Bay 12 Games Forum

Finally... => Creative Projects => Topic started by: The Torn on March 26, 2016, 12:38:02 am

Title: Let's Dev
Post by: The Torn on March 26, 2016, 12:38:02 am
So, I've been wanting to make a game for the longest time now, and I figured I'm finally sort of ready to give it my first proper shot. But I want you guys' help.
Help how? Well, I'd still make the game myself, but I want your ideas. You would dictate all the design choices, collectively, and progressively, somehow.
This has the benefit of me not going for one of my overly ambitious ideas, as well as giving me more motivation to work on the game, since I'm not the only one who cares at least a bit about it.
To further clarify...
This is the first time I would actually make something that took longer than a couple of days. I definitely don't know everything I need to, and thus the progress would be slow as I need to learn midway, but hey, everyone needs to start somewhere.
I'm going to make the game in Unity (http://madewith.unity.com/games), and I can (try to) make some models in Blender. (In a rather crude fashion. I'm more of a programmer than an artist.)
Expect pictures of progress, and perhaps even a few videos. And of course the game itself at every playable stage.

Current to-do list: (in some particular order or another)
Improve obstacle generation. (Are our dwarves moving down some sort of cavern, killing stuff, or are they defending their fortress from a siege, wave after wave?)
Add control over your squad of dwarves.
Add enemies (goblins, for now) with some sort of pathfinding.
Add basic combat.

Somewhere further down the line: (subject to change)
Add proper models of things. (;_;)
Progression. (Dwarves gaining experience, enemies getting tougher. Adding active defensive structures to the map?)
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: Neonivek on March 26, 2016, 04:41:46 am
Well I could reach into my pocket and bring out my "Not that ambitious" dream games.

One for example is a Monster Rancher-Like game where you are tasked as an immortal trainer of warriors from across time.

Each warrior knows a different form of a real martial art.

It would be 2d with simplified graphics, likely pixel, to give it a colorful atmosphere but also allow it to thrive.
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: Orange Wizard on March 26, 2016, 04:45:56 am
How about agreeing on an overall theme or main game mechanic first - y'know, what is the game about?
Breeding the ultimate warrior cats to exterminate evil dogs
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: ShadowHammer on March 26, 2016, 01:48:25 pm
How about agreeing on an overall theme or main game mechanic first - y'know, what is the game about?
Breeding the ultimate warrior cats to exterminate evil dogs
+1
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: NJW2000 on March 26, 2016, 01:53:34 pm
On a more serious note, how about DF (loosely done) told from the POV of a single dwarf?

Not necessarily roguelike or involving procedural generation, just the experiences of player-run fortresses and encounters with adventurers, or something of the kind. Something more personal, with a less grand scope than DF.

I assume the OP would be interested in that, as most lurkers here play DF, but if not something else would be great.
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: Araph on March 26, 2016, 02:47:43 pm
How about agreeing on an overall theme or main game mechanic first - y'know, what is the game about?
Breeding the ultimate warrior cats to exterminate evil dogs
Breeding the ultimate warrior mice to exterminate evil cats

On a more serious note, how about DF (loosely done) told from the POV of a single dwarf?

Not necessarily roguelike or involving procedural generation, just the experiences of player-run fortresses and encounters with adventurers, or something of the kind. Something more personal, with a less grand scope than DF.

I assume the OP would be interested in that, as most lurkers here play DF, but if not something else would be great.

I would be interested in seeing this. It has potential for both an interesting story as well as for ridiculous dorf shenanigans.
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: The Torn on March 26, 2016, 05:21:04 pm
Glad I decided to wait for a few more answers.
On a more serious note, how about DF (loosely done) told from the POV of a single dwarf?

Not necessarily roguelike or involving procedural generation, just the experiences of player-run fortresses and encounters with adventurers, or something of the kind. Something more personal, with a less grand scope than DF.

I assume the OP would be interested in that, as most lurkers here play DF, but if not something else would be great.
This is indeed an interesting idea. But it's fairly vague, as far as I see it.

