Same question, I'd really appreciate it.Hamster at Dawn said:
It's easy to come close to, but I can't seem to find a match.
Thanks again!
Stonking Great Game Contest Now Live!
- Thread starter Spinwhiz
- Start date
It's easy to come close to, but I can't seem to find a match.
Thanks again!
Neither of those. You start with an idea, a concept, a DESIGN. The you develop that concept during pre-production and decide whether or not it's worth your effort to develop it into a proper game. This is when you make a prototype, a rouch sketch of your game with the most important game mechanics.SlySavvy said:
After pre-production you will know exactly what your game will contain and how to make the different parts, and then you develop the game. I usually mix it up, I do some coding for an hour, then some art, then back to coding (it's almost impossible to work like this if the development team consists of more than one person).
There is one more thing you need to make a game though, and that's drive. You need to be motivated, super determined to see your project through. Because it's going to get boring, and you're going to hit the point where you realize exactly how much more you've got to do until you're finished (one always underestimates the workload) and if you don't have enough drive you're going to quit, most people do.
I've been in your position, it is hard to get started. But once you've gotten over that hump and you've made your first game, and people play it and enjoy it, it's worth all the effort (even if it's just your little brother and sister and they're just trying to be nice
).
You could spend the next three or so years of your life developing your own Flash game engine. Or you could be very smart, and use an engine that already exists.SlySavvy said:
I'm not going to say any more about that, because it would give you an edge that I don't want most of the competition to have. But there are numerous options at the moment for Flash game designers who don't want to start their journey of discovery at square one.
Of course, any option is going to require a certain degree of coding. Coding is how you really make a game your own. It is necessary for refining play mechanics, and all of the best games have play mechanics that gleam in the morning sun.
I will now attempt to answer some of your questions directly...
1. Start with the coding, and use filler artwork initially. Getting your game in a playable state is more important initially than making it look pretty. Even when people come for the graphics, they always stay for the gameplay. The eyecandy is really only important for attracting attention. Focus on coding initially, use place holder art to start with, and refine the art gradually throughout the development process.
2. In Flash, you insert art into the game by embedding the graphic resources into the flash movie itself. It is possible to reference and load in external files dynamically, but for the average Flash game it just isn't worth the trouble. There is a specific syntax for embedding different kinds of resources into swf files. This can be done with code, and you don't need the Flash IDE to embed graphic, sound, or text files.
3. You are on your own for the soundtrack. Any music or audio mixing program would suffice. Garage Band is a usual suggestion for Mac users. Audacity is a free audio program, but I wouldn't necessarily suggest it for music. If you are having trouble finding something, remember that public domain music is free to use for this sort of project. (this would include most classical music, Brahms, Mozart, Bach, etc...) Encode some of this as an MP3, and then embed it in your Flash game the same way you would graphics.
4. Scripting is a bit more difficult. I commonly use custom-designed XML files for my scripting. Flash has all the tools necessary to load and parse XML, and XML files can also be embedded into flash. (like the aforementioned graphic and music embedding) XML files are great for defining levels, scripted sequences, etc...
I downloaded the 30 day trial of Flash Pro this weekend. I now have 28 days to complete this project. It is a good thing I did all the class descriptions, and graphics ripping prior to starting the trial. That was a good week?s worth of work completely unrelated to the flash authoring tool.
Thanks for the reply, Spinwhiz.Spinwhiz said:
Though, unfortunately, I doubt any iteration of Impact matches.First is Yahtzee's actual font, taken from an image.
The second is the closest I've come to a match, and it's Arial, set to bold, vertically stretched 115%, horizontal tracking set to-3.
The third is Impact [horiz. tracking between letters set to +100 to try to match better].
Think Yahtzee would be kind enough to bestow upon us his great font secrets?
Anyway, thanks again!
i dont know much code, and i'm not to keen about legal issues (documents, legal information, user agreements, etc...) but isn't
"Any entry becomes the property of Themis Group, Inc. and will not be returned. Entrants surrender copyright and all interests therein of their submissions to Themis Group, Inc."
i bit rediclous? i might be understanding it wrong but, if so can someone please explain?
"Any entry becomes the property of Themis Group, Inc. and will not be returned. Entrants surrender copyright and all interests therein of their submissions to Themis Group, Inc."
i bit rediclous? i might be understanding it wrong but, if so can someone please explain?
"Or you could be very smart, and use an engine that already exists. I'm not going to say any more about that, because it would give you an edge that I don't want most of the competition to have. But there are numerous options at the moment for Flash game designers who don't want to start their journey of discovery at square one."
