Piercedveil
Member
Thanks! I've had ideas of trying to build a website but I've never done it before. Just curious as to what I would need to get going
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Indie Game Development Discussion Thread | Of Being Professionally Poor
- Thread starter chubigans
- Start date
- Status
Thanks! I've had ideas of trying to build a website but I've never done it before. Just curious as to what I would need to get going
HellBlazer
Member
Just a heads up if anyone's interested, Game Maker Studio Professional is 75% off (so $25) on Steam in a flash sale for the next 4 hours.
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
I made things jump in it.
Occasionally, I google old projects to see if anything has changed with them, if anybody new has played and posted about them. Found out that one of mine is on sale now for around $3: http://www.chroniclogic.com/astrodriller.htm
Not really attempting to boost sales or anything, but it's a game I'm extremely proud of that I feel missed it's mark as far as time and place. I've showed it to various dev houses as a portfolio piece, so I've had it picked apart to hell and back, but I still enjoy constructive criticism and discussion of its mechanics. The demo portion should have enough content for this type of discussion. If you have the time to check it out, let me know. Here's a few extra videos to give you a taste of the game in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IueK6p2Xcfk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWvXmYyWF4U
Not really attempting to boost sales or anything, but it's a game I'm extremely proud of that I feel missed it's mark as far as time and place. I've showed it to various dev houses as a portfolio piece, so I've had it picked apart to hell and back, but I still enjoy constructive criticism and discussion of its mechanics. The demo portion should have enough content for this type of discussion. If you have the time to check it out, let me know. Here's a few extra videos to give you a taste of the game in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IueK6p2Xcfk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWvXmYyWF4U
FormallyMegadrive
Member
Celebrating 2014 with a brand new website! I hunkered down over my Holiday break and designed and developed this in a few days. Check it out!
http://jamhammer.ca
Our music guy keeps sending us solid tracks, here's a sneak
https://soundcloud.com/elezeid/shwip-from-shwips-original
I love how it scales when you resize the window.
Render into a lower resolution texture and tag this texture to a screen
aligned quad. But I think, for WipEout, it's was done differently using sort
of a feature of the RSX, for, rendering to texture and using it for a screen
aligned quad would be rather inefficient if the graphics accelerator allows
to switch rendering resolution on a certain basis. The developers of the PS3
can program the RSX at the 'lowest' level by building the command queues
themselves. And I think there is a command allowing to switch rendering
resolution on vsync. On a historical note; the C64 and the Amiga500 were able
to switch video resolution during a frame. There was something known as a
raster interrupt. Pretty cool stuff.
Didn't know their was an initiative, but that is the goal.
Letterbomb
Banned
Complete novice here who is aspiring to get into the industry with you guys. After doing a bit of researching on beginner approaches, here is what I'm looking to do:
I actually want to know coding rather than just using programs to do the coding for me internally. Years ago I tried to delve into C++ but got quickly discouraged. I then moved on to Python and had intermediate success with it. Just started learning C# a month ago and have been absolutely loving it. Very inviting language, and I can see how it can offer more than the likes of Python.
Anyone have any tips or warnings for going this route? I'm trying to take things slow and not get tunnel vision--so throw your advice my way, if you can.
- C#
- XNA Framework
I actually want to know coding rather than just using programs to do the coding for me internally. Years ago I tried to delve into C++ but got quickly discouraged. I then moved on to Python and had intermediate success with it. Just started learning C# a month ago and have been absolutely loving it. Very inviting language, and I can see how it can offer more than the likes of Python.
Anyone have any tips or warnings for going this route? I'm trying to take things slow and not get tunnel vision--so throw your advice my way, if you can.