I doubt you mean something like Adventurer Mode, as we already have that, so the action must be taking place in a fortress?
But that leaves questions like:
Are there other dwarves around? Those would have to be AI-controlled then.
The dwarves in a regular fortress don't have much freedom of thought nor variety in their life, last I remember. Would our specimen be partially, or directly under our control? It might actually be hilarious to see how far you could bend the jobs you had been given, or how often you could arrange a party, drawing a large chunk of the population with you, but I'm not entirely convinced there'd be meaningful gameplay there. I'm not great with words either, but that doesn't rule out the option of it being a story game with a pre-set path instead. I guess what I'd like to know is...
Is the life of an individual dwarf interesting enough?

Also, if we go with this, would we be using the same tile-based graphics as DF does?

Not criticizing the idea, just trying to provide food for thought, if you think it's good, I don't really see any particular reason why it isn't.

I'd like to get started sometime tomorrow, hopefully we'll refine the thought some more by then. =)
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: Orange Wizard on March 26, 2016, 06:12:39 pm
Glad I decided to wait for a few more answers.
How dare you so casually reject my feline eugenics simulator
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: NJW2000 on March 26, 2016, 06:36:54 pm
Ummm. Other dwarves would probably be around - whether AI controlled or something more linear or basic, I don't know.

Graphics depends on what you (and the community, those of us [not me] that get off their arses from time to time) can do, but there's no particular reason to be tile-based, especially if we want to do something more personal.


And the big question - how can it be interesting - well:
 
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: MagmaMcFry on March 26, 2016, 06:59:26 pm
Hold the fuck up everyone, we're being way, waaaay too ahead of ourselves here. Torn, you say you have never written a game before? Then you definitely need to start small. Very small. Space Invaders small. Pong small. Checkers small. Anything larger than very small and you'll lose interest or patience 10% through. The game everyone's proposing here would take months even for an experienced game developer, twice as long if you're using Unity, because Unity is not suited for this type of game.

Torn, what experience do you have already? What sort of programs have you written before?
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: Araph on March 26, 2016, 07:32:38 pm
Hold the fuck up everyone, we're being way, waaaay too ahead of ourselves here.

Seconded. My thought with the dwarf game was that it would be fairly linear, with the player controlling one dwarf who has to do dwarf things based on what the overseer tells him to. No simulations or politics or procedural content or living world around them. Just a dwarf, a mission, a few NPCs, and shenanigans involving magma and carp.
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: MagmaMcFry on March 26, 2016, 07:47:43 pm
Hold the fuck up everyone, we're being way, waaaay too ahead of ourselves here.

Seconded. My thought with the dwarf game was that it would be fairly linear, with the player controlling one dwarf who has to do dwarf things based on what the overseer tells him to. No simulations or politics or procedural content or living world around them. Just a dwarf, a mission, a few NPCs, and shenanigans involving magma and carp.
That's a great idea. Standard RPG where you can add content piece by piece. Unity is well-suited for that.
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: The Torn on March 26, 2016, 11:39:29 pm
How dare you so casually reject my feline eugenics simulator
I prefer to think of it being rejected by popular vote. ;)
Hold the fuck up everyone, we're being way, waaaay too ahead of ourselves here. Torn, you say you have never written a game before? Then you definitely need to start small. Very small. Space Invaders small. Pong small. Checkers small. Anything larger than very small and you'll lose interest or patience 10% through.

