I love video games. I was raised by them, and they helped me grow into the man I am today. So I have now dedicated my life to creating them, and good ones at that. With each game I have played throughout my life; some of best, but also some of the worst, I have resolved to abide by this singular rule in my career as a developer: I only create games I personally want and personally will play. With that being said the amalgamation of my life's experience as a gamer, and my mission statement as a developer is IMR. Something that I have noticed however is that there is no game that uses bugs to their fullest potential... No not those bugs, insects.
   Insects almost exclusively make up small scale (literally) antagonist in any game they are in. This is ultimately maddening since if you have watched ANY documentary about arthropods, or arachnids, watched one hunting another, or just heard something about them, you would know... They are awesome! Most insects seem almost specifically designed by God to be unstoppable war machine inspiration for video games, as they are the closest thing you will ever find in reality to the amazingly powerful heroes you typically play as! (Kratos literally has nothing on Myrmecia pilosula, look them up!).
   So I have begun researching, writing and programming up a game I named Insecta, the Master Race which I later named IMR. For the purpose of the rules of Vizzed about advertising I won't disclose anything else about the game or the website, unless it is specifically requested. All I want is to hear your ideas on what the game can be. A game I want to play is no fun if no one else likes the idea it is based on, and maybe it can help me understand why this game concept hasn't been done more than the Call of Duty franchise by now. XD It is in early development in terms of programming, but the story is well on the way and mostly set in stone now, so game mechanics and (enemy) race suggestions preferred.

ooo! =D Are you still making this game? Perhaps if you give us a few more hints as to what the main story might be about, we try to  help you come up with some more ideas. I think the main reason not more people use these ideas is because many people actually fear bugs and think of them as enemies rather than allies. In games, you see that the majority of "friendly" bugs turn out to be butterflies, dragonflies, ladybugs, ants, jeweled beetles, and other bugs like that, but then bugs like roaches and flies are usually enemies or bosses that must be defeated, probably because most of them are considered frightening pests. oO;; That, or maybe because they're considered "strong" (and scary), they end up being made into "worthy opponents" in-game? ^^0;; That is one of my theories anyways as to why there are so many bugs that have been made into "formidable opponents/enemies" and "final bosses" in video games.

Personally, I agree that it's sad but most people don't understand how strong and powerful some bugs like dragonflies really are. While cheetahs only capture 50% or so of their prey, it is said that dragonflies can actually capture 95%! You probably already know this, but they have incredible/amazing eyesight and are capable of processing moving objects in a similar fashion to how humans process them. In a sense, they can focus on several things at once, and keep tracking their prey until they suddenly sneak up behind them in their blind spots and then the other bug becomes the dragonfly's meal.

As for ideas for your game, I'm thinking from your title that you could make the bugs become the protagonists of the story, but this appears to have been done in a few other games already (for instance, the game for A Bug's Life). There is a game called Spy Bugs (available on Steam) that I was interested in a while back because one could choose to play as a bug and fly all around a room, crawl into crevices that humans would normally not be able to explore, and fight air battles with other bugs (yep, you could fire at other bugs), but at last check, the game has been abandoned by its creators (I think it was either due to lack of funding or the need to concentrate on other things in their life), even though I still hope that someday, they'll consider going back to work on the game again. I don't know if you would enjoy making a game about playing as a bug but there might be a fanbase/audience for that, even if it's a smaller than that of a game like Call of Duty.

This next idea might be one that you would detest, but I thought I'd mention it anyways since it seems like there are actually a fair amount of people that truly do enjoy smashing or shooting bugs in their games (again, sorry if that makes you sad). Examples of this would be all of the roach-hitting games (from the past and present), the Golden Thief Bug (which is a boss from Ragnarok Online that drops awesome cards), and any kind of invader game in which they have bugs. Even if you won't consider making a bug-hitting game, perhaps you could expand on your story using some of the ideas from a few of the older games (for instance, you could make spiders the enemy of the bugs).

This is a cool idea, and reminds me of SIM ant, but in a bigger, much more expansive way. It doesn't just have you living everyday ant life (or it doesn't seem to at all) but rather it looks like it will be a full on RPG with insects.

I also have to say that I love that you made the story first. This is paramount to a solid game I believe. Most do it the other way around -- mechanics etc. then story. Not good.


Can we know anything more about the current mechanics or story? What Kind of insect does the player play as?

That's actually a very interesting concept. Almost every insect on Earth seems like they could fit perfectly into an RPG. Beetles could be high HP tanks, wasps could have a special poison ability, stinkbugs could spray enemies to lower their defense... It is a very cool idea. I look forward to seeing how your RPG turns out!

You aren't giving the movie or the book "Starship Troopers" enough credit. Even in that story, which is enemy bugs taking on humans in interstellar combat, one of the high school teachers overseeing a dissection is talking about how the bugs are the perfect animals. "They have no ego, no fear, they haven't evolved in millions of years, they spread their spore by flinging them into space and colonize entire worlds."

She's on to something.

Having bugs is a good idea. They have their different strengths and weaknesses and they'd make some good anti-heroes since humanity has vilified them over the past several thousands of years.

I think you should make it futuristic or sci-fi. Make the bugs the size of other animals. The largest insects are some type of dung beetle in Egypt if I'm not mistaken. Make these ones similar to "Starship Troopers" and you have a story. You can be fending off humans trying to invade you. It might be the other side of "Gears of War," but less shooter and more RPG.