Where Can I Get Critiques on Video Game Ideas?

[Amaril]

Hey everybody :smallsmile: I was wondering, as an aspiring future video game designer, if I had an idea for a game I wanted to eventually make that I was looking for people to critique and provide input on, where might be the best place to take that discussion? If there's a place on this site, despite it being primarily devoted to tabletop games, great; if not, I'd appreciate some direction to a site that would be better suited to my purposes.

[Grinner]

As somebody in the same boat, I've long thought of creating a "Game Design in the Playground" thread or something similar. I imagine the Other Games subforum would be the most appropriate for videogames.

[Tebryn]

Well, it's not a place but as someone somewhat kinda in the industry if you wanna PM me some ideas I'd be happy to give critique.

[Amaril]

As somebody in the same boat, I've long thought of creating a "Game Design in the Playground" thread or something similar. I imagine the Other Games subforum would be the most appropriate for videogames.

Yeah, I agree that would probably be the best place. We should totally start a thread like that.


Well, it's not a place but as someone somewhat kinda in the industry if you wanna PM me some ideas I'd be happy to give critique.

Thanks for offering, and I'd be happy to do that, except that there are a lot of important elements that are part of my idea, so if I sent you something describing it, it would be a pretty long message, and possibly a lot of work for you to respond to. If that's not a problem, then I'd really appreciate the advice :smallsmile:

[Tebryn]

Thanks for offering, and I'd be happy to do that, except that there are a lot of important elements that are part of my idea, so if I sent you something describing it, it would be a pretty long message, and possibly a lot of work for you to respond to. If that's not a problem, then I'd really appreciate the advice :smallsmile:

Not only is it not a problem but it's excepted. :smalltongue:

[Hiro Protagonest]

Hey everybody :smallsmile: I was wondering, as an aspiring future video game designer, if I had an idea for a game I wanted to eventually make that I was looking for people to critique and provide input on, where might be the best place to take that discussion? If there's a place on this site, despite it being primarily devoted to tabletop games, great; if not, I'd appreciate some direction to a site that would be better suited to my purposes.

What do you mean "idea"? Everyone has video game concepts (me, I want From Software and those guys who make the Tales Of games to team up and make an MMO in the style of Sword Art Online :smalltongue:). If you mean you want us to review the balance of an RPG or the puzzles of a puzzle-platformer that you've made up and basically just need to put in programming and pixel, then that's more like a video game dev (there's also the type of game that's designed and programmed by people who know how to do both, both are valid methods).

[Amaril]

What do you mean "idea"? Everyone has video game concepts (me, I want From Software and those guys who make the Tales Of games to team up and make an MMO in the style of Sword Art Online :smalltongue:). If you mean you want us to review the balance of an RPG or the puzzles of a puzzle-platformer that you've made up and basically just need to put in programming and pixel, then that's more like a video game dev (there's also the type of game that's designed and programmed by people who know how to do both, both are valid methods).

I guess I mostly mean "idea" in the sense of just the concepts that pretty much everyone has, but with more detail; for example, rather than just saying "I want From Software and the team that makes the Tales Of games to make Sword Art Online", I generally come up with specific ideas for how I'd want the mechanics of the game to work, what kind of character progression and gameplay it would have, that kind of stuff. I know nothing I have is even remotely usable for actual development, but I just like talking to people about my ideas to help come up with more details for them, so I can (hopefully) eventually make them into actual games once I have the skills and resources to do so. I don't mean to say I'm actually anywhere close to a job in game design--it's just a career that seems interesting to me and that I'd like to get into some day, so I like talking about it. Sorry if I seemed to be implying I was more knowledgeable about stuff than I actually am, I know a lot of professionals hate it when people do that.

[Hiro Protagonest]

I guess I mostly mean "idea" in the sense of just the concepts that pretty much everyone has, but with more detail; for example, rather than just saying "I want From Software and the team that makes the Tales Of games to make Sword Art Online", I generally come up with specific ideas for how I'd want the mechanics of the game to work, what kind of character progression and gameplay it would have, that kind of stuff. I know nothing I have is even remotely usable for actual development, but I just like talking to people about my ideas to help come up with more details for them, so I can (hopefully) eventually make them into actual games once I have the skills and resources to do so. I don't mean to say I'm actually anywhere close to a job in game design--it's just a career that seems interesting to me and that I'd like to get into some day, so I like talking about it. Sorry if I seemed to be implying I was more knowledgeable about stuff than I actually am, I know a lot of professionals hate it when people do that.

Well, I can probably think of a specific way to make the RPG (and not SAO, but like SAO. And I don't mean just transfer it to mouse and keyboard. Probably more like a combination of SAO and ALfheim Online, which Dark Souls is actually more like the latter and the artes or whatever they are in Tales cover both spells and activated sword skills). I could start listing off ideas for sword skills, weapon variety, enemies, levels, NPCs (or lack thereof, in which case it'd be non-combat abilities), etc.

[Amaril]

The last part of that is more what I was talking about--details of that stuff is what I mean when I say ideas. I can see I've got a long way to go before anything I've come up with is worth mentioning, though. You guys can feel free to ignore this thread if you want to.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Hey, if you want to get review for your first draft, why not?

[Gray Mage]

I'd say probably in the homebrew subsection. Seems to fit better then in gaming (other).

[Amaril]

Hey, if you want to get review for your first draft, why not?

Thank you, that's exactly what I'm looking for :smallsmile: My brain hasn't really been functioning at optimal capacity today due to sleep deprivation and homework stress, so it didn't occur to me to phrase my request like that. But yes, the idea I have at the moment is, I think, described pretty much perfectly a a first draft.

Um...would you believe it occurred to me after I started watching Sword Art Online, and is pretty much exactly what you were talking about a minute ago? ...I never said it was original...

[Neftren]

Well, it's not a place but as someone somewhat kinda in the industry if you wanna PM me some ideas I'd be happy to give critique.

If it's not too much to ask, what area of the industry?

I'm currently in school for game dev, so ... always curious to meet people. :smallsmile:



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One of my biggest stumbling blocks is that "anyone can have a good idea" -> what counts is what you do with it (execution). Or at least, that's what they've been drilling into us in classes.

I think it would be fun to do some sort of collaboration in the Playground. Similar perhaps to what Fax and co. did with Victorious Press, though free.

[Tebryn]

If it's not too much to ask, what area of the industry?

I'm currently in school for game dev, so ... always curious to meet people. :smallsmile:


Slowly breaking into being a game tester (doing three alpha's by the end of the year), Game Reviews and of course I run a Youtube channel (As a lot of people do though mine isn't strictly geared to gaming). As I said, sorta kinda in the industry, working myself into it more and more as time goes on. The bulk of my time with the industry, and the one I put on my resume however is Alpha Testing/Reviewing. I'm working with Pixelscopic as an Alpha Tester/Moderator on their Delver's Drop (http://delversdrop.com/) Project and by years end (I'm told) I'll have a press build of Chasm (http://www.chasmgame.com/) by Discord Games and Stonehearth (http://stonehearth.net/) by Radiant Entertainment. Hoping for more as the year ends/next year starts.

[Creed]

Well, I'm no expect, but I'll side an NDA an give you feedback if you need more feedback, done it for a couple buddies who make indie games a few times, so I'm use to having ideas bounced off of. :smallsmile:

[Thunderfist12]

There's already someone doing that in the World-Building thread, the "would love some feedback and advice on a post-apocalyptic setting" one. (No, that is not a link.)