Bay 12 Games Forum

Depending on what's your end-goal, these links should be relevant:
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/idea.htm
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson29.htm
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson16.htm

On a more practical/programming side I like Moghjubar's answer the most.
The good news is that once you learn one language, you can quickly pickup on other languages.
The bad news is that you'll have to learn one first. And know it well.

If you're having troubles learning because you either find programming an utterly boring affair, or aren't capable of logical and iterative thinking, you should look into game project management. If you just haven't had a proper introduction to programming, start with the basics:

• absolute beginner's tutorial to a language of your choice (C++ is hard, Java and Visual Basic are easier)
• learning about object-oriented programming will be helpful as well
• make a few really simple games (ASCII gfx are just fine)
• make a pong clone, tetris clone, etc. (ASCII gfx are still fine)
• find a popular, well-documented 2D rendering library, game engine library, RPG engine library, or even P&P RPG engine with an active community
• make a few simple games or interactive programs with the chosen library
• start making prototype(s) of your game

Note that somewhere in the 4th or 5th step, you will need to learn the concept of the "game loop". This will change how you think about things. Before that point you'll probably update/render the game objects on the screen on user input (keyboard, mouse). But in a game loop, game objects will be rendered anew all the time. Even if the user isn't pressing anything.

Quote from: Ultimuh on December 10, 2014, 07:12:22 am

I'd rather see a game where sniping is the core part of the game.
Sneaking around, trying to get a good vantage point without being detected.
And yes, it has to be multiplayer.

Ace of Spades used to be basically this, then they decided that having a fun but challenging game is bad design and added all the other shit.

You can play the old, free version of it here.
The shit, not-free version was bought by a company.

Unfortunately, the original developer has disappeared into thin air after the new version came out. Community has made a new client and a new server of the old version game, both open-source. Yet for some reason they are still playing the 0.75 version instead of actually improving/developing the game further. WTF?

E: I wish the old Ace of Spades would be actively developed.

• How many levels would you want?
• Keep the health bar or make it one hit one kill? (there will be a lives system either way)
• How long should the levels be?
• How hard should it be?
• Are the graphics alright?

Level-wise you should probably take a look at similar games (Tyrian comes to mind) and make a single, smaller campaign. A few ordinary levels, with one mini boss in the middle and one badass boss at the end.

I didn't even see the health bar when I was watching the video! So, you'll have to do something about that. Make it more noticeable. The unorthodox window size and a lot happening on the screen might have something to do with this as well.
How about putting the health indicator on the actual ship? Doesn't need to be a bar, but something that tells the player whether the ship is in spotless/good/bad/near-death state.
One hit, one kill seems like the game will be over too soon. Unless you're going for an unforgiving shooter experience, keep the health bar.

The level demonstrated on the video seemed appropriately long to me. I probably wouldn't go shorter, though. Unless you have a level containing only the boss, or some other special level.

Just right! You should make it challenging, but fun. As the game goes on, make it harder. Players will die and that's fine. Just make sure they won't get too frustrated with the game early on.

The graphics are quite alright actually. Did you make them yourself?
The big ships don't have to be so detailed. The player won't have time to admire the enemy ship in its entirety. Make the background or ships brighter. It might just be my monitor, but the bad contrast makes my eyes tired.
What bothers me is the amount of flashing projectiles floating in space. Maybe tone down the flashing a bit (lot)?
I think I saw some stuttering while playing? That would need to be fixed eventually. Although, I wonder whether you will be able to achieve that in GameMaker.

There are some commercial games out there that were made with GM, but you'll notice that all of them look and feel similar. GM is designed to be easy and abstract so you can make many different games. But this also means you can't really make the game EXACTLY as you want.
At least that was the case 10 years ago. I'm not sure how they fare today customization-wise, but I image learning a programming language will get you a lot further in the gamedev industry...
Or just hire some folk to make you game!

I'll only PTW for now.

I'm not a complete beginner at gamedev in JS, Java, then C++ (it's been a few years...), then C#. I'm not a professional either, but I make games in my spare time.

I'd like to collaborate on a game with B12 folk, however I'm unsure whether the economy simulation genre is my cup of tea. I'll try a few of these games as well as keep an eye on this thread, and I'll get back to you if I'm interested.

Another thing that worries me is that you haven't defined the game and its gameplay. I *have* seen a few game projects where group decision-making made a successful game. However, I can currently only think of one.
Getting multiple suggestions from the community is fine, but ultimately someone should spearhead this project and make the tough decisions him/herself.

Seems like the game is near death.
Last update in 2013, the forums are down.

Too bad
I guess the donations weren't a-plenty...

A first perspective game where you are crewing a large space cruiser as an engineer in war time. As the ship is pummeled by enemy fire, it's your job to help keep it from falling apart. As you progress you expand your skills and tools to meet new challenges. You go from a low level wrench monkey to chief of engineering directing repair crews to combat explosive decompression, fires, cut power lines and so on. Combine with some RPG elements and a bit of a plot.

How would it play?
Guns of Icarus come to mind, but singleplayer and with more complex repair mechanics.

Does anyone remember those old linux games which mostly started with the letter "x"?

I remember playing a simple 2D top-down space shooter game on early Red Hat distros. I'm not sure whether it was multiplayer or not, but I do think you had to launch the server separately from the client.
The actual game was white on black (IIRC) polygonal art. You controlled a spaceship in a small corner of the universe where there's plenty of various-sized asteroids and other spaceships which wanted you dead. IIRC you couldn't land on the asteroids. Not sure whether there were powerups available or not.

Armok represent!