I’m a very casual PC gamer (and avid console gamer), so pardon me if
some of these exist, but I don’t think they do.
-
Compilations of older games that will run in XP. In a world where
fans will gladly fork over $8+ per to Nintendo for a mere license to
play nostalgic games from their childhood, it just seems crazy to me
that I can’t go buy every Ultima game on one disc. Why no “ultimate
King’s Quest Collection?” Police Quest? X-com? Gabriel Knight? And so
on? You can just feel the money that’s NOT being made because nothing
like this is on the market. -
A hybrid RTS and FPS, where you’d be able to switch back and forth
between two distinct but fully integrated engines; you’re building
your resources and manouvering troops and so on like a traditional
RTS, but then you click a button and suddenly you’re one of the
individual guys in the squad of troops and you’re running around and
shooting and so on FPS-style. Any genre would be fully appreciated
using this. -
A fully integrated multi-engine “game system” that allows
completely different games using completely different engines to share
properties between them. Maxis did something like this back in the
mid-nineties with the then-current version of Sim City, Sim Copter,
Streets of Sim City, and so on; you could build a city with Sim City,
then fly helicopter rescue missions in that city by loading it
into your copy of “Sim Copter.” You could also do street races in that
same city by loading it into “Streets of Sim City,” a racing game.
Completely different games, completely different engines, all linked
together. It was a pretty poor execution because the individual games
were bad, but the concept behind it is AMAZING and has a ton of
potential. Imagine taking it to the next level; you build a city that
you can then use as map for a FPS from the same developer. You can
play “The Sims” or a similar “sandbox” styled game set in the same
city. You can play a flight simulator or aerial combat game in the
skies over that city. It could be used for an urban RTS game. A police
game uses the city’s police force. A detective story loads your city
into it and uses the unique locations and details that you’ve created.
Now take it to the next level, “Spore”-style - outer space combat
above the planet that your city is on. Medieval RPG set in your city’s
distant past. And so on. I wish someone was working on something like
that. -
I’ve always wanted a “real life” sandbox-style game. Think “The
Sims” where you control one character, but completely free roaming. No
plot, no goal or anything, just a real life simulator. But where it
gets fun is, just like real life, you can do anything. Driving to
work, if you want to swerve and run over children, you can. What
happens then? In the workplace, what happens if you grab the coffee
pot and slosh the coffee all over your co-worker? What if you get a
gun and hold people hostage? Or what if you just do your job and then
head home at the end of the day? I’m imagining a completely
free-roaming “Grand Theft Auto” minus any plot meets “The Sims” minus
the micromanagement. What happens if you do things completely normally
but don’t bathe for 3 weeks game time; do coworkers start saying
things? Do you get fired? What if you try to break into your
neighbor’s house? What if you strip naked and try to walk down the
street? Obviously, the STAGGERING number of variables that would need
to be scripted would prohibit something like this from being workable,
but I’d like to see a game at least make an attempt at doing something
like this. A hybrid of “The Sims” and “Grand Theft Auto’s” engine
would be a neat start.