I was under the impression that you had to be able to claim all code submitted to the contest as your own, but im not sure where i got that from. Thats why ive been staying away from Box2d and such, since their license does not permit this. Am i wrong? Are people allowed to use libraries/engines written by other people for their game and submit?
FOUND IT:
"So, please check the legal text for the developers/distributors of any type of software you a looking to use and make sure that they (the developers/distributors/original creators) ALLOW you to own your work. If for any reason they state that your game is not 100% yours, we cannot accept your submission."
Thats where i got it from, one could not claim 100% ownership of the games code if for example zlib licensed libraries was used, since it states: "you must not claim that you wrote the original software". So i guess it depends on the license of the whatever-it-is you are going to use =)
I was under the impression that you had to be able to claim all code submitted to the contest as your own, but im not sure where i got that from. Thats why ive been staying away from Box2d and such, since their license does not permit this. Am i wrong? Are people allowed to use libraries/engines written by other people for their game and submit?
FOUND IT:
"So, please check the legal text for the developers/distributors of any type of software you a looking to use and make sure that they (the developers/distributors/original creators) ALLOW you to own your work. If for any reason they state that your game is not 100% yours, we cannot accept your submission."
Thats where i got it from, one could not claim 100% ownership of the games code if for example zlib licensed libraries was used, since it states: "you must not claim that you wrote the original software". So i guess it depends on the license of the whatever-it-is you are going to use =)
Box2D License says:
Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any purpose,
including commercial applications, and to alter it and redistribute it
freely, subject to the following restrictions:
1. The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must not
claim that you wrote the original software. If you use this software
in a product, an acknowledgment in the product documentation would be
appreciated but is not required.
2. Altered source versions must be plainly marked as such, and must not be
misrepresented as being the original software.
3. This notice may not be removed or altered from any source distribution.
Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any purpose,
including commercial applications, and to alter it and redistribute it
freely, subject to the following restrictions:
1. The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must not
claim that you wrote the original software. If you use this software
in a product, an acknowledgment in the product documentation would be
appreciated but is not required.
2. Altered source versions must be plainly marked as such, and must not be
misrepresented as being the original software.
3. This notice may not be removed or altered from any source distribution.
It's very simple. It means anything you enter they can do anything with.fireman2555 said:
Including but not limited to.
Changing any part of it, including removing your name.
Selling it for any price without you ever getting a cut.
Removing all ZP references and turning it into anything they like.
Basically you're saying you don't mind getting potentially reamed. In their defence it's not an uncommon clause in commercially run competitions.
This is true. However, most open-source liscences DO permit you to own your own work made using such projects. They allow for full use of their code in a private or commercial capacity. They even allow you to transfer ownership of your project from yourself to someone else. (in this case, from you to the Escapist)theZ said:
Naturally, open-source liscences aren't all the same. It is important to check a given AS3 library to see whether or not it is viable. And any commercial AS3 library or engine would of course not be usable.
Let's just throw out an example, shall we?
http://code.google.com/p/tweener/
This is a link for the Tweener Actionscript library. It is an open-source flash library developed under the google code initiative. It would most likely qualify for use with this contest. The advantage of the Tweener library is that it makes it possible to create Tweening animations using code, rather than using the Flash IDE. It automates the process of creating animations based on fixed time intervals. This is extremely useful for creating cutscenes, menus, and any number of other operations within a Flash game.
It is usually advisable to add some credit for the library or original author within your game or application. This is just a common courtesy, and should be observed no matter what you intend to do with your software. Including them in the opening credits is a good idea, or just listing them in the end credits. Having an "About" splash screen in the main menu is also a good idea.
I finished my game RIGHT before The Escapist released the art assets. DAMMIT. (If Yahtzee decides to review my game, expect him to rage about how the art and the fonts are wrong -_-')
OTOH, I managed to finish a game in 72 hours. Woot.
OTOH, I managed to finish a game in 72 hours. Woot.
Shame about the Flash requirement, I bet there could have been some good Silverlight entries. Still good luck to everyone entering - will be interesting to see the games that come out of this competition.
Definitely Arial Black. Thought it might also be Helvetica Black, but I compared both to one of the titles. The "G" was a dead giveaway.Hamster at Dawn said:
That was my interpretation, but if you can think of a brilliant way to subvert this and still have the connection be obvious, he may reward you for your sheer creativity.TSW said:
Holy cow are from Ludum Dare or Speedhack? I Salute you.genericuser said:
I just got my first character to walk across the screen, and here I was hoping my 30 day development plan would land me the coveted title of first one done.