   Is my idea realistically do-able for an Indie team?
  Hello everyone,I've had a little "idea" for a computer game for awhile now. Spent a long time lurking hoping to find a similar game in development that I could jump on board with, but no luck as of yet. Which sort of leads me to ask myself, "Maybe my idea is just stupid and or impossible?" (For an Indie team at least) O.oBasically I would like to make an online "sports" type game, with a fantasy theme.A general overview of what I am thinking of:An online 3D sports game where two teams of players fly on dragons trying to score goals at each end.Similar to "Quidditch" from Harry potter, but with only one ball, one goal at each end and flying on dragons, not broomsticks.Probably about 4 or 5 players on each team, and an NPC goalie at each end guarding the goals.Players would be able to, tackle, intercept passes, pass and shoot.That's about it.I know that games like... Fifa 09 have an online component that does this sort of thing.The idea seems pretty simple to me, but I have a feeling it isn't.Can this actually be achieved by a small Indie team? Or is it a bit too ambitious? Would lag just completely kill the game and make it impossible to play? How does fifa 09 cope with lag? (Never played it online).I would just like to know if I should bother trying to make this game, or go with something simplier. I am a fairly newbie 3D artist, I know nothing about programming or game physics.   
  It depends on the indie team. Some indie teams have been able to develop some very polished and/or sophisticated games, such as full blown RPGs and MMORPGs. Others can't even churn out a simple pacman clone before they run out of steam.Your game idea certainly has some challenging aspects; for example, the idea as presented implies free movement in three dimensions which creates a number of complexities in several areas, from UI and control systems to AI and pathfinding.Nothing there seems impossible, or even especially difficult - just trickier than you might realise.It's not outside the realms of possibility, but it's probably overambitious for an inexperienced team's first project. Start with something much, much simpler (ideally keeping the gameplay, if not the graphics as well, in 2D) and see how you go.;  It is possible, Quanti Code for example has made a similar game called Full Metal Soccer but as they say here it was commercially a fail. When creating a multilayer games the biggest problem might getting enough people playing the game at the same time. A too small community was a also the reason why they couldn't interest Steam in their other game, called Zero Ballistics.   ;  Well, a fantasy based game doesn't have to deal with licences which are a pain to deal with. Outside of that the game is really only as complicated as you make it. The more non-goalkeeper players you have the more complicated it gets. The more realistic you want to make the game (in terms of physics, etc.) the more complicated it gets (anything over 3 players involves increasingly complex positioning and team strategy code). Online is another issue. Making a game online capable is straightforward enough for someone experienced in doing so. Making the number of players scalable is where it gets tricky (lag becomes a factor, have to account for supporting a variable amount of human players in your code).A lot of the complexity is determined by some of the basic game rules (in your case it would be how the dragons steer, how passing/shooting works, how receiving a pass works).You'd need to flesh out your idea before you really know whether it's a feasible project for an indie team.I don't think sports is a big genre for indie gamers though (I may be wrong however)   ;  Thanks guys. You've definately pointed out some issues that I hadn't though of, especially the game failing because it couldn't get enough people on to make the game work properly.I will try and find another project to join, just a bit uninspired by most of the game ideas coming through at the moment.   ;  This is a stream of though post, so skip to the end if you want to see where it lead.Most sports are an abstraction of War (there are a few that aren't). SO, think about what war might be like in a fantasy world. What kinds of tactics might be used.If you have Wizards flinging fireballs, then any tightly packed ranks of soldiers would get obliterated. SO you will not likely get many games that require players to get too close (think of Scrums in Australian and American Football).And like in all team sports, you want to have teamwork be the factor that decides the game (again, these were usually used to train people in working as a team which was needed in war).American and Australian football seems similar to the Phalanxes of Bronze age warfare (I am not saying it is, but it does bear a striking similarity, and that with phalanxes, it was less the weapons, and more the pushing that decided which phalanx got killed - the weapons did the work, but to do so you had to push past their shields first).As you want to do a game where the players ride dragons, then this will set your tactics and style.Dragon flying might be considered more similar to aeronautics than to phalanxes. Dragons would be like Planes, only more manoeuvrable (well maybe, especially if you wan them playing a game where people can spectate). Even so, Dragons will tend to have a high forward speed, and little or no lateral speed (turning is the exception). You would see a dragon side stepping in mid air to avoid a tackle.Most people, I think, imagine Dragons being used in War a bit like bombers were in WWI and WWII. They would fly along and take out a specific target. OR they might imagine them like the fighters of WWI and WWII engaged in mid-air battles like the old Flying Aces (and in a fantasy world the Red Barron might actually have been a Nobleman Riding a Red Dragon).So using this, we can start to come up with a few ideas for the game.First of all, the aim of the game might be to hit a particular target with an object (We will call this the Ball). This would be like the Bomber view of the dragon. This target would likely be something like a Net or Hoop.Second, we need to ahve the Dragons trying to "Shoot Down" the other team's dragons. This might take the form of different objects thrown at the opposition (we will call these the projectiles). There are 1 or 2 of these projectiles, which the team not holding the Ball can use to try and hit the Ball carrier.To bring in team work, if the Dragon holding the Ball is hit by a projectile, then they have to drop the Ball. However, dragons on the same team can defend the ball carrier by hitting away the projectiles thrown by the other team.In a clearer format:Dragon Hoops1) 4 Players to a side2) 2 hoops, one each end of the field.3) There is 1 ball called the Goal Ball which each team has to get into the hoop at the other end of the field.4) There are 2 balls called the Strikers that Each team tries to hit the opponent carrying the Goal Ball.5) Other players on the team that has the Goal Ball can knock away, but not hold onto the Strikers.6) If the Player holding the Goal ball is hit with a Striker, then that Player must immediately drop the Goal ball. Note: If a player passes the Goal ball before they get hit with a Striker, this does not count as hitting the Goal Ball carrier, but the Goal ball can still be intercepted in the pass (passing is useful but not necessary).7) If the Goal Ball is dropped through their Hoop, the Team that dropped it through the Hoop gets a point.8) The Team that has the most points at the end of a match wins.   