Torn, what experience do you have already? What sort of programs have you written before?
Thank you for being concerned. And I realize I need to start small. :) You're not entirely correct though. This wouldn't be my first game, this would be my first game that took longer than a few days. I've already done things "Space Invaders small" or "Pong small", though I can't say that myself losing interest half-way through hasn't crossed my mind, I'm really hoping it won't happen. Making games has been fun so far.
As for what experience I have; like I said, I've done a few couple-day-long (for my skill level) games. I'm far less experienced with 3D modelling (and drawing), especially animating, so I was more concerned with that part.
My thought with the dwarf game was that it would be fairly linear, with the player controlling one dwarf who has to do dwarf things based on what the overseer tells him to. No simulations or politics or procedural content or living world around them. Just a dwarf, a mission, a few NPCs, and shenanigans involving magma and carp.
Well, I wouldn't want it to become an RPGMaker game. =b
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: Araph on March 27, 2016, 12:15:55 am
Well, I wouldn't want it to become an RPGMaker game. =b

I ain't talkin' about RPGMaker Dwarf Fortress - I mean a game where you have to go fix the floodgates before the fortress fills up with magma, with spacial puzzles that are a race against time. Or you're the miner who opened the circus and you have to escape back up to the surface before the clowns get you, dodging obstacles and trying to figure out the correct path to the surface. Or you have a strange mood and are desperately searching for the materials you need in a fortress that doesn't give a shit about you. Or there's a vampire somewhere in the fortress and you have to talk to other dwarves to figure out who it actually is, all the while knowing that, if you end up alone in the same room as it, you're gonna die. Or there's a kobold somewhere in the fortress that you're trying to track down before it can abscond with your precious stone crafts, keeping a sharp eye out for paw prints and disheveled items that could set you on its trail.

We've got options, man. You can make anything in Unity.
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: NJW2000 on March 27, 2016, 05:11:50 am
The more detective-y ideas above are intriguing. Reckon a sort-of "hunt the criminal" game would work well in DF?
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: The Torn on March 27, 2016, 12:40:07 pm
The more detective-y ideas above are intriguing. Reckon a sort-of "hunt the criminal" game would work well in DF?
In DF, entirely likely. In whatever I'm doing, probably not.
I'm a little skeptical about the whole "DF-themed, but with nothing that makes DF what it is" gameplay we seem to be talking here. Like, literally all the fun in DF comes from things not behaving exactly as we want them to. By making a game that's pre-coded scenarios, it's no longer fun to see any havoc unfold, because there was no chain of naturally occurring events to trigger it. (And recreating this in even fractions would probably still require implementing way too much stuff.)

It's only the second day of me trying to get this thing running, and maybe I'm approaching this from the wrong angle. Not too late to start over.
Why don't we make this collective game development stuff less development, more game, eh?
I'll present you with a mostly linear set of questions or problems that need answering or solving in a semi-stoyesque manner, and we'll progress based on that, how's it sound?
(Also, anyone know a easy-to-use image hosting site if I want to add like a bunch of pictures to this entire thing.)

So, you decide to start making a game. You open up Unity, type in some placeholder name for the project, and...
(http://i.imgur.com/JEOIKHB.png)
Should you go for a 2D or 3D game?

And to speed things along for the near future... Will we be controlling our own character, or will we have direct control over more things?
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: Neonivek on March 27, 2016, 12:42:39 pm
Glad I decided to wait for a few more answers.

Thanks :P

But what we have here right now is known in some circles as a "Point and Click Adventure Game"
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: The Torn on March 27, 2016, 01:06:02 pm
Glad I decided to wait for a few more answers.
Thanks :P

But what we have here right now is known in some circles as a "Point and Click Adventure Game"
Hey, hey, sorry. I honestly liked your idea.
But what do you mean by "what we have here right now"? Like, the change in how I want ideas from you all? Or the ideas the others were suggesting previously? Because for the latter, I think the style was vague enough that everyone understood it slightly differently.
Which is why I honestly think this format is better for everyone involved. Sure, without proper planning ahead, we'd be going a pretty windy road to the finish line, but it's the journey, not the destination that's important right now. :D
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: NJW2000 on March 27, 2016, 01:31:47 pm
2D would be easier, I'm guessing. It would thus let one do more?

But Unity is meant to be good for 3D, iirc.

