r/tipofmyjoystick Apr 10 '17

Announcement PSA: A guide to better results

1.6k Upvotes

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 28d ago

[Meta] Can we stop with the "[idk][idk]" posts?

289 Upvotes

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 9h ago

Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution [PS2][2002] Looks like the training mode of a fighting game

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38 Upvotes

r/tipofmyjoystick 11h ago

[PC] [2000's] 2D Egyptian-Themed Game Where the Protagonist Must Escape Rooms by Following Specific Paths Between Platforms

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44 Upvotes

[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 2h ago

[PC] [1990] Sci fi adventure game

6 Upvotes

Hi guys, I am looking for a videogame from the nineties (I remember playing it in 2001, but it was older, like 1997). I don't remember the name, but it was a sci fi adventure game with little to no animations but a lot of cool and realistic illustrations. I remember it had a female lead, at least in the very beginning, waking up from some sort of criogenic sleep. I remember that the female lead had tattooes on her face (I don't know if she was human or some sort of cyborg). There was lot of text and lore, to the point it felt almost like a digital gamebook. The color palette was blueish-purple. I know it's not a lot of informations, but does it ring a bell to somebody? Thank you!

Edit: to be more accurate, the game doesn't let you move your character around. It felt more like a digital book game because you could partecipate in the story by making choices.


r/tipofmyjoystick 17h ago

The Guided Fate Paradox [PS2][2000s] seems like an atlus game

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66 Upvotes

r/tipofmyjoystick 2h ago

[PC][90s to the early 2000s] Game where you are on a boat in Africa

3 Upvotes

Now this game was an exploration simulator that I got TONS of hours in not knowing what I was really doing. You were exploring African rivers in like a canoe, and every so often you'd find a place like a small riverside hut with people you could talk to or interact with. When you left you got back into the boat and kept going up the river you were in. I played it on I think Windows XP when I was around three to five, and it was interesting as hell.

It is not one of those old DOS games, definitely had some good graphics to it, but it was "Jungle something or other" I wanna say, but I cannot for the life of me remember the name. Did anyone else play this game on an older PC? If so please tell me you remember it


r/tipofmyjoystick 37m ago

Basilisk 2000 [PC] [2010-202-] Inide horror fantasy game

Upvotes

This has been bothering me for a few days now. I recall watching a YouTube video analysing this series, and for the life of me, I can't recall the name of it.

It's specifically two games, though they are intended to be played together. The first, from my memory, is an NES-styled fantasy game with some horror elements in there too. I recall less about this game, though I think the in-game perspective is from behind a knight character, though I may be wrong about this. I also think that the game gives you a fake ROM and emulator that you have to use to play the game.

The second game is what I recall the most about. The second game is treated as an abandoned game that was recovered. This game instead uses a 3D engine, and the concept of the game is that it was abandoned so early in development that you are playing more of a level editor using the in-game engine. You get to use context clues to load up other levels and items into the world. Some of the levels are not part of the fantasy setting; I think there’s even an office setting in there. I also think that towards the end of this game, it gives you a “ROM” of the first game that's been modified, which you then have to use with the custom emulator the first game gave you.

A few other details are that I believe the games were hosted on Itch.io? The first game may have been free, but the second game definitely costs money. I also recall that the games have some imagery with snakes, maybe ouroboros? Any help on this would be appreciated, thanks :)


r/tipofmyjoystick 1h ago

Starglider [PC][80’s] A vector line art game.

Upvotes

You flew a ship around the landscape shooting/killing ships and or creatures. I remember you had to go to specific areas and land to recharge. It was first person I think.


r/tipofmyjoystick 4h ago

[wii] [~2010s] game where you collected white dots and you had a chosen power

3 Upvotes

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 3h ago

[PC] [2000s] Point and click Christmas-themed house-wrecking game

2 Upvotes

Never posted here before so I hope I’m doing this right. This has been bothering me for so long and I can’t find anything online.

