Alot of good ideas and thoughts fill this page. What I think is, what we should be looking at, and someone said it earlier on the page, is how gaming is changing. With the online games(Everquest, and the rest coming) there is a whole new market. That market being, backers, companies to fund games, Sony has gained big time on EQ. You don't think other entertainment companies have seen this? I think if you find a programmer that is as passionate about his work as we are with our ideas, that is when you get a great game. Good ideas will sell, what you need is a team that will see what they do will pay off, it all comes back to desire. I also had many ideas that I see in games today. Everquest is one, down to how they sold the game and make you pay per month to play. I wish I was able to do my idea when I thought of it, but I give credit to those who did, and they got their game out. If you think a idea is yours and only yours, think again anything you can think so can, and probly will, someone else. Taking the bull by the horns and getting it started is the first step. I am new to this and don't know a thing about creation, programming or 3D/2D art, but I have a passion down to my bones about games and my ideas for games. This passion is so great that I know some day I will be part of my own company. I know I will not be able to do it with knowledge I have now, so I have set out to learn all I can. I will never be that great of a programmer, but I will learn as much as I can to help me in my ideas of what I can and can not do. I can draw, so I will also learn as much of the art side of the developement as possible. Game creation is art, I think we all agree, it is sad that it all comes down to money. I think we, the one's posting here and not getting paid for it, should put our heads, talents and passions together and create some great games.
And for anyone who read this far, what programs should I get, to get me started? What programs for programing, and what for art? What I would like is to find a team, that I could learn from and that shares my passion for making a great game.

[This message has been edited by Talon (edited November 06, 1999).]

My name is Tom Mills and I have a game suggestion!!!

I would like to suggest an online or single player game which every
you
think would work BASED on the Old West.

I have drawn up many tables for Weapons,Charaters,Items and
many more
things like skills and such, terrain,weather and differnent type
buildings.I also have drawn up the story behind the game with it
being
open ended like UO.I am not a programmer,but I think this would
be a very
profitable game and wanted to contact you first because you
everything
together when it comes to online gaming and you in my opinion are
the tops
in the industry.I think this game would be great and really hope to
here
from you soon.

I was wondering if anyone out there could help me

thanks tom

A lot of people - probably most - say that ideas are not valuable at all, and are a dime-a-dozen type things. I just want to say that an idea IS VERY valuable if you follow it through. It is unvaluable if you just come up with it, let it sit around in a text doc, or try to pawn it off on someone else for cash. But even that is always true. For example, if a person where to come up with a sure-fire anti-gravity scheme or something, that knowledge would be extremely valuable. Of course, the chance that someone would see it's value or lagitamacy would probably depend on a prototype, which would obviously be more than just a mere idea.

That's my opinion anyway. I believe that the ideas that I have for game concepts are very valuable, but that is only because I am bringing them past the concept stage.