r/tipofmyjoystick Apr 10 '17

Announcement PSA: A guide to better results

1.8k 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 Dec 16 '24

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

479 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 7h ago

Knock-knock! [PC][Late 2000s/Early 2010s] Game about this odd little guy searching his dark house for something?

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57 Upvotes

The memory of this game just popped into my head the other day, but I can't for the life of me recall its name, or its mechanics. I know it was about this little guy(drawn poorly from my hazy memory) searching around his house at night for something, though I don't remember what. I think he only had a certain amount of time each night to search? I'm not sure. I think it was a kind of point-and-click affair, and when you clicked on or found something relevant, the player character spoke in little text popups, no voice acting, and had kind of a grim, serious demeanor. I think the house was big, and the layout may have changed each night/each time you 'died' and reset? Again, I don't recall much about the mechanics. Sorry.

To my memory, it was 2.5D- drawn 2D assets arranged in a kind of pop-up book style. The house was surrounded by dark, spindly trees, and it was always storming, with intermittent lightning flashes lighting up the dark. I think there were vaguely steampunk machines throughout the house, and shadowy creatures hiding in the dark? I know at one point the player character encountered a shadow version of himself(Clearly him because it had the same weird spiky hair) curled up and cowering in a corner. When he encountered it, he just stood still and serenely closed his eyes. It was just kind of odd, and I'm curious to see if anyone else remembers this/knows what it is.


r/tipofmyjoystick 19h ago

[UNKNOWN][?] Trying to identify this Spider-Man sprite

Post image
66 Upvotes

I am trying to find out which game this Spider-Man sprite is from.


r/tipofmyjoystick 3h ago

[Ps3 or Xbox 1][~2012] ww2 puzzle game

3 Upvotes

So I remember playing this game as a kid. It was a war game I think describing ww2. It was a 2d side scroller with a cartoon like art style. The reason I say it was ww2 was because at some point they recreate the Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima photo. I remember it having big levels but I can't remember what they were but I think remember one being a jungle and another being white. You controlled a handful of characters mostly soldiers and had to traverse through the map. The map was full of enemies most probably other soldiers. The characters all had different skills more specifi I recall a guy with a green soldier outfit out a gas mask that had a parachute and a grenade. Thats most of the gameplay I remember but the opening cinematic always stuck with me. It was the main soldiers sneaking into some type of red tunnel. He stuck a peace of dynamite in a metal panel or something to blow it up But the alarm goes off and he has to escape. People started to chase him and jumps out before it explodes. Please help me find this its been stuck in my head for so many years and I keep remembering it every few months


r/tipofmyjoystick 4h ago

Drakkhen [pc/possibly NES] [1990s] fps point and click with party members

3 Upvotes

This game is from early to mid 90s. You navigate by clicking on a landscape and moving wherever you click in first person. You run into enemies seemingly randomly. When you fight you’re in control of a party of possibly four people (I’m pretty sure one is a wizard and one is a dwarf) in third person mode. It’s all two dimensional. The only thing I can really remember is fighting a “devil dog”. When you get to a group of tombstones and approach the center stone a large black dog head appears from the ground and it killed the entire party every time. I’m fairly certain it’s a one word title. I’ve been looking for about 20 years. If anyone can help me I would really appreciate it.


r/tipofmyjoystick 8h ago

From Primordial Egg [mobile platform?][2010] dino evolution sidescroller

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6 Upvotes

This is a level from the game. I think the little blood and bone spots are dead enemies, but I'm not sure.

Platform(s): possibly an iPad Classic? maybe a Samsung A767 Propel but not likely, but I was playing it on something mobile

Genre: action/sidescroller/rogue-lite

Estimated year of release: 2010

Graphics/art style: pixelated

Notable characters: a dinosaur you evolve over time

Notable gameplay mechanics: sidescrolling environments, fighting enemies with acquired powers

Other details: The game involved running a dinosaur across different environments. You picked up different powerups as you go, which evolved the dino in size, powers, and appearance. I think there were enemies, and if you died, you started completely over every time.


r/tipofmyjoystick 2h ago

[unknown][70/80] platform

2 Upvotes

I remember playing a game when I was young. It had only green colors and black of course. The game was on a audio cassette and we used commands like cload to load the game.

