What are your new gameplay ideas?

Tons of the threads on here are about the best of what we've already seen, but what are some ideas that haven't been done, or at least haven't been perfected?

I would love to see more games employ more dynamic systems; like enemy expansion. Take the new Spiderman for example. If you failed to stop a super villain from commiting a crime in a timely manner their influence would start to expand. They would generate more minions, which in turn commit more crimes, which might also cause backlash from citizens, etc.

Yeah I'd love to see games that turned out different for everybody, and had self-evolving features unique to the player's experience.

I s'pose we won't see sophisticated games like that until we get those VR units like you see in SAO.

Something I find really cool and would love to see incorporated much more heavily moving forward is playing with different algorithms surrounding procedural generation. I feel that although the idea has been around for a long time that with new technology and AI that developers have just barely scratched the surface of the possibilities. Sure, we have simple puzzle games and games like No Man's Sky and others like the Nemesis System in The Lord of the Rings games, but I want to see more. Make smart systems that don't clash and set better parameters in certain areas while leaving more room in others. Filling out games with better generation while still having plenty of hand crafted content as well is exciting. Think Diablo mixed with Elder Scrolls. Imagine a dungeon finder or boss fights within procedural dungeons of different difficulties within the world of a game like Elder Scrolls. Then even though the dungeons or instanced areas are procedural give the enemies within draw from a pool of names that coincide with voice acting within the game to keep the immersion.

I am also a fan of fan created map creation on shooters, racers, etc. Sure I know games like Farcry have had map creators where players can make a map and upload it and get plays, but my idea is this: Hold a monthly competition where the top 3 maps that get the most votes for being the best maps get ADDED into rotation of the devs maps. Of course give the option to turn the extras off in the options as well, but that would be awesome. It's basically guaranteed free DLC that the devs don't need to work on and that players don't need to pay for. It would also mean that you could easily find games on those new maps and not be stuck matchmaking for hours... Games like Mario Kart, Smash, Paladins, (just a few examples) and countless others would not only retain their player base but also add options for those getting bored and keep things fresh.

Options: What I mean by this is that more options is never (well, I'd probably say hardly ever) a bad thing. Give hud control and the ability to put things where you want them on your screen. FOV, performance, etc. Let console gamers have options of those on PC (obviously some settings wouldn't be possible).

A service that allows players to purchase and host servers from games no longer online.

Direct sequels or prequels to older games, or adding levels and/or challenges to preexisting games.

Hosted tournaments or speed trials live with free/paid entry.

Adding a gambling essence to games allowing players to play casino games w/real money. Bring back online paid online poker. Could you imagine a WSOP game that allowed real bets? That would be awesome. Obviously there would have to be extreme measures of anti cheat and age check verification.

man... I could honestly keep going for hours...

TRUE AI powered by a powerful Cloud partners in solo adventure campaign like Ghost, Uncharted LL, Halo: I, Horizon: FW.

You can talk with them through mic or in game typing, integrate them with Alexa/Google so you can actually tell your AI partner to get stuff for you: "Hey, Sully. Get me Charmin.", "Which one? Can we do this after killing off these guys?"

They should also be quick to respond on complex commands: "Sully! See that building on the left, I want you to go behind that and climb on top of it and cover me", "Chloe, I want you to stay here just in case we get flanked." All real time, no need to pause to do tactics.

There should also be camera integration where if I point on an enemy on the screen and tell them to throw a grenade towards them or a specific enemy, they follow.

The AI should also be cutomizable. A slider for personality types. If you choose an smart ass, talkative AI, he asks you if you wanna know about random stuff or stuff you like. The AI should be smart enough when it's appropriate to trigger these settings.

In early forms of this AI, it will be a goldmine for memes.

The AI should eventually make you feel connected to them, as if you have a real acquaintance online that you go adventures with.

I was sad that Kinect was scrapped and TF 1 branced off. I was thinking that if both had been very successful, we'd be closer to this.

Finish and polish up original RE4 concept, sell it as non-canon downloadable title.

Go back to more 10-20 hour games instead 60-100 hour grinds would be nice.

Hyped for the RE4 remake???

To be honest, no. It doesn't really need remade. I'm sure it will be decent though.

