Building the plane while flying it

A saying I read in my copy of "Making Games," a magazine I picked up at GDC Europe, talking about Crytek's mo-cap pipeline for Ryse.

This came after the weekly board game night at the Technion in which I tried Mage Tower for the first time.

As these things often do, an idea was sparked: a game in which you build your spaceship as you fly through the vacuum of space, somehow similar to Galaxy Truckers in reverse.

Pieces added to your ship would work with one another in different ways, creating all sorts of interesting combos.
A drafting mechanic for crew is considered.

In short, this is just another idea in its diapers that will probably gather dust in a corner of my mind, like so many other before it.

Oni Touge

Been thinking some more about the endless drift concept, which I'm currently leaning towards calling Oni Touge.

What if instead of a single right or left button I would use three for each side.
Looking at the following example, a player would need to start a left turn by pushing the "D" button, making his way towards the "A" to increase his turning rate as necessary, even going over to "L" through "J" at a hairpin turn, with the space acting as the break to keep him/her from flying of the road.

Releasing the keys would return the wheel to center. Not sure if pushing a button out of sequence (like starting a right turn by pushing "K") should have any effect, a penalty, or a similar result as if "J" was pushed first.

Endless Drift

I'm currently reading through the Developer Magazine's Career Guide I picked up at GDC Europe. There's an article on how to make your own endless runner in Unity. A rocket avoiding obstacles and collecting bonue points? Lame.

So what sort of idea can I come up with that isn't quite so generic? An endless tōge to race down, drifting around the corners, trying to avoid dropping down the cliff or smashing into the mountain, skidding over loose debris.
A pumping eurobeat soundtrack, cars and achievements to unlock, scenery changing around you from typical Japanese mountain to fire and brimstone in hell... ;)

Left, right and brake, the only 3 buttons you would need as the car builds up speed without any player input.
A camera which gives exciting views and enough information so that the player can react to what's coming up.

Blast From the Past

One of the first X-Com clones I thought of year ago was one based in a fantasy setting, in which you play as the leader of a guild of thieves.

Been thinking about this concept again, and I think it has more meat than the usual spiritual and recent successors to the classic from the 90's.

Instead of intercepting aliens, you would send your band of thieves underground through sewers and tunnels to sack various locations, whether they be residential, commercial or industrial.
Other missions will provide the opportunity to recruit new people to your cause, stop rivals from taking over your territory or defeat monsters threatening your base.

Unlike X-Com where you hired people for the exclusive position which they filled (soldier, scientist, or worker,) in my game people would fill different roles - if you take your blacksmith out to a mission, your ability to forge new weapons or armor will be limited, especially if he is wounded or killed. If you allow your wizard to research spells, she won't be able to come on a mission with you, and you may miss an opportunity to learn new magic.
Recruits will start with stats that will lend them towards particular roles, and they may become more specialized or diversified as they gain experience.

Finally, I thought of a variation on the color based magic system similar to D&D, Magic The Gathering and Tolkien's novels, changing primary colors to such things as brown or grey magic, enabling control of such elements as mud and mildew.

I think this game is a pipe dream, but wanted to write it down anyways, in case I or someone else finds a use for it.
My High Tech recruitment / Silicone Valley board game is a more attainable goal, and sill on slow burn in the back of my head. I need to try to come up with a flow chart of how things could work.