The Great Game Designer Thread
Anyone else make games? I don't. I don't know how! But that doesn't matter, 'cause I've seen some pretty awesome Indie games out there. So whether you make 'em in Flash, XNA, Game Maker, feel free to discuss, share, help, and derail this thread train.
Now my reasons for creating the thread are, of course, selfish. I need a good programme to create a platformer. But not Flash. So... Who wants to be the first to help? (If you don't want to answer or can't, feel free to post anyway. This thread is not about my petty question.)
Now my reasons for creating the thread are, of course, selfish. I need a good programme to create a platformer. But not Flash. So... Who wants to be the first to help? (If you don't want to answer or can't, feel free to post anyway. This thread is not about my petty question.)
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I recently won a $500 bursary in a local game-making contest (using Game Maker). I really want to get into making more games, I just need to get some motivation.
Getting tired of GM's limitations, but I couldn't really get into more professional languages when it comes to game development yet, since they require more work before it comes to the actual design of the game, and because I'm still stuck with some projects that I started in GM that I want to finish.
I mean, I do know many other languages, I just never felt the need to use them for game making, since GM can still do most of what I need and a lot faster and easier.
Planning to use my programming knowledge and experience to create some basic game engine for my own use in C++, Java or Action Script though, just never find the time to really work on that
This thread isn't really about my problem. It's just a discussion room. Wanted to get things running. But I didn't realize how advanced people got with the game making. It's not all AGS like I semi-expected. XD
Considering I have never done such a thing, probably not. But, hey, who knows? :P
No, not only at Telltales
I started with, I think 14 years when I did VERY simple If/Then/Else based textadventures in q-basic. I don't even know if that still exists, but it was a program on my Atari ST. It was nothing special. For example did it tell a story for a few lines and then asked to make a decision. One decision would progress the story, one would lead to the game over screen
Later I discovered Medi8or. I think the program and its format died very soon in the progress, but what it was was some kind of presentation maker, but I used it to make my very first adventure game. Granted, it never got far and I never finished it, but hey it was fun.
After that I mostly wrote about worlds and characters for Pen&Paper purposes. And while I don't consider this as "working on games" it was helping a lot with getting my imagination trained for stuff later on.
Much much later I tried myself at AGS. I failed
Because of that I tried a similar, but different engine called "Visionaire". It basically does somehow the same job. It lets me create adventure games without a writing code. First game I worked on was the infamous adventure game for TTGs halloween contest. (link).
After that I started to work on the first chapter of a bigger project of mine. It's still in its pre-production phase, but I think it will leave that one in the next 6 month (knocking on wood with that one).
tl,dr: I did some stuff
@echo off
echo =================
echo The Game
echo =================
Nah. It would take to much room to put here....
Infact, quite a few "indie" games have been.
Its kinda funny that Super Meat Boy, (originally a flash game), has two characters (as far as I know) that have origins in Game Maker, (Ogmo from Jumper, and the Spelunky dude i mentioned).
Game Maker is great for making 2D games, but thats about it.
3D its terrible at, and advanced stuff normally needs a DLL to supplement it.
But don't let that deter you, Game Maker is pretty brill. (AND ITS CHEAP!
I tried to use Game Maker when I was younger, (and I have got it on my laptop), and I do get ideas, but I just can't ever seem to start. (Not enough discipline I guess)
Recently, I was going to make a simple, arcadey game where you play as a Space Commander who has to single handedly navigate the base, and complete objectives set to him by the crew, while holding off the invading aliens.
(Its kind of a Joke, as a Captain normally seen in those old Sci-Fi movies, comics and TV series normally just go around exploring places, or giving orders, so in this situation he's the only one available to run errands for the crew)
The game would have been cartoony and fairly comical.
The tasks the Captain would have to complete would have been fairly mundane, (fetch the deputy's favourite teddy, unclog the toilets, make a space pizza ect.), but the dangers would be comically exaggerated, (Teddy would be in the generator (full of crushers and random lazers, training room would be full of killer robots, some aliens would spawn in some rooms).
Game would end when you run out of time, (as the hazards would slow you down rather than kill you) and score would be recorded.