Even so, unless it's 3D physics-based, or all about graphics, I'd go for 2D.
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: Araph on March 27, 2016, 01:49:48 pm
I'm a little skeptical about the whole "DF-themed, but with nothing that makes DF what it is" gameplay we seem to be talking here.

The thing is, we're not making DF - we're making a game set in a DF fortress. Think of it like a suggestion adventure set in a Dwarf Fortress world: Elves of Amanereli was linear and an entirely different genre, but it was still definitely Dwarf Fortress-based.

Should you go for a 2D or 3D game?

3D all the way, although I may be slightly biased in favor of 3D game development from past experience.
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: The Torn on March 27, 2016, 03:10:31 pm
Think of it like a suggestion adventure set in a Dwarf Fortress world: Elves of Amanereli was linear and an entirely different genre, but it was still definitely Dwarf Fortress-based.
Well, yes, but that was a story, not a game?
2D would be easier, I'm guessing. It would thus let one do more?

Unless it's 3D physics-based, or all about graphics, I'd go for 2D.
Well, I'm aiming for learning, so speed is not at all an issue. And besides, I can't make good graphics either way. :-\
As for whether it's physics-based, who knows!? Don't take it so seriously with all the for-and-against arguments. Let's just see where this train leads us, and take your part in guiding it if you want.

You decide in favor of a 3D game, and Unity's main screen pops into view. It's rather empty with only a camera and a light source, so the question goes through your head again:
Will we be controlling our own character, or will we have direct control over more things?
In either case, What's the first thing to add to this new and empty realm?
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: Araph on March 27, 2016, 03:48:03 pm
Well, yes, but that was a story, not a game?

Games are stories in another medium. They just have gameplay too. =P
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: NJW2000 on March 27, 2016, 04:00:12 pm
Controlling many things?

Partly because FP stuff never seldom seems to go that well without large resources. Also, more fun to be had controlling lots of stuff.
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: Orange Wizard on March 27, 2016, 05:43:52 pm
We can control anything, including core game mechanics.
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: crazyabe on March 27, 2016, 05:59:16 pm
PTW
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: NJW2000 on March 27, 2016, 06:10:49 pm
We can control anything, including core game mechanics.
So sandboxy? Ish? Interesting.
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: The Torn on March 28, 2016, 12:03:49 am
We can control anything, including core game mechanics.
For a fraction of a second, it all becomes clear. You should make a game, about making a game, about making a game, about making a... but then a metaphorical heavy object strikes you in the head, and the idea no longer seems as good. Besides, altering code mid-run is pretty sci-fi stuff.
Controlling many things.
And so you forsake the idea of adding in the player character as the first thing, because, well, there shall be no player character!
While that's great and all, you can't quite get over the feeling that amidst these decisions, you're not getting anywhere. The world is still empty, and while you got a few ideas on what you're not going to put in it, you still don't know what are you going to add in the world first?
What will be that which you, as the player, assert your control upon?
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: crazyabe on March 28, 2016, 12:14:05 am
My Suggestion would be A Single Dwarf of indeterminate gender with the name of Urist.
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: Orange Wizard on March 28, 2016, 12:39:58 am
We need to add something to stand on first. I suggest we add a floor.
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: NJW2000 on March 28, 2016, 03:41:16 am
Respectively:

A rather large sphere

Fragments of genetic code lying about?
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: The Torn on March 28, 2016, 07:01:03 pm
Busy IRL day today yesterday (way past midnight already), couldn't get much anything done. Apparently I can't ctrl+z after leaving edit mode, so I was left with this abomination:

The first step was clear. A floor. Something on which all could stand or lie. And it was born, no less than ten thousand square meters large.
Secondly, a large sphere of indeterminate purpose. Surely the need for such an object would come.
And finally, the representation of a generic dwarf. Appropriately named Urist.

