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Author Topic: Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)  (Read 17213 times)

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Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)
« on: April 05, 2006, 04:03:39 pm »
  • The Broken King
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This is copied over from ZFGC-X, I thoguht it would be useful to have it here as well.

This topicis inspired by this forum ~_~. That's right, it's inspired by all of the Zelda Fan Games that are abounding in this forum. Not that it's exceptionally bad now. But I remember when there would be dozens of new demos going up eveyr week...and for the most part, with a slight exception here and there, most didn't get past a first dungeon, if they even reached that far. (For most of the demos here, I can say the same thing). Most games here do not advance past the 'engine in design' phase. Plus, everyone here is making oot2d, it seems. So here are some tips to help those of you who intend to finish a Zelda game.

1) Don't plan too big.

Let's face it, it's awesome to imagine making a zelda game so awesome that even Nintendo will be shocked. And we think that we'll be able to do it, that our game will have 40 different items to use, and 12 different dungeons, each with interactive boss fights and innovative new dungeons, with a day/night system that effects gameplay and even a weather system, animals to ride, and time travel! (Hey, that's what I was trying to make two years ago basically, so I know, I've been there XD). A lot of these will never get past the engine stage. A lot of these will never PASS the engine stage. Be rationale with what you decide to make. There's a reason that Nintendo takes months or years to design their games and has teams with dozens and dozens of team members to make their games. Because it is a lot of work, and it requires a lot of playtesting, revising, editting, optimising, graphics, code, sound, new material, reseach, and time to make a game.

2) Know your limits.

This does not just apply to you per se, but know the limits of what you are capable of doing. This includes the limit of the software you are using, the limits of what graphics will be available to you, the limits of what sound will be available to you, and the limits of what time you have. Do not take on more than you can handle. If you do, you will quickly become discouraged with your project, and you will be unable to finish it. When you design your game, be sure that you design it to be something that you know you could make. Yes, it is okay to leave some breathing room - after all, if we try nothing new, we'll never learn - but make sure that it's something you have at least some understanding of how it will work.

3) Don't go it alone

This one is not necessarily always the case, but I strongly stress that if you plan on making a game, do not go it alone! There are few of us here that can claim that we are great at graphics, code, sound, level design, story, and game design! There is a lot of stuff that is going on in a game at once, and in addition to the fact that none of us has all the knowledge to do every step of the game, none of us have the TIME. If we need a sprite for our game, and we're busy programming complicated physics, we don't want to have to stop programming to get the spirte, we won't to keep programming and know that the sprite is on the way. Additionally, having a team is a good way of making sure that someone should be working on the game every day.

4) If you have a team, make sure that you're a team!

I've seen it too many times where one person's idea of a team was one person in charge, and he told everyone else what to do, when they were supposed to do it. For the most part, they did not know what was going on. This is NOT a good way to design a game! Everyone should know where the game is going, where the game has been, and where the game is at that pariticular point in time. If someone is going to be involved in the game, they have to know how the game is going to work. They have to know their place in the team. They have to know what they can be working on, and where the game is going next, where it hopes to end. Basically, the entire team should know the game very well. Obviously, it's impossible for everyone to know everythign, and to be frank, they don't need to know EVERYTHING...the artists don't need to know what form of data storage the coders are using, and the composers don't need to know what pallette the artists are using. But they need to know the feel of the game, what the gameplay is going to be like, and the general conflict. They need to know what is expected of them at all times.

5) Be original

If there is a Zelda game in the forum that is simply link running around and chopping up bushes, and you decide to make a Zelda game, and your first demo is link running around chopping up bushes, then it's not going to grab anyones attention. There has to be something about your game to make it stand out from other games. If your game is turning out to be very similar to someone elses, then instead of creating a complete game yourself, perhaps join up with the, or change your game to be different.

6) Know your game

Don't just decide that your game is going ot be eight dungeons long, have 12 items, and a horse. It is too easy to simplify your game to that point, but quite simply, it leaves you directionless. You need to understand how your game is going to play out. What are the eight dungeons? What distinguishes one from the rest? What items will you get in them? What order will you get the items in? What will the items do for the player? What will the items do for the game? What items does the player need, and when? What is the horse for?

Also be sure not to have stuff in your game that is not necessary. Yes, it's cool to have a day/night system where the NPC's say and do different things at different times in the game. But it also takes a lot of programming. Do you need it for your game? Does it effect any other area of gameplay? For example, in OOT, you couldn't go someplaces at night, you encountered different items, and some places were only available during night or during day. In that case, the day night system actually effected gameplay. Is your day night system actually effecting gameplay? Or is it just pretty?

It is important that you know all of the verbs and all of the nouns of your game before you sit down and place your first pixel or your first character of code, or even your first note in your music. You need to know what objects you need to animate, and how you need to design your sprites to be able to animate that way. You need to know what all your code needs to do, and be able to accomodate everything from the very beggining, intead of going back and making millions of revisions. (trust me, it's not pleasant). You need to know what themes are going to follow through with your music, and how to manipulate those themes for different moods. It is imperative that you know exactly what your game is about before you even start.

