Post subject: Anyone want to MAKE a game?
Joined: 4/26/2004
Posts: 149
Such a strong video game community, I can't help but ask. I've been on a few game projects, so I know how most of them turn out. Still, I like designing games. A lot. So I keep asking: anyone want to make a game? A little background: I went to a school called DigiPen ([URL]http://www.digipen.edu[/URL]) to learn about real-time interactive simulation. That's their fancy pants way of saying "video games." While the school offered little about game design and how to break into game design, I did learn about game development teams and planning. My game design idol is Mark Rosewater, current head designer of Magic: The Gathering ([URL]http://www.magicthegathering.com[/URL]). Mark had previous experience working in entertainment, while most video game designers were just programmers. I think this gives him an edge on game design because he knows how to reach out to the audience. MaRo also introduced me, through his articles, to a book called, A Whack on the Side of the Head by Roger von Oech, a great book on how to be more creative. So, game project? Depending on how many people we get, we may have different teams, but the major roles to fill are: Lead Game Design - While everyone is free to submit ideas, it's always a good idea to designate someone who gets the final say on what's in and what's out. The lead designer is usually like a movie director. He doesn't necessarily write the movie, but it's his vision of it that everyone is trying to actualize. Tech Director - Same as above, except for a different job. Tech director has to take whatever the designer/design team comes up with and map out how it's going to be coded. I speak from experience: tough job. Art Director - With lots of people throwing ideas here and there, you need somebody to step back and make it all look good. The art director has to make the game look as cohesive as it plays (if not better).
Editor, Reviewer, Experienced player (979)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3109
Location: Sweden
Actually, yeah. But my programming skills are only good enough to make small, crappy games (snake or paratrooper clones are the ones i've made so far). I've wanted to put my ideas into games for a long time but it's probably not gonna happen. Just like you, i know how most game projects turn out. But that's not a good reason for not trying. If enough people feel like doing this, sure, I'm in. Game design is probably my department in that case. Possibly I could compose music.
Player (71)
Joined: 8/24/2004
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Location: Sweden
Sounds really interesting this idea. I have been in some game development before. Made some weapons for a Q3 mod and stuff like that. My skills in 3d are very rusty though. And my programming skills equals zero. What type of game are we talking about here anyways? Are you going to program this for a classic console like Genesis or NES. Or will it be a more advanced PC-game? Do we talk about a strategy, RPG, Fighting, shot-em' up? Give us some more meat please.
Joined: 4/26/2004
Posts: 149
Hard to talk meat when not everyone has sat at the dinner table... or something. We should see how many people we get before making decisions. I would like to believe I can design anything, so I'm open to what the public is interested in for what kind of game to make. EDIT: With 95 views and only three people, I'm guessing this will be a small project... if one at all.
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Three is definitely not enough. A good idea would have been to start out with a very small, simple game, to see how the organization works and if people have the stamina for a bigger project. But that's all hypothetical now anyway, since there's not enough people.
nesrocks
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Joined: 5/1/2004
Posts: 4096
Location: Rio, Brazil
i'm on a games developing company, we're just starting, and we have 4 programmers, 1 person on research, and 5 2d-3d artists (1 of these is in charge of all sfx and music). we have a big project and we made big mistakes in trying to measure how long would the tasks take to be finished, since we dont have money yet and everyone is a part-time worker. things went slower. my advice is, if you want to try it out, use the 3D gamestudio so that the programming will be easier and you can focus on designing only the graphics and music. it's very good for starters in small-medium size projects. anyway, good luck it's not easy :)
Joined: 6/14/2004
Posts: 646
Just make me a good online Tetris Attack game and I'll be happy.
I like my "thank you"s in monetary form.
Joined: 4/26/2004
Posts: 149
Oh no, I'm not thinking a professional game. That would require capital. I'm just thinking a fun little nonprofit project that could be worked on in everyone's spare time (those 5-10 minutes a day you don't do anything can accomplish a lot!). It could still have originality, but it'd be somewhat humble in its delivery.
nesrocks
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NrgSpoon wrote:
Just make me a good online Tetris Attack game and I'll be happy.
www.zsnes.com + www.zbattle.net + tetris attack (U).smc ?
