WHERE DO GAME IDEAS COME FROM?

An idea is always a good thing to have before sitting down to write a game. You can fiddle around with various descriptions and objects with no idea of what you are doing, but sooner or later you will need an idea for a game. Where can you get this idea? Anywhere you can. Feel free to find inspiration from anything you see around you. Inspiration is not a synonym for plagiarism though, so please never copy another author's work. There is no reason, unless the author has given permission, to copy, and if you are caught, you will be in trouble.

Inspiration is often easiest to find in your own life. Is there anything you enjoy to do, or enjoy to watch or read? Is there anything in your real life that could inspire you? An inspiration is a starting point. It gives you something to build on. It is often easy to project your own personality within a game. A good example is that most authors usually have the main character as the same gender as themselves. It is not a good idea to include too many details from your real life. Someone might later stumble upon a game using a real life situation as an inspiration, so I would advise changing it sufficiently to make it unrecognisable. 

This is the case in a greater context as well. You can borrow themes and elements from other games if you can put your own spin on things. Be careful though because issues such as copyright mean that you should not copy too closely. Original ideas are best though. Old ideas, such as fantasy games, have generally been done so many times before  that people are no longer as interested. If you want to make an impact you need a unique idea. Not all of us can become great writers through skill, although we should always be improving. However, you could become a well known writer through a unique idea that catches on and becomes popular. 

If you have not had any ideas yet, a few specific places to look include Baf's Guide (http://www.wurb.com/if/) or IF Ratings (http://www.carouselchain.com/if/), which both have lots of short reviews that point towards the good IF games. A good way to become a better writer is to play a lot of games. The more, the better. When you play a game, ask yourself, what was good and what was bad about it. The more you know about what the elements of a good game are, the better your ideas will be. A good starting point would be to decide what genre you want to write your game in. Another good feature in Baf's Guide is the list of genres (http://www.wurb.com/if/genre). What genre do you enjoy, or what genre do you feel you could write a game about?

Now you hopefully have an idea, the next question is whether it is a good idea. This is a harsh question to ask yourself, but it needs an honest answer. Some ideas are just terrible. Some ideas are too difficult. Some ideas when you start writing you realise are unworkable. Do not be afraid to abandon an idea if it is not working out. An idea that does not work is not as fun to write, and the whole point of writing IF is to have fun. Do not abandon the idea totally though, as maybe it can be reworked to become an element of a later game. Some ideas may not work by themselves, but when combined with other ideas, they can become a good game.

So after reading this, come up with some ideas, and get writing.

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