r/tipofmyjoystick • u/urammar • Apr 10 '17
Announcement PSA: A guide to better results
Hi guys and gals. I've been here a while, and over my time I've seen a lot of posts sink to the bottom, without a single answer, or at best, very few. And none that solved the case.
I have noticed a clear pattern with these posts, and I will now share with you my tips to you newbies, so that you can get the help you need.
Firstly: When you make a new post, you will see this:
Platform(s):
Genre:
Estimated year of release:
Graphics/art style:
Notable characters:
Notable gameplay mechanics:
Other details:
Even though, in red, you are warned that while optional, you should follow this template... many of you do not.
Let me be clear: Follow this template.
Put simply, this template contains all the information we really need to solve your problem. Virtually every time I click a post that has not followed this, they have rambled on about nothings, while omitting critical details.
This format, for new and old alike, is very readable, and prompts for every data-point needed.
I know that you want to customize your message, that if you could just explain it, it would be better. I know you think that. You are wrong. Put all that in 'other'. Even if you end up saying it twice, follow the template.. add to it your story at the bottom.
Secondly: Following this template. You're rambling about your best mates Amiga-500 or whatever instead of telling us about the game aside, this is where they really go wrong.
Let's get something straight right now. We are not mind readers. It's impressive, really, how little information it seems we can work off. I mean, we solve some real tough ones with nothing sometimes, but still, we can't see that memory in your head. So you need to be as descriptive in every one of these fields as you can be...
And sometimes you really don't know. That's fine, we can work with surprisingly little information, but "old graphics" under art style... what are we supposed to do with that? Mate, I was playing on Atari-2600's, are we talking Wizard of Wor here?
Let me help you out a bit:
Platform(s): Whatever you played it on. But unless it's really all you know (very possible), don't write 'my mates pc'. Was it PC or Mac?
Genre:
First person does NOT imply shooter. Nor do any of the others. Try to answer this one in two steps:
What was the camera like (assuming it's not a text adventure)? Was it First person?, 3rd person, 2d? Top down or side on? Or maybe even isometric 2d?
Then, what kind of game? Real time strategy, point and click? Was it a fighter, action or platformer?
Good, now we know what KIND of game we are all trying to remember for you.
Estimated year of release:
"Between 2000-2005" is fine, something like that. "Mid 90's maybe?". I don't see many people mess this up, but I have seen people write "old". That is not ok. If you write old and expect it to mean anything to me, I will fight you.
Also, as always "Sorry, no idea" is always acceptable but try to give at least something. "Couldn't have been later than 2015, though"
Great, so even if roughly, we know WHEN.
Graphics/art style:
THIS. This is where you guys always mess up. This section right here I have found can be the difference between an answer, and a silent slink to the bottom. This is your moment.
This, really, should be the best-formed part of your memory. Even if you can only remember a single frame, a single image, it's so much to go on for us.
DETAIL. Was it a gloomy grimdark world of sadness, or a bright bubbly rainbow filled Mario-world?
Was it cartoony, or otherwise stylized somehow, or was it trying to be realistic?
Anything notable about the art direction? Was it going for a cyberpunk kinda feel, or a gritty war realism dirt and blood sort of direction?
If it was set over a long time, did the seasons change? Was there a winter in your game?
Remember when you hit people, and the screen had that awesome flash and your hands got bloody? Yeah, well we don't, unless you tell us.
Ok, so now we are really narrowing it down. This right here is often enough to go on, on its own.
Notable characters:
Anything at all you can remember here.
"There were only tanks, but you could play as both Germans and Americans"
"There was one really tough guy right after you left your office, he had an eyepatch, a white shirt with what looked like grease stains, and said 'this is for my sister'. I think maybe he was a cyborg"
"You play as some kind of Asian girl, you had a tattoo over your right eye and arm, a black tank top and white pants and I remember you always had only one red glove for some reason. I don't remember the arm, but the eye tattoo looked sort of like ancient Egyptian eye makeup, but a modern take"
Knowing nothing else about the game, I bet that last one there gets comments noting the game she is from. Details, details.
Notable gameplay mechanics:
Surely, you get the idea by now. This is tied with the importance of the graphics/art style. As much detail as you can here.