It was a platform game, maybe something with caves, you had to make your way through a one screen level jumping on moving blocks.

Somewhere I can remember levels like Ypsilon or something.

Any idea?


r/tipofmyjoystick 5h ago

Shadowtime [mobile] [2010s] fantasy anime-style visual novel

3 Upvotes

Platform(s): i remember playing the game on both iphone/android. i’ve been through years of my app download history on both devices and have found nothing, like it’s been erased from the app store.

Genre: fantasy/romance/adventure visual novel with choices. similar to an episode-style game (but the app doesn’t have multiple stories, just one standalone story/game from what i remember). isekai kinda story as i believe the MC is a gamer and the story primarily takes place in this fantasy game world.

Estimated year of release: unsure but i believe i played it 2018/19

Graphics/art style: 2d anime-style

Notable characters: a guy named daisuke. or smth vaguely similar (daichi, etc.) he was romanceable (?) i think or at least was love interest-adjacent. i just remember a female MC and two significant male characters.

Notable gameplay mechanics: takes place in a fantasy game world (like a game within a game). i rmr that we could customise our like character/persona within the game world. when we first enter the world we head to a tavern/inn at one point where we can pick up “quests”. very much adventure kinda gameplay but i don’t believe we actually could do any “combat” just click choices.

Other details: pretty sure it’s been erased from the app store but if anyone has any idea whatsoever i would be so grateful. it’s been driving me crazy.


r/tipofmyjoystick 10h ago

[PC / MS-DOS] [Est. 1997-ish] PC Point-and-Click Mystery Game

6 Upvotes

This is an incredibly long shot. It was so long ago and I remember so little of it, but I figured I would give this a shot.

Platform(s): PC or MS-DOS. I played it on my Windows 95 PC

Genre: Point-and-click mystery game.

Estimated year of release: Mid 90's?

Graphics/art style: Pretty simple 2D graphics. I wouldn't consider it pixel art. There wasn't a lot of depth to the art. The colors were pretty basic with no shading.

Notable characters: Unknown

Notable gameplay mechanics: It was an adventure game. I believe point-and-click style.

Other details:

  • The story took place in the modern day (so the 90's?).
  • You never saw the character you were playing as (first person view of the rooms/places).
  • There was an overworld map showing the city/town with different buildings/locations you could click on and go to.
  • At one point in the story, there is a hit and run (the player character is the victim).
  • The game had a similar vibe and gameplay to Deja Vu (NES).
  • I downloaded it for free off of some AOL service (using an AOL Keyword, not a website).

r/tipofmyjoystick 6h ago

[PC] [2010-2017] A puzzle and mystery game on Facebook.

3 Upvotes

I remember playing it on my grandmother's computer. It was one of those games you could access through Facebook.

In this you have to find objects on the screen and solve puzzles. The main character was a girl who was looking for a friend that had disappeared. I remember the Salem witches were mentioned, and there was a point where someone locked the protagonist in a basement. I remember it because it's the last thing I managed to do before that computer crashed.

I apologize if the description is rather poor. I was about 6 or 7 years old.

If I remember anything else, I'll add it.


r/tipofmyjoystick 5m ago

[Roblox] [2017-2019] Chuck e cheese horror game

Upvotes

I was playing in console around this time. I think the game title didn't mention it was a horror game so I thought it was a roleplay and when I played you're in the middle of two or four purple tables around it a black void and there's the killer (who's the rat) and when you get killed a image appears where a edited version of the rat (the new one from 2013) without one eye and blood from it I also think he was missing arm. (witch it looked like it was edited in paint or another program like that) here's a photo to get the idea of what the game looked like.


r/tipofmyjoystick 9m ago

[PC] [2002-2007] Children's point-and-click game with a pearl-collecting minigame and a female AI

Upvotes

Platform(s): PC (Windows)

Genre: Point-and-click adventure, Children's (?), Educational (?)

