Game idea that bluesky liked

[shy_magpie]

I made a thread on Bluesky about a game idea a thread on Bluesky about a game idea that seems to be reasonably well liked and I want to play with it a bit more even if it's just an idea that would take a whole studio to actually pull off. I don't have the time or brain power to do this in a sensible manner so let's see how well dreamwidth handles me making a thread I edit throughout the day.

Comments

Playing with the idea some more

[shy_magpie]

Ok so lets stick with the cooking game for now, rather than the stuff touched on in the replies:

You need several kitchens where you can easily recognize the key bits from one to another.

Inventory

[shy_magpie]

You can duck most inventory quantity questions for ages by working in other people's kitchens, who all have more than you could possibly need in one night's cooking. You have flour in the canister or you don't.

Could add fun elements like "if you flub the eggs 12 times in a row without resetting to the check point then you need to ask a neighbor or go to the store. Remember to turn off the oven!"

Or more usefully, before cooking it takes you through gathering and checking ingredients. Some in fridge, some in freezer, spice rack, counter etc.

Use real guidelines for "its covered in mold throw it out" vs "Mom says she can cut the squishy bit out and make soup with the rest".

How to handle the same recipe with canned, fresh, vs frozen corn?

How to handle subbing ingredients? If using vegan egg substitutes do you pretend its 1 to 1 or include the differences in color, texture, etc? Could you have a check box for "treat as original ingredients" vs "scope creep mode"? Seems pointless to the conceit if you duck showing how it would effect actual cooking.

Equipment

[shy_magpie]

So depending on where you're cooking the equipment could have some variance. Already alluded to good oven vs one that heats unevenly, but maybe you don't even see Aunt Linda's actual kitchen, all the taste pairings are done in her dining room with charcuterie boards, campfire and grill levels?

At any rate:

oven: needs preheating; set temperature; timer, maybe even built in cook time vs timer with risk it will burn if left in oven with heat off if the door isn't opened;

Range: flame, electric, or glass tops, with a "don't blow up the house using gas" psa

Microwave

Air fryer?

Blender/food processor

Knives & cutting boards

Pots & pans; can fudge a lot with cabinets of holding

Sink: cleaning, source of water, straining

Measuring cups, have a rinse between use bit

Various other cooking implements, fudge with drawer of doom (of course we have a potato masher, it's in the drawer next to the arc of the lost covenant)

Accessibility

[shy_magpie]

I don't want accessibility to be an after thought. If nothing else it's easier if built in from the start.

Controls must be remappable and work with controllers. Minimum: touch only, mouse only, keyboard only, and open to mods so if anyone comes up with anything else we can let them. On that note:

I'm thinking one player game so quite frankly as long as they keep the nsfw stuff off our official site then we want to encourage any customization they can think of. I'm thinking an official policy of "we do not see it" with a way to submit mods to be adopted officially if they meet certain requirements. A few "why yes we are woke af" posts and a few "we can't undownload the game from your computer or prevent you from altering your own copy but the only fanworks we go after are those that introduce bigotry, violence including sexual assult, or violate the 0th mod law 'fuck you, I said stop'"

All time based bits must be skipable, ideally several options: everything time based gets an auto "C" and is skipped, turn based alternative, spend points to skip 5 minutes etc, mode where you click a button to get to the end of any waiting time without it burning etc

Everything has both words and an icon to mark it. Yes that will take more translation, find a good one and pay them well. The sensitivity consult we need for the disability, religious, and racial representation may have ideas on who to hire. At minimum they can help point out idioms esl kids wouldn't get.

There is no punishment for not logging in every day, ideally we have an in game calender so it can hit seasonal holidays etc without ever knowing how many days it took you to get past an in game day or tell logging in after 5 minutes or 5 months.