That's awesome, great social marketing. I can't seem to get the hang of the twitter machine, but enjoy watching others use it successfully.So, this was amusing. I somehow doubt anything will ever come of it, but fun anyway..
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Indie Game Development Discussion Thread | Of Being Professionally Poor
- Thread starter chubigans
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Technobabel
Member
Localization might be coming later with an android port.
Talking about translations... does anybody have any experience using and rendering languages like japanese in Unity? Quark Storm is unlikely to require much localization, so I'd like to release it in multiple langugages if I get the chance. However, I tried to feed unity an Unicode font and it wasn't recognized, and I'm also wondering how I'll be albe to write the text into my .txt localization files without a specialized keyboard or application.
I've also come up with a variant to the gravity fields theme that might be interesting (perhaps not innovation-wise, but gameplay-wise). That's got me back into implementing gravity fields right, and creating some new shaders to display them properly.
I really have to get over my recent development apathy, and hopefully working on this stuff will get me back into the right track (ie: working on my blasted game rather than doing other random stuff out of apathy).
I've tried showing my game around to some sites, but I think I might be unprepared (as far as not having any kind of media kit is concerned) and should research some more about who I should be reaching out to. Do you guys have any suggestions as to what I should do to spread the word about the game?
I've also come up with a variant to the gravity fields theme that might be interesting (perhaps not innovation-wise, but gameplay-wise). That's got me back into implementing gravity fields right, and creating some new shaders to display them properly.
I really have to get over my recent development apathy, and hopefully working on this stuff will get me back into the right track (ie: working on my blasted game rather than doing other random stuff out of apathy).
I've tried showing my game around to some sites, but I think I might be unprepared (as far as not having any kind of media kit is concerned) and should research some more about who I should be reaching out to. Do you guys have any suggestions as to what I should do to spread the word about the game?
harrypmgaga
Member
So I'm starting work on a new project after getting comfortable with engine (Unity) and 3d modelling tools. I know I've got a game in me, but finding inspiration has got to be the hardest bit.
Really satisfying to find a problem in your code and weedng it out after having it elude you for so long.
I'm finding I'm having just the opposite problem. I've got too much I want to work into a game. Too many ideas. Haven't completed super detailed design docs and havent made an outline of minimum things I wish to include/accomplish. I've set sail but keep changing course in the middle of the ocean. I've got gameplay basics down (like very very basic idea of how I want things to work) but the devil is in the details... which I haven't ironed out yet.
I'm finding I'm having just the opposite problem. I've got too much I want to work into a game. Too many ideas. Haven't completed super detailed design docs and havent made an outline of minimum things I wish to include/accomplish. I've set sail but keep changing course in the middle of the ocean. I've got gameplay basics down (like very very basic idea of how I want things to work) but the devil is in the details... which I haven't ironed out yet.
Dynamite Shikoku
Congratulations, you really deserve it!
Yep. I had a bug a couple of weeks back that I couldn't figure out. Was trying so many different things to try and fix it for about 6 hours straight one evening. At 1am in the morning I eventually found out I had just called the wrong function in one line of code. I could at least sleep soundly after that.
McNerdBurger
Neo Member
Hey dudes, I'm looking to make a beat em up akin to Streets of Rage. Platform would be PC and iOS. Any recommendations on an engine? I love working in Unity (my minimal programming experience is in Javascript), but I've heard that Cocos2d might be more efficient for this type of thing.
Anyone here attempted anything in that genre?
Anyone here attempted anything in that genre?
Dynamite Shikoku
Congratulations, you really deserve it!
I like cocos2d. If you want to release on multiple platforms, you could take a look at cocos2d-x. That would be coding in c++ though.
I'm learning cocos2d right now. Windows isn't really an option unless by PC you meant osx? Cocos2d-x could work but a friend says the documentation is really bad. Have you looked at monogame? It's a cross platform implementation of xna.
MikeHaggar
Member
any pixel artists out there looking to team with a coder on a project? i have a great, humorous spin on a classic game. 8-bit nes-style graphics would work. with solid planning we could complete the project within 4 or 5 months. pm me if interested.
has anyone had any experience using Marmalade Quick?
http://www.madewithmarmalade.com/quick
I didn't know they released this recently and it sounds good on paper...
http://www.madewithmarmalade.com/quick
I didn't know they released this recently and it sounds good on paper...
