How much does it cost to make a game? Somewhere between $0 and $265 million - a discussion. |
- How much does it cost to make a game? Somewhere between $0 and $265 million - a discussion.
- Narrat - A game engine for narrative games, for web and desktop
- Question about publishing
- Single player RPG : Online Stat System Web API
- How to ask yourself better questions about game development (or any development, really)
- Tools for Space Simulator development?
- How do I tell a story without overwhelming players?
- Do you ever felt demotivated?
- Advise for someone who is going to start gamedev
- Is reaper a good DAW? I want to switch over from LMMS
- My Gamedev Yak Shaving Part 2. Text based adventure framework ?
- How to Add Explosive Physics and Damage to Your Game WITH World Geometry Blocking | Full Unity Tutorial Inside
- Can you make money playing your own game?
- When creating the shop in game, do we need to use different currencies for prices of items? Or we can leave prices in $ everywhere?
- How can I change the intensity of my light source? (UE4)
- RNG Based Simulation Battles Based on Stats & Win Chances. Need help.
- Hey guys, i'm working on a list of algorithms and techniques, do you have any sugestions?
- While watching Gamescom yesterday, I couldn't help to think, damn that's a ton of games coming out... How can an indie dev find success in this sea of games?
- Mission/Level Design to HCI/Interactive Design
- Mastering Booleans - A Simple Guide to Taming the Beast.
- Game Limitations
- How I work with an investor on my indie card game
- Thoughts on Platforms/Engines
- What problems would I face if I copy Project Zomboid?
| How much does it cost to make a game? Somewhere between $0 and $265 million - a discussion. Posted: 26 Aug 2021 07:28 AM PDT
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| Narrat - A game engine for narrative games, for web and desktop Posted: 26 Aug 2021 02:26 AM PDT
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| Posted: 26 Aug 2021 07:33 AM PDT Hi guys I'm at the point in development where I'm ready to start working on my steam page but wanted to know about how to publish Do I use my own name, or am I better setting up a company? What kind of pros and cons are there? Everything I have found lists all the company costs as a reason not to, but since im solo these would be next to nothing anyway, does it give me personally any kind of legal protection? If its so safe and easy to makes your own company why do people use thier own names at all? Just looking for advice from people who have been through it. Im also In the UK, England to be precise. [link] [comments]  | ||
| Single player RPG : Online Stat System Web API Posted: 26 Aug 2021 05:45 AM PDT I am working on an RPG for kids and I want to hook up the stat system to a website. The game is not multiplayer and this is the only way I can think of of adding a competitive element to the experience. I know how to build the game using Unity (have built 2D RPG before). But I have very little understanding of how to do Networking in Unity and hook up the stats to a Web API. Could someone help me ? Also, If you think there is a better way than building a Web API for "Dick-measuring", then do let me know.. Thanks [link] [comments]  | ||
| How to ask yourself better questions about game development (or any development, really) Posted: 26 Aug 2021 10:22 AM PDT Hi, guys So I have a CS degree and have been working in and around systems administration and programming for 25 years or so. I'm currently dabbling with making a mobile game, which has brought me here, and I have an observation about the questions I see here - and they're the same ones I see a lot about most any kind of programming project. So many questions boil down to "How do I reinvent this wheel I really have no idea how to invent?" That question is perhaps useful if you want to learn some specific concept, like you want to do a deep dive into procedural generation or something. But if your goal is to make a game within your lifetime, this is the absolute wrong question to ask. So what's the right question to ask? Assuming you've already knocked out the basics of computer science (start with Harvard's free CS50 online course and thank me later), lots of your questions should look a lot more like: "What books, tools, libraries or online services exist that make it easy to do this thing I want my game to do?" For example, the game I have in my head is basically all UI but with a lot of particle effects. The game logic will be pretty simple, but I've never done any particle effects. So my first question to myself was "Which game engines or tools make particle effects easy for a newbie?" The game is basically pointless if I can't make it look good, so finding a way to do the aesthetics is step 1. Another example, in a thread here I just replied to, boiled down to "How do I make an API for getting data from my game to my web site?" The answer, if you ever want to finish your game, is probably "you don't." The right question was "What's the easiest way I can get data from my game to my web site?" There are plenty of potentially very simple answers to that one. Another from today was "How do I improve this wildly simplistic combat system I've started?" Well, you probably don't. You ask a new question, "I need a combat system for this type of game, can you point me to resources about combat systems and is there a game engine or library that makes them easy?" The sheer volume of resources available to game devs in 2021 is staggering. Here are some things you probably don't need to do for yourself if you're asking first-time-dev type questions here:
Basically, every wheel you can think of has already been invented about 50 different times. I'd really suggest new devs (within any discipline, not just games) begin by learning CS basics and then by learning which wheels already exist and which ones of those are the easiest to use given your skill set. Then start bolting wheels together. You can make an entire career out of learning how to find good wheels and bolt them together in creative ways. [link] [comments]  | ||
| Tools for Space Simulator development? Posted: 26 Aug 2021 08:43 AM PDT Ive played a few Space Sim games over my life. Mostly indie or old school stuff. Nothing too recent like Space Engineers or X4. Im currently on an inspiration rush and been writing down concepts for a Space Sim game. The problem im currently having is that my programming skills are a bit rusty. I used Unity in the past to do prototypes on other projects. Like a rudimentary Galaxy Generator or a 2D sidescroller game. But i feel like the engine wont be able to work for the stuff i want to pull. Mostly on the side of realistic movement for space objects or having a considerable sense of scale due to player characters being on 1st/3rd person pov. I also tried my hand at procedural generation for planets in prototypes but failed to make it the meshes work from the guides i found. I dont want to use premade assets because i wouldnt be learning from that. What can i do in this case? Are there any tools or good guides for making space sim games out of code in Java or C++? I have seen books related about game programming but its always like with premade stuff for using with code. Im not a mathematician so trying to figure out methods for certain calculation is too complex at times. Just want to get a good source for working on it. [link] [comments]  | ||
| How do I tell a story without overwhelming players? Posted: 26 Aug 2021 09:07 AM PDT I'm pretty new at game development, but I love RPGs and making choices that impact the outcome of the game and I wanted to create a game (EVENTUALLY) that is inspired by that. Well, I decided to create a framework of a story to have so that one day I can go back to it and actually create it. So far, it's about a woman who returns to her childhood home and learns that her estranged mom isn't actually her mom. The main character does some research and comes to the conclusion she is a child who went missing decades ago. I want to tell that story and I'm entertaining ideas like if the player doesn't really care to contact the missing child's family, then they don't have to and the game can conclude without the main character knowing the truth. My issue is that I don't want to overwhelm players with so many backstories or information all at once. The main characters life. The estranged mom's story. The story of how they became estranged. The missing child case. Etc. How, on earth, do I convey this information to players without a) overwhelming them or b) making them not care enough to learn about the backstories anyway? [link] [comments]  | ||
| Posted: 26 Aug 2021 07:18 AM PDT I've been making games since around 2009. Past almost 50 finished games, being a "full stack" game dev, an IT college degree, a studio that I run myself and a bunch of other things, I'm nowhere near where I wanted to be. And since 2018, my motivation is been decreasing more and more. Today it really hurts to look at a computer or any kind of tech, at all. It became a very hard task for me to even do a simple thing when it comes to game dev. Open blender, game engine, write code, create characters and logic and everything became a painful thing to do. And the worst thing is that I've dedicated my whole life to game dev, so now what? I had depression last year due to this and a bunch of other personal stuff (hard times). Now I'm ok, but still demotivated. So for the past 3 years I've been constantly trying to take some breaks. The result is that I'm less and less productive, spending like 2-3 weeks doing absolutely nothing to be able to have a single evening worth of game dev work. I feel good when I'm outside and traveling, ut completely washed out when starring at a computer screen. But unfortunately I don't have illimited money, so one day my reserves will run out and I'll have to figure out something. Sometimes all I want is to sell everything, buy some land in the forest and quit technology. Do you ever felt like that? I'm looking for tips. [link] [comments]  | ||
| Advise for someone who is going to start gamedev Posted: 26 Aug 2021 01:46 AM PDT Hi guys! next month I will start a master's degree in game development and I would really like to hear your experience when you started to develop games. I've saved enough money to quit my job so I can fully focus on this new path for the next year. My background is a computer science degree so I have a strong knowledge in programming and also I have done some projects in Unity and Unreal learning by myself. [link] [comments]  | ||
| Is reaper a good DAW? I want to switch over from LMMS Posted: 26 Aug 2021 08:13 AM PDT I have been using LMMS for a few months now and my experience hasnt been too good. but Dont get me wrong it is a great DAW. I dont like its feel So, as DAWs are all about personal preference. I want to switch over to reaper and is it good? I dont care about having to download instruments. but about the feel of reaper. Is it unintuitive, hard to learn? Heck Should I even switch? [link] [comments]  | ||
