Unlimited Creativity Works > Doujin Projects

Game Development 101 2.0: The Amateur Game Developer's Playground

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Alice:
Since the first thread was more about a FSN Fangame specifically despite the title, I'm starting a new thread- whether you're just making a game for practice, have some ideas to throw around, or even have a game that you're making but want feedback on, this is the place to go (also, I can mess with that thread title if people so desire).

So yeah, I guess I'll start things off. See, I have a few RPG maker games at my disposal, including VX Ace. In regards to that last one, I started playing around a bit with it,  and I noticed that even for someone who can't program like me, you can still set up some basic things pretty well. However, for the meat and bones of the game, you need to program in events, and that's a bit beyond my power. I could likely catch on a bit if I read a tutorial on the thing, but I'm not exactly likely to learn fast I suspect.

While there are nice contributors out there that have written code that's free to use for everyone in terms of game mechanics and stuff, there's still a lot of work that goes into making a game vibrant in terms of events and stuff, even if you're using a game designing program like RPG Maker VX Ace.

So why start this thread? Because if we ever do make a Type Moon based fan game some day, we need to have our heads together for it. So yeah, what I'm offering is a chance to practice before we get there in terms of various facets of game development. I for instance can write, draw character concepts, and even do some of the art to a small extent, but I can't do most of the programming or compose the music, so that's a chance for people who can do those things to shine. It also gives me a chance to work with my own specialties as well, and even pick up new ones- same goes for anyone else who tries to hone their skills this way in here.

So yeah, think of this as a chance to hone your skills. More than one game project of any type is allowed in here, and multiple projects can run at the same time. With that said, have at it! :D

Cherry Lover:
Well, if you're looking for programming help, then I am pretty sure I can help out. Programming practice would probably be good for me anyway....

Xamusel:
In regards to the idea behind this thread, I feel like saying this: I am learning how to use a general game design program called Game Maker at present, but I also have RPG Maker on my computers (yes, it's plural, even though I generally use my laptop more often these days). It may take a while for me to get back into the groove of making games of any sort with any tool, but I plan on doing it right, as in "I plan on getting back into the groove right."

Now... Alice, if there's anything you need of me in regards to RPG Maker help, I'll do what I can to help you out.

Xamusel:
Okay... this is particularly late, but I just wanted to say this:

With my birthday coming up next week, I intend to get resources for making RPG Maker games a lot easier (graphics and music especially). These resources would have to cost money, and I don't have a lot of it, but I do have family that will indulge in my request to have such resources for my birthday.

With that said, I'm thinking of making a game that has not been specified what genre it'll be, but I'm still working on it... it'll probably be Fantasy or Sci-Fi.

Phearo:
Well, while I'm not planning on actually making a few things, I do have a some ideas bouncing around in my head- though nothing concrete to actually make a proper game with, probably. So I guess I can share one from the top of my head.

Y'know, playing skyrim, and having the devs boast it's organic open gameplay, I've always thought to myself that there's a better to way to go around this. Not like this is going to solve that problem of shallowness I find whenever I play that game, but I feel like this is a principle that they should pursue if they really want to create a proper "create your own story" fantasy.

The story, first of all- should be non-linear. That's the one thing western devs can't seem to wrap their head around.(imma lookin' at you, BioWare, Telltale) Everyone seems to think that a karma system's the way to go but the fact is it should work in the side instead, having flags as a main mechanic(I'll get to it later, this is just rambling so it's not really organized).

Essentially, instead of one straight-line slog of a main story or whatever what should be done is that the whole thing is fragmented short stories- with the flags the player has set up being a modifier to the situation. Don't be afraid of your game having no difficulty curve, pretty much don't scale your game towards the player's level automatically, that's the worst idea you might ever have in your entire life, instead make a work around with the lore why a certain area is so dangerous, and if the player steps in unprepared or cocky let 'em have it.

Let's say we can give an example how this sort of non linear story telling could work:

First, we have a village, let's say it's under attack by bandits. MC-kun comes along, now he's tripped the "seeing the village under seige" flag, he has a couple of options that pops in his mind to play with:

1. Help the villagers find against the threat.
2. Leave the villagers alone.
3. Find the bandit's camp and do something.
4. A butt load of other things, I suppose.

You see, whatever he does earns him a little flag to let the NPCs and other things respond to the things he's achieved. This happens with everything in the game, where the story is pretty much connect the dots in an entirely different way than environmental story telling.

But, seeing that this is a non-linear story, what if MC-kun never even reached the village? Maybe he reached the bandit's camp first, or maybe he wasn't even anywhere near the happenings- well, that's just fine. Not showing everything for the player is a good indicator of replayability, one of the best things to work with your game if you're planning for it to be open.

But now we also have another problem: "Gosh darn, there's so many choices, this is going to take so long to make!" The answer is easy for that, don't be afraid to make it short. If you're afraid people will complain about starting over again, and again, add a new game+ mechanic, or a time travel mechanic- maybe even make levelling up a butt load easier than what it normally would be(after all player empowerment can be achieved without ruining scale and balance).

With that, here's a nice little example idea. Think typical elder scrolls' mechanics, but with a story in the same format as this instead of their Main Story+Side quests kind of trekking. Like, maybe you're a hero, showing up to stop an evil from invading a certain kingdom within 6 days, or something. Maybe you can to the different groups of folks an appeal to them to fight by your side, or you can be some sort lone BAMF that's just going to spend all his time training to take the evil army single-handedly. iirc Skyrim's days last for about an hour or so, then add events running in parallel that only appear in a specific date, then increase the xp rate by 50%(woah) and I think it would be a very enjoyable RPG that you could pick up and play anytime.

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