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« on: November 07, 2013, 05:04:34 PM »
Alright I'm going to go ahead and add to the OP with some of my own tips.
Where should I start?
That depends on what you want to do. 3D or 2D? Once you've decided on which route you'd like to go find a game engine that supports that feature. Some engines support both while others are catered to one or the other. I personally believe that if you want to design a 2D game then you do not need the giant over head a 3D engine provides. There are many quirks to a 3D engine that make them vastly more complicated and because of this you should avoid them when designing a 2D game. On the other hand you may become quite experienced with the 3D engine after developing your game and in this case you might see the benefit of sticking to what you know and adding features that 2D engines cannot support.
I would also like to say don't go in with any preconceived prejudices gained from others. When designing games it's very important to keep an open mind. Don't knock it before you try it, you might find you like it and that it is really efficient at what it does. You may not enjoy programming so certain engines might not be desirable to you. However engines like Unity provide visual programming rather than typing out the code and math behind it which makes it easier for those who can't stare at a sheet of code without their eyes crossing into the next universe.
So you've picked your engine and you know the kind of game you want to make but what now?
Learn the engine. Look up some tutorials. After you've finished a couple tutorials you won't feel so lost in the program and you can finally focus on what you really want to do. Now go do it. You will hit snags. I follow the 24 hour bang your head against the wall rule before asking for help. I've been stumped before and I will be stumped again but I usually figure it out within the first couple of hours of testing and researching. If you hit a snag and nothing seems to be working then take a break, come back with a clear head and try again.
Prototyping.
When developing a game you want to focus less on how the game looks and more on how it plays. Use primitives that represent the idea of what they are suppose to do. Using this approach you can rapidly prototype your games and figure out what feature might be too complicated for your game thus saving you from having to throw out some animation you worked tirelessly on.
Create a couple levels that represent the different features you'd like your game to have and before you decide to start importing your art make sure those levels and features were fun to play. If you don't find yourself itching to play again then don't expect the people who end up playing your game to pick up your game more than once.
While you are prototyping you may find better ways to implement features you've already made. Go back and redo it. It will save you a lot of head ache in the long run if the implementation is elegant rather than stuck together with glue and duct tape.
You should design game mechanics that can be used in more than one way and is something worth striving for. I mean this in both game play and in structure.
Art.
Are you an artist? No? You can become one. Don't want to? Find someone who already is and is just as eager as yourself to make games.
For those who are but don't know of any programs that they can utilize here's a small list:
FREE
MSPAINT
Paint.net
Inkscape
Gimp
Graphics Gale (Free version)
BUY
Adobe products
Corel products
Graphics Gale
PyxelEdit
Pro-Motion
Some of these are great for retro art while others are great for art that requires great detail. Conceptualize and conceptualize again. Eventually you'll find a design you enjoy enough to want to base a game off of.
Your first rendition shouldn't be your last. Add another design to it. Small edits can really improve an image or destroy it. This quote is something that motivated me to continue improving an image. Live by the da Vinci code: "Art is never finished only abandoned." - da Vinci
So the book wasn't about that, you get the point.
As for 3D programs you can look to the modeling thread for tips. Most will tell you to learn Blender because it is free and powerful. That should be good enough for those on a low budget.
Music
It should provide atmosphere
It should compliment the scene that it is presented in
It should compliment the sounds used in the game.
It should embody the spirit of the game
This is a tough one. I'm a musician and I composed music as a hobby for most of my life so it's hard to give advice to those who don't understand music theory or are not naturally attuned to it. The best help I can offer here is if you want an opinion on your tune, just post it here and I'll tell you what it does well and what it lacks if any or either are true.
This is just what I've learned from my time spent designing games and is of course only one of many ways to approach your game development. So take and leave of it what you find useful.
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