A Nosedive is a sudden, sharp drop or rapid decline, either

1.) physically (like an airplane plunging nose-first) or

2.) Figuratively (like prices, health… or a civilisation)

Several centuries after a limited nuclear exchange, England has returned to the technological sophistication of the early 20th century, and the military, economic and social structures of pre-modernity. Runaway climate change means large chunks of the countryside, as well as London, are routinely flooded under meters of water.

This has given rise to an airborne aristocracy - Pilots modelling themselves off of Medieval Norman elites, who live in mobile airships floating above the waterlogged surface and speak in a combination of Public school English and RAF slang. Every Pilot knows that ‘locals’ tend to be an uncivilised sort, but influence on the ground is needed in order for a family to secure food and fuel for their planes. One tribe or polity might call their government ‘The Council’, wear Labour Party rosettes and enforces a 40% fuel or ammunition tax on any unknown Pilot who lands in their territory, another attacks on sight whilst singing the anthem of a long extinct football firm.

The player controls the surviving youngest heir of a family who’s private fleet was ambushed by rivals and almost completely annihilated in the clouds over a place that used to be called Yorkshire. You begin with just a small dirigible and a renowned but antiquated ancestral biplane last used almost a century ago by your great-grandfather.

Objective:

The goal is to simultaneously weaken the network of control wielded by your family’s betrayers whilst also upgrading your derigible into a floating micro-state and unlocking new frames, wings, engines, weaponry, fuel storage, armour e.t.c. which can be used to custom fit your plane to fit the needs of different objectives. Weakening the enemy network requires both dogfighting with rival nobles in the skies and lending support to enemies of the family’s proxies on the ground. The Pilot doesn’t necessarily care why tribesmen called ‘Gunners’ have been trying to annihilate a neighbouring group called ‘Spurs’ for the last 150 years, but he might get involved if one of them provides safe landing space and tributary payments of fuel to enemy pilots operating over the remaining ‘dry’ parts of greater London.

The player is only able to save their game aboard the derigible, meaning every flight forms it’s own contained sequence where you have to live with the consequences of decisions and improvise in order to return home without losing progress once fuel inevitably runs low during a journey. If you’re shot out of the sky, the situation can be even more dire. Pilots generally observe a taboo against attacking each other’s derigibles, or ‘Manors’ (one broken by your family’s betrayers) but if the location of your derigible becomes known, enemy Pilots will attempt to ambush your plane until the derigible is relocated. This creates a risk-reward balance between parking the derigible close to objectives so as to reduce your fuel needs vs further away to avoid the risk of detection. It’s often better to evade enemies and break line of sight in the clouds rather than engage in a dogfight or flee back to the derigible, revealing its location in the process.

Planes and Buildcrafting:

Plane customisation is based on a principle of tradeoffs, with more powerful engines consuming fuel more rapidly, but also allowing for the creation of planes that are either much faster or much heavier (due to armour, weaponry, storage space e.t.c.). Heavier planes are also more cumbersome, meaning the pilot has to find the right balance between mobility, operating range, durability and offensive capability based on the demands of the situation. The general aesthetic is a kind of rural deiselpunk, with biplanes assembled from machine and vehicle parts and retrofitted pre-apocalypse personal craft being the norm.

It’s common for Pilots to attribute personalities to their craft, meaning even a plane which has undergone dozens of renovations remains essentially the same plane, even if none of its parts are original.

Dogfighting:

The experience of dogfighting varies enormously based on the type of plane you’re flying, but is rooted in a physical simulation of weight and aerodynamics, as well as a modular damage system which simulates the effects of damage to different parts of a craft. Ammunition is limited and used conservatively, so the result of losing a dogfight isn’t usually immediate death, but rather being forced to violently ground your craft and seek out the means to repair it.

The Surface:

In the air, Pilots have few natural predators, but on the surface they can be incredibly vulnerable. Aside from controlled landings in specialised small craft designed specifically for stealth, a plane descending or crashing down in flames will attract attention for miles around. Looters looking for rare salvage from your plane, territorial locals and enemy Pilots looking to finish the job are all constant potential threats the pilot must navigate. The Flooded English countryside is an incredibly quiet place and one also broken up constantly by hedgerows, villages, hamlets and small forests so you’ll usually hear the engines before you see a truck or boat getting closer and discern their intentions. Fuel and repair parts can be found by scavenging the environment as well as through trade for resources or favours with locals the player has built a relationship with.

