Re: Competition Theme Ideas

rbwhitaker 28 Apr 2015 14:31

Agreed. Let's give people until Thursday to make suggestions, and then I think we can pick one pretty fast after that. We should have a theme chosen by two weeks out, for sure.

Re: Competition Theme Ideas

Swatacular 01 May 2015 03:49

Ill be a rebel this time around, I have officially started Future Game only 13 days ago and its going really good! my progress has been about twice that of competitions and ive been getting tons done and learning tons aswell.. That being said Ill be progressing on my own game during this competition, Ill set one major goal to accomplish and try to get it done, if the trope was opposites I could totally go with that and make my game be AI. VS HUMAN or something along those lines.. the other goals I would have to use a little more brain power to fit into my current ideas.

TL;DR I vote Opposites, and I wont be making a new game, just continuing my own.

(Edit: honestly I think I only put TL;DR there because it took so long to write out the response, that I thought it was a long response, even if it isnt.)

Last edited on 01 May 2015 04:28 by Swatacular Show more

Re: Competition Theme Ideas

Swatacular 01 May 2015 04:10

I thought of a great trope idea and RB suggested I post it.

SWATS SUPER COOL TROPE IDEA:

Trope: Sell it!

Basically this would be a double meaning, first being that to win.. you actually have to have a way for someone to physically buy it, I think there are some stuff on paypal for setting up things like that, so even if its just posting a "Buy" paypal link, that allows us to pay $1 and get the download link, you have to make sure it is sellable and not under any licenses..

The other meaning is that you have to make a game where someone sells something that is part of the game.. so you could do a lemonade stand type thing, or you could do a hero game where the first thing you do is buy your sword, and the last thing you do is sell it.

Re: Competition Theme Ideas

rbwhitaker 01 May 2015 13:24

7: Alternate: This word has two meanings. First, to switch back and forth between two (or more) things. Second, a substitute or backup. This could be like switching between characters in Donkey Kong Country, blue and orange portals in Portal, Player 1 and Player 2 taking turns like in many classic arcade games, alternative paths through the game like Castlevania, or alternate endings. This is admittedly somewhat closely related to the Choices theme, but I think there are enough differences that it will inspire a different set of game ideas.

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