Author Topic: Game Design Megathread  (Read 433049 times)

well I don't think I'm competing. to be specific, lately, I've been wanting to make a little web app just for budgeting stuff, and to serve as a way to get familiar with the stuff I wanna use for something else without being overwhelming. it's literally just for me. I'm not even subject to anyone's expectations here. but I've been planning it for like... what, two weeks, by now. and only yesterday did I actually do express-generator (creates a basic template for an express app) and stick it on github
like, literally, something that takes five minutes to do. but I procrastinated for two weeks

I was talking in the sense of like ludum dare

I was talking in the sense of like ludum dare
well, yeah, but I mean my problem is entirely unrelated to a feeling of competition or pressure

I still need to improve some things

Doesn't look too bad for what I assume is your first game project.  The art is not the best, but it all seems relatively cohesive and well-placed.  The only things that really look out-of-place are the gems and the sanic spring.  Of course, being only a still image, I can't really say anything about the animation or the game itself.

ludum dare is actively killing me

ludum dare is actively killing me

next year's ludum dare theme: the mans can shoot bullet

Hey BLF, have a laggy gif of a thing I'm making.



Features:
  • stuffty test level
  • stuffty placeholder background
  • Completely stationary enemies
remember when

ludum dare is actively killing me
The key is to not drink 18 cups of coffee in a day as I did.

remember when

Sure do!  I actually feel a little bit bad about removing the dash attack feature, but I just couldn't see it working out as a reasonable, non-abusable horizontal attack.  I'm thinking I'll at least re-add the animation and speed boost aspects of it when I add the invincibility power-up.

Wrote a CRT shader:


Without:


I had to look up information on the internet to create this (note: scanlines don't line up with screen curvature yet), so I might as well give away the finished product:
Code: [Select]
uniform sampler2D texture;
uniform vec2 textureSize;
uniform float clockTime;

float brightnessMultiplier = 1.9;
float blueBleedMultiplierForRed = 0.5;
float blueBleedMultiplierForGreen = 0.2;
float scanLineMultiplier = 0.6;

// Apply radial distortion to the given coordinate.
vec2 radialDistortion(vec2 coord, vec2 pos)
{
    float distortion = 0.25;
 
    vec2 cc = pos - 0.5;
    float dist = dot(cc, cc) * distortion;
    return coord * (pos + cc * (1.0 + dist) * dist) / pos;
}

void main()
{
vec2 position = gl_TexCoord[0].xy;
vec2 onePixel = vec2(1, 1) / textureSize;

float x = position.x;
float y = position.y;

vec2 realPosition = position;
position = radialDistortion(position, position);

    // lookup the pixel in the texture
vec2 ps = textureSize.xy * realPosition.xy;
vec4 color = texture2D(texture, position.xy);

if(position.x < 0 || position.y < 0 || position.x > 1.0 || position.y > 1.0) {
color = vec4(0, 0, 0, 1);
}

int pp = int(ps.x) % 3;
vec4 outcolor = vec4(0, 0, 0, color.a);

if (pp == 1) outcolor.r = color.r;
else if (pp == 2) outcolor.g = color.g;
else {
outcolor.r = color.r * blueBleedMultiplierForRed;
outcolor.g = color.g * blueBleedMultiplierForGreen;

outcolor.b = color.b;
}

outcolor *= brightnessMultiplier;

// darken every third line
if (int(ps.y) % 3 == 0) outcolor *= scanLineMultiplier;

    // multiply it by the color
    gl_FragColor = gl_Color * outcolor;
}



quick someone explain how to make a game in an hour or less im a quick learner

quick someone explain how to make a game in an hour or less im a quick learner

Hammer out what kind of game you generally want to make, look at the examples of what's already been done and learn from their strengths and weaknesses. Get used to the language and engine you'll be potentially using and figure out your work flow. Start by making a simple mechanical foundation and pace yourself step by step and don't get too ambitious. Your first projects aren't going to be masterpieces and if you go into it not expecting to make anything publish-worthy, you'll find that it's less of a harrowing task.

Ideally it's best to work in a team. A solo project can and will take you years to complete and it's loving expensive if you're an adult. It is a daunting task, it takes a long time and for the most part it's always an uphill battle.

quick someone explain how to make a game in an hour or less im a quick learner
Rather than make one from scratch, focus on rebuilding currently existing games so you can come to grips with the execution, rather than the planning (at least for now). You'll find the ability to execute is critical even as a designer, as you'll need to demonstrate that your gameplay mechanics are fun, and the best way to do that is to make a Proof of Concept/Prototype.

Select something easy. Super Mario Bros, Tetris, Pong, Tic-Tac-Toe...that list is actually in reverse order of difficulty, but the point remains that these are simplistic games that can be made in any good open engine. Speaking of, pick an engine that's right for you. As mentioned above, the simple Gamemaker is having a big sale for all the special bells and whistles, but you may also feel more at tune with the indie-favourite Unity or the AAA-favourite Unreal. The difference is that Unreal is a lot more powerful, but requires about 10x the work (that said, it does have the simpler visual scripting system, which you could buy as a plugin for Unity, but is a bit annoying that it's not default).

Do your best to avoid tutorials (unless if you're unfamiliar with programming at all, which I'll cover in a second). Instead, play the game (YES, you get to play games to make game) and have a notepad handy; jot down notes and drawings about what you notice. You're ideally trying to plan out exactly how you think the game is "pieced together". List down an exact sequence of events for every moment of gameplay; think about what causes what to happen and what the consequences of that are. As an example, in Tic-Tac-Toe, putting down an 'X' in the middle square involves the 'X' player clicking the middle square, an 'X' graphic being put on the screen and then the game checking to see if they've scored a full row yet (or if the game is a tie).

If you're unfamiliar with programming, both Unity and Unreal have tutorial series; for Unity, check-out the Learn hub on their website, while for Unreal, you'll want to look at their YouTube channel's playlists. For Unity, it might be really good to go out and spend a little time learning raw C# beforehand, while for Unreal the YouTube tutorials should be adequate to get to grips with Blueprint (I personally don't recommend pursuing C++ as a beginner).

Work hard, but don't burn yourself out. Spend about an hour a day at first. You'll likely break the game a lot and get frustrated even more, but keep persisting. When you feel you've got the core of the game done, stop and think about your next game. Keep progressing through more difficult to make clones until you're ready to tackle some completely new, original challenges. It will take months, maybe years, of work, but you might just be a brilliant game developer in the making.

EDIT: I want to make this a point; when you  first start making games, the reason that it's crucial to make clones of existing games is because you can do them faster and get more done and get better. If you start with your own designs, you'll become obsessed with the design aspects, and you'll spend so much time fiddling about that you'll never get anywhere. It's a common problem I see with a lot of newbies who like to come in with their own ideas yet never get anywhere during the execution phase because their ideas are so experimental that they have to spend a lot of time messing with the ideas to make them fun, and that hurts time you have to execute and actually realise the ideas as fully fleshed out games.

When you first start out, aim for a game a week. If you can't get a game done in a week, don't even worry about it. Just move on to the next game and keep going. You don't want to get bogged down and become bored when you can't get one finished. Rapid pace will help keep your energy up, your mind abuzz with ideas, your excitement fluttering and hopefully will give you a better chance of finding something you can really polish up and make nice.
« Last Edit: September 07, 2016, 07:22:45 AM by McJob »

that is a wall of text i can applaud