Our new Indie Games subforum is now open for business in G&T. Go and check it out, you might land a code for a free game. If you're developing an indie game and want to post about it,
follow these directions. If you don't, he'll break your legs! Hahaha! Seriously though.
Our rules have been updated and given
their own forum. Go and look at them! They are nice, and there may be new ones that you didn't know about! Hooray for rules! Hooray for The System! Hooray for Conforming!
i have an infection in my butt, a game design infection
Posts
i find the subject of game design very intriguing
however designing games is not my trade
but then i took some computer science classes, among other things, and realized I couldn't code
and if I couldn't code, how much could I really do
but the math
fuck the math!
I know I tried to learn some programing languages and much like learning new spoken launguages I didnt make it very far.
how did that realization occur
i kind of marvel at the idea of anyone going 'i can't learn a skill'
they all died in a cold snap last month.
i tried and i tried and i tried but i couldn't make myself learn
my brain wouldn't store any of the guidelines for coding, word order, keywords, and I couldn't figure out how to do even the basics which the rest of the students could do
i tried my damnedest and i just couldn't do it
for now it's really just a casual hobby but maybe at some point it won't be???
Let me tell you about video games. Let me tell you about Homestuck
I'm just not a very fast coder, and lord knows I've got enough other distractions keeping me from actually devoting any time to building these days. I haven't coded a game in about 7 years. Which is the last time I was unemployed, and had more time than games to play.
But I still have thoughts.
and also
game design =/= programming
though you need to know how to speak programmer
also this is a good blog about game design by my handsome friend jack: http://designreboot.blogspot.ca/ start at the oldest post
there can be only one
yeah
right now my coding ability is at roughly just enough to be dangerous, but not enough to get anything done. but boy am i good at logicing programs out.
http://inform7.com/
I see. Based on what I see here, this is mostly text-based? I had the idea that I'd be doing things graphically anyway even though my art skills are poor, but my idea doesn't really need it. I may give this a shot and see if it fits. That said, do you know of a good starting environment for something a little more graphically inclined? I'm not afraid to do some more traditional programming.
i am an
ideas man
well, there's AGS and Ren-py. If you're trying to make a platformer or something, there's always Unity or the UDK.
you're a dime a dozen at best. Sorry mate.
I got the same issue. get some skills to show off your ideas, make people care about them.
it was a Joking
This is absolutely a thing that happens.
In high school, I had a mental block that kept me from being able to write all but the most basic programs. I would have to look up syntax for literally every line I wrote. When a program wouldn't compile or didn't work as intended, I had no idea where to even begin looking for problems. I simply couldn't wrap my brain around it. This wasn't due to lack of effort. I worked harder in that class than any other but made poorer grades as well.
In my first job after college, I had an idea for some simple software that could make my non-programming job a lot easier. I taught myself some basic coding and wrote created something with some fairly complex logic with little trouble.
I'd guess the mental block had to do with brain development. My then teenage brain simply wasn't ready for programming.
I lament the loss of punch rumble
We were on to something!
I'm still determined to make a side scrolling beat 'em up one of these days, I think there's a lot of novelty still in the genre that could be tapped.
I agree!
I recently played Mighty Final Fight, it's an nes game that's a really crude version of the stuff I wanted to do with Pumch Rumble. Comedy, RPG elements, etc
let me know when you need a story guy!
Had fun making it though! Should probably try again, one of these days.
@RainbowDespair and @slash000 should join in too.
the pace of the action in games seems to have slowed down quite a bit overall and shifted towards more of a narrative medium
this isnt so bad, but why is it so hard to infuse fast paced gameplay like we had in the mid to late nineties with the newer engines?
It seems as graphics engines get better, gameplay is slowing down. I havent played any of the madden/ncaa games since the PS2 because i cant stand how everything seems to be crawling through mud.
basically what im asking is why doesnt anyone remake NFL blitz that feels true to the original(s)
i just started half life 1 recently, and from the looks of it its based off id tech 2. I just grew up playing games that were a bare bones environment filled with things that can kill you, and as technology has advanced it seems they are transforming things that can kill me into things that make the room look better. Prettier room, but less things to shoot. I understand there's an obvious give and take here, but how is that over time game designers have sacrificed so much core gameplay (ie shooting bad guys) in favor of aesthetics.
basically, game development is an unsustainably risky business, and by pursuing prettier graphics (partially driven by hardware sales & cross-promotion deals) and therefore assets which require more labor to produce, game budgets have ballooned to the point where appealing to the lowest common denominator is the only real option
so, games are basically powerpoint slideshows with cutscenes interposed, save for a few mold-breaking studios doing things like dark souls and reaping the benefits
it seems too many games get made that are either unnecessary sequels, or blatant design copies. I've had the opportunity to be involved with a small closed focus group where i work closely with some devs from a major dev, so ive sort of had a (very very) small peek at how some of the inner workings of a large game company works. Some of it really isnt that surprising, but again there is a lot that gets prioritized simply because it is fiscally reasonable in the short run, with almost no consideration in the long run.