Other details:
NOW you may blab on about how you only played this game once at a winter solstice in 1782 with your grandmother from Tahiti.. as if that helps.
Edit: So it's been brought up that the template doesn't appear on mobile. While /u/wipeout4wh is aware of this and hopefully, something can be done... still, if you can, use the template. If you can't, maybe check back and at least make sure your post addresses all of the points the template does.
Also, my post seems to be saying NOT to add any custom details. So I want to re-enforce, please do. In fact, after you do the template, feel free to write out your post as you were going to without it. Just put it all in 'other'. Don't try and make your whole post like that, if possible. Even if you end up saying the same things twice, that's ok.
Now I'm going to take a moment to clarify something, though. This isn't some immutable law of the universe, and your post is destined to fail if you don't do this. It's just a very strong general trend I have noticed over a long time.
It's not that this template has some kind of magical powers or something. It's that this template prompts the questions that need answers.
When you go all rogue on us and try and type your explanation from scratch... you mess it up. You just forget to add everything that you know, and that we need to know. The template makes it very hard to do that. It's just so very easy to get typing, and by the end forget to tell us what kind of game it actually is. Especially when you are getting random flashbacks, and hazy memories, and you start getting frazzled and such halfway though.
While it might make my edit as long as the first post, I think maybe an example of the kind of post that is just too common here, and almost always helpless, wouldn't go astray here. So here we go:
Now this one is a pretty bad case, true, and I suppose might even be a troll post, but it's actually a good illustration of the problem either way.
It was on my old computer and I was using an emulator so I have no idea what system it was for. It was 8bit graphics and you played this orange cat that was constantly bouncing on a trampoline I think? And you had to navigate it through the city and face a weird boss at the end that would float in the sky. Sorry I can't remember more!
Let's break it down a bit. What kind of game is this? A puzzler or an action game? Who knows.
How old is it? I mean, Minecraft basically has 8bit graphics. Oh he said... "my old computer"... I will fight you.
Why did you bounce on the trampoline? Were there platforms or walkways or something, or was it just a big open space? There are bad guys then? How did they get around?
Now (he?) says that he can't remember more, but I actually asked about the boss fight:
You say 'face a boss', in what way? Can the cat attack? Was this top down or side on? When you say navigate a city, what do you mean?
The reply:
Definitely a side-scroller, I'm sure. You would encounter a boss at the end, the boss would slide onto the screen and it was usually pretty strange-looking. I think one of the bosses might've been a clown. I meant that the different "levels" were different cities with different backgrounds, I think. It's a pretty obscure game
Also you would be continuously bouncing. As in, you had to position the trampoline underneath the cat to bounce it up
So you don't even control the cat. And it's a side-scroller. Thats pretty important information. But the real issue here is that he knows this stuff. He just either didn't know to, or forgot, to tell us.
The template would have made it just so apparent how much information he was missing, and we probably would have got a whole bunch more information. Sadly, while there were some guesses, and a surprising number of up-votes, this post is just another one to join the endless unsolved on their journey ever down.
r/tipofmyjoystick • u/UltimaGabe • 28d ago
[Meta] Can we stop with the "[idk][idk]" posts?
Over the past week there have been a LOT of posts on here that just put "[idk][idk]" in the title instead of even trying to include those details. There's been posts like that in the past but the last few days in particular, it seems like it's happening every few hours, which makes me think one person did it and then more people all just decided to do it too.
If you don't know, guess. The rules are there for everyone's benefit.
r/tipofmyjoystick • u/EcstaticCable7800 • 5h ago
Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution [PS2][2002] Looks like the training mode of a fighting game
i.redd.itr/tipofmyjoystick • u/BryanLaxer • 7h ago
[PC] [2000's] 2D Egyptian-Themed Game Where the Protagonist Must Escape Rooms by Following Specific Paths Between Platforms
i.redd.it[PC] [2000's] 2D Egyptian-Themed Game Where the Protagonist Must Escape Rooms by Following Specific Paths Between Platforms, Avoiding Mummies, and Using Tools to Break Wall or Floor Blocks.
Platform(s): PC.
Possible Genre: PUZZLE, ESCAPE ROOM, PLATFORMER.
