Pitch me a video game idea.

DISCLAIMER: Nothing I'm running on the Wii is copyrighted or illegal software. I have not installed any illegal modchips in my system. I own the hardware and if I want to run something on it that's not approved by Nintendo, that's my prerogative.

Again, I am not running any illicit or illegally obtained software. Everything I am running on the Wii (which includes the compilers and libraries) is written by video game enthusiasts and made publicly available. I cracked the Wii to write my own software for it, NOT to run illegal copies of games for free.

Hacking to write your own stuff is a completely different ballgame, and it's certainly not "stealing somebody's job" because I'm not writing code for profit and everything I write is my own creation. Nintendo may not approve, but that's another story.

If the mods, however, feel differently, they may lock this thread. I don't feel I am promoting anything illegal but if it's too fuzzy for comfort, then I apologize.

I know a lot of folks around here are the do-it-yourselfer types. Well... I recently cracked my wii to run unlicensed software and downloaded the open source development kit.

This past weekend I got a proof-of-concept app up and running, which essentially entailed realtime scaling and rotating of sprites, translating wiimote input to the on-screen cursor position, and pulling up a Home menu. People who have a wii may have a better idea what I'm talking about.

I've been trying to break into video game development for decades, but I always get stuck at the "creativity" part. I'll always have game ideas floating around when I'm not busy coding but when I get around to actually sitting down to code I always draw a blank on inspiration.

That's where you guys come in. Start pitching me some game ideas. Ideally it should be something that can be hacked together over a weekend or two, and finessed over a longer period of time, so no WoW clones or anything like that. If any idea here comes to fruition, you'll be awarded with either your name or HBT handle in the credits, and maybe a bottle or two of Bernerbrau.

I'd also like to take advantage of the hardware, so if you think of something that can be played on your feet waving a couple of sticks around in front of a TV, hey, bonus.

Of course, more ambitious ideas are welcome too, to be placed on the backburner until I develop a bit more confidence in my skills hacking the Wii.

Sounds like you certainly "broke" into game development alright. Careful broadcasting that you used a crack to run unlicensed software, there may be a few Wii developers who are also homebrewers. That's their job you just stole from them.

Not to totally deflate your elation, I've just seen my fair share of software developers lose their jobs from cracked software. Not necessarily in a gaming environment though.

I'd say try and re-engineer the classic "tapper" game into something modern.

A beer pong game would be amazing

Okay, so your this guy and you run throuagh an old castle killing monsters....Oh, that was Doom. Sorry.

Okay, so you have this street race running jap modifieds on city streets...oh Fast and Furious huh?

Okay so your, wait no, that done too.


Screw it!

First person 3D frogger!

A beer pong game would be amazing

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There's a commercial version included in Wii GameParty. Of course it's called "Ping Cup."

bernerbrau said:

There's a commercial version included in Wii GameParty. Of course it's called "Ping Cup."

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ahhh - you can tell I don't have a Wii.

Sims Brewery!

It kind of sucks though. Aiming is really hard and there's way too much lag between turns. I could always write a clone of it.

first person frogger is genius. with the wii, you could even have people jump in and out of traffic in their living rooms.

for a start, do a 2-D frogger game where they have to jump left/right/back/forward.

Didn't mean to ruffle any feathers bernerbrau, it's just that even open source development on proprietary hardware is frowned upon in my profession and I have heard tale from 1st hand experience that it has ended up in people losing their jobs. However, if what you say is true (and who am I to argue) then you're probably right and you're in the clear.

That said, how 'bout a remake of Scorched Earth?

How about a game where you take care of all the characters injured/maimed/killed in other games. You can call it "Super Busy Hospital"

Heh... a Sim Brewery.

Start out with $1000, buy equipment and ingredients (start off with extract or go all-out right away) for a home kitchen rig, sell beers to your friends under the table, work your way up to 20-gallon batches and a massive pipeline, eventually find a distributorship, buy brewery space, build your empire...

Then of course brewing chemistry could be used to estimate how "good" your beer ends up being and how much people like it.

This sounds interesting. Might give it a shot.

bernerbrau said:

Heh... a Sim Brewery.

Start out with $1000, buy equipment and ingredients (start off with extract or go all-out right away) for a home kitchen rig, sell beers to your friends under the table, work your way up to 20-gallon batches and a massive pipeline, eventually find a distributorship, buy brewery space, build your empire...

Then of course brewing chemistry could be used to estimate how "good" your beer ends up being and how much people like it.

This sounds interesting. Might give it a shot.

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Sounds more like a PC game (may or may not only saying that because I don't have Wii but still want to play it). Alternate titles: Brewery Tycoon, Beer Baron

it's just that even open source development on proprietary hardware is frowned upon in my profession

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What do you do?

and I have heard tale from 1st hand experience that it has ended up in people losing their jobs.

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How so? Just creating competition? Or have people been fired for using it?

If Linux results in Microsoft employees losing jobs, that's not Linux developers stealing jobs from M$. That's Linux being a quality product that competes effectively with Microsoft's offerings.

Software development is a volatile field. It's common for people to change jobs every couple years or so anyway.

But this isn't the debate forum so if you want to discuss this further over there...