Seems like Cut The Rope was made using Marmalade, pretty surprising.
Edit: Actually a pretty big number of big mobile games seems to be using Marmalade.
Crazymoogle
Member
I vaguely remember someone finding Marmalade's libraries lacking compared to Corona but that may have been awhile ago. Would be interesting to see how they compare today.
oktarb
Member
What platform handles menus the best?
I have a very heavy menu system concept. Think character sheets, inventory management, team management, contracts and feedback reports. 'm a amatuer in the coding department but I have a half way decent brain.
Does one system like Unity, Gamemaker, Torque or RPGMaker shine above the others?
I have a very heavy menu system concept. Think character sheets, inventory management, team management, contracts and feedback reports. 'm a amatuer in the coding department but I have a half way decent brain.
Does one system like Unity, Gamemaker, Torque or RPGMaker shine above the others?
I used Marmalade for a while and liked it for the most part, but ran into issues with some odd bugs that didn't get fixed from patch to patch. That and a diminishing community led me to Unity, which was big change from low level coding to what Unity offers. This was their SDK, before Marmalade Quick was introduced. For the SDK, Marmalade is a good choice imo if you're already comfortable with C++ and OpenGL and want to be able to deploy to multiple platforms.
Really interested to see it. Good luck.
Thought it was today? Was already looking for it.
There were several reasons for pushing it, including a cruise.
I should clarify that *I* was not on a cruise. = D
Diablohead
Member
Must be big if you have an actual launch date for kickstarter instead of just going live when ready, best of luck!
Dynamite Shikoku
Congratulations, you really deserve it!
Then who was game?
Feep, I'm looking forward for it! Best of luck!
Topic related, it's been ages since last time I worked on my game :/ I'm such a procrastinator sometimes I write down something on paper, but that's it.
Being 39 y/o, having a family and a full time 8-12 hours 5 days per week job are just mere excuses... just finding at least half an hour here and there to go on is not that difficult; I must put more effort in it!
Topic related, it's been ages since last time I worked on my game :/ I'm such a procrastinator
sometimes I write down something on paper, but that's it.Being 39 y/o, having a family and a full time 8-12 hours 5 days per week job are just mere excuses... just finding at least half an hour here and there to go on is not that difficult; I must put more effort in it!
I think RPGMaker might be the easiest since... well RPG's have a lot of menus. It'd take comparatively less coding to do what you want in RM than the others, I think.
The first game system involving script I ever coded was a forging system in RPG Maker, which was purely a few menus.
WHO INDEED
Whether it's small or big, why not position it for best chances of success? It's the day after Valentine's Day, it's Friday, people are bored, leaving early, don't want to work, east coast press ends early...I'll take a nice, Monday morning announcement, thank you = D
Ugh... GAF, I need an opinion.
So, I have been working (mostly design, not in development yet) on a game about certain subject. As far as I knew it was original and quite interesting. But today I found that some guys just released a game about the same subject. (Seriously, they released it yesterday)
The gameplay is similar but not quite the same, the tone is absolutely different, in certain areas (writing/story) I'm afraid that their game is way better than what I had in mind... and even worse, their work may make mine a little bit juvenile and even tasteless.
So I'm wondering If I should continue with it or just drop the idea. Not much will be lost and I have other stuff to work on, but I really liked this idea.
So, I have been working (mostly design, not in development yet) on a game about certain subject. As far as I knew it was original and quite interesting. But today I found that some guys just released a game about the same subject. (Seriously, they released it yesterday)
The gameplay is similar but not quite the same, the tone is absolutely different, in certain areas (writing/story) I'm afraid that their game is way better than what I had in mind... and even worse, their work may make mine a little bit juvenile and even tasteless.
So I'm wondering If I should continue with it or just drop the idea. Not much will be lost and I have other stuff to work on, but I really liked this idea.
@Feep: I hope everything goes fine. :+
@tafer: Work hard and make your game better! That's an attitude you need
nevertheless to stay within business. There will always be one who has a
similar game, but it can never be exactly your game. So you have everything
in your hand to make it different and even better. Don't throw your game away.
