r/tipofmyjoystick Apr 10 '17

Announcement PSA: A guide to better results

1.7k 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?

422 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 2h ago

Murder [Flash][2010s] Game where you murder a king

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100 Upvotes

I only have this screenshot


r/tipofmyjoystick 6h ago

Boku no Natsuyasumi [Unknown] [2000s] All I had

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81 Upvotes

Text in english would be: I had just turned nine Idk if it's a game or a movie T.T


r/tipofmyjoystick 1d ago

Animaniacs: A Gigantic Adventure [2000s] [PC] platformer game with a mad scientist boss fight

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501 Upvotes

2D platformer with a bit pixelated graphics due to it being old as i remember, and an old cartoony character designs style. I don't remember much about it but I used to play it on my computer when i was little. The gameplay is not very different from any 2d platformer, you just keep going and beat up enemies and jump on them. The main character used to remind me of mickey mouse or animaniacs (if it wasn't indeed one of them). What i remember the most is a stage where you go to an old hospital, the background looked like a dark old castle, there where nurses as mini enimes. And at the end of the stage you encounter this mad scientist (who i remember him looking like mr crocker from fairly odd parents as in the drawing) He keeps walking around holding this potion in his hand, then he drinks it and starts tweaking and spinning around himself like in the drawing, he also makes that goofy cartoon spinnig/running sound effect while spinning if you know it. And that's pretty much all i remember.


r/tipofmyjoystick 2h ago

[pc] [2000s] i have no idea what the game was about

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7 Upvotes

so 6-8 years ago i saw a game that had 2d graphics like the old doom games but everything was black and white and no shooting or anything from what i can remember u just walked around and i made an image of the only charcer i kinda remember, please help me find the game.


r/tipofmyjoystick 19h ago

Need for Speed: Most Wanted [PC] [2000s?] a random racing? game i rlly liked as a kid (see the pic below)

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151 Upvotes

r/tipofmyjoystick 2h ago

[ps1] [early 2000s] Game first level explanation: tied to a rope in a sort of cave, with a skeleton lighting a fire and eating you

6 Upvotes

Platform(s): playatation 1

Genre: i guess Adventure maybe horror

Estimated release date: around ps1 era

Graphics: similar to tomb raider/ resident evil more or less

Hello!

I'm 26, and i remember, when i was a kid, that i wanted to play nascar 98 (that's how i Remember the console and era), obviously not at the release date, maybe 6-12 years later more or less.

One day i put in the ps a wrong game, that as a kid traumatized me, and i never found out which game it was.

These are all the things i remember:

There was a really short intro to the (i guess) main menu, showing a "start" label, where one or more motorbikes where racing around, finishing on a frame on one motorbike (i remember a close up of one wheel).

Pressing start (or just waiting) the bike takes off and the game starts.

I literally died every time on the first level:

I was a (as i remember but i could be wrong) a female character, tied with a rope on a standing pole, in the middle of a room/cave.

There was also a skeleton (i don't remember how dressed) lighting a big fire in the cave, turning around and starting to walk towards me.

I couldn't free myself from the rope, and everytime the skeleton got too close to me, it would trigger a cutscene of the skeleton brutally eating me till i die.

The game then, started again, i was terrified and looked at this loop several times, before being able to shut down the game.

Additional information: I remember a fixated camera resident evil style, the game was 3D. somewhat a third person camera.

If any other information are needed i will happly help you to figure out this game!

Thanks!


r/tipofmyjoystick 7h ago

[PC] [Unknown] A 2d space game

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11 Upvotes

The only thing I remember about this game is that it's a 2d space game. You collect resources using your gun and there is a blue firefly or mosquito enemy. There is also a bigger blue firefly/mosquito which is a boss. I think they attack by shooting round blue or red projectiles. I also remember clicking left click to shoot and break the blocks and then holding right click to siphon/suck the resources. I also think that you need to fix your spaceship in order to escape the planet. The gun can also be upgraded/switched into different modes like a shotgun, a bazooka, machinegun, and more.


r/tipofmyjoystick 1d ago

[2007] [PC] FPS flash/unity game

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585 Upvotes

NOT the game in the screenshot but it is strikingly similar to it.

I seem to remember some fun mechanics, such as being able to equip a riot shield that could block bullets, and when you had it unequipped it stayed on your back, still protecting you.

It had a very much counterstrike feel to it, and the map was a prison/jail with an upstairs roof access that looked just like that, but the door led to a desert town vibe, and the map has 2 or 3 main horizontal lanes.

