Game development - do you do any?
- Thread starter Fergal
- Start date
LiquidServe
Paragon
I started developing a game for iPhone when I had break from my exams and I made it for 10 days!! After which I got into web development and now I almost forgot about it! It is a sidescroller game!
Patrick S.
Seasoned Veteran
I did it once in blender. I couldn't figure how to output it into a windows file so I just deleted it. :lol:
I've actually been tinkering with gameplay and visual effects for the past 5 years, mostly through modding Halo PC. While there was definitely no official support for modding the game, there was a large community behind it that built their own programs for modifying almost every aspect of the game.
Literally everything I know about game design I learned by working with the original Halo engine. I've published almost a dozen finished projects for Halo PC during my time with it, a couple of my best works for HPC are-
Parallax Redux
http://www.opencarnage.net/forums/index ... lax-redux/
Phoenix 2
http://www.opencarnage.net/forums/index ... phoenix-2/
These as well as a few others were mentioned and briefly showcased on Bungie.net (Bungie being the creators of the original Halo series) which helped to build up my reputation within the company, and where I made my first friends in the professional industry. I was first acquainted with their Lead Effects Artist through Facebook, actually.
We shard some experiences and even eventually began discussing techniques for how we pulled off certain effects with very limited hardware or engine determined resources. As it later turned out, a few of the ideas I had offered made it into the released games.
This was all years ago though, and since then I have moved on from the outdated Halo engine to work with Unreal to develop my own modern, full games. If I expect to get anywhere in the mainstream games industry, I need a portfolio with modern content and experience, so that has been my main focus.
The main challenge when moving to this modern engine has been learning the new structure. I learned from the start when working with games a very unique structure called tag structure, almost no other engine works with tags, though Bungie makes all of their games this way and it's very much what I was used to. It wasn't the end of the world, but I had to learn how things in a game go together all over again.
The game project I'm working on is a fast paced multiplayer FPS game, though the gameplay has a very nontraditional approach to balance. It's something that's never really been attempted before, especially in FPS gameplay. I've even jokingly called it asymmetric balance, which can be contradictory depending on how you perceive it. I have however proven that the concept I've developed is balanced not only on paper but in practice through previous unreleased works with the Halo engine, and it definitely makes things more interesting.
I've been running a lot of my gameplay concepts by one of the sandbox designers (fancy name for gameplay designer) at Bungie mainly so I could be sure I wasn't crazy for thinking everything I had in plan would work out on the large scale. Thankfully I've had nothing but great reviews from everyone who has seen/read the concepts, so I've moved on to full development with a small international team I scavenged together. We recently finished up our pre-production and are now working on the actual content that will be going into the final product.
I would love to share a bit more about what this game entails, especially the gameplay mechanics, but this is a public forum so I must restrain myself lol.
A few tidbits-
Realistic semi-futuristic shooter mechanics and lots of entirely optional vehicle combat.
Building mechanic near bases.
Actual non-static multiplayer time travel mechanic between two eras. (Time travel in multiplayer, what??? that doesn't work silly. It does now =] )
Extremely realistic and refined automated squad mechanic based on a dynamic points system that adjusts teamplay based on the individual game style and habit of each player.
Literally everything I know about game design I learned by working with the original Halo engine. I've published almost a dozen finished projects for Halo PC during my time with it, a couple of my best works for HPC are-
Parallax Redux
http://www.opencarnage.net/forums/index ... lax-redux/
Phoenix 2
http://www.opencarnage.net/forums/index ... phoenix-2/
These as well as a few others were mentioned and briefly showcased on Bungie.net (Bungie being the creators of the original Halo series) which helped to build up my reputation within the company, and where I made my first friends in the professional industry. I was first acquainted with their Lead Effects Artist through Facebook, actually.
We shard some experiences and even eventually began discussing techniques for how we pulled off certain effects with very limited hardware or engine determined resources. As it later turned out, a few of the ideas I had offered made it into the released games.
This was all years ago though, and since then I have moved on from the outdated Halo engine to work with Unreal to develop my own modern, full games. If I expect to get anywhere in the mainstream games industry, I need a portfolio with modern content and experience, so that has been my main focus.
The main challenge when moving to this modern engine has been learning the new structure. I learned from the start when working with games a very unique structure called tag structure, almost no other engine works with tags, though Bungie makes all of their games this way and it's very much what I was used to. It wasn't the end of the world, but I had to learn how things in a game go together all over again.