Pay $10, and the whole game is played for you. Pay an additional $5, and it'll do all the achievements/trophies for you. Revolutionary stuff, really.

@WitIsWisdom: Have you been reading my diary?!?! I've had a lot of those ideas myself, and the ones I haven't...I wish I had.

Probably since'06 I've thought Sony (or any of them really) should do monthly sales for old games, where they spin up some servers and then host a tournament throughout the month. It gives life to old franchises, fosters community, satiates nostalgia and curiosity, makes money...hell, it just makes sense!

And I also had an idea for a mp shooter where there a the "standard" settings, but with the ability to alter damage, spread, range, etc. Then like you said, look at the most popular settings and add that to the main rotation. Same applies to map creation, which is a must.

Killer ideas!

@rzxv04: Socom did a rudimentary version of what you're saying with voice commands and it was pretty cool. With modern tech and refinement that could awesome! I'm on board.

@hardwenzen: haha, is this Bobby Kotick?

I just want a sequel to Chrono Trigger/Cross already damnit!

Snowboarding machine gun strippers.

This is a very specific case but it would be nice to be able to switch styles in DMC via voice command (or brainwaves) and even weapons for that matter.

Destructibility seems to have taken a back seat to other stuff - I'd like to see a renewed focus on it.

@my_user_name: I'm totally down with a renewed focus on destructibility. I can't say how many hours I put into Red Faction's "glass house". The answer is too many, but that was 20 years ago...I need more!

Take roman cancels from Guilty Gear, and make an action game out of it. Give me a combo n combat system built around managing a resource in combat, and working to get said resource in combat.

Take the file share system we had in halo 3 and expand it for fighting games. Create a way for people in the community to upload tech they find onto a sharing system. So like if I'm learning Ryu in Street Fighter, i can just go to the database in the game, and search combos people have posted for ryu, oki tech for ryu, that sort of shit.

I personally have no problem using youtube or whatever, but I think it would go a long way to get more players engaged in learning how to play, if this stuff was in the game, and not an alt-tab scenario, much less for people who game primarily in the living room and don't want to look at a video on their phone just to learn how to do a bread n butter.

A fellow man of culture.

Crazy how the original Red Faction still has what I consider some of the best destruction in a game of all time. Remember shooting lights out in SOCOM games? So many things that showed promise moving forward that were all but scrapped these days.. I don't get it.

Remove all hud elements and replace them with something organic.

Like the eagle in AC or the wind in GOT.

The Last of Us 2 and Ghost of Tsushima are extra immersive because they lack a hud.

Didn't know that. Which Socom? I'd like to look it up.

YES. I remember Infa: SS, it had some okay destructions, there didn't seem to be a Sony evolution of it at the end of this gen. GoT is different with grass focus.

@WitIsWisdom: I know, it's baffling! It's probably because most people didn't play these games, and because the current blockbusters sell millions with weaker mechanics. If people only care about graphics, and they're selling like hotcakes...why try? It's sad.

@rzxv04: @rzxv04: I know it was in Socom 1, but I'm not sure about the rest. It might've been in 2 as well, since they were basically the same game.

I want more games with galatic freedom like No Man's Sky and Star Citizen, but i'm sure next gen will see a boost on those.

As for different genres, sub-genres and experimentation, thanks to indies i have seen most of my 'dreams' covered this generation.

@dimebag667:

Maybe it's alot more taxing to destruction with todays graphics? Idk

Last gen we had racing games like Split Second, Motorstorm Apocalypse, the Full Auto games. The first two was mostly canned stuff but still... Also 2 Red faction games

Also that other guy mentioned the lights thing in Socom- agreed on that. Splinter Cell, MGS2-4 , the Darkness all had that. How do the Arkham games not have that ability. (Unless I'm misrembering)

@my_user_name: Yeah it could be too taxing to have both destructibility and great graphics, but I would take the former over the latter, personally. My hope is that when photo-realism is finally common place, that they will have to focus on more interesting systems.

And I completely agree that we were on a better path with games, and somewhere the industry took a goofy shift. I just hope people will wake up so we can get back on track.

Thanks.

@rzxv04: no prob

It was pretty cool and revolutionary, but trying to get the bomb planted at the end of the first level was a chore to say the least.. lol.

