Where do you get the idea's from to develop a shareware game. Do you walk on the street and think, "oh...nice I want to develop a breakout game, like DX Ball". Or do you sit in front of your desk at home, with pencil and paper, and you are brainstorming and writing about a new concept. Then you work it out making a schedule and setting up a production document. The first thing I am very serious about is that for the most gamegenres there is a market, also online. So arcade, card, board, casino, puzzle, adventures, rpg, strategy, etc. The information about succesfull shareware developers proves this. Also important is that you develop a game you like, so you have enough ideas to improve the concept. Important is that there is a market for it if the game is of good quality and published on the right way.

I posted my expirence with Katsu's Journey a while ago in this (http://www.dexterity.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=2716#post2716) post.

There are many things you should consider when coming up with a game. Even before you start poking around to test the market viability of an idea, you should identify your personal requirements for the project. As someone who has been working consistently on their first Indie project over the past year, I would recommend starting with a smaller title. Something on the scale of a dweep or fitznik in terms of gameplay features.

It may not become the title that enables you to go full time. But it will be a start and you'll have something that you can start building a website around, experimenting with marketing, making a name for yourself, as well as generating some sustaining income.

If you are in a position like me with a good balance between a full time job and your Indie development you might want to bite off a bigger project with more complex features. I originally estimated 8 months to a year for Katsu's Journey. Heh boy was I wrong. There hasn't really been any feature creep from the initial design and it's still turning into a 2 year (nights and weekends) project.

Occasionally I still wish I would have set out to build something simpler first so I could be experimenting with online marketing and distribution.

Just things to consider when you think about your project. Once you've decided the scope of your project it's easier to pick a topic and genera for it and go do your competitive analysis.

Dan, that sounds like my project. I thought mine would be six months and done, but now it's looking like a year. The funny thing is that I thought it was a small project.

As far as where I get ideas, they come from everywhere. Sometimes while I'm actually trying to think of them, other times while I'm talking to someone, and other times, just out of thin air. I'll never be able to build them all.

Or do what i do, and play old 8-bit nintendo games and stea..er borrow ideas from them :)

I get most of my ideas simply by doing something that gives an idea for a concept. Most concepts I get are either for characters, or themes...

So, I either write it down, remember, or stash it in the back of my mind where it will either deteriarate with the sands of time or flash back to me while doing something, usually thats linked to it somehow.

The second way I tend to get ideas are from dreams. My dreams tend to have game like qualities in them most of the time anyway, and sometimes are just interesting enough (easy enough to remember) to write down, then possibly later bring into some other form. Usually story, where it's easy to remodle as I please.

The third way I get ideas, is by looking at things I already have and wondering what can be done to make them better. This often has the side effect of composing completely off topic things that can be used elsewhere.

And sometimes I just think of a couple things at random, and put them together. My last idea, which I'm currently puzzling out a design for came while taking a shower, I was thinking about how just about anything can be brought together, than used in an abstract way to fund something else. Volleyball and space. There ya go, I have a game based loosely on those.

And finally, sometimes I do the brainstorm thing, but it doesn't usually work too well. Works best if I have other people to work with me on it...

Most of those don't get anywhere near being put to use as a game, mostly because I'm new at it. But they do go into story snippets and such...

Personally, I think the best way to go about it (at least for small games) is to start with some core element of really fun game play. Like, shooting things and blowing them up. And go from there. As for larger games, like RPGs, I'm pretty sure this isn't a good way to do it and I'm really not sure what is. Although, I think for Diablo (and please don't argue if it is or isn't an RPG) that is the way they went about it.

Jeff Evertt
www.evertt.com

i rely on the miracle of the mind, that is, a 'flash of light', like a little lamp above my head (cartoons)...

seriously, i usually decide what kind of game i would like to be working on, and how i could make it different from anything. I also put into account what i CAN do. There is no point for me to design the best FPS you could dream of, if i dont have the skills/time to build it.

For my game virux, i figured i wanted to make a puzzler. Then i figured i wanted something that build up with time 'a la tetris', and that you'd have to match colors or make shapes.

Once that was decided, i brainstormed to try to find new concepts. (Hexagonal maps, 3d etc)... Then i usually program a quick version, and get my friends/family to play it, and see if they enjoy it. If they do i improove upon that, if not i go back to the brainstorming process...

doesnt always work, i'm trying to find a way to create a massivly multiplayer (50-250 players) puzzler, which would be persistant, so users can log on, play, log off quickly. And i havent found a good way of making it fun, balanced, and rewarding. (For example, i do want a player that plays 24h/day to get a very high score and ranking, yet i want the players who puts in 10-20 mins now and then to be able to also 'win' stuff...)

So if anyone comes up with a way to do that, i think their is a market.

So resuming this, i think you should figure out what you want/can do, then try to come up with original ideas (unless you like cloning games), then test it out on a small scale, and if it seems to be enjoyable, go ahead...

Smurf

P.S., for diablo, they build a game around this simple concept: "Lets make a game where the sole purpose is to click faster than anyone else" ;)