I don't know if the situation changed, but last I heard the XNA framework is completely unsupported and has basically been scrapped by Microsoft, so you may want to consider other options for C# moving forward with Windows 8 etc.Complete novice here who is aspiring to get into the industry with you guys. After doing a bit of researching on beginner approaches, here is what I'm looking to do:
- C#
- XNA Framework
I actually want to know coding rather than just using programs to do the coding for me internally. Years ago I tried to delve into C++ but got quickly discouraged. I then moved on to Python and had intermediate success with it. Just started learning C# a month ago and have been absolutely loving it. Very inviting language, and I can see how it can offer more than the likes of Python.
Anyone have any tips or warnings for going this route? I'm trying to take things slow and not get tunnel vision--so throw your advice my way, if you can.
Of course, if I'm wrong, or if there are some good approaches for C#, everyone please feel free to chime in or correct me.
Letterbomb
Banned
From what I understood, addition and contribution to XNA has stopped, but support for it has not. With the combination of XNA and MonoGame, games created in C#/XNA can be ported to any platform "with ease". Of course, I've done limited research on this. I thought you guys might know more about MonoGame and such--is it as effortless and effective as I'm reading?
I was told that Unity is great to use if you buy their full edition, but the free edition doesn't offer quite as much and isn't the best approach. Have I been misinformed, or are you suggesting I should just buckle down and buy the engine software?
FormallyMegadrive
Member
Definitely misinformed. Unity basic is a fantastic piece of software and can create fully fledged games.
HellBlazer
Member
Yeah, Microsoft may have abandoned XNA but MonoGame is alive and well, and it supports Windows 8. It's indeed relatively painless to port between platforms. There were some differences between the various platforms that you needed to pay attention to when I played around with it a year or more ago, but I'm sure that's been improved since then.
This is also true, Unity is pretty awesome, even the basic version. And in this case porting is literally just a few clicks.
Is it a good idea to learn ruby? What programs support the language? Im interested in learning it because of sketchup; knowing that it is also supported by other programs would be the icing on the cake.
Is this a good site to learn from? https://www.codeschool.com/
Is this a good site to learn from? https://www.codeschool.com/
Raonak
Banned
Thanks for the feedback, im using game maker studio, which is a multiplatform engine. PC now, mac/linux later. android/ios a future possibility.
The game does indeed have 2 directions, it actually plays a lot like a 2D beat-em up, but with a deep combat engine. works suprisingly well once you get the hang of it and abuse the snatcher ability (which teleports enemies straight to you, alligning them perfectly for a combo)
Artstyle is in need of an overhawl. I went for the overcolourful look, but it's hit and miss. The game was concieved as an actionRPG with levels to explore. each level would be non-linear. Sorta like DMC levels, with monsters, hidden items and stuff scattered around the level. except if it were more open.
But i'm probably gonna retool it. because, althought I think the combat system is good, the level design is bad. because the high jumping, which is required for the combat, actually limits level design possibilities. An idea I was toying with was to sepeate out combat and exploration/puzzles. So it's like a JRPG except, the turn based battle system replaced with a 2D character action game.
---
But anyways, the graphical and structural problems of nax has made me put it on the backburner, so i can come up with a way to use the combat system more effectively.
I'm wanting to start a new project, it'd be a quick one. ideally only being 30-60mins long. sorta like a short story rather than a novel.
Gonna basically use it to get better at level design and work on pixel art. im imagining it sorta like a stealth game, meets zelda, meets rougelike.
this is what i want it to look like. minimalist pixel art.
As far as game development goes it's useless I'm afraid. The majority of game frameworks use C/C++/C#. It's only really used for web development.
If you want to write scripts for 3D programs I would learn Python, it's used by Maya, 3D Studio Max and Blender, so you got those covered, additionally Python in general is more widespread.
I personally would rather learn Blender (and Python), it's a great 3D (OpenSource) program.
Additionally Unity supports Blender natively and there a exporters for every major game engine.
Plus it gives you more freedom than Sketchup.
Sketchup doesn't really limit you if you know how to use it xD (personal preference). Just goggled unity, it doesn't seem to accept ruby. Im probably looking for a language that can both be used in unity and Construct 2 (which is really simple to learn)
It will limit you sooner or later if you use it for game development, it just lacks the fundamentals.
Unity also supports JavaScript.
Exactly and if you need a specific pro feature (like real-time shadows) there's probably a plug in in the asset store that you can buy for far less.
Some gifs from Heart Forth, Alicia. I've been talking to this guy a bit on skype, and I think the game's going to be incredible so I wanted to share some gifs he showed me.
I think this is coming out in 2014, but there's still some mystery to it.
I think this is coming out in 2014, but there's still some mystery to it.
Complete novice here who is aspiring to get into the industry with you guys. After doing a bit of researching on beginner approaches, here is what I'm looking to do:
- C#
- XNA Framework
I actually want to know coding rather than just using programs to do the coding for me internally. Years ago I tried to delve into C++ but got quickly discouraged. I then moved on to Python and had intermediate success with it. Just started learning C# a month ago and have been absolutely loving it. Very inviting language, and I can see how it can offer more than the likes of Python.
Anyone have any tips or warnings for going this route? I'm trying to take things slow and not get tunnel vision--so throw your advice my way, if you can.
I would suggest C# in Unity just because you'll see results really quickly. But everything you try to do with the language, look into how it works, and how you could be more efficient. Sites like stack overflow are great for this.
If you want to get into the day job industry as a programmer, you probably are going to need C++. There's no quick route to that though. It takes years to become a truly decent C++ programmer. It's a complicated skill!
Getting stuff to work in C# then thinking about how you might get the same results in plain C++, (without helper libraries or STL), could provide a good route in to C++. And once you can think in C++, you'll start to understand more of what's really going on under the hood of C#. It's all just instructions and bytes!
Good luck, and don't be discouraged, it's a difficult subject!
Hope that helps.
The game looks and animates fantastically! Would you happen to know what engine he is using?
EDIT: Did some searching and stumbled upon Multimedia Fusion. Pretty cool.
EDIT 2: So I'm starting to seriously code some stuff for a game my partner and I are thinking of. I'm using Game Maker Standard Edition and it's working out pretty well so far. I was wondering if you guys would know if there is anything I should specifically watch out for regarding any limitations of GM or anything like that. This is my first game so this is all foreign to me, but I'm loving the learning process so far though.
FormallyMegadrive
Member
Seriously? Jesus. MMF has really come a long way since I was using it 7 years ago. :/
Like any engine, you're at the mercy of its developers at times. Sometimes stuff breaks when they update it, like exporting to iOS not always being functional for example. This doesn't happen often, and usually it's something mundane if there is a problem, but it still is something to be conscious of.
As far as specific, persisting limitations, the only thing I can think of is that 3D is still sub par. But if you want to do 2D stuff, it should allow you to do just about anything.
Yeah, it's going to be done in 2D, so that's good to hear! The world is my oyster!
reddmyst
Member
Those look amazing. Definitely feel a lot more inspired (along with what I've seen in this thread).
SpacePirate Ridley
Member
Some gifs from Heart Forth, Alicia. I've been talking to this guy a bit on skype, and I think the game's going to be incredible so I wanted to share some gifs he showed me.
I think this is coming out in 2014, but there's still some mystery to it.
Looks amazing. Can you control the way the magic is thrown?
Seraphis Cain
bad gameplay lol
Hey folks. So I've decided I want to seriously start looking into making a game I've had on my mind for a while now. It would basically be a spiritual successor of sorts to LSD: Dream Emulator for PS1. An exploration-focused first-person game with no combat and only very vague objectives. So to that end, I have a few questions:
1. I don't have a lot of programming experience. I made a quick, cheap 2D shmup game in...god I don't even remember what I used. GameMaker maybe? Anyway, that was 2-3 years ago. Beyond that, I used to make stuff in the Build engine back when I was a teenager, but aside from that, I haven't done any sort of programming in a long, long time. Also I'm damn terrible at math. With this in mind, what would be the best engine to use? I was thinking Unity based on some of the stuff in the OP and stuff I've read about it in other places.
2. Also, while learning an engine is definitely within the realm of possibility for me, I am absolutely no artist. So were I to use Unity, are there a good amount of free/royalty free models/textures out there I could use? I know using pre-made assets is rather lame, but even if I just used them to make a sort of proof-of-concept, that'd be enough I guess.
I feel like the project I have in mind wouldn't be too terribly difficult, since it involves nothing but exploring and some interaction with the world. That said, I'm not expecting it to be a cakewalk or anything, of course. It's definitely something I want to do. I've been a fan of LSD: Dream Emulator for a long time now (way before it became a Let's Play darling or whatever), and going all the way back to Magicant in Earthbound, I've always wanted to make a game that made heavy use of surreal elements and dreamlike worlds. So this is definitely something I want to do. I just need a push in the right direction, I guess. So yeah, any help would be appreciated. Thanks, GAF!
1. I don't have a lot of programming experience. I made a quick, cheap 2D shmup game in...god I don't even remember what I used. GameMaker maybe? Anyway, that was 2-3 years ago. Beyond that, I used to make stuff in the Build engine back when I was a teenager, but aside from that, I haven't done any sort of programming in a long, long time. Also I'm damn terrible at math. With this in mind, what would be the best engine to use? I was thinking Unity based on some of the stuff in the OP and stuff I've read about it in other places.
2. Also, while learning an engine is definitely within the realm of possibility for me, I am absolutely no artist. So were I to use Unity, are there a good amount of free/royalty free models/textures out there I could use? I know using pre-made assets is rather lame, but even if I just used them to make a sort of proof-of-concept, that'd be enough I guess.
I feel like the project I have in mind wouldn't be too terribly difficult, since it involves nothing but exploring and some interaction with the world. That said, I'm not expecting it to be a cakewalk or anything, of course. It's definitely something I want to do. I've been a fan of LSD: Dream Emulator for a long time now (way before it became a Let's Play darling or whatever), and going all the way back to Magicant in Earthbound, I've always wanted to make a game that made heavy use of surreal elements and dreamlike worlds. So this is definitely something I want to do. I just need a push in the right direction, I guess. So yeah, any help would be appreciated. Thanks, GAF!
Seems Unity is the best tool for your project. Making a first person camera is something that takes minutes and no programming (because Unity comes with "prefabs": reusable objects that can be from a simple animated enemy to a full player and camera controller) if you have the basic knowledge of course.
Unity also has an Asset Store where you can download assets (free and paid) from 3d animated models to full systems that take care of the game logic in case programming is not your best talent.
That said, you'll have to apply yourself with the tutorials. Try to make all the tutorials in the official site and read some books (Unity Game Development Essentials is pretty good for beginners). If it's possible try to start with something smaller than your dream project so you can see how much work is needed even for something simple.
Woop! I got my depth of field working with transparency in the foreground!
It involved creating a couple of extra cameras for separating out the stages of rendering and post effects, then using the magical script from here: link to fix the passing of effect buffers to the next camera.
This is just using my old canopy shader, so the colours don't hook up with the skyshop sky as yet, but will do soon.
Happy!
It involved creating a couple of extra cameras for separating out the stages of rendering and post effects, then using the magical script from here: link to fix the passing of effect buffers to the next camera.
This is just using my old canopy shader, so the colours don't hook up with the skyshop sky as yet, but will do soon.
Happy!
^ Looks rad, razu! :+
A couple of weeks ago I've decided to make a fundamental decision on the
rendering backend. It will either break or make my investment into indie game
development. Am intending to build sort of a 3d Retro Rendering Engine with
priority-based colormaps, indexed shading, faked transparency, dithering etc.
up to color reproduction techniques using shadow masks as well as signal phase
transition, phosphor leakage etc. to simulate many of the oddities of CRT
monitors. The goal is to recreate the look and feel of earlier 3d games played
on an arcade whereas the complexity of the environment and / or the physics
should apply to current standard. To make it clear, by 3d retro rendering I
don't mean to just render crappy unfiltered textures or just using low-poly
models. That's what it is not. Anyone got similar ideas or is interested
into something like this?
A couple of weeks ago I've decided to make a fundamental decision on the
rendering backend. It will either break or make my investment into indie game
development. Am intending to build sort of a 3d Retro Rendering Engine with
priority-based colormaps, indexed shading, faked transparency, dithering etc.
up to color reproduction techniques using shadow masks as well as signal phase
transition, phosphor leakage etc. to simulate many of the oddities of CRT
monitors. The goal is to recreate the look and feel of earlier 3d games played
on an arcade whereas the complexity of the environment and / or the physics
should apply to current standard. To make it clear, by 3d retro rendering I
don't mean to just render crappy unfiltered textures or just using low-poly
models. That's what it is not.
Anyone got similar ideas or is interested into something like this?
Letterbomb
Banned
Thank you everyone for your responses; you've been a big help. I finished downloading Unity and will begin right away on learning the interface. I'll probably annoy you guys from time to time with more questions and comments and the like.
^ Looks rad, razu! :+
A couple of weeks ago I've decided to make a fundamental decision on the
rendering backend. It will either break or make my investment into indie game
development. Am intending to build sort of a 3d Retro Rendering Engine with
priority-based colormaps, indexed shading, faked transparency, dithering etc.
up to color reproduction techniques using shadow masks as well as signal phase
transition, phosphor leakage etc. to simulate many of the oddities of CRT
monitors. The goal is to recreate the look and feel of earlier 3d games played
on an arcade whereas the complexity of the environment and / or the physics
should apply to current standard. To make it clear, by 3d retro rendering I
don't mean to just render crappy unfiltered textures or just using low-poly
models. That's what it is not.
into something like this?
Thanks!
Sounds like the opposite of low poly retro rendering. Sounds like a high end CRT simulator. Which, sounds cool!
Thank you everyone for your responses; you've been a big help. I finished downloading Unity and will begin right away on learning the interface. I'll probably annoy you guys from time to time with more questions and comments and the like.
No probs. As ever, I advise aiming to make something super simple first, like a box that jumps when you press space. And build out from there. Enjoy! The Unity community is pretty rad. They solved my post processing problem today for instance
The low-poly aspect is up to the artist. Don't know if low-poly is retro atThanks!
Sounds like the opposite of low poly retro rendering. Sounds like a high end CRT simulator. Which, sounds cool!
all. There is a lot more necessary to get the effect done right. The key
components are the retro rendering techniques combined with color reproduction
techniques for different output devices (CRTs for example). And I think the
combination of these will look much more awesome for 3d games than for 2d. The
3d aspect may give sort of a Cyberpunk feeling. Lots of coding ahead!
maniac-kun
Member
Does anyone have some good resources on ramdom generated 3d worlds? My idea for this is to define several pieces of a structure and having an algorithm align them with some rules. What i want to do is random generated dungeons.
timetokill
Banned
Nice! Good start!GOTY here I come!
The same advice for every indie project: simplify. Then simplify again. then again.
Start really basic. Don't strive for perfect, or you'll never be done. Practice will make you better.. You're not going to make Seiken Densetsu 3 sprites anytime soon.
If you want to get good at anything, you have to dedicate tons of time towards it and practice. I guess something you could do is examine some simpler pixel art from some old game that you like and see why you like it so much. Try to recreate that and see how it works. That should teach you something at least.
But yeah, practice!
