Some Ideas... Thread

I'll never get the chance to develop certain things (not like they're amazing anyway) so I figured I'd share them here...

A 2D side scroller that's completely split down the middle. The Bosses, like pieces of paper (figured the engine would be neat, as if all parts are held together like paper dolls) are scary and gruesome on the outside, and then the next layer would be like a cut away of the inside of them - even more gruesome! The main character can pull his head apart (front layer gets pulled backward, back layer gets pulled forward or vice versa) revealing not only the innards of his skull but also a hidden weapon, like a missile that shoots out from inside or another gnarly weapon/projectile. The main story of the game is sort of a twisted stroll through an extreme version of a fellow's life (youth, work, aging, play, and finally death) and is overall a fanciful, artful and dynamic game that plays on immaturity, maturity, political correctness and fear. The focus on immaturity is also a play on innocence/naivety in a seemingly corrupt world. I have some illustrations somewhere but couldn't design everything by hand alone... I dunno 'bout anyone else, but in the some of the early Super Mario games I was awestruck that you could find secrets hidden behind-the-scenes so to speak and I think revisiting that feeling would be, nearly, the whole point of the game.

Another 2D side-scroller that I'd hoped to see around sounded somewhat similar to games like Starbound and Terraria but had an emphasis on symbiosis and cooperative biology. The protagonist itself is more like a malleable blob humanoid and only takes on the characteristics it finds useful in it's environment. There was once a game where you played as a fish type thing and used other creature's abilities to advance - well this is something like that but more dynamic and (if done properly) would be stunningly visual. To adapt in darker environments it could find flora or fauna who are bio-luminescent or to pass through a poisonous membrane it would need to find other plants or animals that can pass through and figure out the adaption by either consuming it or helping it in some way. The creative/freeplay part comes really from the character customization and perhaps an aspect of procedural generation could add to the overall length of gameplay. The ultimate endeavour for the character would be to trace it's own origin back to a whole different plant and try to survive in a steel jungle after living in a green, organic one using it's favourite characteristics.

These are rough concepts but I've had stories, settings and dynamics figured out that I believed were rare if not unique but have realized that I will never have the capacity to bring these things to life. If anyone can make use of these ideas or wants any more information feel free to email me. If I perhaps inspired at least one person I'd be very happy, and if I inspired none and all this has been done - oh well, I'll try again

Symbiosis and coop biology sounds really interesting. I've always wanted a game where the "upgrades" the character does is uncapped, and non deterministic. As in the designers haven't chosen what you can ultimately become but rather what blocks of upgrades is available. Then it would be up to the player to string these things together.
I played a game many many years ago, Evolva, it advertized these things, but in the end you were just pulling a slider in an evolutionary sequence that the designers had designed. What a let down. So what if the player ends up making something completely ridiculous?

I've never played Evolva but it does look interesting. Thank you for the input - I feel the same way: Delimiting character creation does so much.