I'm assembling a group to work on some hobby Independant Game design, anyone got any tips they want to share? I'm sure there are plenty of others as well as my self who would like a good voice of experience giving us some handy warnings.
Independant Game Design: Do's and Don'ts
- Thread starter PedroSteckecilo
- Start date
Scope, scope, scope! Keep it simple, keep it tight. Don't try to do everything, in fact, don't try to do a whole lot period. Do something simple and fun and do that well. That's the best advice I can offer.
Thanks for the tip, my crew is planning a very old school 2d RPG working mostly with a limited "exploration, simple puzzles and battles" within 2-4 hour episodes, so hopefully that fits the criteria.
Another thing i'd like to suggest, if your using magic, don't go the route of Phantasy star, and please name the spells kinda near what they do. like, Heal instead of Res... confusion more often than not drives people away from games.
Another suggestion, make it rather difficult, but not to the point where a single random encounter will turn you into mincemeat. with games getting easier, a nice difficult RPG would be nice to see
Another suggestion, make it rather difficult, but not to the point where a single random encounter will turn you into mincemeat. with games getting easier, a nice difficult RPG would be nice to see
Don't use too many clichés, unless you are using them satirically and/or ironically. Then, make it clear that you are using that for comedic purposes.
But that might alienate some of the audience, wouldn't that be a bad thing?the-kitchen-slayer said:
So long as it doesn't become impossible, maybe it takes you two or three tries to beat the bosses, it would be good for the game.
If you are making an RPG try the j-rp thing without the stupid outfits yes?
Also try not to rip off other games too much - although obviously magic cant stray far past the elements =/
Also try not to rip off other games too much - although obviously magic cant stray far past the elements =/
It's gonna be turn based but no silly costumes or she-men... except for purposes of humor. There's also not going to be "magic"Theo Samaritan said:
The damage types will be
- Piercing
- Slashing
- Impact
- Flame
- Electricity
If we can find a programmer who can do it, we'll attempt Conditional Turn Based Combat (FFX) mixed with Chrono Trigger/Suikoden esque multi person techniques.
i personally think that indie games are best when there is some unique nuance to the game design. basically, when there is innovation that doesn't rely on graphics or CPU horse power.
Read a book about game design. I recommend Salen and Zimmerman's Rules of Play.
If your game style permits it at all, try to design it in "analog" form first. For example, make a little board game kinda like your game and play it a bunch of times to refine the design. This is especially easy for turn-based games.
-- Alex
If your game style permits it at all, try to design it in "analog" form first. For example, make a little board game kinda like your game and play it a bunch of times to refine the design. This is especially easy for turn-based games.
-- Alex
- Scope: as the first reply stated, keep it small
- Finish it! A lot of game design enthousiasts have a lot of cool ideas and a lot of projects they started that would be 'the next big thing' but then abandoned halfway... finishing your game is quite the accomplishment
- Expectations: know exactly from every member what he/she wants out of the game or project. I believe personal goals can make or brake a project. If everyone is pushing in the same direction, it can go great. If one wants fantasy but someone else hates it, or if one wants something novel but someone else just wants something (proven) fun, that can collide
- Paper prototype: the best way to quickly check whether your gameplay is fun, and really easy with non-realtime game, is to make a paper prototype, with pieces of paper and maybe pawns and dices and whatnot from other games
- Storydriven game or Actiondriven game? Is the gameplay the purpose, and the story just an 'excuse' to go from actionscene to actionscene (just as with that popular example, porn) or is the story the purpose, and the gameplay the means to tell that story?
- Meet up a lot. But if it's a worldwide team that might be just a bit problematic... maybe video conferencing?
