Starting a new AGS game, but come across writer's block.

[Akatosh]

I usually opt for coffee and waiting until inspiration strikes... most of the time, this has worked for me. 

[vertigoaddict]

Thanks for all the replies! It seems the best thing to do is take a shower, so, I will. Then, I'm going out in the fresh air for 30 minutes (being cooped up inside for the holidays is probably what did it.) Then, I'm going to finish the book i'm reading- (Mary Shelley's Frankenstein- I stopped reading it because I was busy with all my new prezzies ) Then, If all else fails, I'll try the find-a-random-word thing.

Truthfully, fresh air and showers never done anything for me in the field of inspiration. (I'm to distracted in the shower, mezmerized with the feeling of rubbing my soft sensitive skin, all soapy and wet....*ahem*)

In fact, I'm so used to being pressured by everyone, putting more pressure via turning round and round till I get dizzy helps me get ideas like *clicks fingers (if I could)* that. Then again it's like a drug, It's a boost and I get something good but it comes in the price of getting sick.

Normal-classic walking back and forth helps too! ^_6
drinking a cup of mocha with whipped cream on top in your favorite cafe is for working on solidifying your ideas into the actual game...but hey, 'Bestowers of Eternity' was 'realized' in a cafe (starbucks I think) wasn't it? Or am I mistaken?

[InCreator]

Creating a story isn't what I'd find very difficult. Plagiarism is correct word, though I don't mean copying something entirely down. Take 80's tv-series for example - A-team, Macgyver, Murder she wrote, or any other genre suitable for planned game type. Every episode tells separate story. It's quite easy to sit down, watch few series and mix something up from episodes. The approach to episode and story is very well visible in those series and you can learn pretty quickly how writer of those supposedly thought. And you can do same.

Another opera is converting story into a game, and that's quite more difficult task. This is where true challenge lies.

I find quite pointless to endlessly sit, watch clouds and shower and hope that something comes to you. It's easier to explore world of stories and you'll probably get much more and quicker insipiration.

[DanielH]

If you don't have an idea for a game you want to make, why is it you want to make a game?

It sounds silly, doesn't it? Making a game with no idea what it's about. To be honest, I'm making the game purely for something to keep me occupied, something fun and original. I'm able with computers, I'm alright at drawing and my friends agreed to help with anything needed. I enjoyed LucasArt's classics and the Broken sword series when I was young, and being able to create my own is something (that sounds) like fun, something I want to be a part of.

[GreenBoy]

Its interesting reading the different ways that people get the ideas for their games.  And I do agree that showers do seem to produce some good concepts.  But to be honest I think everytime I personally have come up with an idea for a game its been from drawing.

Ill doodle for hours with no particular goal in mind then all of a sudden inspiration will hit me and Ive got an idea which can with a bit of persistance be turned into a game. 

Seems to work for me.

[OneDollar]

What I should have said was, why not practise in my MAGS competition

[paolo]

Thanks for all the replies! It seems the best thing to do is take a shower, so, I will.

A shower can work provided you don't stand there scratching your head, desperately trying to come up with ideas - if you do that, you might as well not have a shower at all. It can work because it relaxes you, and while your conscious mind is distracted, ideas are free to bubble up from your subconscious. Other things that can work in the same way are a long hot bath, or even a good sleep.

Other potential sources of inspiration:

* What's been happening in the world lately?
* Have you done anything interesting lately (gone on holiday, done something new, etc)? It's always good to write about what you know.
* Read lots of good novels and watch lots of good films - not so that you can pinch plots wholesale, but to give you ideas about the sort of things that work well as plot elements and that you could adapt for a game (and also to see what doesn't work well).
* Have a break away from your routine (go on holiday or go somewhere new at the weekend/on your day off) - not having to think about all the day-to-day stuff can help bring fresh ideas to mind.
* Note down your dreams, if you remember them. Maybe there's something there that could be turned into a game.

If all else fails, read the game idea thread - there are dozens of suggestions there for people who are stuck for game ideas.

[DanielH]

  Thanks so much! I got some fresh air in my system and took a shower, read a book, the lot. Now I have a basic plot and character laid out. I guess these ideas really work. A point I meant to make earlier is that ideas are like really annoying friends- always bothering you when you are trying to relax or do something, but when you need them, they're gone.

[Galen]

Yeah a shower, a bottle of water, and (in my case) some music or a TV program in the background works wonders. I really should use my classical CDs to get the juices flowing, which they have been.

[Fyntax]

I have several stories.. however it's dialogue that I have a problem with (as well as drawing backgrounds..)

[vertigoaddict]

This might help you:

http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Over-Writer%27s-Block

[pandabearlove]

I think CRAZY said it best: "plagurise".

   It's the only way, because if you think about it all ideas are borrowed from your life experiences.

   I suggest you put on some good music, take out a brand new notebook and make a mind map. Then, think of the most compelling and enjoyable plot you remember. It will sink in as a feeling and images of that really good anime show you saw last week or two years ago will come to your mind.

   Write down what you liked about it and want to copy. Keep adding things to it until your mind map has taken over an entire page and sit back and enjoy what you have reaped.

   Continue expanding your notes until you can't go on, and come back to it later. If there's anything I've learned about the creative process is that you should take your time. Very important.

   Then borrow things you have liked from your own life. (If you love playing poker then by all means include poker as a puzzle). This way you guarantee you will have fun making the game. Let this creative process remain solely on paper for weeks or even months if need be.

   Then think about the main character and (ready for the fun part) think of something horrible to befall him/her. Murder, theft, ghosts, crime, kidnapping. Anything dreadful you can imagine. Continue making mind maps and once you feel every aspect of the game has been answered that's when you can begin using AGS.