SOCOM 1 and 2 are amazing games. I also loved Confrontation. Easily my favorite online multiplayer shooter franchise of all time and it isn't even close.

I still search the internet on a regular basis just hoping for any little scrap of news I can find about a reboot to the franchise... Spiritual successors and/or games taking heavy ques from the franchise like H-Hour and Task Force are looking more bleak by the minute though. There are still some rumblings around the internet that Guerrilla games 2nd team might be working on a new SOCOM, but I'm not holding my breath (keeping my fingers crossed though).

There is a game called Rogue Company in closed beta right now that feels a lot like SOCOM and Apex had a baby.. but unfortunately no voice commands or shooting out lights.. lol

Yeah, it's pretty rare overall, and I'm not so sure I can think of another franchise where you can shoot the lights out in the online multiplayer though.

Games like SOCOM, Red Faction, Syphon Filter, and Splinter Cell had a lot of really cool features that were all but abandoned by today's standards. Like it was already alluded to before it's probably because most people (for whatever reason) only care about graphics these days, and programming those things is very difficult especially with the increased graphics and longer draw distances.

Either way, I want that stuff back. With SSD's it shouldn't be much of a problem anymore, so I hope moving forward we see much better destruction and environmental changes due to outside sources and/or deliberate interaction.

I used to love shooting out the lights and shooting someone in the dark with my NVG's in SOCOM and tunneling through the level in Red Faction. Time to make gaming great again, and in all honesty things like this are some of the biggest reasons I am so excited for next gen to hurry up and get here. We can FINALLY get these things back. However, the question remains: Will the devs of today pay attention to the details and spend the time programming these things back into games after years of absence or have gamers grown accustomed to being shorted features in exchange for shinier graphics? I hope it's the first of the two, and I also hope gamers not only demand more next gen, but they make it a standard moving forward and demand that we get both now that it's possible and can push the excuses to the side.

Things like that REALLY push immersion and enjoyment in games and allow for many different strategies that are all but absent in games these days, and like I've said many times before, more options is almost never a bad thing.

F-Zero in VR. I want to projectile vomit or I'm getting a refund.

lol Thanks. Sounds interesting. Time for more research.

@WitIsWisdom: Dude...I feel like we locked horns over something the first time we met, but still managed to find common ground through logic and common courtesy. But for fucks sake, there is no one I would rather fight through the ravages of hell with than you! Not only do you make salient points, but you do so with grace and conviction. In a forum/world filled with contrarians and negativity, my friend, you stand above. I don't want to blow too much smoke up your ass:) but you are a good dude...fact!

All I can say is that I feel exactly like you.

I really appreciate that man. Writing is a passion of mine and I have always had a love for the gaming industry. After retiring from the USMC I went to school to become a game designer and ultimately wanted to land a position as a creative director, but life got in the way as it often does.

I did get several opportunities to talk and share ideas with David Sears (creative director of SOCOM 1 and 2) on the board of directors in H-Hour (a spiritual successor to SOCOM) and he personally recommended me to the H-Hour team as lead moderator (not really a big deal, but it means a lot to me, especially since SOCOM is my favorite franchise of all time and also meant any and all ideas had to go through me before they reached the devs and himself) and he told them that I would be a huge asset to their team and that he wanted to incorporate many of my ideas into their game and even told me that he wished he had me around for SOCOM 1 and 2 during development.

Take that for whatever you may, but personally it is one of my most cherished memories and proves to me that with a slight change of circumstance that I could have had a larger influence in the industry. Not that it matters, but I am glad that I got the experience either way. Even if the game currently resides in developmental hell and David and I are long gone it was an awesome ride while it lasted.

I'm not bitter about it to say the least though. I've had my wonderful wife and family with me every step of the way and they have been there for my recovery from injuries suffered in my 2nd combat tour in Iraq, and support me probably more than I deserve.

The way I see it is that having a difference of opinions is only human and one can still respect another's views without agreeing. I'm not sure if that something I picked up after my near death experience or if its just came with age, but I feel it is something that seems to be largely forgotten these days. I love a good civil debate and always take into consideration all points made in hopes that I can walk away with a better understanding of the things I may have previously overlooked. Which is also probably why I consider myself to be a true manticore of gaming (which is all but a myth around these parts). I don't like to limit my experiences and I have always done my best to avoid that.