The game project I'm working on is a fast paced multiplayer FPS game, though the gameplay has a very nontraditional approach to balance. It's something that's never really been attempted before, especially in FPS gameplay. I've even jokingly called it asymmetric balance, which can be contradictory depending on how you perceive it. I have however proven that the concept I've developed is balanced not only on paper but in practice through previous unreleased works with the Halo engine, and it definitely makes things more interesting.
I've been running a lot of my gameplay concepts by one of the sandbox designers (fancy name for gameplay designer) at Bungie mainly so I could be sure I wasn't crazy for thinking everything I had in plan would work out on the large scale. Thankfully I've had nothing but great reviews from everyone who has seen/read the concepts, so I've moved on to full development with a small international team I scavenged together. We recently finished up our pre-production and are now working on the actual content that will be going into the final product.
I would love to share a bit more about what this game entails, especially the gameplay mechanics, but this is a public forum so I must restrain myself lol.
A few tidbits-
Realistic semi-futuristic shooter mechanics and lots of entirely optional vehicle combat.
Building mechanic near bases.
Actual non-static multiplayer time travel mechanic between two eras. (Time travel in multiplayer, what??? that doesn't work silly. It does now =] )
Extremely realistic and refined automated squad mechanic based on a dynamic points system that adjusts teamplay based on the individual game style and habit of each player.
LiquidServe
Paragon
I have a c++ test in 2 days 😛 C++ isnt useful for making games unless you are making for windows in Visual C++! And unless you have a very professional game for windows, it ain't gonna get noticed! cause of saturation! 🙁
C++? Not useful? It's usable on OSX despite a common misconception that there is only Objective-C on there, and it is also on Linux/BSD/illumos.LiquidServe said:
However, I do hear that it can lead to portability issues, because C++ libraries (as in the ones for the language itself) differ from OS to OS.
So yes, C++ is useful for game development.
I'm currently making a game platform called Ekunia Eagle. It'll go on Kickstarter on October 30 if all goes well.
Thanks, Fergal. I'm actually changing what we will put up on that date to the first product that we're going to release for organizational purposes. It doesn't fit in with this topic, though, so see my other topic about it.Fergal said:
I can also make a topic (or post here) about Eagle, if you wish. However, a lot of the information is already available through the "DevNotes" - community updates on development and design. Its campaign will likely now come in March or April.
Pvcomputers
Addicted
We are currently working Dairy Farm Simulator which will be a persistent web browser game. Text based mostly.
ramtastic05
Up-and-Coming Sensation
i try and do some mobile game development for windows phone and im trying to do the same for android
its fun but also tough since i work alone
its fun but also tough since i work alone
fantanoice
Madly Diligent
I'm currently studying to be a game developer (though I've taken the year off to work in an actual job). 😛
At the moment in my spare time I'm working on a visual novel (eg: Ace Attorney, 999, etc). I'm really keen to complete it because I love the concept of it. I hope to get a build out soon so you all can play it.
Of course, no end-user is really going to give a rats about your engine because all they will probably be seeing are the aesthetics. That doesn't mean they're not important. You need to have a good foundation to have good aesthetics.
In other words, learn C++ (or any OO programming) to get a grasp of the technology behind the game, then make it pretty-looking for the player. The player only cares that the technology behind works, not how it has been made. Focus on promoting the aesthetics when you try and get your name out there because really, nobody cares if it is made in C++ or not.
At the moment in my spare time I'm working on a visual novel (eg: Ace Attorney, 999, etc). I'm really keen to complete it because I love the concept of it. I hope to get a build out soon so you all can play it.
I'm sorry but that made no sense at all. C++ is one of the best possible languages to use for game development because it performs well and is cross-platform. A number of engines are built using it, including UE/UDK. It's also handful to know in case you ever need to modify or build an engine to suit your needs.LiquidServe said:
Of course, no end-user is really going to give a rats about your engine because all they will probably be seeing are the aesthetics. That doesn't mean they're not important. You need to have a good foundation to have good aesthetics.
In other words, learn C++ (or any OO programming) to get a grasp of the technology behind the game, then make it pretty-looking for the player. The player only cares that the technology behind works, not how it has been made. Focus on promoting the aesthetics when you try and get your name out there because really, nobody cares if it is made in C++ or not.
Ztg said:
I haven't made any games in Java, but I know the syntax and everything. I don't really think one language is harder than the other, because to me they are just different syntax's, with slightly different concepts, however Java is more difficult than Python I suppose, just because it takes longer to write/requires more code.
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