Original vs Existing Idea. Help!

Hey everyone,

It's coming around the time where I have to decide what to do in terms of a game project to complete for my final year of uni.

I have two ideas floating around and need an opinion as to which is best to do. Both I will only be making the first level for.

The first is an original idea
Pros
-shows i can come up with an original idea and characters
-someone might show interest in buying the I.P. if it is a good original idea or hire me based
-i won't get sued if I sell the idea as it belongs to me

The second is a fan based reinvisage of an old first person shooter called SiN
-fan projects tend to get more attention than original ideas
-story and characters are already developed, just need to redesign levels and make story more up to date with this age

Can anyone offer me ideas, think of more pros and cons or what would the best option of the two be?

Thanks

Matt

Depending on your own skill level and your passion and knowledge of the fan game.

If I'm correct, you should be able to "generationize" SiN, but be careful not to destroy the original feeling and fun by making bad art.

Original idea requires alot of work, just to get started takes normally 2-3 weeks. It's comonly easier to make fan game, since you don't have to create everything from scartch. Original story, backgrounds and protagonist/antagonist profiles, for example.

I'd say that make fan game.

It depends on what sort of job you want to get.
Does the job require more a skill of perfection or does it require originality more than that?

In case you want to make the original idea, discuss it as much as possible with others to proof it, and try to reduce it to a mere minimum which is required to get the idea and the fun to play it. Proof whether there are several different ideas within the concept, and reduce it to one of the ideas, and make a list of every single feature or step that seems to be required, and look for steps which can be skipped to reduce the amount of work.

Do mind experiments: if you cut a certain feature or step, does the idea still work? Or does result a reduced version with a different feeling and so, but still a good concept?
Estimate the amount of time to make the game, estimate the time that you can work on it weekly, correct your estimation depending, and multiply it with 5 to get an idea how long it will take to realize the concept.

I would choose the first one. Especally as last exam or something, you can show what ideas you have in mind. Creativity is important in game design so this is the one to go with.

A fan project might be a bit easier to develope, but you have to reach others fans attention with this game. Usually people like what they have, they don't like changes. So if you create a fan project, it might happen that people will dislike it without even playing it cause it's "just" a copy.

Choose the first one, limit your levels, chars, ideas, etc to your conditions, implement your own ideas and creativity and show your potential in the world of game design.

Good luck with it!

Just my two cents, sense I review simular submissions...

Why not take known public domain charcaters, and make them your own.

The problem with orginal IP's is that no one has heard of them. So you have an up hill battle in developing an audience.

So

Games like

"Some one is missing at the old lady that lives in the shoe house"

"Jack and Jill Murder Rampage"

"The Gay Three Little Pigs"

"Little Red Riding Hoods Revenge"

You get the idea....

It seems to have worked well for American McGee and Disney...

You get to own your redone public domain IP. Plus use the name recognition it provides to a gaming audience..

Oh well my silly two cents worth...

Ken

That is a GREAT compromise between the unknown original brand and the well known public brand!





And because there should be a sticky about this on every forum ;), remember that the "sin" people may not take kindly to having someone use their IP without permission.

Thus unless you have that permission in writing from the Sin people, option 1 is your only viable choice.

I've heard Ritual Entertainment is no more and even though it doesn't mean they will now allow you to do as you please with their SiN games.. perhaps they won't mind so much. In fact, a really good fan-based game could potentially generate new interest in the brand and so on.

I think however that reinventing the SiN universe as a fan-based project could be extremely interesting. Like a cell-shaded version with all chibi-style characters (big heads, small bodies), totally over-the-top humor in it or something like that.

Thanks for the help,

As much as I'd love to do a fan project like sin maybe the safest and best bet is with an original idea in the same spirit.
Also probably look better in my portfolio.
Lecturers believe both are creative in different ways so grading won't be effected.
Ritual Entertainment (the guys that did sin) were brought out by the company that makes casual games like luxor. I'm not too sure if they would have a problem with a fan non commercial project but I definitely know they're not working on a new sin game.

Safest and best bet is original idea

Thanks for your help guys!

Matt