Game concepts

I provide you with the most interesting concepts I wrote recently. I do this for a number of reasons :

This industry is not about ideas. It was once some time before, but everyone has killer ideas around, and as I read somewhere "a game designer worth its salt has three blockbuster ideas before lunch". Now the challenge is to get the production running, finding the cold cash, and tuning everything. Great games are good ideas made perfectly, not great ideas rendered approximately.
My sense of loyalty belongs to what I call the "Greater Gaming Good" (or God) :), not to a company or a bag of money. The objective is to provide the best possible gaming experiences to the players at the end of the road. Sometimes it ends up painfully, but I try to be proud of the result. If not, I tell it on the projects page :P
A great feeling of production is working on games you like. But the ultimate adrenaline rush is to work on concepts you have made, or to see your ideas put into practice. This happens only to a few individuals or groups out there. I get it right now on Capitalism 2, although i'm not in the team itself. My destiny is probably to get back to more classical production.
I like to share :)

But I'll provide here with the concept summaries only. I'll pass on the complete docs to -almost- anyone who ask.
After some thoughts, I decided to put them in a random order. I could have gone historically, or by quality, but randomness is better to hide pearls in sand :), thanks to random.org for the dicing.

Ski resort
Written january 98

Buy a large piece of a mountain in a snowy area, carve the land to accomodate for skying. Create and develop a complete resort, try to be profitable by attracting as many skigoers as possible, and entertain them. The base gameplay is to alter the moutain to obtain fun and varied ski slopes, of different difficulty degrees, while staying secure. You will need to build housing, restaurants, shops, or simply put up the buildings themselves, selling or renting them to private owners, or even selling the bare land itself.
Think of : Transport tycoon, Theme Park

Clans
Written december 98

Progress through a clan hierarchy in a schorched future, and lead it through commando-type operations on asteroids, on different levels depending on your power. As a soldier, you will receive orders on the battlefield and hope your leader guides you well. Then become this leader and lead the assault with a strategic map. Then the clan commander must manage the clan, order missions and see to everyone's survival. A perfect persistent online team play.
Think of : Tribes, Asheron's Call

NASA
Written january 98

You are responsible for the development and management of a very large semi-public space organization, in the modern world. The game starts when the first man is sent in space, bewildering all imaginations. All projects receive approval and budgets, and you lead a growing research, manufacturing and pilots team. But with competition and people getting used to wonders, you need more and more to fight to keep the budgets, distillating the technological leaps, the public events, selling some achievements, and installing services like satellites launch. Your goal is to stay in line with a greater objective like settling on the moon or mars, through some large steps (space station, regular planet flights, asteroids mining...).
Think of : Civilization, Outpost

Asteroid prison
Written a long time ago (92-93 ?)

You have been emprisoned on a distant asteroid, together with other evil brains. Each one is confined into a small settlement, alone, with a mission to occupy your emprisonment. You control a score of extracting robots, gathering raw mineral for a regular convoy getting to and out of the asteroid. But war has broken out on mother earth, and prisoners are left on their own, with limited hope of survival. The goal is now different, modify your robots, gather the resources to build an escape ship, alone or in group, but not everyone will be able to leave. Guide, explore and dig the rocks, with the risk of dislocating the asteroid itself, and battle your opponents to beat them.
Think of : RTS games perhaps, but that didnt exist at the time

Pioneers village
Written november 97

Along with friends your characters settles a new town on the New Frontier. Each character has skills and abilities, that could profit the community. While building up the basic structures, you need to complete the set of people that will live and support you, and so seek to attract them from other communities. You can give large directions to everyone, or contact each people to know about their needs and direct them. You dont control the army but can ask for help, or get in touch with natives yourself. A fine setting for a persistent online world to colonize.
Think of : Settlers, Colonization

Guild
Written january 98

You lead a group of rogues, growing into a real guild, in an urban medieval (or ancient civilization) environment. You lay out, place traps and organize the different places you control. The thieves have different abilities and specialties that you need to nurture and use, they also have their intelligence and can be corrupted and killed. The player is present in the game within a character with his own capacities. He defines the missions and can lead them directly, he contacts people in the city and receives orders. The growing guild attracts new people and also counter forces.
Think of : Dungeon Keeper, Thief, Rainbow 6

