Want to self-publish? Here's the BIG List of Video Game Public Relations Agencies and Freelancers. |
- Want to self-publish? Here's the BIG List of Video Game Public Relations Agencies and Freelancers.
- "Start Small" they say - and they're right. Here's one weird trick to maximize learning and fun while doing it!
- What Video Game Subtitling Got Wrong In 2017
- is this a good positive feedback or bad?
- Steamworks Developers: How do you setup and manage working with a team?
- I've got a month, how can I best use it to learn game development?
- The legendary creator of 'Super Mario' explains why he tries not to hire gamers to work at Nintendo
- Alternate Pay-to-win system
- Screenshot Saturday #361 - Award Winners
- When creating an options menu, I always focus on giving players as much precision as possible
- The most obvious question, where do I really begin?
- OpenGL 3.3 Rendering Engine Implementation in C
- Where to start with random generation?
- Lack of 2017 IndieCade feedback has an explanation!
- I am working on a VOX (Magical Voxel) Node Reader for Blender. Feedbacks appreciated. Thanks~
- Free Construct 2 CAPX Files - Start Menu, Stacker Game Template, Hangman Template, Enemy AI and Health Bar, Google Play HighScores and more
- Truce: 5-level prototype for a co-op (can be played 1-player) puzzle platformer. Feedback appreciated!
- How were games like Maniac Mansion and Sweet Home designed/planned?
| Want to self-publish? Here's the BIG List of Video Game Public Relations Agencies and Freelancers. Posted: 30 Dec 2017 08:45 AM PST |
| Posted: 29 Dec 2017 03:17 PM PST In my 2.5 years of being a 'game dev', I've released one commercial game, and 5 freeware games. The biggest learning experience I had? I can tell you, it wasn't the 20 month long commercial project. It was following the first rule that people tell you when you start making games, but in a roundabout way:
Everyone says keep it small, but most people don't find that any fun. Game jams give you a fun reason to keep it small. I've learned SO MUCH doing Ludum Dare game jams. My commercial project took me 2 years to complete, but I learned more in a one weekend game jam than I did in those entire two years. Submitting to a Game Jam gives you the opportunity to be covered by a lot of streamers who actively accept requests for them to play your game, and you can sit there and watch someone go at it. The need for a game to be intuitive, to teach without being boring, and to be accessible becomes super apparent here. Our first Ludum Dare entry was apparently tough to figure out. We made 30 levels for it and many streamers didn't finish level 1. It lead to some of my most squirmey, uncomfortable moments watching streamers chain fail level 1, question the game mechanics, get frustrated and move on. We had written instructions - but nobody read them. Gamers don't read. Teaching on the fly is important, and introducing mechanics in a way that's both 1.) easy and 2.) fun is super important. We still scored well, despite the challenges. Our graphics pulled us through I think, or people figured it out eventually. The first entry - Cosmic Cleaner - 151st place overall Have a straight forward goal. Our second Ludum Dare entry was a really really ambitious experiment in AI and passive player interaction. The player played as a deity watching over a small civilization. The player could only interact with the citizens by changing the weather, causing lightning strikes and by performing miracles. The goal was non-existent. Just exist, help them thrive, and that was it. This was our lowest scoring project in Ludum Dare. Players would tinker around, have a "What do I do now?" moment, tinker around a bit more, then move on - unsatisfied. Our mistake was not having a clear cut goal. The player had no reason to keep playing. It's obvious now, but it wasn't then. The second entry - Climate Clicker - 230th place overall Make a SIMPLE Mechanic, then iterate on it Our third entry - and by far our most successful - was simple. Really simple. It was a game where the player just had to sort critters into baskets, and moving quick gave a combo bonus. We made our main menu into a brief tutorial - you had to perform the main game action to start the game so players had no choice but to learn what to do, yet it only took 10 seconds. To back that up, we had a tutorial popup as soon as the game started that explained the only other mechanic, and it wouldn't go away until the player performed that action. We ensured that the player knew how to play, had a clear goal in the way of a score and online leader boards, and that it was virtually impossible to lose in the first two minutes or so, giving everyone a chance to play. We overcame every challenge that we faced in the past Ludum Dares, and we can take this knowledge to large scale projects now. People say game jams are a waste of time or are just for fun, but for us, they've been literally priceless learning opportunities. Our third entry - Critter Clutter - 76th place overall Hopefully someone finds this helpful! Keep on game devvin! [link] [comments]  |
| What Video Game Subtitling Got Wrong In 2017 Posted: 29 Dec 2017 09:37 PM PST |
| is this a good positive feedback or bad? Posted: 30 Dec 2017 03:59 AM PST A multiplayer game scenario. Players have to upgrade their city using resources. Each time they upgrade they get special points. For every upgrade they need more resources. Sounds fair. But how about the points? Should they receive more points for every upgrade, or should they receive the same amount every time? Or even less? I'm afraid if they get more points they'll get more advantage against other player's cities. thanks, phantomeye [link] [comments]  |
