The Life of a Game

Talk about game designs and what goes behind designing games.
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HillHound
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Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2013 5:59 am

The Life of a Game

Post by HillHound »

Hey there everyone,

It's been a while since I posted here, but it's good to be back! I recently got an idea that I really like for a game, and I've fleshed it out a bit, but I can honestly say that I don't know where to go from here. I know that there's no better community of people to go to for this kind of help, so what exactly should I be doing for the development of my game? I am practically clueless as to the process behind what order I should be doing things (such as artwork, brainstorming, actual programming, etc.), so what are your guys' suggestions for what my first/next step(s) should be? What sorts of strategies do you guys use to bring your game from nothing to something? Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!
Xaleph
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Joined: Mon Feb 07, 2011 2:55 am

Re: The Life of a Game

Post by Xaleph »

This is gonna sound lame, but bare with me; just begin! Write up a story, a small (some prefer large) document ( normally called a Game Design Document or GDD for short) where you outline the game, the concept, the platform, the mood/scenery and finally the gameplay and mechanics. This creates a framework for you to work with, it helps you identify all the individual components you are gonna need. Is it 2D or 3D? Do I want it on the desktop or console, or, maybe on mobile? Should it be a browser game (making it cross platform)? All these questions usually get answered in a GDD and helps you pick the right tools for the job. If you go 2D, you could use GIMP or Photoshop or some other program, if you want 3D, then you might want to learn a thing or 2 about Maya or Blender or something alike.

And if you go cross platform, what language will you use? Javascript or C++? Are you going console, ( xbox can use C# for example) or something else? All in all, these questions are going to need an answer and when you know these answers, it`s easier to pick a direction! If you already know these things, then you could outline them here and we can help you along the way!

As far as experience goes, you need a lot to begin and when you are working towards your goal, you`ll learn a shitload more so really, you can start from zero. However, please do tell us what kind of experiences you have because it will affect your starting point ( there`s more then one way that leads to Rome, correct? )

For example, if you have no programming experience, you could start with an easier language to begin with or skip this step by using GUI tools to help build your game, for example, Construct 2 has a really good IDE ( integrated Development Environment ) for making 2D games and it creates a cross platform compatible game! However, if you want more control and a ( subjective) better pipeline for your production, you could use tools like Unity.

And if you really want to get hands dirty, you could start from scratch! This obviously has the steepest learning curve but will definitly be the most rewarding for you. All in all, it all comes down to the first paragraph of this post, if you have your GDD outlined, post it here and I guess together we`ll figure out what the best course of action is.
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Callan S.
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Re: The Life of a Game

Post by Callan S. »

A GDD is more of a psychological aid - you can make one that becomes a big checklist, and as you complete it, you can tick each part of that list and see your progress towards the game completion.

Without one it can seem you keep making more work for yourself, and so keep making yourself further away from game completion rather than closer (with game design burnout coming quickly after that)
HillHound
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Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2013 5:59 am

Re: The Life of a Game

Post by HillHound »

Thanks a lot for the advice so far! I've started working through creating a GDD and I'm already feeling a better sense of direction, with one idea flowing after another (while not getting too ahead of myself). I'll post it here when it's finished.
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hallsofvallhalla
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Re: The Life of a Game

Post by hallsofvallhalla »

I like to do living GDD, I started one for Forsaken Sanctum

http://forsakensanctum.com/gdd.html
justforfun
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Joined: Thu Nov 07, 2013 9:35 pm

Re: The Life of a Game

Post by justforfun »

although GDD is the best way to start

for me personally this just does not work all i do is write down on paper/notepad 1 paragraph to explain what the game is? and then as many bullet points of ideas/requirements for the game and what script will be needed e.g C++,Jquery,JavaScript,PHP ect. at this stage there is no strange/bizarre ideas if they don't work see why it wont and move on.

one piece of advice i would give is why would you work on making the site look the part when all of the coding does not work???

i would normally create a VERY simple css sheet to give a basic layout of the page and then start to work on you code (depending on what your game is (most are MMO so start with the most common pages that will be used e.g forums,shops,battles etc. etc))

once you feel that the script ect is done, maybe try and create a new account/registration and then test them with a new user you will be surprised how often i test my game and then test with a new user and some data is not transferring through the registration page such as some data not been created in database

then i would only start to consider the look of the site get it looking the part

hope it helps
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Jackolantern
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Re: The Life of a Game