Even if theirs is better, you have a change to catch-up to the standard. And
there are 10^32 ways to improve on it.
See. A game that I want to tackle in the future, after Ex Nihilo (codename) is
finished some day, does also already exists in all its glory on a major
console platform. Uhh! But this doesn't decrease my motivation the slightest,
quite the contrary is true. Every step I make, direct or indirect, is towards
this future game. And the idea is to surpass the given one and to give the
fans of the genre what they are looking for. That's an utterly high goal
which may also need a few bucks to get done. But you have to start somewhere.
Up until that time, I need to catch up to the standard at first. Once
established and with the knowledge gathered, it's time to go for the real one.
For example, I currently study real-time procedural surface generation, which
will be a huge part in Ex Nihilo. But which will also become a huge part of
said future game. Such surfaces then needs to be generated very, very fast.
For this reason I not only study the mathematics behind, but I also currently
do program some surface generation techniques/formulas in assembly language to
see their strengths and weaknesses and how such techniques may scale to more
advance systems.
Why I'm telling this? Well, the unnamed console game I'm referring to uses,
for example, only fixed geometry. It will be a huge improvement if the
geometry can be generated procedurally in real-time allowing for a much
greater variety. And that's just only one example. For sure, it's hard to
get it all done and in the right order, but working hard will make your game
better and as such will increase the enjoyment of many people. So if you
throw your game away just because others have a similar one, then you have
no idea what you are doing and why you are doing it. That's my opinion.
@tafer: Work hard and make your game better! That's an attitude you need
nevertheless to stay within business. There will always be one who has a
similar game, but it can never be exactly your game. So you have everything
in your hand to make it different and even better. Don't throw your game away.
Even if theirs is better, you have a change to catch-up to the standard. And
there are 10^32 ways to improve on it.
See. A game that I want to tackle in the future, after Ex Nihilo (codename) is
finished some day, does also already exists in all its glory on a major
console platform. Uhh! But this doesn't decrease my motivation the slightest,
quite the contrary is true. Every step I make, direct or indirect, is towards
this future game. And the idea is to surpass the given one and to give the
fans of the genre what they are looking for. That's an utterly high goal
which may also need a few bucks to get done. But you have to start somewhere.
Up until that time, I need to catch up to the standard at first. Once
established and with the knowledge gathered, it's time to go for the real one.
For example, I currently study real-time procedural surface generation, which
will be a huge part in Ex Nihilo. But which will also become a huge part of
said future game. Such surfaces then needs to be generated very, very fast.
For this reason I not only study the mathematics behind, but I also currently
do program some surface generation techniques/formulas in assembly language to
see their strengths and weaknesses and how such techniques may scale to more
advance systems.
Why I'm telling this? Well, the unnamed console game I'm referring to uses,
for example, only fixed geometry. It will be a huge improvement if the
geometry can be generated procedurally in real-time allowing for a much
greater variety. And that's just only one example. For sure, it's hard to
get it all done and in the right order, but working hard will make your game
better and as such will increase the enjoyment of many people. So if you
throw your game away just because others have a similar one, then you have
no idea what you are doing and why you are doing it. That's my opinion.
SpinningBirdKick
Banned
People over estimate the value of ideas.
It's the execution that matters.
Give a good idea to a bad team and they'll find a way to screw it up.
Give a bad idea to a good team and they'll manage to make something worth while out of it.
There are advantages of coming second to market though:
You can do a thorough competitor analysis to see where your title is lacking and can improve on features in the competitor product.
You can see how the competitor product performs in the market place to see if there any demand for this type of title. If there's little or no demand I would kill my own version and channel my time into something worth while.
It amazes my how many developers pour time and resources into projects with little or no regard for the commercial aspects. Then they get depressed when all their hard work brings them nothing in return.
Cocos2d is a good idea, especially if you are planning on porting to Android some time in the future.
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
What are some good (free) Unity 4.x tutorials? Also, do any of them describe which packages to import (since 4.x breaks them down vs the Unity Standard or Unity Advanced)?
Gonna repost this. New laptop and all means portable dev like woah.
