I am a professional programmer and I love to develop anything. But for me it is very difficult to think of mechanics or ideas for video games. What do you recommend to generate ideas?
What do you recommend to generate ideas?
Playing multiple games is my recommendation. They could give you new ideas for mechanics you could add to your games or even make new ones.
Another way is to join discussions in Discord channels. Some members would post question or open discussion about game idea or mechanic in certain channel and you should join in and share your thoughts. Read what others posted and you could get new ideas.
I'm gonna reiterate Ichit's suggestion:
Think about a game or genre you really like. Then consider, if you were to make a game like that, how would that look? Maybe you'd prefer some mechanics to work differently, maybe you'd like a very different type of story, or maybe you'd like to mainly change the visual style to something completely different? What sounds like fun to you?
Another, but similar idea, is to mix games you like: Maybe your two favourite games are Call of Duty and Tetris... How would you combine those two?
A third idea is to take a game or genre you really enjoy, then change what dimensions the game is viewed and played in: Call of Duty, but it's top down 2D? Tetris, but isometric? Command & Conquer, but you command your army and build your base from an FPS perspective?
I think being able to come up with ideas is practically like a muscle you develop. But remember, even then: Ideas aren't worth anything if you can't put it into practise. And if you're getting into gamedev, I highly suggest starting out with something really small and simple.
As for mechanics specifically, it's all about what's fun and engaging. For example, Halo was originally supposed to be a top down RTS, but then the developers mounted cameras and direct control to the vehicles, and they just found it to be a ton of fun. And thus the Halo we know was born. So don't necessarily think about mechanics to much, just try to find ways for your games to be fun - and then that can lead to fun mechanics.
Game jams will help you flex your creativity.
Playing other games, and as ComiNo suggested, alter some mechanics of those games. Change the perspective, swap turn-based for real-time and vice versa... Make the player play a different role. For example, I made a hunting simulator game where you play the deer!
Another source of inspiration is your debug mode. Because it let you discover if altering constrains leads to some fun. What happen if I have infinite ammo, if I can move trough walls, if time stops while I give order to my troops, if my car bounces on obstacles gaining a speed boost.
Most ideas came up when playing games and wanting to make some additions to the genre. Quite often I can think easily of a few twists to make my game unique in some ways.
Themes and story lines can be many things, like a walk in the forest and look around me. Sometimes it can be stuff I saw on TV or read in the newspaper or what people tell me.
Now creating computer games is a form of art in some ways, so naturally good inspiration also comes from the same kind of sources as artists in other forms of art use.
When you've been programming for a long time, it can become difficult to come up with creative ideas, right?
I've experienced that myself.
What I recommend is using the following tools:
These are tools I often use when I can't come up with any ideas, even by force.
The Mandala Chart is useful for collecting necessary ideas. You start by thinking of 8 elements that you believe are essential for a game, and then break each of those 8 elements down into 8 more sub-elements.
If you have fragmented ideas, the KJ Method works well. You write down the thoughts that come to mind on small blank papers or sticky notes, and then later group them together.
Once your ideas start to take shape, it’s time to use a Mind Map. Mind Maps can get complicated, so I recommend using a dedicated tool. Basically, you just branch out your ideas in a tree-like structure. Before you know it, you’ll start to understand what you need to do next.
A good way to come up with ideas is to think of "something impossible", or "it would be fun if this existed", or "this is something I like".
This kind of thinking can generate various ideas, and by using the tools above to dig deeper, you’ll be able to shape those ideas into something real
Give it a try!
Literary analysis.
It predates most contemporary forms of storytelling, but it isn't exactly easy to do. If you like to explore ideas and move beyond the mechanics, that is. It's not like you're trying to reinvent the wheel; rather, you're adding the sum of all its parts to create cohesion. I think literature does that. I disagree that simply adding more video games would help clarify anything. Especially if it's a specific way of conveying that idea.
I like to learn new skills and study a lot.
Literature has done this for far longer than any of us will ever grasp. I'm telling you.
Game jams are a good thing: you can play many games, and if you are participant of the competition, it'll give high motivation for brainstorming. Usually your game is not 100% original, it's a compilation of the best ideas from different games. If you read the history of popular games, you will find that they always had predecessors for inspiration. So, be a player!