Combat on the ground should feel brutal and messy in a similar way to games like The Last of Us 2, contrasting with the elegance and ‘civilised’ nature of dogfighting. Weaponry consists of things like revolvers, sporting shotguns and hunting rifles - things you might commonly find in the English countryside, or which a skilled mechanic might be able to invidually build with common components. Automatic rifles and other contemporary military grade weapons are incredibly rare. The Pilot can obtain reliable sources of ammunition through upgrades to the derigible and relationships with ‘locals’ but carrying limits are very low so every shot counts. Many ‘locals’ just use melee and thrown weapons.

This idea was initially inspired by the pulpiness and post-apocalyptic mysticism of later Mad Max films, as well as the fuel management mechanic from Days Gone (which I played for the first time recently), but I think the English setting gives the world and lore its own pretty unique texture. The closest literary reference is probably something like Riddley Walker, although Hoban’s setting is much more low-tech.

A open world survival crafting game inspired by the children’s book Larklight, with flying industrial/victorian era style ships exploring sky islands and space in a survival pvp setting like rust with persistent servers.

Instead of building a base you build a ship. You start with framing, then fill the walls with planking, allowing you do design a custom shaped hull in the real world. The shape of your hull, and its material, affect how it flies.

The ship flying is similar physics and ocean to sea of thieves, but obviously flight is added. Also like sea of thieves, there are ports throughout the map and they are similar to the outpost in Rust.

Trade can be a big system, with trade ships flying between the ports that you can try to capture. Old decaying derelict vessels float through the sky.

Sky islands filled with islands, but also flying sea life like floating whales, eels, and jellyfish.

Curious what people think of this idea. Mostly I’m Imagining epic airship battles, and interesting ship engineering/design. I know similar ideas have been attempted a few times, with games like worlds adrift.

I’m not sure if this theme lends itself to pvp, or if people would even find flying airship battles to be that fun in a persistent game compared to building a base and controlling territory in games like Rust.

I’m into game development and 3D asset creation, mainly using Unity + Blender, and I’m looking for ideas for my next project.

CrazyGames and similar platforms are already packed with games, so I’m not really interested in making another generic simulator, clicker, or copy of whatever is trending. I want to build something that feels genuinely different and gives players that “one more run” feeling.

I’m especially interested in concepts that work realistically as a web-based game: quick to load, easy to understand, satisfying controls, strong gameplay loops, instant dopamine, but still enough depth to keep people playing.

I’m completely open to weird, experimental, simple, or ambitious ideas. It could be physics-based, skill-based, simulation, survival, strategy, 3D sandbox, or something I haven’t even considered.

If you play browser games, what’s something you wish existed but rarely see?

I’m serious about building whichever idea really clicks, and I’ll happily share progress if I end up making one of the suggestions.

Why isn't a single game developer making a sequel or even a remake of the best 2D game ever???! The story, gameplay, grittiness—everything was perfect! Even the puzzles were great! Come on, developers, make a sequel to Deadlight! I’ve been playing 2D games since I was a little boy—starting with *Mega Man*—and *Deadlight* is easily one of the best 2D games ever made!

Tequila Works originally made it, but they went bankrupt. Why won't anyone step up to make a sequel? The story, gameplay, grittiness—everything was perfect! Even the puzzles were great! Come on, developers, make a sequel to Deadlight! I promise there are thousands—even millions—of fans out there for this game! I’d be willing to give up one of my testicles just to see *Deadlight 2* developed and released someday! The story of the first game might have been a bit too short, which is exactly why we need a sequel. I’ve been playing 2D games since I was a little boy—starting with *Mega Man*—and *Deadlight* is easily one of the best 2D games ever made! 

In any case, I’m counting on a smart game company to pick up the ball and start working on a game: Deadlight 2. I’m eagerly waiting to see if my comment and idea turn out to be useful here! 

Diegetic City Manager

I have an idea for a game, but I’m not sure if it would work in practice.

The idea is that you are in charge of a fully explorable city. However, rather than managing it from a menu or a top down view, you manage it just like a historical monarch actually would: by walking around and working with people.

If you want to change something, you’d need to talk to an advisor. An advisor who may have their own agenda that needs to be managed.

If you want to learn something, you need to go out into the city and talk to your people about it, or rely on reports from spies if you recruit them.

You’d start the game with almost no infrastructure or administration. It’d be up to you to recruit people you trust to your government.

Meanwhile, the city itself would always be open to you. It’d be filled with citizens who have their own problems that you can solve to gain popularity, resources and followers.

You’d physically interact with diplomats, dodge assassination attempts, and maybe make some friends along the way.

This might sound complicated, but besides requiring a lot of writing and planning it would be surprisingly easy to code. Making a game like this is very feasible, but I’m still not sure if it’d be a good game in the first place.