Since I need to wake up in around 3 hours, I won't leave you with any directive questions. It's for the best anyways.
I might replace that spinning dwarf icon with an actual dwarf someday, but models of any kinds of organic creatures are scary difficult for me. As an added bonus, I haven't quite understood how 3D texturing works. So, yeah, when I have the leftover time.
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: MagmaMcFry on March 28, 2016, 07:34:12 pm
Texturing works like this in theory: You assign each vertex of your mesh a texture point made of two texture coordinates. To color a mesh triangle made of three vertices, the renderer (acts as if it) looks at the texture triangle formed by the three texture points, cuts that triangle out, and stretches it to fit onto the mesh triangle.
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: MaximumZero on March 29, 2016, 06:40:38 pm
PTW for dev advice.
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: The Torn on March 30, 2016, 10:23:22 am
I won't leave you with any directive questions. It's for the best anyways.
I, uh, didn't mean that you should stop giving me things to add or ways to add purpose to what is already there. I was just hoping that I wouldn't have to tell you to tell me what to do, but I guess I'm not getting off that easy. So here, have some additional flavor text: :D

You spend a fair while looking at your current creations. A fine floor and sphere, surely, and though Urist may have been hoping to get a more physical representation, it can at least enjoy it's capability to move. But this can't be nearly enough. This is not a game, it's just items. Stuff's moving, but you can't do anything about it. We need ways to control these things. To interact with them, and for them to interact with each other. But in what style and purpose should these interactions be?

I need things to do, people, I need things to do! :D

PTW for dev advice.
Am very much feeling judged. >w<

PS if anyone ever feels like I misinterpreted their suggestion instructions, do speak up.
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: monkey on March 30, 2016, 02:35:38 pm
1. Add melee combat, simple combat like when you press a button every enemy near you gets hit.
2. Add obstacles and pathfinding.
3. Add 10 goblins.
4. Add 6 other Urists that you have to protect.
5. You get points for surviving dwarves, you spend points to build a bigger fortress (just obstacles for now).
6. goto 3.

is the game first person, 3rd person, isometric ?
is the world grid based ?
is it turn based or realtime ?
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: MaximumZero on March 30, 2016, 08:27:07 pm
PTW for dev advice.
Am very much feeling judged. >w<
Sorry. I'm just hoping to glean some insights for my own project that I'd eventually like to start back up.
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: Amperzand on March 31, 2016, 02:28:32 am
I find the idea of a sort of level-based roguelike thing, very simple, where you get seven dwarves and clear as many levels of their goblins as possible before running out of squadmates.

Something similar to the Toad's own Kobold Cave, perhaps.
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: NJW2000 on March 31, 2016, 03:20:05 am
There wouldn't be any way to make the "vanishing point", point where lines converge on the horizon, the centre of the sphere, would there? i.e. make it so you could put a cube on the surface, and all 4 vertices not on a side parallel to the touching side would, if extended, converge on the centre? I suppose the same could be done with more complex 3D shapes.

Suppose you could have a spherical, level based rogue-like. Something (a dwarf) navigates each level of sphere, before dropping down into the next, though the player never runs out of levels, as they emanate from the depths at the centre of the sphere.
Like the shells of an onion.
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: The Torn on March 31, 2016, 08:02:55 am
is the game first person, 3rd person, isometric ?
is the world grid based ?
is it turn based or realtime ?
Well, that's all up for you all to decide. Glad to see someone asking the important questions. :)
There wouldn't be any way to make the "vanishing point", point where lines converge on the horizon, the centre of the sphere, would there? i.e. make it so you could put a cube on the surface, and all 4 vertices not on a side parallel to the touching side would, if extended, converge on the centre? I suppose the same could be done with more complex 3D shapes.

Suppose you could have a spherical, level based rogue-like. Something (a dwarf) navigates each level of sphere, before dropping down into the next, though the player never runs out of levels, as they emanate from the depths at the centre of the sphere.
I think you mean edges, not vertices, but are you talking about non-euclidean geometry here? I don't think it's actually possible. I mean, I think it's possible to make that illusion (because how would such a sphere differ from a regular plane, except that all edges loop around, which can probably crudely be done with portals for walls), but I sure as hell don't even want to attempt it yet.
Sorry, you're going to need another use for the sphere.