7) Keep it fun

We're not getting piad for this at this point. So if you're no longer enjoying making your game, it's a sign that perhaps you shouldn't continue, or that you need to look back at what you're doing and make sure that it's what you want to do.

 Be dedicated

If you're going to make a game, then by all means, make it! Take an hour out of every day and work on it. Or set aside x hours every week, and dedicate it to game making. Game making should be no different than a sport or other organised hobby - the point is to learn and enjoy yourself, but you have to put the time in. There's no one breathing down your neck, other than yourself, so only you are responsible to make sure that your game is completed.

9) Dont' release demos every day

Just because your demo has a cool walking animation doesn't mean that everyone wants to see it. When you do finally release your demo, it had better be interesting. It had better showcase what it is about your game that is supposed to draw the players in. And it should definitely have something worth playing in it. Yes, engine tests are nice, but we've all seen Link walking around hyrule field and throw bushes at enemies. If you're releasing an engine demo, it had better have linking flying his broom through circles of lava while being chased by rabid wombats.

10) Take criticism to heart

If people have taken the time to play your game, and they take te time to tell you what they thought if it, do not immediately get offended if they don't shower you with praise and tell you that it's the greatest thing since OOT. Any game that's released is going to have flaws, errors, bugs, or quite simply, gaping holes that need to be worked out. If someone gives you feedback that's positive, then perhaps work to maintain that feature. If someone tells you that something needs work, then look at how you could improve it. (However, if someone flames you, feel free to ignore them and report them to a mod).

I hope that the two of you who bothered to read this topic create awesome games. I hope to see a demo of them in a month or two. Good luck, and I hope this helps.
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  • Broken Kings [Temp Site]
Re: Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)
« Reply #1 on: April 05, 2006, 04:37:50 pm »
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I think i have been guilty of planning too big (back when i tried to make oot2d), i have also been guilty of not knowing my own limits, and trying to go it alone, and all of them got me nowhere. Recently i started worknig with(not for, with) Fendez Gaming, i am working as a team for almost every game we make (and they are coming fast, not just walking demos, full games!) we have many brand new origional games (check out ainevoltas for an example guys), a few unorigional ones such as ganondorfs mask ect, we all know our games, enjoy them very much so, and take all of our criticisms to heart, and i can truely say that this guide is almost perfect, you enjoy making your games more, do not get fussed if you are not replied to instantly, gain more respect from members of the forums you post on ect, this guide is more like the god of games, if you follow the rules you will reap the rewards in, if not your train stops and your coal will burn out, leaving you stranded...
« Last Edit: April 05, 2006, 05:13:27 pm by MaJoRa »
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  • Elliott Parkinson
Re: Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)
« Reply #2 on: April 05, 2006, 04:40:22 pm »
  • Issac_Amisov
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Yes, for sure. Me and jordanware when we work on games have the tendency to plan to big then we only finish getting like a quarter done then find something new to work on, I would love to back and finish some of the old games I made...  ::)

Thanks for the tips wombat ;)
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Re: Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)
« Reply #3 on: April 05, 2006, 05:03:31 pm »
  • The Broken King
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Hehe, thanks for the backing MaJoRa.

Like most of us, I had to learn all/most of these the hard way, so hopefully this guide will save some people the trouble.
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  • Broken Kings [Temp Site]
Re: Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)
« Reply #4 on: April 05, 2006, 05:06:48 pm »
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Hehe, thanks for the backing MaJoRa.

Like most of us, I had to learn allmost of these the hard way, so hopefully this guide will save some people the trouble.

I hope your right, but back at the stage before you know these most people dont care because they are attention seeking, and therefore probably wont pay any attention to things like this, or will think they can handle what they cant. I know i had to learn the hard way, as like you said, most of us did. I wish i had such a usefull resource back then, but i dont think i would have taken any notice of it back then, not really...
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  • Elliott Parkinson
Re: Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)
« Reply #5 on: April 05, 2006, 05:08:55 pm »
  • Issac_Amisov
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Hmm... I already went through the stupid stage of not paying attention to things like this, but I am learning better languages, and now I realize I need some type of structure or planning to actually finish a game.
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Re: Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)
« Reply #6 on: April 05, 2006, 05:11:37 pm »
  • The Broken King
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I know what you mean MaJoRa, back when I was new, I thought that all of this stuff didn't apply to me, because I thoguht I was more determined than others or something :P
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  • Broken Kings [Temp Site]
Re: Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)
« Reply #7 on: April 05, 2006, 05:13:10 pm »
  • Issac_Amisov
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Yah, most new-gamers have that type of attitude.  ::)
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Re: Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)
« Reply #8 on: April 05, 2006, 05:17:26 pm »
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I know what you mean MaJoRa, back when I was new, I thought that all of this stuff didn't apply to me, because I thoguht I was more determined than others or something :P