Adveture Game Studio (free) isn't too bad for making your pointyclickers (I loved Ben There Dan That, and Time Gentlemen Please which I think were both made using it), and RPG maker (not free) is a easy tool to use for Making JRPGs (but understandably, both are pretty unflexinble).
And there's also Construct (also free).
OH and flash seems to be the one of the most popular development platforms these days (I find it complicated meself), AND XNA too I guess, (though I find many XNA games released to be extremely lacking! >:/)
EDIT: Oh, and I remembered another Idea I had recently.
It was going to be a adventure game, (like BTDT and TGP) based on my best friend.
It was going to be called: The Misadventure of Scotland Whitemore: Curse of the Cliché
You played as the eccentric but rather brilliant, (and Sherlock-holmes like), Scotland Whitemore who has been tasked with discovering the curse of random suicides across the globe.
You find out early on that the Cult of the Cliché was responsible.
Their plan was to fill the world with so many Clichés that all originality would be destroyed and all life would grind to a halt, (the people were quite literally "bored to death" HAHA!!).
Basically the game was going to be full of movie refferences and a few gameplay/puzzle tropes
(This key is rather...um....red...). Nothing too complex, but very fun!
I even had a idea for a sequel:
The Second Misadventure of Scotland Whitemore: Return to Videogame land.
I hadn't fleshed out a plot for that, but the gameplay would be very unique.
You would have a "Genre Wheel" that would allow you to change the game genre on the fly.
The game's puzzles would be based on this.
How do you get Past the Mean-spirited bouncer?
Changed mode to Fighting, and show him your kung-fu?
Try to ram him off the road with your racing car?
Try to sneak past him? Sneak past a bouncer?!!? (well I guess that cardboard box might be outlandish enough to work... (IF YOU CAN FIND IT FIRST!!! >:D))
The main problem is that I don't have the time or resources to complete the projects even to a demo level, but eventually I'll find the time.
Maybe I'll publish a game when computers can actually read my mind and write the code, but for now I'll have to settle for a few notes on paper and barely connected code (with no graphics or sound)
I still learned a lot of stuff I don't feel confident in my ability to use it. Which is why I want to go back to university but because of the way I failed my final year I have to reapply for the course instead of just resitting it. Hopefully, come October I'll be going back there. And I hope I've learned something about managing my time and not being afraid of asking for help. Though sometimes I wonder if it's just simply the case that I don't have a talent for coding.
This links to a video of what I feel was my best work at uni.
More details about the project are here.
I made a game like that in Game Maker, (I know its not a real language, but I still had to code a bit).
But mine was in a cave, and it had different skins, selectable music, tweakable settings, and boulders you had to shoot, and bats to avoid, and when you finished a level, victory music would play, and the helicopter would fly accross the screen with a "Level Completed" printed on the screen.
(Its a shame I couldn't find that one, as it was one of my better ones)
Oh look I found a few of my old incomplete works.
Lets see how embarassingly aweful they were! XD
(These are probably the best ones I made!)
http://64digits.com/download.php?id=19415&dir=0
http://64digits.com/download.php?id=12558&dir=0
EDIT: I should probably mention that this particular idea is not a comedy. Nor is it a tragedy, though. It's neutral.
Yea, sorry, I apparently misread your post first where you said "programme" I read programmer. I guess I'm too used to American English, so I instantly interpreted programme as a misspelling of programmer instead of what you meant.
Also it seems I was too slow to edit that part out of my post after I realized that:P
And yea, looks like quite a number of people here have tried their hands at game making
I could help you out a bit. What do you need help with?
So far I've made games for classes in XNA and ActionScript (Flash), as well as working with other people's engines, using C++ and Lua.
An example of one of my games is here. Use left/right and spacebar to move around. I'd give a longer description, but I'm sure you can figure it out.
http://ablanknotebook.com/miscfiles/lavasurf.swf
Not exactly true, but at least one game that is big enough to be called a game.
Charas Breakout DX
Mainly I want to learn how to use the software. But I (maybe) need an artist, composer, and (well, for now, anyway) a programmer. :P
Artist - Quite possibly
Composer - Uh... er... ah... not gonna to happen.
Programmer - I probably should have stated that I am still sort of a newb at this, but I do understand it enough to make a platformer.
You can ask me questions and I'll explain them if I can. Of course I don't really want to change the subject of this thread, so PM me or somethin'.
Smart man. Find something WiNE related and try to get stuff.
Can I run Game Maker through WINE? (I had purchased it during my Windows days.)
Picked apart a couple of platform examples.
(A basic one, and one that had moving platforms)
Retought myself how to handle projectiles, (I did it based on the current sprite).
Probably code some basic enemies, and enemy AI.
(Already remember collision shapes. Very handy to code some intelligence. Can make something like a turret can detect you in a range and fire in your direction)
Once I get comfortable, I might start working on that game I was planning on doing.
Yeah I need a better game software.
I actually am taking a rather basic web design class and we are working on creating a game now.
Make a witch catch a pumpkin.
Very basic.
I'm also a game developer . Been coding since the 7th grade
Our recent multi platform game, Frogs vs. Storks, has just been released for PC/Mac/iOS and is progressing nicely!
here are some screenshots:
more info: http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showthread.php?p=439961
No clue (Don't own Game Maker), try it and find out.
About 8 years ago I actually advanced far enough to create something playable
(For the masochistic inclined (read people who love unfinished products) http://www.another-game.com/ )
But as I actually spent work hours programming I somehow don't have the same drive to continue it at home.
Well, actually I start projects to find out how it is done..and once I know finishing things would be far too close to actual work.
I will never, never, switch to Mac. Personal preference/hatred. :P
I have no intentions of starting a war. Well, yes I do, just not here/now. But I would rather run Vista than Snow Leopard.
For small devs it only makes sense if a) you can't afford some middleware, b) if nothing suits your needs or c) if it's a small project only.
Contrary to the beginning of video games nowadays there are tons of possibilities around. It can be quite hard for beginners to get an overview and an understanding of what is best for them.
You can filter tools after aspects like their licence (free, fixed pricing, royalties), platform availability (Win, OSX, Linux, Consoles, Mobiles, Web), technology aspects (2D, 3D, features, custom genre built special features), how widely spread they are and aspects which result from this (community size (income for the devs, help), stability&reliability, future perspectives), whom do you want to approach with them and of course your personal taste and capabilities.
It really depends on what you'er after and whilst the technology isn't the most important aspect it also does matter, so you should choose it wisely as if you don't, chances rise that you go nowhere. Some of the better tools are BlitzMax, monkey, Unity, Shiva, Flash, XNA, ... utalising middleware like Cocos2D, Box2d, Ogre3D, Bullet OpenAL, ... or adventure related Visionaire.
It's already hard enough coming up with a really good concept and finishing it. Many people have ideas, some even start something but most won't finish it. Don't make the mistake and waste your time on reinventing the wheel unless you really need to. My suggestion is taking your time to think about what you want to do (and reduce that idea a couple of times), how to do it best and choosing the most painless solution for doing so as the rest already will be hard enough.
Keep it small, simple, round, doable.
I got the collisions sorted, and I've got the mouse click and follow part sorted out.
Next thing to do is to figure out how to make the inventory system.
I think I'll go for a list style, so then I can drag the items onto the things I want to use them on.
Then I'll create the right click system I'll want to use, (I think I'll go for the quick selector menu style, rather than the right click cycle cursor style).
Now you all might be wondering, why re-invent the wheel?
(I think there is a point and click engine for Game Maker already out there, and I could have used Adventure Game Studio and not have to worry about the coding)
Well, there are two main reasons for doing this:
1. To learn how to do it myself.
2. Flexibility of Game Maker
With Game Maker, I can easily tweak and add to the gameplay, and hopefully I'll be able to make a more unique and/or entertaining experience.
(If I wanted my character to have Telekenisis, I can make it so you can drag objects around a room, (I'd obviously limit this to make it more of a puzzle). Combine that with the traditional collect and use gameplay of this genre would make some interesting puzzles)