Graphics/Art Style: 2D, SEMI-PIXEL ART.
Notable Gameplay Mechanics: LEFT AND RIGHT MOVEMENT, CLIMBING UP AND DOWN LADDERS, USING TOOLS FOUND IN LEVELS.
Tools: PICKAXE TO BREAK SOME WALL BLOCKS, SLEDGEHAMMER TO BREAK SOME FLOOR BLOCKS.
Other Details: EGYPTIAN THEME, MUMMY ENEMIES, OBJECTIVE IS TO REACH THE EXIT DOOR (SOMETIMES REQUIRES A KEY).
Enemies: THE MUMMY SPRITES ARE THE SAME AS THE MUMMY SPRITES FROM METAL SLUG 2.
P.S.: I’m not sure if this is an indie game or a flash game.
r/tipofmyjoystick • u/mink2018 • 13h ago
The Guided Fate Paradox [PS2][2000s] seems like an atlus game
i.redd.itr/tipofmyjoystick • u/Ordinary_Sky_3787 • 36m ago
[wii] [~2010s] game where you collected white dots and you had a chosen power
I don’t remember much, except you were a cube (I think) and you collected dots. You played against another person or CPU and you could switch sides to collect dots on their side. I remember an electric symbol and a heart symbol for the power you could choose
r/tipofmyjoystick • u/songthrowaway1234 • 3h ago
[PC][2009] 3D FLASH game where you get to RIDE A DRAGON and take quests SINGLE PLAYER. Graphics were very simple. NI NO KUNI LIKE? THIRD PERSON PERSPECTIVE! Shoot spells OUT OF YOUR HANDS. At the end of every level YOU GET ON A SHIP.
Platform(s): PC
Genre: Single Player RPG Fantasy
Estimated year of release: 2009
Graphics/art style: 3D, animeish, very simple colours
Notable characters: You get to fly a dragon
Notable gameplay mechanics: I think you do quests, and there were mana pots and health pots. You talk to characters that I am pretty sure was unvoiced, it only had text. I think it was made in Flash although I'm not sure. You can casts spells like fireballs or lightning balls out of your hands. It was maybe like Zelda, and honestly remind me of Ni No Kuni, but it predates it. I played it in 2009, but it could have been released earlier.
Other details:
Hello everyone, PLEASE HELP ME find this game from my childhood. It was released around 2009 and I am pretty sure it was made in FLASH.
It was 3D single player, and I remember you get to RIDE A DRAGON/WINGED CREATURE early on.
You casts spells like FIREBALLS and LIGHTNING BALLS OUT OF YOUR HANDS.
There were health pots and mana pots
It was a SINGLE PLAYER game.
It was 3D, OFFLINE, it definitely was not Adventure Quest or Dragonfable.
It was THIRD PERSON PERSPECTIVE.
The CHARACTER DESIGN was very SIMPLE.
The colours was also very simple, no complex shadings etc.
AT THE END OF EVERY LEVEL YOU GET ONTO A SHIP TO GET TO THE NEXT LEVEL.
Please help me find this! Thank you everyone!
Here are some images that are similar to the game:
r/tipofmyjoystick • u/NotDeadpool86 • 4h ago
[PC][1990s]This line is in my brain. HALP!
Lately I've had a memory bubble up to the surface of a bit from an old computer game I played at my grandparents' house ages ago in the late '90s, and I CANNOT remember what the game was. I'm hoping someone can help.
I remember it being more of a logic/puzzle game rather than action or platformer, and there was a map or somehow zoomed out view. In the background area there was a mountain overlooking water, and when you clicked on it the narrator would chime in about a bear climbing the mountain "to see what he could see." The game may have included some kind of storybook or tale aspect as well. I'm unsure.
Can anyone think of what I might be remembering?
r/tipofmyjoystick • u/hopefulindiegamedev • 34m ago
[PC][2021-2024] 2D game about chatting around a campfire with your fellow adventuring party companions
I came across a trailer for a game , the mechanics of which were mainly centered around talking with the fellow members of your adventuring party. Anyone know what I'm talking about?
r/tipofmyjoystick • u/NotRevising • 10h ago
[PC] [Mid 2010s I think] Fantasy setting choose how to spend your time before apocalypse in city
i.redd.itI know the artist’s rendition sucks but hear me out.
