I have an idea, now what?

BlueMak · Sep 7, 2006, 08:56 AM

So, I have a great idea for a way to play a specific part of a specific type of games, more suited to first person games. I am not aware of it being used on any game before, I have played thousands of games but I could have missed this one title. How to proceed to contact a developer or something?

mtsaint · Sep 7, 2006, 12:20 PM

yeah you could contact me i'm a developer.... seriously though you should patent your idea before someone else has the same idea it's bound to happen

YAYitsAndrew · Sep 7, 2006, 12:44 PM

Ideas are a dime a dozen. No one will listen to you if all you have is an idea. What you need to do to get noticed is to create a demo that shows off your feature. It doesn't have to be a complete game, although it can grow into one if you want.

Depending on what your idea is, you may be able to mod a current 3d engine like the unreal engine or the source engine. These would be the easiest routes.

Once you have a demo people can start taking you seriously. Everyone has ideas but they aren't worth much. If you can provide an implementation and example that is much more valuable.

mtsaint · Sep 7, 2006, 12:52 PM

dont you need a liscence to use the source or unreal engine i mean thats why they liscene it to make money. yayitsandrew where you in a movie where you lipsync'd i think i saw it on google video
bluemak do you know anyone with some computer skillz that could help you C++ visual basic is free from microsoft

YAYitsAndrew · Sep 7, 2006, 01:22 PM

I'm not in any lipsynching videos that I know of :P

If you buy unreal tournament 2004 you can mod the unreal engine for free (it comes with all the tools). There's also a good set of buzz tutorials that teach you how to use the tools to mod the game.

You can download the source sdk from steam if you own half life 2.

If you don't have any programming experience then you may want to work on that first. Start with an easy to learn language like java or c# (I recommend c#) and keep it simple. Once you're comfortable in one language picking up others isn't too difficult. The unreal engine uses unrealscript and the source engine uses c++. Unreal engine will be the easier of the two to work with.

TheBlackCat · Sep 7, 2006, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtsaint

yeah you could contact me i'm a developer.... seriously though you should patent your idea before someone else has the same idea it's bound to happen

You cannot patent "a way to play a specific part of a specific type of games". If you could then every game idea since the release of the NES would already be patented and no one could make any games. Don't waste your money trying to patent it, everybody copies everyone elses' gameplay mechanics. There obviously isn't a way to prevent that or gaming companies would be doing it already.

I would frankly be surprised if just a mod was enough to convince a game company. Also, I would be extremely careful with intellecutal property issues related to mods. The company that owns the game that was modded may also have some sort of control over the intellectual property in mods using their game. Read the fine print regarding the modding to make sure they won't end up owning your mod if it has anything useful in it.

mtsaint · Sep 7, 2006, 08:23 PM

all is fun many good points you might need a lawyer to develop video games *sigh*

BlueMak · Sep 7, 2006, 09:07 PM

I can't possibly create a demo of it. Even with a mod (that I have no experience with anyhow). I am not talking about for example, where or how fast to run in a game, but how to perform the run itself to make it far more fun and interactive, but not to the point of making it difficult to use. Oblivion would be a fine fine game to change in this way btw, in fact it would make the game far better IMHO.
I agree I am not so sure I could patent it, but I would love for a game to use it and I would not say no to any money of course.

Hmm, this feels like a vicious circle.

YAYitsAndrew · Sep 7, 2006, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBlackCat

I would frankly be surprised if just a mod was enough to convince a game company.

There's nothing you can do to convince a game company. Ideas simply do not come from the outside. A handful of demos and a degree though can get you inside. If this person really has a unique way to control an fps camera or whatever he said, then that would be a good demo.

Sep 7, 2006, 08:56 AM	#1
BlueMak HH's Asteroids' Dominator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Hellas->Macedonia->Thessaloniki Posts: 13,464 Rep Power: 349 System Specs	I have an idea, now what? So, I have a great idea for a way to play a specific part of a specific type of games, more suited to first person games. I am not aware of it being used on any game before, I have played thousands of games but I could have missed this one title. How to proceed to contact a developer or something? __________________ The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm *Sic semper tyrannis.*

Sep 7, 2006, 12:44 PM	#3
YAYitsAndrew Anti-Piracy Poster Boy Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: NJ Posts: 2,605 Rep Power: 79 System Specs	Ideas are a dime a dozen. No one will listen to you if all you have is an idea. What you need to do to get noticed is to create a demo that shows off your feature. It doesn't have to be a complete game, although it can grow into one if you want. Depending on what your idea is, you may be able to mod a current 3d engine like the unreal engine or the source engine. These would be the easiest routes. Once you have a demo people can start taking you seriously. Everyone has ideas but they aren't worth much. If you can provide an implementation and example that is much more valuable. __________________ "It is because the resistance to paying for copyrighted material, although often characterized as arising from a supposed technical burden or principled concern for the public interest, arises rather from exactly the same segment of the brain that is dominant in shoplifters." - Mark Helprin, Digital Barbarism In other words, it's never okay to steal even if you think you have a good reason! www.yayitsandrew.com

Sep 7, 2006, 01:22 PM	#5
YAYitsAndrew Anti-Piracy Poster Boy Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: NJ Posts: 2,605 Rep Power: 79 System Specs	I'm not in any lipsynching videos that I know of :P If you buy unreal tournament 2004 you can mod the unreal engine for free (it comes with all the tools). There's also a good set of buzz tutorials that teach you how to use the tools to mod the game. You can download the source sdk from steam if you own half life 2. If you don't have any programming experience then you may want to work on that first. Start with an easy to learn language like java or c# (I recommend c#) and keep it simple. Once you're comfortable in one language picking up others isn't too difficult. The unreal engine uses unrealscript and the source engine uses c++. Unreal engine will be the easier of the two to work with. __________________ "It is because the resistance to paying for copyrighted material, although often characterized as arising from a supposed technical burden or principled concern for the public interest, arises rather from exactly the same segment of the brain that is dominant in shoplifters." - Mark Helprin, Digital Barbarism In other words, it's never okay to steal even if you think you have a good reason! www.yayitsandrew.com

Sep 7, 2006, 09:07 PM	Thread Starter #8
BlueMak HH's Asteroids' Dominator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Hellas->Macedonia->Thessaloniki Posts: 13,464 Rep Power: 349 System Specs	I can't possibly create a demo of it. Even with a mod (that I have no experience with anyhow). I am not talking about for example, where or how fast to run in a game, but how to perform the run itself to make it far more fun and interactive, but not to the point of making it difficult to use. Oblivion would be a fine fine game to change in this way btw, in fact it would make the game far better IMHO. I agree I am not so sure I could patent it, but I would love for a game to use it and I would not say no to any money of course. Hmm, this feels like a vicious circle. __________________ The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm *Sic semper tyrannis.*

Sep 7, 2006, 12:20 PM	#2
mtsaint DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 257 Rep Power: 0	yeah you could contact me i'm a developer.... seriously though you should patent your idea before someone else has the same idea it's bound to happen

Sep 7, 2006, 12:52 PM	#4
mtsaint DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 257 Rep Power: 0	dont you need a liscence to use the source or unreal engine i mean thats why they liscene it to make money. yayitsandrew where you in a movie where you lipsync'd i think i saw it on google video bluemak do you know anyone with some computer skillz that could help you C++ visual basic is free from microsoft

Sep 7, 2006, 08:23 PM	#7
mtsaint DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 257 Rep Power: 0	all is fun many good points you might need a lawyer to develop video games sigh