The Bible
Written febuary 98

Its this period of history : antique times. Myths and legends are coming together and large religions can be thrown together for Eternity. You will hire people to travel the land and collect epic histories and miracles. Select the best and most impressive to feed your writers with materials, and also highlights the principles your religion favors. In a second phase, diffuse your knowledge and help expand the religion in all countries. By forecasting the near future you'll reap the beliefs cake.
Think of : Populous, but its a stretch

Simpsons family
Written january 98

A complete family will survive only with your help, you are one of their ancestors. You will try to help each member through life, to success or happiness. Prevent them from accidents, incarnate in them in extreme cases, although it will cost power (with which you influence them). A twist is the use of cartoon characters, Simpsons or others, allowing fun situations, original graphic set.
Think of : The Sims (a long time before the release !!)

The Power game
Written february 98

You are a politician eager to rule the country. Through influence, your political party, elections and image, you will climb the social ladder up to the ultimate seat of power. Your militants form the core activity, spreading your ideas and winning support in districts. You also contact local lobbies, form alliances, then repay help when you get some control levers in the city, taking care not to be become enslaved yourself.
Think of : not much political games around, upcoming Republic (hey Demis !)

Klendathu
Written april 00

Multiplayer online-only game of cooperative action firefight (Diablo-style), in the fierce and futuristic universe of Starship Troopers. Through a 3D view, players group in squads to land on aggressive areas. They combine their skills and equipment to secure zones and build defenses, battling aliens generated and AI controled, being backup-ed by new players joining in. Secured areas participate in the conquest of the current planet. When a planet is conquered, a new one is generated and proposed as battlefield by the system. Scores and ladders are displayed when a planet has been conquered.
Think of : Diablo, Counterstrike

Ecosystem
Written january 98

You get to control a piece of land, an island, a field, whatever, in which a number of species live together and form a complete system. There is plants, animals, predators, etc. You have to keep this system running smoothly and face new factors threatening the balance, like new predators, disasters, humans, civilization for instance. The word here is adaptation, and no goal set, although a campaign can lead the players through the learning. Artificial life at its climax.
Think of : huh nothing quite like it, perhaps Sim City for the open-endedness

Planet of Adventures
Written june 00

On a mission to a distant unknown world, your ship is destroyed by a missile, and you land alone and lost on the planet, with no means of escaping but with this goal only. However, through the discovery of the races, more objectives will fill your agenda, beyond the mere survival... A 3D adventure/action game, story-driven. Heavily based on existing novel that fans already cornered.
Think of : Outcast, Dark Earth

Microbes
Written january 98

You control a group of evil microbes in a human body. After defining their characteristics, that will affect their needs, movement capacities, resilience to body responses, reproduction means, among others, you get to survive and explore your new war field : a real body. Different areas will provide threats or survival means. The goal is to set up and grow, but without killing your host and ultimately to be able to reach a new body to expand.
Think of : Sim Ant, Dungeon Keeper (again)

Hard helmet
Written september 98

Manage a construction site complete with workers, machines, raw materials and constraints. This is typically a god-game 3D view and controls spawn, in the modern world. You get blue prints to build in a campaign mode, or set up your own in free game. A much simpler mode is available for young players, working like a lego or sandbox experience, where you put the pieces together.
Think of : Constructor, Theme Hospital

Marco Polo
Written november 97

In an ancient time great areas remain to be discovered. You set out with products of your home town and lead a caravan into wilderness, establishing new maps, encountering local people and gathering their products. You try to reach new and rich foreign civilization with whom to trade, but the road is difficult, and lots of thieves or barbarians can be met.
Think of : some very old games

Tempus Demoni
Written january 98

You are a devil living in the Abyss, trying to get a better position in the complex social hierarchy of Hell. For this you need to will gain mortal souls and manipulate their lives, improving your own power and prestige. You will have to sacrifice lives of your cult members to gain demonic time, that will allow you more control on the mortal plane, but on the other hand doing could will frighten the cult and reduce its influence.
Think of : Dungeon Keeper (yes, its design is perfect)

Yes, most of the concepts were written Q1 1998, thats because at the time I was researching concepts for the management game for ubi, a project that got cancelled, as so many others.