These days I am considering getting an English degree and either publishing a book or trying to get a job writing professional reviews (if ever there were such a thing).

I get a bit long winded at times (can you imagine? lol), but I spend a good deal of time scanning for signs of intelligence and often come up empty in the cesspool of online ignorance, trolling, and incessant bickering. It's always a pleasure to meet others that share a love for the industry and aren't out to just try and troll everyone at every opportunity.

Improving the industry and gaming as a whole often times comes from the most unusual places, and I've seen it first hand in more than one occasion. The devs do watch the forums and we as gamers can change the industry for the better by leaving constructive criticism and detailed accounts of our experiences. The problem is, for every good post there are 10 that are equally as bad and wading knee deep through the filth is the job of a good mod. Some are unsung heroes and others... well.. just think of the way some games COULD have been :)

Dude... every word you write, proves my point. Class f'ing act! I'm might be a smidge inebriated, but my feelings are true. You clearly want to make gaming and our world better, and I will die with you on that hill.

The humility and tact that you display while telling your life story only helps to confirm that you are great person, and frankly one that I am proud to associate with.

You speak like your attempts to step into the world of gaming and creation aren't worthy of merit, but I assure you they are. I love videogames, and you have done 1000% more than I ever have, so please hold your head high...you are far more than most. And to have a beautiful family that loves and supports you is yet another treasure you have over most. You lucky sob 😉

But back to what really matters... videogames!

I will be the first to admit that I haven't played enough indie games, which seems to be the saving grace of most for the medium, but what I have played doesn't come close to where I think we should be mechanically. I don't want to kick a dumb cow in the eye...or whatever the adage is, but from what I've tasted, I need more.

But regardless, they are doing more than the big boys. Am I asking too much?

Thanks guys. Just saw Socom. I guess what I said would be a true evolution for that series but not that special.

@rzxv04: It's a great idea that needs to be refined. And I can't think of a more convenient time, with Siri and Alexa having laid some major groundwork.

It's been a long-time dream of mine for there to be a city-builder-meets-grand-strategy game.

It would have two major components: city-builder, and strategy. Think Cities: Skylines + Total War.

Basically you build these city states, and they can be specialized or set up however you want. Maybe one city is ag and feeds your territory, another is research and full of schools, while another is all industry. It has the traditional RCI (res, com, and ind) zoning, roads and transport, and all that stuff...but it also has more specialized buildings you'd associate more with an RTS game.

Then you go to the campaign 4X/TBS map, sort of like Total War, where you oversea your territory and plot to invade or defend yours. You can make alliances and trade deals, requiring you to return to your city to build airports and train stations to connect to allied cities. Border cities can focus on defense; build walls, defense towers, and so forth.

Battles would be initiated via the 4X/TBS map, but would be fought at the city level. The destruction would need to be rendered well to show all these buildings you spent hours laying down destroyed. MUAHAHAHA.

It could take place literally any time. Historical would be cool, as would present day. But I think future setting would be cool, you could build a network of cities all contributing to the building of these giant city-destroying mechs that you unleash against other city-states.

It's the perfect mash-up of my favorite games: city-builder, 4X/TBS, and micromanagement.

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I'd also like to see a LEGO type sim for VR, except large scale. Like you use these blocks and tools and stuff in VR except instead of building little tiny toys you're building these ginormous machines and buildings and so on. Think Kerbal Space Program rocket building, but in VR with hand controls, and larger scale.

To this day I still giggle with delight when a game let's me shoot the lights out. It's not a huge deal, but it's a sign of extra effort, that the dev cares.

And yeah Red Faction is dope. I liked Guerrilla, too, tossing those charges at weakpoints and watching entire bases crumble was glorious.

The game after that had some really great destruction too, but it was more focused. It was a super-underappreciated/overlooked game, but a lot of fun.

Which game after Red Faction G had nice destruction? I'd like to look it up.

I forgot about lights. Maybe they'll heavily use that mechanic for future Splintercell.

I would like for ability to change any characters sex, Weight and gender to accommodate your views and beliefs

Red Faction: Armageddon.