Post by Jackolantern »

I second Xaleph's advice (and everyone else here has added good stuff as well). There is also something else needed for complex projects beyond a GDD, though, and that is technical documentation. Once you have a GDD, you use that to create the actual strategy for how you are going to make the game. Some people hate them, but I have always liked having nice UML models for all my classes (that is a fancy way to just say a high-level, concise list of all of the functions and data you need for each part of the game, but if you feel adventurous and like learning object-oriented programming along the way, look up UML diagrams). Then I write out what each method, constructor and everything else will do, what the requirements for each method to work correctly and complete its work, etc. That way I have a good place to start coding, so I am not constantly just making pieces of functionality that need all kinds of other code written to work. Without being able to run your code every so often, you can dig yourself into a hole when you have to code for days straight before you can launch it, only to find it is all hopelessly broken. Unit testing can help with that, but don't worry about that too much for now. Just put down descriptions of all the code you need so you can plan where to start so you don't end up in that position. :)

EDIT: "Projects" in the first line, not "projections". :P
The indelible lord of tl;dr
HillHound
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Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2013 5:59 am

Re: The Life of a Game

Post by HillHound »

This is a pretty basic version of what I have planned in a document so far (me and my buddy are working on this together, with him fronting the artistic aspect of it)

Dmitri

Sister: Natalia (Alive, Captured? Should she even exist?)
Mom: Diana (Dead)
Dad: Vladmir (Dead)
Grandfather: Alvis (Dead)

Family lives in a modern, human setting
They themselves appear/act very human
Family descends from a secret race called the Huldan
Vladmir's final words "He is not one of us."
Allegiance of 7 Huldans on earth, one is a traitor to Vladmir/Dmitri.
Race that was at war on home planet has been hunting down the Huldan who fled to earth, and one of the 7 sold out Vladmir to the rival race
2D Sidescroller
Equip weapons/armor from a simple tab menu
Skill tree with physical, mental, and defensive routes to take
Programmed in C++

The story is still largely open to interpretation, but we feel that it's a solid start that we can take in a lot of different directions. A big point of emphasis for us is that we want it to have a strong story (while obviously not being so story-driven that it's like clicking through a novel). I'll keep you updated as this further develops!
Xaleph
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Re: The Life of a Game

Post by Xaleph »

Sounds cool man!

Story is always important in any game, if done right, it creates a personal hook as to where the player latches on and motivates the player to play the game. I`m guessing storywise, you`re right on. It`s gonna be interesting seeing that story unfold in a 2D sidescroller :)

Another important aspect I read was the 2D side scroller written in C++. This is good information, as it allows you to scout for resources ( you`ll need 2D images ( and your buddy will do those I suppose )). As far as 2D engines go, really there`s no need to pick an engine for a 2D sidescroller. At most, a good library like SDL2 or SFML will be sufficient as it allows you to "rapidly" create your game.

Another aspect I found was the menu to quickly select weapons/gear. This means good state management. You should be able to quickly switch between menu`s and the game. Usually a FSM ( Finite State Machine ) is implemented for doing these kinds of things. A more abstract approach is a Scene Manager or Director ( the one who controls the scenes in a movie, correct?) which allows you to control which screen is active at any given time.
http://blog.nuclex-games.com/tutorials/ ... anagement/

However, before you proceed, you should first finish up the GDD, please look at Halls`s GDD! This is exactly what a GDD should do, give a concise, (short if possible) summary of every feature in the game, the platform you`re using it on and what the backstory is.

And, as Jack said, technical documentation is important as well! However, this requires a bit more experience, mostly because you need to understand Object Oriented Programming ( OOP ) which is kind of a hassle if you`ve never programmed before. In any case, this ties in to for example scene management. As the concept, explained, is based on UML designs specific for game design ( not exactly true but applies the best ).

Anyhow, if you finish your GDD, you`ll have finished the first step! It`s important you finish your GDD as it will guide you and your friend to the finish of the game and as Callan said, also provide a check list.

Next up is creating a prototype of the game. I suggest you read into SDL2 or SFML. Both are decent libraries with proven stability. From there, you`ll probably need to learn C++ and follow tutorials ( or better SDL2/SFML tutorials) and just begin coding :)
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