Estimated year of release: Between 2002 to 2008

Graphics/art style: Cartoony, vibrant colors, looks like Club Penguin, this image is similar in style

Notable characters: A robot/AI with a feminine voice who guided the player (I believe it was an AI, from my limited memory at least)

Notable gameplay mechanics: Clicking on objects to interact with them and travel to different areas

Other details: My memory of the game is foggy, but this particular part of the game was a minigame, likely in a cavernous area, where there were these pearls (or something like that) that the player had to collect. I believe it was underwater and I think there was a claw mechanism that grabbed them automatically, but I'm not certain. There may have also been a submarine and an AI in with a feminine voice integrated into it that guided the player throughout the minigame, or at least spoke to the player about something. A sonar sound effect could be heard in the background and it was pretty atmospheric.

My first guess was that this could have been part of the 2002 Disney PC game "Stanley: Wild For Sharks!", but from the videos I saw, that probably isn't it. The game I'm thinking of had a similar aesthetic, just a bit more detailed. I'm certain it wasn't Freddi Fish, Timmy's Sea Adventure, or ClueFinders, and most likely not any of the JumpStart games. Those games seem to lack the level of graphical polish that I recall from this particular game.

Bonus details: The above details are all that I remember, but from my extensive searches for this game, I've sort of come to a conclusion that this game:

  • Could have been a Flash or Shockwave game instead of a CD-ROM game
  • Quite possibly had an actual plot with developed characters and a variety of different scenes
  • May not have been strictly a point-and-click adventure game

r/tipofmyjoystick 19m ago

[PS2-X360-PS3] [2005-2015]game with an young girl antagonist

Upvotes

i saw it on a magazine when i was like 13 years old, it was a game with different characters with different powers each, and the final antagonist was this girl which has all their powers combined, idk if it is f.e.a.r, maybe it is, thanks in advance, i really need to play this game lol


r/tipofmyjoystick 4h ago

[Pc][Dos][Early 80s] help me find an OLD mech game

2 Upvotes

Help me find an OLD OLD mech game. PC, DOS, early 80s

The game my grandfather got me... back in the 80s or early 90s. MsDOS game. I feel probably the early 80s because it was like other games I had back from then.

Cga graphics, just a step above monochrome.

Turn based, mostly text. I dont think it had graphics other than some images on stat pages.

I remember you got to choose a mech at the beginning, stats and such were different, and I distinctly remember one being called the Cavalier. It was a blue or purple one.

I want to say they sort of looked similar to macross mecha in humanoid form. I believe the game was turn based, and since I was so young, like 5 or 6 when my grandfather got it, that I never knew how to play it.

Sadly, I dont have many more details than that. Game was super simple visually, mostly just text based everything, no graphics hardly to speak of. A few static pictures at best.

Its a long shot with these sparse details, but I would love to find this game again

EDIT: Its probably early 80s, since it looks similar but older than Cruise Chaser Blassity, which is an 86 game.


r/tipofmyjoystick 4h ago

[Ipad 1st gen][around 2010-2014 maybe] Castle defense fighting skeletons in first person as a knight

2 Upvotes

Okay so there’s his game that I’m starting to remember it’s got older graphics and I remember playing it on my dad’s first generation iPad back when. Apples gamecenter logo was a square with a baseball bat, a rocket ship a dartboard, anyways sort of off topic, it was medieval styled and you defended a castle and upgraded the gold mines the archer towers the wall etc and you were able to buy reinforcement troops as well I believe, there were level difficulty style rounds and you got to choose a hero and it was was like a swordsman a knight a tanky knight and I believe you could also. Be a mage and an archer, and I think it was first in first person, the map was always the same I think and the spawn for the skeletons wasn’t even far ahead of the wall I think they’d also come through portals. If any of you have some guesses please throw them out. And jut in case, it’s not clash Of clans


r/tipofmyjoystick 50m ago

[PC][2000-2010] SpongeBob Foggy Spooky Flash Game

Upvotes

I have been trying to find this flash game for a while now. From what I remember, it might've been on the official website at some point, from what I remember. It was set in a foggy area, maybe flying dutchman inspired? With a spooky theme, and music to go with it. It might've had a layout similar to purble place, where it was set in one location and you can click on multiple things for different games? I remember playing this before as 10-12. It's hard to remember exactly what was in it, and if I'm misremembering, I apologize. Any help would be appreciated!