Correct me if I'm wrong as this is not my bag, but most of this can be done with shaders and pre and post process in almost any engine. Depending on the render pipeline of the engine and flexibility of the SDK would ultimately impact use and adaptation of those techniques.^ Looks rad, razu! :+
A couple of weeks ago I've decided to make a fundamental decision on the
rendering backend. It will either break or make my investment into indie game
development. Am intending to build sort of a 3d Retro Rendering Engine with
priority-based colormaps, indexed shading, faked transparency, dithering etc.
up to color reproduction techniques using shadow masks as well as signal phase
transition, phosphor leakage etc. to simulate many of the oddities of CRT
monitors. The goal is to recreate the look and feel of earlier 3d games played
on an arcade whereas the complexity of the environment and / or the physics
should apply to current standard. To make it clear, by 3d retro rendering I
don't mean to just render crappy unfiltered textures or just using low-poly
models. That's what it is not.
into something like this?
I'm not the visual production guy so forgive my ignorance and lack of knowledge on the subject as I can't ask my tech director at the moment.
SlipperySlope
Banned
The Kickstarter has been submitted for review. It will be live early next week! So excited!
Here's some new concept art.
http://rolansquest.colony-games.com
Here's some new concept art.
http://rolansquest.colony-games.com
So every single icon I make looks like shit on the devices I'm testing on. Any good tips on making icons and logos? Been looking online and nothing is helping. In gimp I'm making it at 1024x1024 and saving around 300 pixels per inch. Then scaling down. Not getting the results I want...
I tried modeling my logo in blender and rendering that out at an insane resolution and scaling down in gimp.
I'm also capturing screenshots of levels for a level select screen, used as a preview. I'm using a script in unity to capture at ridiculous resolution, then scaling down in gimp, then adding to Unity. They still don't look as good as i'd like.
I need a step by step tutorial on making icons and logos complete with all the technical jargon to make it look nice and hi-rez. I can't really find one...
I tried modeling my logo in blender and rendering that out at an insane resolution and scaling down in gimp.
I'm also capturing screenshots of levels for a level select screen, used as a preview. I'm using a script in unity to capture at ridiculous resolution, then scaling down in gimp, then adding to Unity. They still don't look as good as i'd like.
I need a step by step tutorial on making icons and logos complete with all the technical jargon to make it look nice and hi-rez. I can't really find one...
timetokill
Banned
Use vector art if you can. Illustrator. For logos and things it's generally the best bet.
If you're going to use raster images, make sure to check the settings on your image interpolation when resizing. You can go from Nearest Neighbor for hard edge pixel looks, bilinear, bicubic for smooth gradients, etc. They will dramatically change how it looks when resized.
So ... My choice went to native objective C ( versus Unity ). I feel so at ease with the language iDE and else, it has already put me on a tremendous rythm.
In 3h tonight I made a fully dynamic board, set the main game screen, coded all the human interactions to play ...
Tomorrow, rules, conditions, and consequences !!
In 3h tonight I made a fully dynamic board, set the main game screen, coded all the human interactions to play ...
Tomorrow, rules, conditions, and consequences !!
Screenshot saturday on an actual saturday for once.
Been working a lot on some overlay art and stuff. Clouds, fog, particles, stuff to help blend things together. I'm always getting new ideas. I don't like things looking too static; that's why there's multiple layers of foggy lookin overlay patterns that scroll at different speeds, and things floatin' around, a staticy overlay, and the flowers are gonna be moving once I get around to that...
You can also see sleeping beauty there. It's pretty hard to wake him up. He's not too happy about it if he does wakes up, though.
It seems pretty good. I may check it out once I have time to screw around.
No idea, I'll have to ask him.
Been working a lot on some overlay art and stuff. Clouds, fog, particles, stuff to help blend things together. I'm always getting new ideas. I don't like things looking too static; that's why there's multiple layers of foggy lookin overlay patterns that scroll at different speeds, and things floatin' around, a staticy overlay, and the flowers are gonna be moving once I get around to that...
You can also see sleeping beauty there. It's pretty hard to wake him up. He's not too happy about it if he does wakes up, though.
It seems pretty good. I may check it out once I have time to screw around.
No idea, I'll have to ask him.
- Status