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[TheDecline]

So yeah Imagination where the frig has my imagination gone ?

don’t get me wrong I had it once many years ago, If Lego was a steam game Total Time played would be Impressive.

but With all the sandbox/building/shiny games kicking about these days ive realised I have absolutely no imagination whatsoever, allow me to elaborate.

I suppose a prime example is Minecraft I’ve played countless hours across countless mods but somehow my game always ends up the same.....
BOREDOM in a square shack.

The above pretty much explains both the way I build ( in squares ) and the way I play ( something must have a purpose/function or im bored )

Food in minecraft is an example once you have a wheat farm that’s it food covered...move on...nothing to see here.

Another is large building projects, omg why do i not feel the need to build a large project ! instead i cram everything into a functional 8x8 room or something similar.

Then of course there is Dwarf fortress, Ive read about peoples forts and the amazing stories going on, yet when I play I can’t seem to be able to get beyond it being nothing more than a functional single layer of square rooms which eventually leads to boredom and a quit.

HELP i think my gaming days are coming to an end I need a way to break the cycle !

[miauw62]

1. This should probably go in life advice.
2. There are more types of games than sandbox games, you know

[Scoops Novel]

Seems you like to be propelled by adversity to invention. Minecraft has only so much savor for me for the same reasons.

[Canisaur]

I'm sort of the same way.  I eventually realized I need to give myself a goal or I'm going to get bored with whatever it is I'm doing.  With minecraft, for example, I like mods that add complexity, like Factorization.  My current goal is to make a completely automatic system with factorization, IC2, and Redpower machines where I simply dump ore into a chest and it will maximize ingot output, then sort all the ingots into respective chests.

So no, I'm no longer able to simply sit in a sandbox game and wander around happily, I need actual goals now.  But the imagination comes from coming up with said goals, and learning to keep motivated while getting to said goal is actually a pretty useful life skill in general.

[Shook]

Well, i suppose you'll have to think outside the box that you tend to confine yourself to. Like, step way the hell out of your comfort zone, impose some ridiculous limitations on yourself that would force you to get creative. Like, say, in Minecraft, tell yourself to NOT build wheat farms, and make sure your houses have an octagonal cross section in all three axes, or something. You basically just need to aim higher than the bare necessities. Think OPULENCE, think "this tickles my fancy so i built a goddamn castle out of watermelons and lit it on fire", or maybe "every wall in my house is adorned with elaborate blocky artworks of chicken wings". If something sounds absurd in your mind, then you're doing it right, because creativity often involves doing absurd things. Well, for me it does, anyways. :U

[scrdest]

Well, i suppose you'll have to think outside the box that you tend to confine yourself to. Like, step way the hell out of your comfort zone, impose some ridiculous limitations on yourself that would force you to get creative. Like, say, in Minecraft, tell yourself to NOT build wheat farms, and make sure your houses have an octagonal cross section in all three axes, or something. You basically just need to aim higher than the bare necessities. Think OPULENCE, think "this tickles my fancy so i built a goddamn castle out of watermelons and lit it on fire", or maybe "every wall in my house is adorned with elaborate blocky artworks of chicken wings". If something sounds absurd in your mind, then you're doing it right, because creativity often involves doing absurd things. Well, for me it does, anyways. :U

Agreed to the first part. Self-imposed limitations are one of the first things you should do if you have absolutely no idea what to create. Say,  optimization/minimalism: 8x8 room? See how low can you go while still remaining functional. You'll be forced to find a way to fulfill or circumvent the limitations.

Another thing is inspiration. It's not something that is airdropped by some deity, it's... well, let's say, a seed of an idea. Watch a movie, read a book, play another game, go for a walk... whatever you do, you might find something that gives you an idea of a construction in broad strokes, which you can then take further until you come up with something magnificent and/or amusing.

[SalmonGod]

This is why I love Dwarf Fortress.  It assaults you with a constant stream of problems that you must solve creatively.  Every embark is different enough to keep the same challenges interesting for me on multiple plays.  And it generates an interesting story for you in the process, if you invest some creativity in interpreting everything that's going on.  While you may use a very similar approach to solving very similar problems every time you play, the story that's generated will always be completely different.

[Vector]

Also, imagination doesn't necessarily have to come in the form of sandbox games, you know.  I like inventing things!  It's really cool!  But I don't like doing it in video games.

[WealthyRadish]

I remember when I played minecraft (probably 3 years ago now) I built all my structures out of sand, cactus, and torches (this was before fancy shit like sandstone). It got pretty impressive, with an entire city built with towering buildings, fractal pyramids, and castles. People thought I was creative, but really I was just mimicking what I saw from pictures of the mosque at Djdenne with the limited selection at hand. If you have an interest in architecture, minecraft is a fun way of expressing it. I'd imagine they've added many more blocks since then, so you could really go nuts with whatever structure style you like.

[FritzPL]

A great imagination is not really that good... I often talk to myself- or rather, in character of the character I imagined. And I can't stay home alone without a weapon within reach because I imagine that things I can't even imagine could happen to me.
Still, it's fun. Maybe I'll invent a toilet paper reclaimation device and earn big moneys.
on topic: read books. Books are fucking amazing and those 400 tomes of awesome behind me prove it. Adventure books are the best ones to start, especially ones like "Adventures of Tomek Wilmowski" or "The gold of the Black Hills", both by Alfred Szklarski. Those really got me into it, but you might not find them in your ordinary library, so find something else, like, "The Ridiculously Complicated Mechanical Voyages of Doctor Jason Bourne with a PhD in Geology".

[Iceblaster]

Go write fanfic/read fanfic

It helps me at least... Also might help to try sitting around and thinking. Just thinking about things that tickle your fancy.

If you need a topic to think about first, I suggest thinking about what Character A and character B would do in situation A while trying to save character C while character D is doing situation B.

(CA+CB /w SA+CC while CD+SB)

Probably not the best answer, but that is my two pennies.

[Eagleon]

Step away from the games and work on something you dropped, like a hobby or a creative project. Everyone has something they gave up for free time elsewhere. Physical activity is a surprisingly good font for this - if you've been writing for months, from personal experience, running around like a moron for even just a half an hour a week does wonders for perspective and energy levels.

Like scrdest said, it's probably just inspiration you lack. When you're younger, everything is fresh and exciting, so your imagination is in overdrive. It's really all about variety, gaining new experiences and drawing from them to fuel your enthusiasm for whatever you want.

[JackOSpades]

undertake a ridiculous challenge. this is how DF got 9-10 of it's crazy stories.

for Minecraft you could try some mods that add re-playability (like better dungeons)

OR if you can't think of your own challenges try
-Nomad: ever 7 days you must leave your base taking only what you can carry and start anew. you can never return to previous bases.
-Hunter: no farming, you may not plant ANYTHING, villager farms are also off limits. all your food must come from "Wild" animals dungeon chests, and possibly fishing.

 

[DarkWolfXV]

Get Industrial Craft 2 for Minecraft. Best mod out there in my opinion. Add Buildcraft if you want to make a fully automated factory.

[Armok]

I'd like to point out that for minecraft, a modpack like FTB Unleashed has literlay all the ones mentioned here, plaus laods and loads of more stuff, and is much easier to instal.