- Vision: make sure there is a clear, simple, understandable vision of what the game should be, in what direction the game should go, and make sure everyone on the team shares that vision... looks like point #3... well sometimes the vision comes from 1 person, and he/she has to manage the expectations of the others
- Focus: don't want something that's Mass Effect, Gears of War & Tomb Raider combined. Focus on one aspect that makes it awesome
- Finish it! A lot of game design enthousiasts have a lot of cool ideas and a lot of projects they started that would be 'the next big thing' but then abandoned halfway... finishing your game is quite the accomplishment
- Expectations: know exactly from every member what he/she wants out of the game or project. I believe personal goals can make or brake a project. If everyone is pushing in the same direction, it can go great. If one wants fantasy but someone else hates it, or if one wants something novel but someone else just wants something (proven) fun, that can collide
- Paper prototype: the best way to quickly check whether your gameplay is fun, and really easy with non-realtime game, is to make a paper prototype, with pieces of paper and maybe pawns and dices and whatnot from other games
- Storydriven game or Actiondriven game? Is the gameplay the purpose, and the story just an 'excuse' to go from actionscene to actionscene (just as with that popular example, porn) or is the story the purpose, and the gameplay the means to tell that story?
- Meet up a lot. But if it's a worldwide team that might be just a bit problematic... maybe video conferencing?
- Vision: make sure there is a clear, simple, understandable vision of what the game should be, in what direction the game should go, and make sure everyone on the team shares that vision... looks like point #3... well sometimes the vision comes from 1 person, and he/she has to manage the expectations of the others
- Focus: don't want something that's Mass Effect, Gears of War & Tomb Raider combined. Focus on one aspect that makes it awesome
o yeah that too! ^^ I found Rules of Play rather dry through... I would go with a lot of Gamasutra articles and Theory of Fun. And I actually found Game Design: Secrets of the Sages enjoyable
Good thread here, nice advice. I'm a bit of pre-indy myself. I can never generate the willpower to see my paper prototypes out to some kind of finished product.
In terms of platform, I think Adobe Flash is probably the easiest (if most expensive) to learn and produce end results with. Visual Basic makes programming 2D windows interfaces remarkably easy, and there are free versions [http://www.microsoft.com/express/vb/] available. If you're looking for more flexibility and are looking to spend little to no money, it's hard to beat Java, but it's a full fledged objected oriented (if interpreted) language - not for lightweights. Of course, C++ is where the most firepower has always been, but it cuts few favors for newbies looking to put together an end product quick (hey, at least it's better than assembly) - chances are you'll be shelling out for a pricey API, I recommend www.garagegames.com as a good start.
I'm jumping the gun a bit, though. The paper prototype has been mentioned before, and I want to mention it again: it's vital. Having a platform gives you the tools to make something, sure, but it won't do you any good without an understanding of what you're making. That's the main lesson I learned as a pre-indy, and something even the big-name developers seem to mess up on sometimes: it's a lot costlier trying to fix your game after the paper stage. Even paper can be a bit restrictive, for me I like to work out the details in my head before committing anything to paper. If it doesn't seem like a fun game in your head, it probably won't be much better on the computer.
In terms of platform, I think Adobe Flash is probably the easiest (if most expensive) to learn and produce end results with. Visual Basic makes programming 2D windows interfaces remarkably easy, and there are free versions [http://www.microsoft.com/express/vb/] available. If you're looking for more flexibility and are looking to spend little to no money, it's hard to beat Java, but it's a full fledged objected oriented (if interpreted) language - not for lightweights. Of course, C++ is where the most firepower has always been, but it cuts few favors for newbies looking to put together an end product quick (hey, at least it's better than assembly) - chances are you'll be shelling out for a pricey API, I recommend www.garagegames.com as a good start.
I'm jumping the gun a bit, though. The paper prototype has been mentioned before, and I want to mention it again: it's vital. Having a platform gives you the tools to make something, sure, but it won't do you any good without an understanding of what you're making. That's the main lesson I learned as a pre-indy, and something even the big-name developers seem to mess up on sometimes: it's a lot costlier trying to fix your game after the paper stage. Even paper can be a bit restrictive, for me I like to work out the details in my head before committing anything to paper. If it doesn't seem like a fun game in your head, it probably won't be much better on the computer.
my turn my turn
*DON'T put too much dialogue into your game - see yahtzee and mass effect
*DON'T make your game too short or too long- 20 hours max- 10 hours min
*stay away from spiritual successors......nuff said
*DON'T put too much dialogue into your game - see yahtzee and mass effect
*DON'T make your game too short or too long- 20 hours max- 10 hours min
*stay away from spiritual successors......nuff said
You know I was thinking about doing a design document for a sonic game and the first thing I thought was "Man, he'd look awesome with a pair of goggles"ClanClan said: