My name's Tony, and I'm an intermediate-level software dev from Bakersfield, CA.
I started scripting stuff in 1994, starting with characters for a DOS port of Street Fighter II; followed by the DWI simfiles popularly used now in Stepmania (up through DDR EXTREME's/Ultramix 2)... and as a design assistant on phr00t's proc-gen Metroid game, Gentrieve.
My main, long-term goal in game design however, has been to make "a game about gamers and gaming itself." Some kind of whole-hearted, cohesive experience that takes all the joys we have with our different kinds of gaming, and mashes it all into a single experience that feels "complete;" but still gives the player the freedom to play the way they want. And for the longest of times, there was no real examples of how to pull that off, and then I discovered Spelunky, Terraria, and The Binding of Isaac (this was about 4 years ago).
Since then, both my player side and my designer side has been very PGC-esque, but in a way that uses some core substance, rather than just mashing some random elements and hoping it works... but finding people really operating on that level has been quite challenging. And as more of a twitch/action gamer than the turn-based strategic boardgamer, I *know* I need more perspective on "fun" than just my own - and especially as someone that usually prefers single-player or two-player stuff.
What do I have so far?
-5/6 different kinds of "level/world generation" designs - one of them totally free-balling while others are more structured.
-20-25 character designs that mishmash between popular protagonists, MegaMan bosses, and SF/KoF personalities and fighting styles.
-A simple animation-script based... "thing" ...that can animate almost everything in under 100 frames per character; and the layouts thereof. I just have to get around to actually drawing the things.
-5 "vehicle classes" that for now, tie to the characters, and a way to make them interestingly competitive while taking some radically different approaches.
-A dozen or so "zones" based on Sonic the Hedgehog/MegaMan settings and level design... and maybe Zelda/Spiral Knights style mechanics, for that kind of thing too. But none of the art direction in making those areas yet! ;_;
-WIP/(paper)docs on a "dynamic music generator" based on actual music theory/styles, scales/ranges, and even dance charts!
What do I need?
-To finish art assets, the DMG (dynamic music generator), a few more interesting "widgets" for making top-down-adventure games interesting and thematic, a bit of practice with the code... a LOT of practice... with the code... and some overarching metagame. Should it be "players playing games?" Actors acting parts? Character-oriented with "different gamestyles of quests?" Should it just grind forever, or not level at all and remain pretty forward and balanced? Should there be seeded content for intentional replays/competitions? Should I tie things like fighting game mechanics to things other than the fighting games?
There's a lot of experimenting left to this idea too, clearly.