There was a game my brother and I used to play all the time in the early 2000s. You would play as a young boy whose only goal was to do as much damage to his house as possible. I distinctly remember the game being themed around Christmas time. It was an extremely simple point-and-click game: the boy would stand in one spot on the left side of the screen, positioned on one end of the house. In front of him was a soccer ball or some other projectile object. You would click and hold your mouse on some other part of the screen to control the speed and trajectory of the ball, which, when released, would shoot the ball through the rest of the house in a side-scrolling animation, crashing into and breaking everything in sight, ideally traveling all the way to the other end of the house. You would get points for how much damage you created, the more the better. I think you could choose to play through different locations of the house (i.e. the living room, kitchen, bathroom, etc.) with the goal just to get the highest score and do the most damage.


r/tipofmyjoystick 7h 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.

6 Upvotes

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:

Abbaye

Cave Island

Dreamscape

Cirith Ungol

Lothlorien

Poulpito

Rah

Baby Knight

L'île du magicien


r/tipofmyjoystick 3h ago

NOCTURNALS [PC] [2022-2024] Short Game like telltale but simpler art?

2 Upvotes

Hey guys, there's this game that i watched before, i think it could also be available in other platforms other than PC. The art style is like Telltale but it's much simpler, like minecraft but not pixelated.

It's like an apocalypse game but it's not zombies it's more of like monster wolves. The game starts where you try to get in a a department store i think you're trying to get gas for your car. then you encounter 2 women. one is like friendly but the other doesn't trust you, so you runaway from them, there's this series of QTE where you need to car jack the exit door up to get out, then you runaway with the car but then you get shot.

Then the next morning (or maybe a few days) you're in a van of another guy. you heal up there and after that there's an option to pick fruits or logs i think.

then you set out to a school through a tunnel. i think there's also an option to have romantic relationship with the guy. you go to the school and you have a option to dance at the prom place.

then you escape from that because the monster is coming after you, i think the other girl is also here but only a glimpse.

Your main objective is to get past a bridge. after that it ends. it actually ends after you escape the monster from the school, after that it's just driving and dialogues.


r/tipofmyjoystick 1m ago

[2000s][Xbox 360] Army FPS where you have to infiltrate various points of interest to kill or capture high value targets all of which are assigned a card from a playing deck

Upvotes

I'm sure it was towards the end of the 2000s, I had it on Xbox 360 but was probably on Playstation too...you were a soldier for the US carrying out black ops missions to kill or capture high value targets, usually in the typical anti-US areas like N Korea, Afghanistan etc. Each HVT was assigned a card from a deck of playing cards - i.e. a North Korean General would be the Jack of Diamonds.

As you worked your way through the deck each "boss" would get harder. FPS style, have to work your way through the level working out which way to go (so had an element of open world), encountering NCPs of varying difficulty as you go, there would have a time limit imposed, too, I think?!

I can't remember much else of the storyline - besides the typical US saving the day by getting the bad guy - but I do recall there was a special weapon you could acquire in one of the African levels called The Streetsweeper which obliterated everything!


r/tipofmyjoystick 5m ago

[PC][about 2007]Space station and ship building simulation game and choose a faction.

Upvotes

Hey everyone, I need help finding the name of a game I loved playing as a kid but can't remember. I'm pretty sure it's no longer operational but I'd still like to know. It was a simulation and strategy game where you had to build your star base like its a city and you had to build ships from it as well. You also had to pick one of several factions when starting a save that changed the looks and appearance of your ships and starbase. One of the factions, my favorite, was themed around deception, luxury, and the color purple. There was another war like faction themed orang-ish red, and another that was blue themed and dealt with democracy. If it helps, the game also had multiple trailers for it voiced by a narrator that sounded a lot like Jeffrey Combs, the voice actor that voiced Ratchet from Transformers Prime. Any ideas?


r/tipofmyjoystick 11m ago

[Android] [2010-2017] 2d turn based pokemon monster dna merge game

Upvotes

-Platform(s): android possible more
-Genre: turn based strategy teams of 3
-Estimated year of release: late 2010 to around 2017 i think

-Graphics/art style: 2d drawings dark gritty art style was in a dirty run down city
-Notable characters: there was a zombie, a alien, a robot, lots of other charaters
-Notable gameplay mechanics: other than the turn based fighting, you can take the monster's dna and mix, fuse, merge it with another monster's dna to give to a new monster. it was like pokemon with types of monsters each with its weaknesses and strengths, there was like cosmic (alien), dark, tech and some other element types i think.

