As I progress through my Game Plan for developing my first computer game, I’ve been keeping a journal of various game ideas. I recently reviewed what I had and noticed a trend: all were based on my past experience playing games. The listing included “cool features” from games on various platforms, but none of the ideas were distinctly Mac. They could all be implemented on other platorms or consoles. Not that this is necessarily bad, but the reason I want to make Mac games is because I like the Mac platform. I like to work inside the distinctly Mac environment.
So, I’ve changed my focus, or rather I’ve widened my focus to try and include features that I have not seen before. I’m now looking for features that are very much Mac centric, I’m now trying to embrace the Mac feel and the Mac experience. As Ian pointed out in a comment on my Allegro Framework entry, a game played on a Mac should feel like it’s being played on a Mac, not like it was ported or copied from another platform as a second thought.
What are these ideas? Ah, you’ll have to wait and see what makes it into my design document. I’m still brainstorming, but I like what my mind is seeing.