| My Gamedev Yak Shaving Part 2. Text based adventure framework ? Posted: 26 Aug 2021 05:08 AM PDT Hello All, So I have started looking into some existing visual novels tools. Yes I am strange, but lazy as well. And that's what I wanted to have:
Pretty much "for all good, and against all evil". But that became a not some hard task, unfortunately. Because when it goes to localization, it appears that's a huge problem. It seems many adventure text tools were not designed to handle it. KISS (keep it simple) I guess. Anyway here are some links, which may be of help. All this tools are really nice and ready to use. If I say something is missing, recheck it, it could appear or be my fault:
And despite Yarn Spinner works best with C#, I decided to adapt it for C++. One problem less - no need to invent script language. Discussion: this is only my view, and I did miss a lot. Please add some other tools or features I missed, tell about your experience using them. That would be appreciated much. [link] [comments]  | ||
| Posted: 26 Aug 2021 04:20 AM PDT
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| Can you make money playing your own game? Posted: 26 Aug 2021 10:22 AM PDT Hi, so I was watching some video from solo indie dev who was sharing how much money he made from his game. In his case, not that much people saw/played ads. So is it possible and worth it, let's say play your game(mobile) on other account and just watch ads, play and die quickly and then watch this type of ad to have another chance to continue. All this just in theory and as a discussion. Thanks. [link] [comments]  | ||
| Posted: 26 Aug 2021 10:10 AM PDT For example, I sell Gold in game for 1$. Do I need to write 28 uah for Ukranian user? Or I can leave 1$ everywhere? [link] [comments]  | ||
| How can I change the intensity of my light source? (UE4) Posted: 26 Aug 2021 10:05 AM PDT Using a custom zippo lighter as a handheld light source for the player, anyway to increase its intensity? I've tried messing around with the spotlight settings attached to the lighter itself but it doesn't seem to affect anything [link] [comments]  | ||
| RNG Based Simulation Battles Based on Stats & Win Chances. Need help. Posted: 26 Aug 2021 12:33 AM PDT So I'm not entirely sure this is the appropriate subreddit but I figured might as well ask. I'm making a Discord based text game where the player essentially does the basic RPG stuff, fight monsters, level up, assign stat points, get equipment, etc. The way equipment work instead of fixed damage ranges, it adds stats (Speed, Strength, Agility, Endurance). Each "adventure" has a chance to be a fight, which then will randomize the difficulty. 55% chance of being easy (100% Winrate) Eg: Normal Difficulty vs Ranged/Flying Enemies: 50%+2% From Speed+10% From Agility = 62% Winning Chances Then when I get the Winning chances (after doing the above formulas) I simply roll a dice from 1 to 100, if the dice number is SMALLER or EQUAL to the Winning Chances the player wins, if it's higher the player loses. The issue is that it simply says "You won" or "You lost", something really simple, no turns, no damages shown, etc... The monsters are meant to scale with the player level (example: "Easy" difficulty is essentially a monster 10 levels behind the player so he always wins, Normal is 2-4 levels behind the player so it's still close but player still has higher winning chances, Hard is 2-5 levels above the player so it's much harder) My issue is figuring out how to generate monster stats on each encounter OR simply keep the same formula I use to determine win/loss but somehow figure out a system to show the encounter with Player/Enemy HP & damage done. How would you tackle this? [link] [comments]  | ||
| Hey guys, i'm working on a list of algorithms and techniques, do you have any sugestions? Posted: 26 Aug 2021 01:43 AM PDT I am trying to sum up as many algorithms and techniques/problems to better my knowledge and also trying to find an interesting ideea for a project for my bachelor degree by mixing some of them. I already found FABRIK that fascinated me and came up with this idea. I would apreciate any little thing you can think of [link] [comments]  | ||
| Posted: 26 Aug 2021 09:11 AM PDT How bad is the industry going to get in terms of oversaturation? I know some stores a better than others for e.g the Google Play Store has an insane amount of games coming out everyday. Will the '83 crash repeat itself sometime in the future? Or is it just going to be super hard for indie devs such as myself to get noticed? [link] [comments]  | ||
| Mission/Level Design to HCI/Interactive Design Posted: 26 Aug 2021 08:28 AM PDT Hi Everyone! I'm a AAA Mission/Level designer of about 10 years that's currently thinking of shifting out of the games industry into something different, I've been thinking of specifically moving into work doing Interactive design (which I guess falls under UX) - I'm just wondering if anyone else has made a successful change in career and how easy the switch is. From what I gather, there are roughly the same design principles at work, and doing design work is also extremely user-centric and multi-disciplinary. Do let me know and share your experiences! (Also, are there any other jobs out there that appreciate the skill set of level/mission design?) Thanks! [link] [comments]  | ||
