Indie-Resource.com

Hello guys, after my finals next week (Tuesday i make the math exam) i will focus 20000% on making my first (this is a long list) FPS-STEALTH-MULTIPLAYER-SINGLEPLAYER-FULL CAMPAIGN game.

Some of you (the veterans): HAHA good luck rookie (I'm in the industry for 3-4 years so I'm a newb) you gonna need it, probably you will fail.

But hey, i need to try to fail right? So i will.

Ok, i already started some basic multiplayer setup (never did this, I've been watching lots of tutorials, i have like 2 playlists on YouTube with 40+ hours total) but i want to focus more on the Singleplayer campaign.

I've asked my team to get busy, and I think they are serious with this, I am, and we have 2 missions already and a "background" story for the player and so on.

What i need to ask you guys is what you guys think that makes a good single player campaign, like how many missions, the length, the details etc etc. Please tell me everything you like and dislike on Single player modes so i can improve this game to the best.

Thank you

In a stealth-oriented FPS ? Not sure I've played one. I've played several third person stealth games, though. Metal Gear series and Splinter Cell of course. Typically what makes me enjoy a campaign is the story; the levels need only fit the story, and put you in places that make sense to advance the story. Any side missions need to have their own story that makes sense with the main story.

The length of the levels themselves don't matter, but make sure you play through them several times to make sure you've spaced the save points or triggers or auto-saves or checkpoints or whatever, in the appropriate spots. In these types of games, players typically want to be able to quit whenever and not lose too much progress.

This is definitely a big undertaking, but I applaud you for attempting this. It's the first steps that eventually lead to great indie games. I, for one, have never though of budget as a true constraint. I think a great game can be made from sheer willpower and a few people with a shared vision (this happens quite a lot in the indie scene, actually). But I will say, you have to be careful what you decide to splurge on and what you're more conservative with. For example, as a smaller team, I would suggest cutting back in the graphics department in order to ensure the gameplay itself gets the most attention. Don't hire voice actors, too expensive. Instead, use the old-school RPG method - text. Spend time on the level design, but reuse art assets wherever you can. Nobody's going to care that they've seen the same dumpster model in one level on another, especially in an indie game. These are just a few suggestions, but you get the idea.

Good luck, man. Hope to see a completed product one day.

Wow very interesting feedback.

Ok first, it will be a stealth oriented fps only in the Singleplayer, i will attempt to add it to the multiplayer but maybe it will just be normal game with other weapons than stealth only ones.

I will do constant checkpoints for that, i do like to quit whenever i want

Yes, it is a big challenge, but I'm tired to do small games, I've created a small horror game, a tower defense, no more small games, I want to enter (even if i fail) the big league
Me and the team will be the voice actors Also i will re-use the same models whenever i can for poly reasons..
Thanks for the suggestions And i hope to release at least a ALPHA / BETA in the end of the summer

Thanks

vitinho444 wrote:Me and the team will be the voice actors

I would advise against this. Unless your team are experienced voice actors, the average person could tell the difference, and no voice acting is better then bad voice acting IMO.

And note that reusing graphic assets isn't just for poly/performance purposes; think of it in terms of project management. Your graphics team has a certain number of models they need to complete in order to finish the game. You want to keep that number down to reach a reasonable deadline and keep the team feeling like they're moving forward. Ever been on a team that keeps adding to the feature list while your completing features? It can feel like you've slowed to a crawl and be demoralizing.

But you sound like you've been managing a team for some time now, and that's awesome. It also sounds like you have a solid plan and goal in mind, which is always important.

I'd love to see some screenshots when you've got 'em

You could learn something valueable by watching the making of 007 GoldenEye. I remember it was my first FPS and one of my favorites =P

Good luck

kaos78414 wrote:

vitinho444 wrote:Me and the team will be the voice actors

I would advise against this. Unless your team are experienced voice actors, the average person could tell the difference, and no voice acting is better then bad voice acting IMO.

And note that reusing graphic assets isn't just for poly/performance purposes; think of it in terms of project management. Your graphics team has a certain number of models they need to complete in order to finish the game. You want to keep that number down to reach a reasonable deadline and keep the team feeling like they're moving forward. Ever been on a team that keeps adding to the feature list while your completing features? It can feel like you've slowed to a crawl and be demoralizing.

But you sound like you've been managing a team for some time now, and that's awesome. It also sounds like you have a solid plan and goal in mind, which is always important.

I'd love to see some screenshots when you've got 'em

I've created a prologue intro voice acting and i will display it soon as a teaser trailer, i will add it here on IR so i can some feedback on that

About the models, well i don't have a modeler working for me, i will try to do some of the modeling since i know my way around 3ds max, for characters and weapons and harder stuff I'll download them from : http://tf3dm.com/

Some of them are free i guess.

I have a goal in mind yes, my team management skills aren't the best ones yet, I'm still an enabler as i don't like to "force" people to work. But i need to get stricter as the deadlines arrive and as the popularity and stakes raise.

I haven't started the actual game, just did the project setup, and multiplayer setup is being made slowly since i need to study for math exam, but after that i think and i will try to release some screenshots of the game

Ark wrote:You could learn something valueable by watching the making of 007 GoldenEye. I remember it was my first FPS and one of my favorites =P

Good luck

Will watch it, i love making of's, i just love to see the magic behind it and I'm always trying to see the window title when they are doing animations and stuff to get their software :PP But it's always a bit blurry.

Thank you.