^-- Very helpful! And I added it to 2015 round-up thread.
Thanks
Mal

, well I can imagine its hard to create these games. Especially things like amount of features you would have to implement. And balance since you can't predict so easily how players will play the game (a bit also why the mapping in some shooters is so simplified https://husks.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/game-design.jpg ). Still I would prefer freedom/variation in gameplay than perfect balance, but lots of people probably dont.
Maybe Fallout 4 modding community will suprise us.

I personally really want to create games like these, but I am still a better gamer than a developer.

, lol, sure

Lmfao- That's a shame....


I believe this is part of the business. I think many Devs would love to create amazing games, even it takes years. How ever game dev companies want to spit out games and fallow-ups rapid and repeatedly.
Shame is new and independent dev have no ability to achieve a magnum opus, due to staff and money. When they get a job with a company and huge budget and staff, now their forced to use it to spit out a call of duty every 6 months to a year, handicapping any chance of making gems and amazing games they truly want.
At one level it's just make any money and get in foot in the business. At the other level, it's just make as much money as fast as possible at any expense.

Mal

- Ok I keep writing about design, as per this thread. And maybe open other threads to talk about it outside this rant , and what we all feel about design.. i.e. platform what do you like and hate and what would you do differently?

, that is an interesting one I think. Cause many older classics like e.g. Deus Ex which may not have been sold as well as COD's at that moment, but overtime (through e.g. steam or gog) have sold really well. On other hand, companies have many personnel/staff costs so that might explain why they want money so early. Still it seems like normal practice in the industry to fire every worker after a game project has finished & launched. (I am so glad that I am not in such a position)

, well type of games that I like most are, surprise, Deus Ex (fps/rpg hybrids) like games , basically games that give freedom to mess around and try combo's which are not only an illusion of freedom.
What I would do different (or better am trying with my current project) is more open and vertical map design and with rich loot/secrets. At the moment I am trying to make 1 fairly big ghost village/city like map with also things like big churches and very high towers etc. Basically being able to explore every house, walk over the roofs, crouch through windows. Will you go from tower to tower or just walk over the road?
My biggest concern for this is AI though. Perhaps I will let them climb things.

Other genres I like are:

- rts (e.g. C&C 3 KW and e.g. Starcraft, I even made a mod of it link moddb mod ). I would make towers stronger for most rts but let them take population. I love rushing with towers and forward bases etc.

- hack&slash (e.g. Diablo 2 lod). I love it but always hack checkpoints for it, otherwise for me it is too grindy / time consuming. Also I would increase difficulty, decrease item drops but increase chance to get good items (so all in all: less grind, more challenge, progressing faster).

- tower defense. It is just recently that I started like this genre, or better its potential, cause of this game http://store.steampowered.com/app/391250/ . This game is more puzzle-like in it its gameplay (/what tower works on what spot), but still gives freedom to different solutions (except for the very beginning). While the graphics style reminds me a bit of games like Starcraft 1 and older rts's.

There are more genres that I like and have ideas for but it will become a really long list so I will keep it at this.