-Other details: you had a base like clash of clans where your base was onto of a building on the roof and you had limited space to place down your dna merge vats and other base building stuff. i also remember a gambling mechanic where you could straight up gamble your free currency for more in a slots machine


r/tipofmyjoystick 14h ago

[PC] [Mid 2010s I think] Fantasy setting choose how to spend your time before apocalypse in city

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15 Upvotes

I 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 19m ago

[mobile (maybe pc too)] [2000s/2010s] Vehicle pvp with guns capture the flag

Upvotes

I played it on my phone and it was like early 2000 style graphics and it was like player vs player and also pve. It was different vehicles mainly cars like muscle cars and sports cars with guns and weapons on them. There was like an army truck aswell and you unlocked them by defeating the boss that owned the car. There was like a hovercraft one too. I remember like a map was big and had a train run through the middle every now and again and like the whole point was the capture the flag. There was mini guns and lasers that you can have the top of the vehicle. About as much as I can remember right now but any questions I will try answer


r/tipofmyjoystick 19m ago

[Wii or console close to it] [2010s?] Game where you defeat mechs and destroy each portion of it

Upvotes

I remember I use to watch this all bosses video of this game where you would hit a ball at these giant robots and destroy parts off of it. There was a percentage number of damage that you would get more of if you destroy the more smaller and useless parts of the boss. Does anyone know what the game was?


r/tipofmyjoystick 8h ago

[PC][1990s]This line is in my brain. HALP!

6 Upvotes

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 4h ago

[PC][2021-2024] 2D game about chatting around a campfire with your fellow adventuring party companions

2 Upvotes

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 44m ago

[Browser] [2010-2014] possibly "girly" kids browser mmo

Upvotes

Platform: browser

Genre: kid's mmo in the vain of club penguin or panfu

Date of release: unsure but it had to be active in the early 2010s possibly made in the late 2000s

This game is very hard to remember. I only have like a single vague memory of one of the areas and an overall tone that I somewhat remember.

The graphics were in a top down/isometric format with either all 2d graphics or simple 3d characters over 2d backgrounds. Again think games like club penguin.

The biggest thing I remember is thinking the artstyle was a bit girly or aimed more towards young girls. Think glitter, pink and purple coloring, maybe a bit of neons, cute characters. I was a kid when I played the game though so my perception could be a bit warped.

The character's if I recall correctly were either not human or chibi humans (mermaids maybe?) NOT the longer proportions of something like movie star planet. Again think something like club penguin or panfu.

The game was pretty fantastical if I recall. As in a fairy/mermaid/princess pinkalicousness not very grounded magical setting. Which leads to the thing I remember the most vividly: A specific area in the game that was either set in space or like a void. It had either a pink/purple crystal floor or like a floor made of bubbles it was something with a bumpy texture like that. The vibe of the area in my mind was a cross between world flower in mario 3d world and magicant from earthbound but within the game's brower mmo artstyle.

The gameplay was basically like any other kids mmo at the time so it's very hard to recall any specifics.

Sorry I can't remember any specific details other than what I've shared already. My memory of this game is so vague I'm kinda questioning if my mind is playing tricks on me. Any help in this would be appreciated since I've already googled for it many a time to no avail.


r/tipofmyjoystick 6h ago

Star Wars: Commander [Phone][2010s] Clash of Clans but Star Wars

3 Upvotes

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 54m ago

[PC][2000s] Defending a city building from alien buglike creatures

Upvotes

Platform(s): PC

Genre: shooter, defence (you guard a building like for example in Palisade guardian)

Estimated year of release: 2000-2012

Graphics/art style: cartoony, simple colors

Notable characters: the aliens appeared bug-like, one was yellow and kinda looked like a bee.

Notable gameplay mechanics: 2D first person perspective, the building is in the middle of the screen, i think only the crosshair is visible so no gun models. After every wave you can spend points to upgrade weapons and repair your building.

Other details: i feel like this game's art style is of a type ypu would often see on miniclip or max games and i have a strong feeling its from one of those sites but i really dont know :(


r/tipofmyjoystick 1h ago

[PC][2015-2020 estimate] A semi horror stealth game about a robot escaping a place

Upvotes

So I can't remember too much about this game besides that. The only other thing I remember is that believe it had sort of rogue like mechanics