| Steamworks Developers: How do you setup and manage working with a team? Posted: 30 Dec 2017 07:55 AM PST Hello everyone, I've been working as an individual on Steamworks for the past 2.5 years and I've got a lot of the features and workflow pretty much down pat. My friend and I are working on a project together, and I'm just curious as to how a team operates on Steamworks. Should I make a completely new account that we both have access to? How are financials handled, can Steam split the profits half and half between two bank accounts? I know you can "add" members to a certain app, but then the Steamworks account (my account) itself is still under "sole proprietorship" which I don't want to change because of my other games on Steam already. Any advice? Thanks, Mike [link] [comments]  |
| I've got a month, how can I best use it to learn game development? Posted: 30 Dec 2017 08:03 AM PST Well, I'm on vacation until the beginning of February. Long story short, my vacation was originally going to end in the beginning of January, but now I've got a whole month of vacation that I wasn't planning on having, and I want to use it well. When my vacation ends, I will either start studying Computer Science or Computer Engineering in college, I haven't decided yet. So I'll have a few years to learn programming, learn game dev, and practice making some games. I'm telling you guys all this because I want to use this month well, and I'm really not sure on how to do it. Do I study how to make games on GameMaker so I can easily get some projects done, or do I start studying a programming language that would be useful for game dev? Also, if you guys could link some videos, tutorials or even websites, that would be awesome! And yes, I know there's a sidebar and a wiki, and I have already read them. But I have so little experience with this that I can't make a decision right now, so I'd really appreciate your help. I also know I can't learn game dev in a single month, I just want to learn the most and the best way possible in this month. [link] [comments]  |
| The legendary creator of 'Super Mario' explains why he tries not to hire gamers to work at Nintendo Posted: 30 Dec 2017 11:46 AM PST |
| Posted: 29 Dec 2017 11:14 PM PST Tonight I downloaded a couple free games on my phone to fill the time during commercial breaks of the hockey game I was watching. I enjoyed the games but I realized how much I hated watching Ads. The games showed them much less often than other games but I still got frustrated with them and closed the game whenever they popped up. After all, the point was to have something to do while the TV Ads were on. So I started thinking about alternate monetization strategies because I hate being forced to watch ads and I hate gambling on paying for a game I barely know anything about (30 second trailers usually aren't enough). So that left me thinking about the in-app purchase games where you can buy gems and what not, usually dubbed "pay-to-win." I played a few games that relied on those in-app purchases that I didn't spend a dime and it didn't affect my experience, probably because I was playing casually. But I've of course seen some horrible implementations of them as well. Where you can't advance at all without paying, or you have 0% chance of beating someone that has paid for upgrades. So laying in bed I thought up a couple of variations, they may not be completely original, but wanted to hear what people think (especially those that hate the in-game purchases/ pay-to-win system): 1) If someone uses a paid upgrade against you then you would receive a bonus. For example, if someone purchases an attack for 10 "gems" it may help them win that battle but afterwards you will receive 10 gems or will have one of the same special attacks you can spend once. So paying for upgrades may help someone "win the battle but not the war" so to speak, as their purchased power is basically passed on when used. 2) Same as above, where you get the gems after the battle, and the game allows you to sell gems back. Maybe very far-fetched, lol, so forget the logistics (and legalities?) for a moment and think about the marketing of "a game where you can make money". Of course it wouldn't be at the same rate— $1 to buy a 100 gems; Return 200 gems to receive a $1—but would it be a win win? The more players going for the win and spending money the more that would be available for other players to collect and return. 3) I think I like this idea a bit better, but may have issues if too small of groups or players are tracking friends. Basically you put people paying to win on a different server. This wouldn't be advertised, the thought is more like if you want to play casual you will play with all the casual players and if you want to pay then we will bump you up with all the payers. And if multiple pay servers then maybe not right away. You pay for an upgrade, the game will let you win a bit to get the satisfaction, then will seamlessly bump you up to opponents that have paid a bit more than you. So like drugs, you get a little satisfaction then you end up worse off. Might sound evil lol but it would keep everyone that doesn't pay on a perfectly even playing field. Would love to hear any thoughts. I kept it vague so you can imagine applying to different game types. Chances are I'll never be in circumstances where I could use any of these, but I think there could be more win win scenarios of gaming monetization and find it interesting to talk about. Cheers! P.S. Just thought I would add I always prefer games that are one-time purchase. Just on mobile I try not to spend money because I usually don't play them that long. And as for games I am creating I just want people to play them. At some point if I continue will probably just charge one-time up front, but still like to think about alternative methods. [link] [comments]  |