| Mastering Booleans - A Simple Guide to Taming the Beast. Posted: 26 Aug 2021 01:23 AM PDT Hiya! Today's article shows the boolean workflows I follow to make my hard surface pieces. If you use Blender, or any other modeling package for this, feel free to ask what the alternative would be in our discord! See you around! [link] [comments]  | ||
| Posted: 25 Aug 2021 11:37 PM PDT I was about to go to sleep, but a question kept bugging me. What are the limitations of modern games? For instance, how many npcs can a game have wander around at once? What is the maximum size a game could be? (In terms of file size) If I wanted, could I construct a massive city in which every building could be entered and modeled? Stuff like that. I really just wonder what it is we can work with. [link] [comments]  | ||
| How I work with an investor on my indie card game Posted: 26 Aug 2021 06:54 AM PDT Hi, I'm Vovun, and I'm designing a deckbuilding roguelike game set in a Victorian mansion. In the sense that the action of the roguelike takes place in the mansion, I am located in the apartment and design it. I want to share a history of development, particullary a social one - about relations with people, a team and a person who gives me money for development. Hope it'll be useful for you if you're looking for private investements for your game! I will not be cunning. Partly, I'm writing all this to raise interest in the game. A high-quality game almost always requires investment. I don't like working with people "on enthusiasm" and want to continue making games in my studio. Therefore, if you like or don't like (perhaps, you suddenly fall in love) card roguelikes, Victorian mansions, walls of text with interesting characters, and choices of different romance routes, then wishlist Crawlyard on Steam. This will help build confidence and budget for the next development phase. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1637560/Crawlyard/ I'm writing this post to share a story that I thought I would never end up in. The story of each game is unique, and mine begins in the summer of 2020. I have been professionally engaged in game design for a long time (since 2014), but that summer, I lost my job (thanks, COVID) and decided to take the first steps towards releasing my own game. The reasons were clear — I often had terrible luck with producers, who were more interested in spending investor money on a new car or fancy apartments, instead of making a game. Don't think that I'm so selfless. I would also not mind getting my place or a car, but with my own money, which I will earn myself. Therefore, I wanted to lead the studio, which would not waste money on entertainment but constantly release new games until I retire or die. While looking for freelance jobs, at the same time, I thought: What could I create that would be quite simple to execute and would not require many months of development? I liked Forward (https://twotinydice.itch.io/forward), a card game at itch.io that is beautiful in its simplicity. But I wanted to add a lot to this concept - I felt that one can increase the game's depth, while saving the easy to learn difficulty curve and controls, and also diversify the gameplay. Not every game needs new mechanics and ideas, but I wanted to see where else this concept could be moved. Therefore, without thinking twice, I got to work. The idea was simple - make a 100% clone of Forward and then prototype different mechanics on top of it: another, deeper combat, party control instead of one hero, characters, plot, secret locations, an open world, even at some stage I collaborated with a wonderful writer (with whom I work now). For me, the combat system was the most exciting thing - to make a deep but easy-to-manage battle. This is a big challenge, which (for me personally) was an indicator of your coolness as a game designer. A variety of ideas were born: a switch from a turn-based to real-time when meeting an enemy, split of battle into physical/mental/social interactions. At some point, an idea emerged that became the foundation of the current game. "What if you just lay out the path for the hero with rooms, and they would walk along and fight by themselves?" Of course, I haven't finished anything - mired in everyday life and the need to earn money. I found a full-time job as a game designer consultant and later as a game designer lead. But the itch about the unfinished project remained. I tried to do something in the evenings, but the result was not enough - I wasn't good enough with the code, and there was simply no time to study complex algorithms. And then he appeared in my life ...an Investor. In general, I have known Mr. I. for a long time - he also attended a coworking space, which I went to, where he invested in various startups. Before that, he even offered to invest in some of my projects - he was interested in working with game development. But I strategically refused because I was not ready to take other people's money and responsibility. Moreover, I was not sure that something would work out, and I did not want to spoil my reputation - I am to work with him, only on something I was confident about. Stuck at a regular job, I again began to light up with the desire and motivation to get out of my comfort zone and make my own game. The essence of the plan was simple - to borrow money from someone for a programmer, make a small game, release it on Steam, earn a few