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First off, I'm not a developer in the true sense of the word. I have made, packaged and sold table top games, but I'm not accomplished due to lack of funds...But I do love to come up with killer game concepts.
In the past I've shown games or have had conversations on certain websites about what we thought would be good games, and a couple of years later. That very same or so- so familiar concept was brought to life by someone with the means to do so.
Did they steal it? No, not really. We gave it away.
But I'm getting tired of giving "it" away. I spend alot of my life putting all that together without any software. Just pencil and paper and my brain.
I have a couple of games I crafted that I absolutely will not disclose, in fear that some heartless, greedy souls will run with.
I fear that many great games are being withheld from the evolution of gaming because as soon as someone does come up with a good idea and posts it somewhere unsuspecting, the people who have the means to make it happen run with it and take the fire from those who did the dreaming, the conceptionalizing, the breatheing of life into it, without so much as a thank you or credit, let alone the monetary value.
So I truly fear and am terrorized the software gods.
So much in fact that I am afraid to disclose really really cool games I've been thinking up.
There is no protection, And I fear that we the gamers are subject to others terms and conditions on the games we conceive ourselves.
That's it... Until I can find away to protect my IP, no disclosure. And that's a sad sad thing.
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I've never quite subscribed to the notion that good ideas are a dime a dozen. However, I find that initial outlines of games tend to mean very little. Some issues only become obvious with implementation and experience. The real work comes from all of the little refinements. Some holes may need to be filled. Some aspects won't work as designed. There might even be content generation which, even if created procedurally, implies much more design work than was used in the overarching concept.
It's just like any other person who ever wrote a song that some writing hopes some famous country artist will perform (lottery), to people who pin their hopes on a great screenplay that would cost a studio millions of dollars to make (lottery) to, yes even the game industry, writing some amazing game design doc hoping some studio or freelance people to drop everything they are doing to further their own careers to make your games happen.
You're going to have to show your cards at some point to someone if you hope someone will fall in love with your ideas as much as you love them that they will forego doing something they could do themselves (and get full credit for their work).
I agree that good ideas are not a dime a dozen, but there is a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge gap between a great idea and getting that idea created AND it play out as well in real life than in your head or on paper.. I see ideas as blueprints.. blueprints are not the house.. they are a guide on how to make them. Sure someone can look at those blueprints and make a house, but the blueprint is not where the hard work goes.. the hard work is the time / energy / money to make the game.
I just hope you're ego isn't huge that you think your ideas are better than everyone elses out there, because trust me, stand in line. I've meet lots of guys who sit around dreaming up Final Fantasy or MMO killers. it's fun to come up with ideas, but it's another thing to work within your means. There is nothing sad about unmade games, if you don't do anything about it.
Good luck!
As far as ego goes, I really ain't got one... I got one, but it's subdued... No, I know there are an infinity of games out there that'll cut the mustard. But if the creators slip up, it's gone.
And that's the aggravating part... "Disclosure". I guess all games run into that... I could make them public domain.
The originality of the games vary-
)One is a take on another game but way more than the original or it's predecessors.
) Some of them are here on the blog which are semi original but still pretty original
) And some of them are different, but still pretty run of the mill stuff.
I am the kind of gamer that doesn't need originality per se, For example; FPS's could all have the same weapons and I wouldn't care. Car racing games could have all the same cars as the next game, and I wouldn't care.
The originality I do look for are what games are not doing, no one is building games like the ones I have here on the blog. And I think that's needed. Because I am bored of my skin with most games. They almost get it right and that's it.
Thanks for the comments.
Looking at what games currently don't do is a great way to dive into new territory. Sometimes there are reasons why (too complex or cost inhibitive) and other times it's simply a fresh perspective.
Good luck!
I tried my hand at the gamemaker and made a couple of games that way (Simple games), but I really have no interest in those kind of games. The games I'm writing about are the games I'm interested in.
Anything you see here on this blog is up for grabs, I just want to see'em done.
But I do appreciate the heart felt sincerity.