Emulator Coder
Joined: 10/9/2004
Posts: 453
Location: Norway
I was the main programmer of Deathball for UT2k3, until I got enough of the guy in charge of it :P These days it's not usually enough to have a good idea... You need to get it out there, so people want to play it. No matter how shit it is. Like CS for example. Valve did an excellent job pushing a crappy game to so many clueless people.
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Ive been thinking about making a Vertical Srolling Shooter named Invasion. I dont know what to make it with though. :/
Patashu
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Joined: 10/2/2005
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I'd be interested in programming, game mechanics tweaking (making things meaningful) and brainstorming.
My Chiptune music, made in Famitracker: http://soundcloud.com/patashu My twitch. I stream mostly shmups & rhythm games http://twitch.tv/patashu My youtube, again shmups and rhythm games and misc stuff: http://youtube.com/user/patashu
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Sonikkustar: you will need to learn how to program first. Alternatively, there's game maker or scratch, made for the complete and utter n00b.
Measure once. Cut twice.
nesrocks
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Active player (312)
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I"m your next idol.
"Genuine self-esteem, however, consists not of causeless feelings, but of certain knowledge about yourself. It rests on the conviction that you — by your choices, effort and actions — have made yourself into the kind of person able to deal with reality. It is the conviction — based on the evidence of your own volitional functioning — that you are fundamentally able to succeed in life and, therefore, are deserving of that success." - Onkar Ghate
Bisqwit wrote:
Drama, too long, didn't read, lol.
nesrocks
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Location: Rio, Brazil
pirate_sephiroth wrote:
I"m your next idol.
Me? you meant fan, not idol!
Joined: 5/27/2006
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Joined: 10/20/2006
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I could figure out algorithms or come up with unconventional ideas if the game's concept is interesting to me. Would be fun. Edit: @Derakon: I realize nobody wants to do the programming for somebody else's ideas. That's why I, for example, will only start programming out the games I have in my head once I'm old (and have enough spare time to waste for a thing like that). But if there's already a project going and a really good idea pops up somewhere, sometimes the programmers will modify it and sell it as their own. So, good ideas can be useful. But it's hard to come up with good ideas if you don't know how to program in the first place (or if the programmers hide away their code/progress and don't make demos). xD It's also true that a good team of programmers will only very rarely need ideas from other people.
Joined: 7/2/2007
Posts: 3960
I don't want to be discouraging, but ideas are a dime a dozen. Everyone has them, and many of them would be legitimately good if implemented. The problem is finding the people to implement the ideas. Since everyone has ideas, the people with the skills to implement ideas will generally choose to implement their own (or else those of whoever is paying them), instead of yours. If you can get a team together to work on a specific concept, then great! I wish you all the best. But if you really want to see your game idea get made, my best advice is to learn to program. There's lots of programmers here who are willing to help you learn to program yourself -- much fewer that are willing to do your programming for you. Pick a friendly language, like Python, say, and dive in.
Pyrel - an open-source rewrite of the Angband roguelike game in Python.
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FODA wrote:
pirate_sephiroth wrote:
I"m your next idol.
Me? you meant fan, not idol!
Yeah you can be my fan.
"Genuine self-esteem, however, consists not of causeless feelings, but of certain knowledge about yourself. It rests on the conviction that you — by your choices, effort and actions — have made yourself into the kind of person able to deal with reality. It is the conviction — based on the evidence of your own volitional functioning — that you are fundamentally able to succeed in life and, therefore, are deserving of that success." - Onkar Ghate
Bisqwit wrote:
Drama, too long, didn't read, lol.
Experienced player (623)
Joined: 11/30/2008
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Location: a little city in the middle of nowhere
FODA wrote:
Forget gamemaker, use UDK or unity. Both are High-end, powerful and free to use.
Yeah, sure maybe, if you know what the hell you're doing. Beginners need to start slow, and I have seen many people turned away from this kind of thing by high tech stuff they could never dream to understand. The trick is to start slowly, and understand what's happening before you leap into making the next GTA or something.
Measure once. Cut twice.
Joined: 4/18/2007
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Location: Tokyo, Japan
Wasted my digital breath on this post. L. Spiro
Experienced player (623)
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Location: a little city in the middle of nowhere
You do realise that booda posted this topic in 2004, and he is definitely not here to read your post.
Measure once. Cut twice.