Platform: PC (AFAIK)
Genre: Puzzle/Story?
Estimated year of release: mid 2010s, I watched YouTubers playing it then.
Art style: cartoonish sort of hand drawn maybe?
Gameplay: you had a day countdown I think to when the city would be destroyed somehow. There were different characters, mages and fighters and the like, and the way you spent your time could solve the problem or worsen it? You clicked buildings to do things in them, I also think it was multiplayer.
I seem to remember one player becoming a werewolf due to choices.
CHARACTER WISE: just remembered there was definitely a big woodcutter character that one person played - I wanna say there might’ve been some fairy tale influences on the game.
Anyway i know it’s not a lot to use but hopefully someone can help :))
r/tipofmyjoystick • u/Evildoctorpeper • 2h ago
Star Wars: Commander [Phone][2010s] Clash of Clans but Star Wars
I used to play a game when I was younger and I want to know if it is still available. All I can remember is that it was pretty much just clash of clans but star wars, but you also got to choose the light side or the dark side.
r/tipofmyjoystick • u/someonethatlikesass • 3h ago
[Phone game] [4-5 years ago? not sure] evil sea witch and you repair the area with sand bricks
there was some evil sea witch that destroyed the land so you had to rebuild it and you did with like sand bricks or something? you dragged the bricks around to rebuild it and stuff it had crafting and stuff
r/tipofmyjoystick • u/Liperim • 1h ago
[PC] [1990s-2000s] Really old arcade-like war game where you could choose between multiple war vehicles(planes, helicopters & tanks iirc)
Platform(s): PC
Genre: Arcade (?) / War game / Third Person Shooter
Estimated year of release: Honestly, no idea, probably in between 90s and 2000s since the graphics were "good" for the time when I played it (2005) but not surprisingly insane
Graphics/art style: All polygons, I would say it's a middle term between N64 and SNES graphics. I know it sounds weird.
I remember playing this game about 20 years ago, in the first Desktop I ever managed to get my hands on.
Graphics were all polygons as I said, not really polished, start menu was something really simple that redirected you to a page where you could choose between multiple vehicles, I clearly remember a green tank, green plane and a helicopter. Pretty sure there were other colors beside these ones.
Gameplaywise, kinda remembers me about games like Vigilante 8 or Wreckfest, only thing to do in the game was search for another vehicles and try to explode them as fast as possible.
Camera was in third person, there was a HUGE fog in the game since most PCs of the time probably couldn't render all that information at once. If I remember correctly, first time I runned it was in a Windows 98 and managed to get a disk to install on my Windows XP at home.
By the graphics and gameplay that I remember, I'm 100% sure this game didn't age well, it was way too simple to have any success but I'm searching for it for at least 10 years at this point and no success 😥
r/tipofmyjoystick • u/keborb • 4h ago
Illbleed [PSX][1990s]Horror game with a chapter in which people are turned into trees
I will preface this by saying that I never actually played this game - I came across its OST on YouTube when listening to the Alice: Madness Returns OST in 2011 ("Queensland", specifically).
I remember the song in particular was very percussive, and featured on a stage in which people are turned into trees, or there was a sawmill, or something. The game was certainly spooky but not necessarily a straight horror game - I think the protagonists may have even been children. It was almost certainly produced in Japan.
It's been a long time but I remember that background music really well, and I'd like to find it again... I will put my best guesses below. I know it's a longshot, so thank you!
Platform(s): Probably Playstation, perhaps PC or Playstation 2
Genre: Horror, not certain about the gameplay
Estimated year of release: Probably late 1990s
Graphics/art style: I think it was fairly typical giant-polygon early 3D stuff. Not having played the game, it's hard to know.
Notable characters: Likely a young girl, or a young girl and her brother. Maybe.
Notable gameplay mechanics: No idea.
r/tipofmyjoystick • u/Fair-Cat-559 • 2h ago
Path of Exile II [PC] [2015 - 2024] RPG where the opening sequence is you and a bunch of others about to be hanged and the character you choose has their rope cut coincidentally and escapes
saw a short clip of it on yt on a video about baldurs gate3 but my memory is super bad so im kinda like an unreliable narrator here. but i remember that its probably a crpg and a modern one at that
r/tipofmyjoystick • u/Enceladus_98 • 17h ago
Lone Faction [PC] [MID-2000'S] Robot side scroller / shooter through laboratory.
i.redd.itHi.