Gonna repost this. New laptop and all means portable dev like woah.
Diablohead
Member
Screenshot saturday, guys! post pics!
I will contribute later tonight.
I will contribute later tonight.
Good luck and remember my advice. No one but feep look at the spoiler as I'm under verbal nda.
Underpants on the inside
I think that will serve you well during development.
I didn't do much this week but I guess I'll show something I did a 2 weeks ago:
Hub World w/ one of the level's scoreboard.
Ignore the HUD, it'll likely be invisible in the hub world.
Results screen! This one was pretty fun to make, it wasn't too tedious but it wasn't too easy either.
Hub World w/ one of the level's scoreboard.
Ignore the HUD, it'll likely be invisible in the hub world.
Results screen! This one was pretty fun to make, it wasn't too tedious but it wasn't too easy either.
Apart from (4), even if I do understand certain aspects of game design and projects etc, I can manage all the rest.
Thanks for the advice guys. Now that I rested a little bit and had a chance to think about it, I decided that I'll continue with the project.
Let's just say that even though there are some similarities, at the end, the games are vastly different. Their game is more like a tool to spread awareness about that subject, while mine is just a lightheaded game that touches said subject. (That's why I mentioned the tasteless part)
Naturally, I have to make some changes to my original idea. Nothing big, actually, they are improvements in my opinion. And I'm thinking in contacting the other developers for some advice about certain parts.
darkblade77
Member
Oooh, Dudebro cometh. Hype, into my veins!
Feep: I'd love to take a look at your plans, if you're willing to share.
Feep: I'd love to take a look at your plans, if you're willing to share.
BlazeHedgehog
Member
I do not have anything dramatically different from the last time I showed a screenshot here
Been spending the last few days tweaking sound effects, need to get to work on filling out how the power-ups work and then enemies and their formations
Words to live by, and important for new developers entering the industry. Everyone has ideas, and ideas are a dime a dozen. For what it's worth, I haven't played a completely original game in decades.
Piercedveil
Member
Do most of you guys work on your own art or do you have someone else do it? That's really the biggest thing holding me back from starting a project since I am not an artist whatsoever. Also, is XNA still worth working with in your guys' opinions? I was thinking of going with that or working on something in Unity.
BlazeHedgehog
Member
I'm not entirely sure if this was ever actually confirmed but it sounded like Microsoft was shutting down XNA support most likely signalling that the Xbox Indies program isn't going on to the next generation.
Diablohead
Member
My money would be on indies turning into HTML5 or something support on the nextbox, somehow linked loosely to windows 8 storefront.
Brosome
Brosome
Diablohead
Member
damn it double post
Yeah, I'm not sure why axing XNA would be seen as evidence MS is dropping indie programs. I'm not saying they'll continue the indie program on the next xbox, but I just don't see how that would illustrate it.
Feep: Do you have plans yet for rewards or swag? A friend and I help crowd funding projects with shirts and other rewards. If you want to look into it check out teelaunch dot com. My goal isn't to sell the service (why its not a direct link) but want to see if we can help. None the less good luck with your campaign.
Did anyone see the news about Game Closure open sourcing their HTML5 game SDK? http://www.gameclosure.com/
It looks pretty good and the demo game that was released plays great. I was considering Unity but I know JS very well so the 2d game I'm planning will be easier to get going with this over Unity.
Did anyone see the news about Game Closure open sourcing their HTML5 game SDK? http://www.gameclosure.com/
It looks pretty good and the demo game that was released plays great. I was considering Unity but I know JS very well so the 2d game I'm planning will be easier to get going with this over Unity.
XNA is awesome, can count on a huge amount of third party middleware, and MonoGame seems mature enough to guarantee its survival for a while, even after Microsoft shuts down support entirely.
Still, I'm not sure I'd suggest using it for a new project. Things could change further before your game is done.
Still, I'm not sure I'd suggest using it for a new project. Things could change further before your game is done.
I'm doing everything myself. 'art', and 'music'
I've always been interested in drawing, 3d modelling/rendering, and making music in 'tracker' type programs, but have never had any training.
I would always suggest giving *anything* a go yourself. Start small, keep at it, and whatever it is, you will improve!
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