The rest of the ideas seem okay though. I can get started on implementing them while you agree on the specifics. Monkey's questions seem like a fine place to start.
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: Tomasque on April 03, 2016, 08:44:39 pm
You could move the camera around freely, spinning it around, moving north, south, east, west, up and down. You could take control of a dwarf in your view, at which point it would technically be 3rd person, and you would move that dwarf around grid-basedly.
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: exdeath on April 04, 2016, 03:14:38 pm
Maybe a game like this:
2d view (with 3d or 2d graphics), fighting game.
Setting is fantasy.
Characters are on a smaller scale to allow bigger characters

Characters are monsters/races (not specific characters like darkstalkers, but monsters/race, as some example some monster would be a vampire, and not Dracula) and some are fantasy classes.

Each character has a ratio cost, you can select as many characters you want as long it cost less points than the ones you are allowed to have, one example of a game like this capcom vs snk 1, the problem of snk vs capcom 1 is that the characters there, arent so different from each other to warrant different ratios (instead of balancing stuff), he ratio system is used to allow greater variety of characters, not as a lazy way to balance the game.

Characters are very different from each other, as some example characters will only have super bar if they have this thing (like mana or ki whatever), some would have ammunition and etc.... Those characters are balanced by their ratio points. The amount of points you have must be at least 4 times the least valued character cost.

The game is played between 2 sides.
The first side has 2 characters at the same time on the game, when playing on this side alone, you control one character and the AI control the other, but you can change to start to control the next one.
There is also an third tag character, that can be called to the game, to be swapped with the character you are controlling.
And then there are the reinforcements slots.
After some character from in game area, dies, the character on the tag slot will join the game, and some character on reinforcements slot will go to the tag slot.

Two players can play on the same side, if they do that, they share the characters they use.

More stuff/rules:
No time limit.
Just one round.
Characters wont share same super/ammunition slot....


Reasons behind this game idea:
-The ratio points allow us to have more varied characters, since they will just need to be balanced by ratio points.
-The 2 characters are the same time per team, allow faster matches, this because sometimes ratio points allow users to select alot of characters. This also allow 2 players per team (or 3 or 4 players playing at the same time)
-The tag slot (instead of not having it and having just the reinforcement slots), allows players (when 2 players are on the same team) to change their characters, by changing to the tag character.

Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: The Torn on April 06, 2016, 05:35:44 am
Sorry, I've suddenly been terribly busy with schoolwork, and I managed to find this game called Factorio, which has had me more hooked than anything for months. Despite all that, I've gotten a little bit of progress done:
The camera, which you can move around as you wish. It's generally top-down, but allows for a little tilting, rotating, as well as zooming.
And I worked a bit on generating obstacles for the map. I got something basic working, but after I briefly decided to investigate some map generation stuff, I kinda got engulfed in learning different things there, as well as generally getting more familiar with C# syntax.

exdeath, there's a ton of suggestions there, I'll see what I can incorporate once I get around to the finer details, however I must mention I'm going to keep this little project strictly singleplayer.

Edit:
Not going to bump this thing up to the top yet, but I've added a to-do list in the opening post.
I've also got a slightly more advanced map generation algorithm now.
And well, with the school-year coming to a close, my exams are coming up. I got pockets of time here and there, so I'll try to keep this from coming to a complete halt.
Title: Re: Let's Dev
Post by: bluwolfie on June 09, 2016, 02:37:48 am
Some suggestions for you.

The game needs boxes, everyone loves boxes!

I think there should be enemy boxes, or enemies that hide in boxes. Or barrels, some sort of inanimate object that doesn't like you, because you're not boxy enough.

Cats! Everyone loves cats, and cats love boxes. Cats that try to get into boxes, but see the boxes don't like this so they attack the cats. Perhaps you need to save the cats from the boxes, by placing them into other, frendlier boxes!

A good game needs healing items, and I think those items should be booze and chocolate.