I remember an old game where you played as a blue-ish / grey robot which started the level by breaking out of one of those big test tube containers that was in a laboratory, you then fought your way through the laboratory / office complex by shooting, jumping and melee-ing enemies. The level ended with a giant wall that had guns coming out of it that you had to shoot.
I can't tell you what the next few levels were like as I never made it to them as I wasn't too good and the game was very hard. It would have been on an old flash game website, perhaps Ebaums World or Addicting Games?
Does this ring a bell for anyone? I'm sorry I can't give too more, it's quite a faint memory now.
r/tipofmyjoystick • u/Max-Kitsch • 2h ago
Meritous [PC][Early 2000s] 2d topdown labyrinth crawler
Platform(s): PC
Genre: 2d arcade, crawler (for the lack of a better definition)
Estimated year of release: late 90s, early 2000s
Graphics/art style: simplistic, almost monochrome, overall hue is changing depending on the part of the map
Notable Gameplay Mechanics: the only way of attacking enemies for the player is to charge and release a circular blast around their character
Other details:
- It's 2d top-down labyrinth. Possibly, but for that I'm not so sure, procedurally generated.
- DOS or Win95. Not sure whether it was running in a window. I believe it was keyboard-controlled.
- The only attack the player had was to charge and then release a circular blast around their character. The power and radius of the blast depended on how long you've charged.
- Labyrinth contained power-ups for said splash, increasing its damage and radius.
- The graphics was almost monochrome with the hue depending on the current part of the labyrinth the player was located in.
- I'm almost certain it's not one of the Gauntlet series game.
r/tipofmyjoystick • u/Creative_Document777 • 2h ago
[Mobile] [2000s] Historical Romance fashion game
Platforms: Mobile (was leaning towards iOS but couldn't find it in my purchase history anywhere)
Genre: Historical (Victorian?) romance fashion game
Graphics/art style: I think it was visual novel like, distinct art style, illustrated, maybe featured origami/paper textures or a handrawn aesthetic. Set in historical time period with matching clothing in a 2d style
Notable characters: Main character is a female, there are other characters that you can meet and who have their own romance route from what I recall. In the very beginning of the game I think the first option you meet is a male painter/artist that you can converse with while he paints. I think he didn't particularly think much of society or his father. One of the other first romance options was some rich guy in a fancy teal hat and clothing, wearing a monocule, maybe either blond or red haired that you can meet at a ball?
Notable gameplay mechanics: I think the game had an overall storybook aesthetic. There were levels/chapters where your character would attend a ball, or some other outing and you'd be able to make some choices which would then result in meeting one or the other potential romance options (of which their were many). You'd choose dialogue which would affect your relationship status with them and keep building it up. There was a fashion element to it as I remember you would get random clothing boxes after dates or chapters that would then have an article of clothing that you could equip. Can't remember if there were any other elements as I didn't get very far into the game, I think there was a map of different locations where you could take a walk with one of the characters or visit some other place like a garden, gallery, etc.
Other details: Not any of the Nikki games, wouldn't say it was an anime game either. Can't find it in my purchase history so it's likely been removed from the app store.
r/tipofmyjoystick • u/thatOne_Nugget • 2h ago
[Mobile][2014] A mobile TD game about tapping on purple monsters
Platform(s): iOS (maybe Android too, but I only played it on my mom's iPhone back then)
Genre: tower defense, arcade
Estimated year of release: Must've been around 2013-2014 when I played it
Graphics/art style: Not sure anymore, could've either been pixel art or drawn
Notable characters: purple monsters, I mostly remember some of them walking around in brown barrels they used as armor. I remember them as having fur, walking on 2 legs and having a large wide mouth with sharp teeth
Notable gameplay mechanics: The main mechanic of the game was the purple monsters walking from the top to the bottom and you had to tap them to damage and kill them before they reached the bottom. Some of them were armored (like wearing barrels) and I think some were also flying in bubbles or were colored green when they used acid. I believe the game had levels you played through
Other details: As far as I remember the intro of the game was about a village that was raided by the monsters and they stole some kind of purple potion, OR they purple potion turned the villagers into the monsters and then they destroyed the village. Might've been a dwarf village of some kind, not sure anymore
r/tipofmyjoystick • u/Aloiseby • 3h ago
[ipad/phone] [2011] you had a lot of chest or boxes in a pile, each one is a story from someone, if you had the key, you were able to read it
Hi this was a game I played in my uncle's IPad around 2010-2013, around Christmas time.
