Is there such a thing as a new idea? Or are all creative products ultimately a combination of existing things? When a newly announced videogame was presented via analogy with two existing games, I had to consider how much of a role existing works should play in the creative process.
A while back I was on an email thread discussing the newly announced game by Trion, Atlas Reactor. There was a positive response, and someone commented, “Dota meets XCOM. I’m in.”
Here’s the trailer:
[originally posted to my LinkedIn profile]
Creative people are trying to solve problems. Problems we haven’t realized we have, problems we forgot about, or problems of which we’re all too aware.
Having worked as both a game designer and writer, I’ve realized that they face similar obstacles. They both need to make something out of nothing. They both want to create feelings, to fill our hearts and minds with new experiences. They both want to challenge and reward us. And they both get their work questioned, prodded, scrutinized, misunderstood, and canned. Every day, all the time.
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