| Screenshot Saturday #361 - Award Winners Posted: 29 Dec 2017 08:04 PM PST Share your progress since last time in a form of screenshots, animations and videos. Tell us all about your project and make us interested! The hashtag for Twitter is of course #screenshotsaturday. Note: Using url shorteners is discouraged as it may get you caught by Reddit's spam filter. Bonus question: In general, do you feel the gaming industry has moved forward or backward this year? [link] [comments]  |
| When creating an options menu, I always focus on giving players as much precision as possible Posted: 30 Dec 2017 09:40 AM PST https://i.imgur.com/Ip1Wsgb.gifv This mostly came from not wanting to make graphics for a volume slider, but I thought it was kind of funny. Sometimes my favorite parts of games come from looking for shortcuts [link] [comments]  |
| The most obvious question, where do I really begin? Posted: 30 Dec 2017 11:50 AM PST I'll make this simple as can be. I'm just about 18, have no knowledge how to make a game or even code. I can simply play a game. So how do I make one? My goal for now which may very well change is to work on a Zelda game. That's far away, maybe decades away. I need to take college classes, learn Japanese fluently, live in Japan.. It's probably not likely. I still would like to work on a game, even on my own. The obstacle is knowing where to start. There's countless videos, forums, all these things that explain how to make games, but it's as if they assume you have the basic knowledge or abcs of coding or something. I have zero knowledge. Where do I begin? What's the steps? How do I get from point A to B? [link] [comments]  |
| OpenGL 3.3 Rendering Engine Implementation in C Posted: 30 Dec 2017 11:36 AM PST |
| Where to start with random generation? Posted: 29 Dec 2017 12:10 PM PST TLDR: How do developers ensure that randomly generated maps with multiple components never create a scenario which is impossible for the player to pass? I'm a very new game developer. Only started a few months ago and just finished my first project in Unity which was a short story-driven 2D platformer. It was completely linear, just playing through pre-built levels. I want my next game to be an endless falling game (think downwell without shooting) but I'm not sure where to start with properly generating the map as the game goes on. I understand I could just space the objects apart by a random distance in a range of my choosing, so that they would never be too close but this gets more complicated if you introduce more than one type of obstacle. I feel like just creating a random obstacle every set distance would get very repetitive rather than feeling like a randomly generated world. How do developers ensure that randomly generated maps with multiple components never create a scenario which is impossible for the player to pass? [link] [comments]  |
| Lack of 2017 IndieCade feedback has an explanation! Posted: 29 Dec 2017 01:17 PM PST I received the following excerpt from IndieCade... "We want to inform you about an unfortunate error with our jury system. A combination of factors caused a loss of the server and database, and as soon as we realized what had happened, we contacted our web developer, hosting provider, and others to recover as much information as possible. The last backup was made after the festival judging process, but before the written feedback process began. We know that many of you have been patiently awaiting your written feedback. Providing written feedback is something IndieCade cares about a great deal, and though we have divorced it from the selection and jurying process, it is a task we take very seriously." I had started thinking feedback wasn't something the would deliver on after googling around last fall, so I'm glad to be incorrect in assuming I wouldn't get any. Anyone get their feedback before this incident? [link] [comments]  |
| I am working on a VOX (Magical Voxel) Node Reader for Blender. Feedbacks appreciated. Thanks~ Posted: 29 Dec 2017 06:10 PM PST |
| Posted: 29 Dec 2017 04:10 PM PST |
| Posted: 29 Dec 2017 06:14 PM PST |
| How were games like Maniac Mansion and Sweet Home designed/planned? Posted: 30 Dec 2017 12:10 AM PST At a core level they are simple adventure games. Find items, use items, exploit clues and so on and so forth. A designer can make a flow chart of how puzzles come together without having to actually design the puzzle yet. There are a lot of guides on making adventure games. What's unique in Maniac Mansion is that you have a party of 3 (Sweet Home has a party of 5), each with their own unique inventory and skills. Moreover, it's possible to LOSE your characters... this makes puzzle flow charts difficult since each node becomes a Venn Diagram. It's also possible, in theory, to make these games unwinnable by having a character lose a plot critical item by dying or getting captured or otherwise lost. Sweet Home is good with having many duplicate items around and can be finished with only 2 party members. Maniac Mansion has multiple endings so making the game completely unwinnable is very unlikely. So I want to know more about the methodology for making a game like this. [link] [comments]  |
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