When Quake III was released, it came with 30 maps right out of the box. Battlefield 3 came with 9.
I know that bf3 maps are quite more complex and detailed than q3a maps, but if you look closely at bf3, a lot of the buildings and brushes are recycled. I guess the question would be is how do you design a game that is fiscally reasonable while at the same time delivering quite a bit of value for $60.
Maybe we need to stop paying $60 for the crap most devs put out. Hell bf3 was the first game i bought brand new for $60 in quite a long time. I'm not completely disappointed, it is a fun game; but i just find the experience forgettable. I play when i'm bored. When I was playing quake 3 competitively, i would think about playing while at work. I would come up with new ideas and strats while not playing.
I find games like Shadow of the Colossus, Portal, Amnesia, and LIMBO have so much stock in the design of the game as opposed to the aesthetics, that the immersion is actually higher. Pretty much anyone with which i have a serious talk about games, i mention shadow of the colossus as i find that game to be a design masterpiece. Its that rare game that had all the knobs turned just right. To date it has sold 1.14 million copies worldwide. In comparison, MW3 has sold 13.86 million copies in six months. And it is virtually the same game as the other two.
in one you get to be a badass soldier shooting bad guys and saving democracy
in the other you get to be some guy with a sword, quietly traveling through a completely empty world on your horse and occasionally fighting a monster
Let me tell you about video games. Let me tell you about Homestuck
Game Design is my area of study at university currently! So, no, you're not.
I'm actually currently working on a dossier for the project I'm hoping to get started with some folks I know (from all over the place, including a few of the guys from the AusPax thread, hopefully!). I've had this really annoying luck when it comes to getting this started where every time I set aside some time to write this up I have something urgent pop up or I'm just so dead tired I can't focus enough to get it done properly.
Regardless of that, what I can say so far is that it's going to be an RPG! Not sure exactly what sort of RPG yet, but of the guys I have been discussing this with so far we're thinking about having some sort of party mechanics so I'm considering having us give something like a Baldur's Gate style system a go. Or something like that, at least. We have a rough setting and premise, obviously needs a ton of refining and development, but so far it seems like a solid base to work with. Chances are we'll end up using the UDK, as there are a lot of things about it I like and I'm hoping it'll be an appropriate choice for what we want to do.
The big thing though, is that even though I want us to design up a full game, we're only going to make some sort of demo or prologue or act 1 to begin with. Make it, refine it really well, and throw it onto the internet and see what the howling mobs thing of it. If it could be a thing, or even remotely a thing, then we can put some more serious effort into making the entire thing.
Hopefully once I get this dossier sorted I'll talk some more about what we're up to here, and I'll probably set up a development blog or something anyway.
The team is pretty decent so far too, though we're sort of spread all over the world so that may well get in the way a bit. We have some artists, some design folks, a dedicated writer, a musician/sound designer, some 3D graphics guys and a few people who can do some coding/scripting. I can't say more people would be a bad thing though, as for the most part everyone is going to be treating the project as a bit of a hobby, because almost all of us have full time work or study to juggle this with. So I'm expecting people to give what time they can, and we'll work with that. It's a fun learning experience, and a chance to make something we can all put into our portfolios.
One thing I really am a bit stuck on though, is all the legal shenanigans. I've never been very good with legal stuff, and I have no idea what sort of things I need to look into in order to not only step on anyone else's toes, but also to protect our project and team from anything that might cause some issues. In fact, I really don't know too much about what sort of things I'd have to watch out for aside from the obvious things like copyright infringement etc Anyone know anything about that?
Love LIMBO. Played it through twice in two sittings the weekend I downloaded it.
Another thing to think about is advertising. There's a reason campaigning politicians pour so much money into it--it works. Because of where the money sits, we are always inundated with ads for the latest shooter. In contrast, I'm not sure I ever saw a TV ad for Shadow of the Colossus. Then again, didn't Portal 2 get some solid air time? What were its sales like?
I am here.
I am designing a game. I have a giant SDD already and it's only like 25% of the full game I have in mind.
Problem is, I'd rather talk about specific game design decisions than "game design" in general. In fact I can hardly think of what would be appropriate AND interesting discussion for a general game design thread. It'd be very shallow and quick I imagine.
But I guess we can try! When I have the time.