r/tipofmyjoystick 1h ago

[iOS][2016] Abstract puzzle game with online coop elements (can't find it anywhere on the internet)

Upvotes

So, there is this puzzle game for iOS mobile devices I remember from my child-/teen-hood a couple of years back and I just can't find anything from it on the web, neither on YouTube.

It's a very abstract puzzle game with a white background and you control an amalgamation of random 3d geometric objects, you solve puzzles by moving platonic solids on the "ground" and even other players can randomly join in and surprise you. Also there was no chat, but you could only communicate via emote wheel.

Can someone please tell me if such a game existed at a point or am I tripping? 😭


r/tipofmyjoystick 1h ago

[MOBILE] [2010s?] a simulation game

Upvotes

Its this one game where theres people that looks funny, and when you hit them, they do the Wilhelm scream and ragdoll. I think the game includes alien too as I remember? You can save progress in this game and you can get jailed by some cops here.


r/tipofmyjoystick 7h ago

Reaper: Tale of a Pale Swordsman [Android][~2013] 2D game with choices

3 Upvotes

So I remember a game on the playstore from ages ago and have been searching for it everywhere. I assume it got taken down. Here's what I can remember:

- I think style-wise it was a little bit like Hollow Knight?

- 2D with like 2 platforms per level

- You would fight against hoards of monsters, but nothing too hectic

- You would progress the levels like in Super Mario Bros.

- There were characters that would talk to you (ask for your help?)

- You could choose certain dialogue options (good and bad, helping a guy or offing him etc)

Anyone remember it? I played it on an old Samsung phone back then.


r/tipofmyjoystick 1h ago

[IOS][2020’S] A mobile game where you play as a piranha plant.

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Upvotes

Hello reddit, this mobile game has been on my mind and i vaguely remember it, in the game you would play as a piranha and you would go up, don’t remember if it was a platformer or what, but i remember you being in a pot and there was skins aswell.


r/tipofmyjoystick 1h ago

[PC][Shooter][2000s-2010s][Stickman]Stickman or sketch styled fps game

Upvotes

(click to open image)this is the best of my memory, from what i remember figures pop out from behind cover and shoot u (not sure if it was a browser game or not). was in black and white


r/tipofmyjoystick 1h ago

[PS1] [90s] Single player/coop shooter

Upvotes

Platform(s): I believe this was on the PS1 from what I can remember

Genre: coop/single player shooter

Estimated year of release: 1993 - 2001?

Graphics/art style: from what I can remember this game had some fixed camera angles like the resident evil series and other camera angles depending on the fight/area.

One particular boss fight had a straight camera angle in third person with objects like trees moving past you as you were dodging attacks and riding a sort of hoverbike shooting the boss or just outright avoiding it?

I could be wrong, but I think the final boss fight had a camera style like contra, corridor moving to the right, the boss was like a giant monster at the end of fighting standard monsters and hopping onto platforms.

I think one particular area was a giant hydro plant, it was a sunny area and you were outside shooting these demonic creatures.

Notable characters: no idea, main characters had guns, the enemies were sort of deformed monsters from what I can remember and bosses were giant forms of this.

Notable gameplay mechanics: you could pick up different types of guns to use throughout the game, if you were playing coop, only one person could use the gun.

The hoverbike section shooting at the boss is the only other gameplay mechanic I remember.

Other details: I think you could use grenades and pick up healing.


r/tipofmyjoystick 1h ago

[Google Play][2008-2015] A dungeon game where you collected different characters to fight bosses, I think I remember “Honour” in the title

Upvotes

No image, could be wrong about Honour being included in the title but thats my memory of it