hundred, return the money, and have a released project on Steam. I don't have any rich friends, so I decided to go with this proposal to Mr. I., for whom it won't be difficult to borrow a thousand dollars for a junior programmer. He agreed, but to my horror, put forward counter terms - no, not the terms like "I'll break your kneecaps if you don't return it in 2 months." It sounded much scarier. "Let's make a game we'll be proud of? Why would you waste time and do nothing when we can invest more and make a cool project we are proud of? " The question of the amount and responsibility is the most terrible component here because even despite his words: "Even if we screw up - it's okay," I didn't want to frame Mr. I. But, like any indie developer, I didn't want to refuse either. We discussed the plan, outlined the stages we want to achieve, set the terms, and started development. Mr. I gave me money, I wrote the documentation and hired a coder. The investements were clear, yet sometimes he brought less than promised, saying "Listen, I've spent 1/4 of it in pub". Thanks anyway! The goals were clear but far from simple:
And we went to this goal for a month and a half. The graphics were entirely purchased from the asset store. There was no balance at all, but the mechanics were slowly developing, and we were preparing for the demo. I understood at that moment that it would be far from other demos at the festival in terms of quality. Still, it was at least something from which you can collect the first reviews and understand whether we are making the game in the right direction to release, earn and return investments, and start the next project on a slightly larger scale. Everything was fine until the first obstacle happened - the programmer disappeared without pushing a new code he had been writing during the last month. There were many changes that greatly influenced the gameplay and were supposed to provide core gameplay so that players did not spit and did not throw a demo, at least in the first stage. Time was running out. An ass situation, in short, but giving up was not an option. If I give up at this stage, I definitely don't deserve to run my own studio. To replace the missing developer, I collaborated with my friend, master of Unity 3d - expensive, but worth the money. With him, we tried to finish the demo. We did it partly. Sleeping all week for 3 hours, we were able to bring the prototype to a playable form. Spells and objects did not work there, the rooms differed only visually, but people played, under my supervision, of course. After the first playtest, I received good feedback. However, a second obstacle appeared - the demo was still raw, without content. It required my support, and as a result, we delayed and did not have time to prepare a demo for Steam Next Fest, so we canceled the application, and the game page was released as-is. Nevertheless, it would help if you found positive sides, and there were many pros:
At the moment our team consists of a game designer, programmer, screenwriter, artist, and jack of all trades, who helps us with everything from level design to trailers. After the end of 2 weeks of Steam featuring, we're tightly engaged in working on the game itself, finishing the core gameplay, pace, balance, and in general preparing for the demo, and we even appeared at Gamescom 2021! I never knew how to write endings, so thanks for your attention. If this story wasn't useful for you, maybe at least it'll invoke the same drive in you that I had when started it all. Right now my drive is "Staying Alive". [link] [comments]  | ||
| Posted: 25 Aug 2021 08:05 PM PDT I'm about to embark on a two-person journey with a high school friend of mine in this venture. My background is: 35 year-old, professional VBA programmer (have been for six years), have dabbled in many different languages and environments. My friend is going to be the artist. He's 36, no technical knowledge in video game design or development, but is willing to learn aseprite and blender. Here's the conundrum: I am torn among the following: Godot (used it for the last three years as a hobbyist, very comfortable with GDScript, keep 100% revenue), Roblox (my kids use it a lot, has a lot of stuff ready for use out of the box, keep about 35% revenue), or Core (Fortnite-looking Roblox, keep 50% revenue). Unity and Unreal are off of the table. I know enough C# and C++ to get me in to trouble, not enough to climb my fat butt out and not willing to learn the intricacies of the languages. [link] [comments]  | ||
| What problems would I face if I copy Project Zomboid? Posted: 26 Aug 2021 06:27 AM PDT Personally I have a love hate relationship with Project Zomboid. While I love the game's depth, I hate the artificial difficulty caused by bad controls and UI. The game isn't really difficult. It just takes a lot of frustration for beginners to get use to the controls. My idea is to make my own version of a zombie isometric game. One with multiple characters and a base like State of Decay but for the most part it will play similar to Project Zomboid. The other thing I will change is to simplify the controls. With right click acting as the main way to take any action. Since the game idea is inspired by Project Zomboid, will I face any legal problems? Should I expect to be attacked by fans of the original game? How different would my game have to be, to avoid any problems? [link] [comments]  |
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