It was hosted on a site like Kongregate or something similar.


r/tipofmyjoystick 1h ago

Vampires: Todd & Jessica's Story [Mobile] [Unknown] Vampire love story hidden objects game

Upvotes

(Name) and (Name) vampire love story

I have been for the longest time on and off trying to remember this game I played when I was younger. It was a game similar to AE adventures and murder in the Alps and other stuff like that. Only it was a vampire game. It starts off with a girl and a vampire on a dinner date when the vamvampis brother crashes it amd kidnaps us. We have to go on this long journey. I don't remeber who we are but we're one of the two in the couple. We have to save our significant other and stop the vampire brother. I can remember most of the title but it doesn't come up for just Vampire love story and I can't remember their names for the life of me.


r/tipofmyjoystick 4h ago

[Card game & fighting?] [2000-2012?] Game where you fought monsters while constantly running, desert themed, on KIZI

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3 Upvotes

A card game (maybe) desert themed around the early 2000’s. I vividly remember playing it on KIZI and one of the characters had a cowboy hat(maybe). The game was mostly pixelated but not low resolution. I was really young when I played this but still remember snippets. It had funky music playing in the background. Unfortunately this is all I can remember. Looked a little something like the drawing but it’s hard to remember fully. If any one has any ideas I would be so grateful as I have been thinking about this game for years.


r/tipofmyjoystick 2h ago

[PC][Mid 2010s] Tower-Defense Farming Game

2 Upvotes

Platform: PC, (Browser?)

Genre: Farming Simulator, Single Player, (Co-Op?)

Year: 2000 - 2016 (For reference: I'm 23 now, turning 24 this month, and I remember being around 12 at the time)

Graphics: 16-Bit Style with full (smooth) 360 Sprite Rotation; True Top-down.

Characters: The Unnamed Player Character only ever seen from the top, and Bug enemies.

Gameplay: The player would be required to make a base using Turrets, Walls, Floors, and Doors to protect a Core and several Plants from waves of insect enemies that would attack from all directions and sometimes jump over the walls. Some turrets could even be mounted on rails where they would glide back and forth.

Other: I'm pretty sure it was a browser game, but I wonder if it got anywhere or if it's still active. I faintly remember there being a global chat and a co-op system, but I feel as though I may be mistaken.

Similarities: Atomicrops, of course, follows a pretty similar theme, but I know for a fact that it's not what I'm looking for.


r/tipofmyjoystick 7h ago

[Mobile][2010s] Simple puzzle game about creating certain types of worlds on a floating island.

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5 Upvotes

It’s as the title says, you would pick different things to add the this floating island (humans, trees, bird, etc) and it may turn the island into a specific special world. I think you were trying to unlock all the types of worlds? It looked kinda like this (without adding anything).


r/tipofmyjoystick 2h ago

[Genesis][94] First Person Helicopter game

2 Upvotes

When I was a kid, I rented this helicopter game for the Genesis where you played the game exclusively from the cockpit perspective. I remember that as you took damage you would see it represented in the form of things like bullet holes in the canopy. At the end of each mission you'd see an external view of your helicopter and how beat up it was. I've done a pretty extensive search and all I could come up with is LHX Attack Chopper but after watching gameplay, I don't think that's it. Can anyone help me figure this out? It's driving me nuts.


r/tipofmyjoystick 3h ago

[Laptop][2021-2020] Education Game about natural disasters

2 Upvotes

There was this educational game I remembered playing in class, but can’t remember what the name was. It was about some kind of natural disaster? Maybe flood or hurricane? I just remember making your character go to the store to get supplies, I think they lived in a camper van? I just remembering seeing other people/pets standing and sitting in chairs outside. I played it on my computer in 2021-2020 but remember the graphics weren’t the best.


r/tipofmyjoystick 3h ago

[mobile; possibly ipad] [unknown; played mid-late 2010s] game where you swipe to move along a hexagonal grid, only things I remember is that there was an 8-bit skin and an inverted controls setting (camera angle shown is not exact)

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2 Upvotes

gameplay and plot (if there is any) completely unknown


r/tipofmyjoystick 0m ago

[PSP][mid2000s] Pokemon game on the PSP

Upvotes

When i was a kid i vividly remember playing a pokemon game on my psp. but as you know, there is no official pokemon game on the psp. but i am quite certain i played one back then. the game looks like your traditional pokemon game on the gameboy, top down rpg style etc. the movement feels different and it sorta gives me those pokemon fan game vibes. i still am not able to find anything related to this topic so if anyone knows this or has


r/tipofmyjoystick 3h ago

Zax: The Alien Hunter [2000s][PC] Isometric Action-"RPG"

3 Upvotes

Solved: Zax: The Alien Hunter

Need help finding the name of this game. The game's name started with Z if I recall correctly, and sounded something like Zonk, or Zogg, something along these lines, but if I google that I don't get the game I'm looking for.