I remember you had a pile of something that stored the stories, it might be a lot of chest/boxes/envelopes/jars or even doors, and If you had the right key, you were able to read the story.
The stories were illustrated and were about a lot of themes, fantasy, real life, made up people, but there wasn't any mention to classics (like Grimm/Aesop/Andersen) or universal stories and that's why I liked it.
I don't really remember how you were supposed to get the keys but I do remember you had to pay to unlock all the stories, it was like 3-5$ or so because I remember my mom saying to my uncle that it was like gifting me a candy.
The stories were beautiful as it was the illustrations, they felt hand made and it had a wooden/cozy idea around it.
r/tipofmyjoystick • u/lolpom878 • 3h ago
[phone] [2010s] Clockwork cult game?
You can switch between current time and the past, and the past is coming into the present and you have to fix it but there's some hooded figure trying to stop you. It's a semi-realistic game, kinda like the five bn or Artifex Mundi games. Very dark, Grey colors.
r/tipofmyjoystick • u/renjunniis • 3h ago
A Dark Room [iPod / app] [2010s] black screen with white text; foraging and building a shelter
EDIT: found - a dark room
i remember playing a game on my ipod that was a black screen with very simple graphics, pretty much only crafted from html (iirc). it looked like it was coded by hand. you played as a person alone in the wilderness and would have to choose a direction to travel based on a short text blurb. you would gather supplies and use them to build fire and shelter and eventually attract other people and begin a community. certain choices would lead you to death. it was around 2010-2013 i believe, maybe a little earlier.
r/tipofmyjoystick • u/Cyrillen_97 • 5h ago
[browser][2010]rpg like game, not turn based, pixel art, blonde protagonist.
I wanted some help finding an old game i used to play years back, it is a browser game, the art style i would call pixel art, or pixel in general, the main protag in the art is blonde, and i remember the title started with a "V"(i think), you start in a small town and outside the town are slimes, which are the first enemy, the game in itself is action combat (kinda), not turn based, you can level up and there's a skill system, i dont remember many details about it but i remember you can explore the map, and there's a specific dungeon in which you can confront...i would say versions of yourself or protag-like enemies for rewards, there's also boss dungeons, i remember one of the skills was charging your attack holding the button and, if released at the correct time, it did extra damage on top of the charged attack damage, but this was a mid game skill if i remember correctly.
r/tipofmyjoystick • u/Fem-Blobfish • 1m ago
[PC][Roblox][2012-2015] Roblox game about hunting dinosaurs
I remember playing this one specific Roblox game when I was younger where you would spawn into a building in a corner of the square map and would be given a pistol to hunt dinosaurs. There was a pack of raptors, a trex, and a long neck(?). After each kill you would get money to buy better guns. The map was a square with a mound of large brown blocks in the middle that was meant to be a mountain, the raptors would spawn near a pond across from spawn and the trex could get stuck in spawn if it chased you in.
r/tipofmyjoystick • u/Creepy_Conference775 • 3h ago
[Windows][around the 2000s] Slots game with a museum
Platform(s): Windows
Genre: Casino/Slots
Estimated year of release: 2000s
Graphics/art style: i recall it being a weird 3D
Notable characters: in the museum section of the game, you'd collect things like fortune cookies, or a parachute, and the narrator would give a skit, or joke, or a description on it. i remember he gets hurt in one of them
Notable gameplay mechanics: TONS of slots, some had fancy animations, and it was oddly noisy iirc
Other details: didn't use real money, and offline. during the start up there was a logo that was a peach
EDIT: So after a lot of digging i can say that "Reel Deal Slots 2nd volume looks INCREDIBLY close"