Yea, i remember being at that stage so much, i thought just because i made the link sheet i was invincible (and lets face it its crap really, justalot of it), i think you should add this to the list, something on the lines of:

11: You are not better than everyone else
Just because you think of yourself to be good, doesnt mean your not, but dont be arrogant about it, it does not mean that others are any worse than you, at the end of the day there will always be better people than you out there, and theres no way to change it, but you can work to keep other people pleased and to improve youself, if someone criticises your work of art, dont flame them, bleed them dry of every way that they can help you, use thier criticisms to better yourself and you will find you produce sprites, games, sounds or whatever it is you need for your game at a much more proffessional quality, which will in turn bring you what you seek.
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  • Elliott Parkinson
Re: Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)
« Reply #9 on: April 05, 2006, 05:45:55 pm »
  • The Broken King
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I think that the "Know your limits" point covers the whole 'more ambitious' thing, just most poeple don't know their limits until they fail :P
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  • Broken Kings [Temp Site]
Re: Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)
« Reply #10 on: April 05, 2006, 11:21:45 pm »
  • Issac_Amisov
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I think that the "Know your limits" point covers the whole 'more ambitious' thing, just most poeple don't know their limits until they fail :P
Yes, I am a great example of that xD
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Re: Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)
« Reply #11 on: April 05, 2006, 11:57:14 pm »
  • Huzzowee!
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I think we all break that one when we start :P.
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"They say 'Don't sweat the little things!', but in the end, the little things are all that matter..."
--Alex2539
Re: Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)
« Reply #12 on: April 05, 2006, 11:59:46 pm »
  • Issac_Amisov
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Yup, you can't really help it... you want to make the game the best it can be.
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Re: Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)
« Reply #13 on: April 06, 2006, 12:09:43 am »
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you forgot this one

NOTE: this will only work if you are the boss..
"if someone is lazy, fire him!"
and...
"try to know more about the people you are about to hire. ex. if he has quited other games, if he has been fired, etc"

this might help >_>
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Re: Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)
« Reply #14 on: April 06, 2006, 12:12:15 am »
  • Issac_Amisov
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Yah, during my Dragonlance project everyone was lazy but like 3 and only 5 people ended up even helping... I posproned it tell I felt people would be willing to help.
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Re: Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)
« Reply #15 on: April 06, 2006, 05:51:21 am »
  • The Broken King
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you forgot this one

NOTE: this will only work if you are the boss..
"if someone is lazy, fire him!"
and...
"try to know more about the people you are about to hire. ex. if he has quited other games, if he has been fired, etc"

this might help >_>

Erm. No. XD if everyone is the boss, then no one will join your game, and there will be no teams :P
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  • Broken Kings [Temp Site]

Gilgamesh

Re: Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)
« Reply #16 on: April 06, 2006, 08:34:55 am »
Let's set up a team of spriters and programmers to make the ultimate fangame.
2 spriters, 2 tilers
2 programmers
1 music guy
1 guy to encourage the rest and provide a healthy dose of humorous remarks to keep the good mood in.
1 supervisor/coordinator with general idea and plot
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Re: Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)
« Reply #17 on: April 06, 2006, 12:53:02 pm »
  • Master Of Disaster
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Nice to see you posted this here. It`s very helpful to all gamemakers here ^_^
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.TakaM was here
  • Lumeuni
Re: Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)
« Reply #18 on: April 06, 2006, 01:10:17 pm »
  • alastair
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very nice, one of the important parts I think is the planning
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  • alastair

pxl_moon (dotyue)

Team Dekunutz
Re: Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)
« Reply #19 on: April 06, 2006, 02:03:11 pm »
  • .越//
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Let's set up a team of spriters and programmers to make the ultimate fangame.
2 spriters, 2 tilers
2 programmers
1 music guy
1 guy to encourage the rest and provide a healthy dose of humorous remarks to keep the good mood in.
1 supervisor/coordinator with general idea and plot

i think it should be more spriters / per talent.... not everyone is talented as the one before... if someone can do something what the other not can, then it is a good thing... so "2" spriters are not enough when they're on a low lvl...

tilers...tilers...tilers... ehm what is the differnce in work for spriters and tilers? they both have to sprite... they could stick together....
hm... 1 mapper atleast would be good.... as you see, that lacks in some fangames.

1 artwork guy for scenes and menuart and general looks of "new elements" would be cool, too


so that would be the list i would create:

4+ spriters
1+ mapper
1-2+ artworker
1+ composer
2+ programmer
1 director ( the last guy in your list )
1 manager ( the "funmaker boy" in your list )
1-2+ tester ( no, not just playing... hard bugfixing )
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~~Resources~~
~Minish Cap Style~

Minish Cap Beta:Firerod Icon, Majoras Mask:ChuChu, Ocarina of Time:Gossip Stone, Oracle Series:Link plays the "Herpes of Ages", Impa, Wand Maker: HUD
~GB-Zelda Style~
Ocarina of Time: Deku Caca
~Other~
Paper Mario Style Zelda&Link, Tetra Trackers HUD-Cleanups

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