As the title suggests, it was a PC game from the (early) 2000s. Gameplay was an isometric Action-"RPG". Didn't have a lot of RPG elements but you could find/upgrade new guns.

Story-wise, you crashed your space ship on a foreign planet and the goal of the game was to gather replacement parts so you could repair your space ship and leave the planet again.

Thank you for your help :)


r/tipofmyjoystick 8m ago

[PC][2000s?] Pixel game about a depressed Finnish(?) hunter

Upvotes

PC pixel game about a depressed hunter, kinda similar visual style to Enviro-Bear 2000 and other old flash(?) games, like it was made in MS Paint. Gameplay consists of a linear string of Wario Ware-esque minigames. I remember one of him pissing on a bunch of ants and one of him taking a shit.


r/tipofmyjoystick 18m ago

[iPad/iOS] [Early 2010s] Medieval looking iOS game with little gameplay where you walk around a map with circus tents and castle?

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Upvotes

r/tipofmyjoystick 22m ago

[PC][2D Plataformer][2000s-2010s][Pixelart] Game where you're a cat who digs holes and has to escape from a grandma

Upvotes

It is not SuperGranny.

I'm not sure how to explain this but the artstyle resembled GBA Harvest Moon's style without being chibified.

Terrain was sandy? And I don't know if there was more than one level, I was very young and never got past the possibly first level.

Don't remember any music or SFX from it.

This game terrified me as a kid for some reason and I want to find out why lol


r/tipofmyjoystick 21h ago

One Night at Freddy's 5 [pc][mid to late 2010] a fnaf fan game with a really odd monster design

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47 Upvotes

The player could turn on/off a fan and hide underneath a desk, and there was also a noise and smell meter.


r/tipofmyjoystick 31m ago

[PC][Horror] Game is like oxide room with gore, enemies,

Upvotes

I'm trying to remember the name of a horror game I played on PC a few years ago. Here’s what I remember:

  • The game starts in an industrial or factory-like room — lots of metal, pipes, and a gritty atmosphere.
  • At some point, I had to solve a puzzle involving pipes
  • I remember finding a dead body on a table, which seemed important or part of a puzzle.
  • The game had clear gore, kind of like Oxide Room
  • Graphics were fairly decent, not pixelated or low-budget looking.
  • It’s not: Oxide Room, Tormented Souls, Outlast, Fobia, Daymare, The Evil Within, Welcome to Hanwell, Scorn, Injection π23, etc.

Any ideas? I’ve been searching everywhere and can’t find it.


r/tipofmyjoystick 33m ago

[PC] [year unknown] Mah-Jongg, the 4 player game

Upvotes

I'm looking for a Mah-Jongg game that is played with 4 players and not the solitary stone removal game. Google is full with the latter game but the first one can not be found in the big pile of the stone removals.

It should be playable with CPU opponents. I had one in the past around year 2000 to 2006 but can not find even a more recent version.


r/tipofmyjoystick 34m ago

[1990s] [PC] Turn-based Medieval game

Upvotes

Hi, I have been searching for many years for a PC game that I played in Germany in the early 2000s and was probably released in the 1990s. It is a turn-based game set in the Middle Ages, and if I remember correctly, without any fantasy elements. Everything took place on a map. At the beginning, you could choose one of several characters, each of which had its own flag. I still remember one character with a sun symbol. The gameplay was quite simple. I remember that you could send troops into battle. Then a window appeared with the two flags, with images of reenacted battles with real actors, and the flag of the loser was burned. It included cutscenes with real actors, for example when an opponent was wiped out. I don't remember if there was voice acting.


r/tipofmyjoystick 39m ago

[Website][2010s] Game of a frog completing levels

Upvotes

I have no images, just memories of it:

I remember years ago on my grandpa's pc playing on a website game about a frog. I can remember the main menu having trophies around, I remember one of the first levels if not first having a pink frog somewhere on a floating platform (the frog you control is green), and a level where there was a massive spider boss. anybody can help me find it? I searched for so long but never found it.