This is just like the sandbox open-mode (part of the multiplayer). The singleplayer campaign actually puts the destruction to really good use.

It is a complete 180 from the Red Faction we know in Guerilla. It sort of goes back to the originals linear roots, but this is sci-fi horror and not sci-fi.

You play as Mason's....son? Grandson? Something like that. Anyway, it takes you underground and you're fighting off aliens and the Earth Defense Force or whatever they were called. Lots of cool weapons, great physics for 2011, and the game is quite a looker (or was).

Also....unicorn gun.

@mrbojangles25: I don't remember this game at all, but those destruction mechanics look pretty cool.

@dimebag667: It was announced, then people were like "Oh, it's not Red Faction: Guerrilla 2?" and passed.

This was 2011, when the open-world action game genre was getting into gear. So the fact that Red Faction was already open-world with Guerilla, but then decided to go back to a linear-style game, sort of turned off a lot of people. That's my theory, at least.

The worst part is that it pretty decent reviews across the board. Nothing amazing, mind you, but decent.

It's probably one of the top 10 games no one ever played. It's also the reason THQ essentially killed off the franchise, unfortunately.

@mrbojangles25: Interesting. I'm guessing it's very hard to polish tight mechanics with so much freedom of destruction?

I'd be happy with more Infamous: SS, simple destruction on objects but more of it. Don't think it's physics but I'd like to see more of those Doom Eternal body damage visuals so you can estimate the enemies hp without a bar (and other than already down for a Glory Kill).

I saw the console review on IGN and it looks like crap. Maybe it's because it was running on xbox 360 with super crushed blacks?

Nice PC video you posted. I'd like to see that destruction with a PS5 infamous, with GoT's foliage, and more density of Day's Gone's hordes (more npcs on screen than DG).

Blowing up towers to fell on hordes, destroying bridges to reroute hordes, etc.

A Batman game, make it similar to the Spiderman game. A good movie like story. Open world. Your choices decides. A story that starts at the beginning of Batman, and tells the story as Batman evolves into a much darker person, like in the comics. It can also be a choice, where you choose what path you want to take.

When all is said and done, if the people that mattered the most to me in life feel the same way then I will feel as though I succeeded in life where many others have failed. What more could anyone ask for?

This world needs more people to stop believing everything they see and hear and start thinking for themselves. A little compassion towards those who need it the most can very easily change the events in their future and many others for the better.

I truly wish I could have had a bigger hand in game development to help better the future of the medium, but you never know what tomorrow will bring with it, so perhaps I'll get another chance. For the most part it seems as though the gaming industry has completely lost touch with its audience.

I have also on many occasions thought about creating a website that allows those with great ideas about gaming and/or writing in general a chance to win prizes or perhaps even strike a deal with a publisher/developer in helping write a book or direct a game. I've been kicking the idea around for years, but perhaps I'll push forward with the idea in due time. I can reach out to smaller devs (at first.. but the dream is to eventually even reach those with deep pockets) and those looking to get into the industry and strike a deal that the users on my website will win a contract to either get published or work as a creative director on a future project.

The winner would of course be judged/rated upon their ability and not their own personal achievements in life. Members for a small monthly fee would have the opportunity to create content which other members could vote for as being the best. The top 3 in votes (from staff, devs, industry insiders, and other users) would have a chance to present their ideas to the publisher or devs and they would handpick (or the mods and owners of my site) the winner that would get the chance of a lifetime (think Rocky) to prove themselves. An underdog story if you will.

I would secure the money from the small monthly cost to submit content (and personal financing of my own) as a way to coerce the publisher/devs into agreeing to work with the winners. Not only could this catch on and be HUGE, but it would also shape the industry and give other people like myself the opportunity to prove themselves in an industry where they feel as though they never had a chance. This actually may be my calling and even though it wouldn't be ME that got the chance I would be extremely proud to give others the chance I never received.

Getting the idea off the ground would likely prove to be more than challenging, but I feel as though if I can reach the right lines then this idea has more than a little merit.

I probably shouldn't be sharing this here since it's a big idea I have that I eventually plan to get off the ground, but as far as ideas to help the industry are concerned... well, I've got plenty more.

@WitIsWisdom: That would be amazing if you get something like that going.