Parker36 said:

How about a game where you take care of all the characters injured/maimed/killed in other games. You can call it "Super Busy Hospital"

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I think for most games it would be more a case of Super Autopsy, or EA Sports Gravedigging.

(may or may not only saying that because I don't have Wii but still want to play it)

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I may get around to cross-compiling eventually That is if I get anywhere with the game to begin with.

Scorched Earth looks simple enough to do a rewrite. Heightfields in 3D would make for an interesting twist.

I really, really like the Sim Brewery game idea. Just throwing that out there.

I would definitely need some help with the math from more experienced brewers, determining how all the little changes might affect the final flavor profile. Not to mention all the options available to the average brewer beyond what I've been able to accomplish so far.

A Sim Brewery (though EA Games owns the trademark to the Sim franchise) would be a fairly large undertaking though, and may not be ready for a couple years But I'll definitely keep it in mind.

bernerbrau said:

What do you do?

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I'm in systems security engineering, which is very generalized term but that's all I'm going to say in a public forum.

How so? Just creating competition? Or have people been fired for using it?


If Linux results in Microsoft employees losing jobs, that's not Linux developers stealing jobs from M$. That's Linux being a quality product that competes effectively with Microsoft's offerings.

Software development is a volatile field. It's common for people to change jobs every couple years or so anyway.

But this isn't the debate forum so if you want to discuss this further over there...

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I'm not directly involved with any kind of software development or engineering, but most of the job loss that I'm speaking of comes from using open source software on a proprietary platform built exclusively to run a specific application/OS. It also occurs when there have been significant security gaps in the software that someone can exploit/crack and alter for their own use.

I'm not directly involved with any kind of software development or engineering, but most of the job loss that I'm speaking of comes from using open source software on a proprietary platform built exclusively to run a specific application/OS.

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Mission critical systems, sure. I'm not quite sure how that applies to running something I wrote myself on hardware I personally own though. In any case, open source software is no more or less secure than its commercial counterpart. It varies by the software itself.

If we want to take this another direction, why don't we talk video games in general without worrying about the platform. Wii remotes are bluetooth devices, and libraries exist to use them on a standard PC as well, so...

A brewing game much like Sid Meier's Civilization series could be interesting.

What about a Robin Hood type game? I think all the bow and arrows and sword stuff would lend itself well to the Wii, plus you don't really have to worry too much about writing a story

Of the suggestions so far, here are the ones I like:

Beer Pong -- May take some finessing of the controls to make it actually playable
1st person Frogger -- should be quick and easy! And could update it with lots of different levels!
Scorched Earth -- Again something that would be simple and pretty cool to extrapolate into 3D.
Brewery Simulator -- This could be THE game Of course if it gets REALLY decent, and if I could get like a team of spare-time developers on it, I may look into buying a commercial game development license.

What about a Robin Hood type game? I think all the bow and arrows and sword stuff would lend itself well to the Wii, plus you don't really have to worry too much about writing a story

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It *is* pretty easy to code a bow-and-arrow motion on the wiimote... swords too.

Remember though that engrossing 3D environments take a lot of artistic work as well as code work. Plus I haven't really buckled down to learn the Wii GPU yet. Everything graphical I've written so far has been with 3rd-party libraries.

bernerbrau said:

It *is* pretty easy to code a bow-and-arrow motion on the wiimote... swords too.

Remember though that engrossing 3D environments take a lot of artistic work as well as code work. Plus I haven't really buckled down to learn the Wii GPU yet. Everything graphical I've written so far has been with 3rd-party libraries.

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Doesn't have to be 3D. The bow and arrow can be like the old shooting arcade games or Buck Hunter.

Doesn't have to be 3D. The bow and arrow can be like the old shooting arcade games or Buck Hunter.

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So something more like an auto-scroller where you just have to aim and shoot? That could be a good proof-of-concept, and I wouldn't have to devote a whole lot of time initially to the graphics -- could just pull some stuff off Google Images as placeholders.

bernerbrau said:

So something more like an auto-scroller where you just have to aim and shoot? That could be a good proof-of-concept, and I wouldn't have to devote a whole lot of time initially to the graphics -- could just pull some stuff off Google Images as placeholders.

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Ya, something like that. You could also intermingle some old school 2D side scrolling action with swords in between archery stuff or to get from place to place.

bernerbrau said:

So something more like an auto-scroller where you just have to aim and shoot? That could be a good proof-of-concept, and I wouldn't have to devote a whole lot of time initially to the graphics -- could just pull some stuff off Google Images as placeholders.

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Just don't make it look like Duck Hunt. The only joy I ever got out of that game was shooting at the laughing dog. Stupid dog.

Ok, so you can create a video game on the Wii, but can anyone play it unless they have a hacked Wii? Sort of limiting compared to the vast number of PCs that can run it straight out...

Initially it would only run on a hacked Wii. The good news is for the moment getting the Homebrew Channel running is easy, inexpensive and relatively safe.

If something I write gets mature enough I may work on a port to the PC. This is partly for *my* entertainment though.

I want a home brewing game!

Almost a simulator really. Adjust your grain crush, mill it once or twice, mash (stepped or not), mashout and sparge, etc....

New idea: American Gladiators. Just a ton of mini games, but you could potentially get one up quick and add more as you want. Also has multi-player value

sim extermination camp?