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Author Topic: City State: Temporary Hiatus  (Read 2495 times)

abculatter_2

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City State: Temporary Hiatus
« on: February 23, 2010, 10:17:41 pm »

EDIT: I just bought a book on C#, and this project will be put on hold until I know enough about C# that I can piece together a simple pre-alpha version.

I had an idea for a game which I'd like to use as an introduction into coding and game-making (I plan on becoming a game designer after college) which I will be posting the progress of here, for (hopefully) motivation, any assistance I may require later, and as a way to get the game out there and probably get some free game testers.

Current progress:
I've just started learning C#. I may have a very basic console version within a few days if I don't slack off. I'll hopefully be able to move on from there.

Planned game features:

*Take a small group of people, whether quiet villagers, criminal exiles, brave pioneers, or something else and lead them to greatness and glory as the founders of a magnificent city-state. Or perhaps a center of mining and industry of legendary proportions. Or that little town in some forgotten corner of the world, struggling to survive then shouting, "FUCK YOU ALL!!!" as they release armageddon upon the world.

*Attach optional meta-game goals based on origins, though leaving overall gameplay relatively open.

*Completely randomized, persistant DF-esque worlds, in which almost-limitless games may be played (Provided you don't touch the HFS).

*A hostile land, where survival is always your first priority and danger lurks in many unexpected forms.
     -Megalomaniac gods, who unleash rampaging monsters and massive natural disasters upon the land, many of which can annihilate entire continents.
     -The Darker Powers, imprisoned deep underground by the gods long ago, constantly try to find ways for their influence to claw, twist, or seep into the upper realms, often succeeding and creating twisted horrors from almost anything in their wake.
     -Desperate wildlife constantly struggle to survive in hostile lands, where everything is a predator, nowhere is peaceful, and the only rule is survival.

*Track time in real-time, though have time display differently depending on game mode (If I have different game modes).

*(optional) Two game modes: one which is similar to a top-down turn-based strategy game where the game pauses to allow you to give commands or when something important (the muck in your sewers suddenly gaining sentience, for instance) happens, or a real-time mode where you directly control your character and can make him do stuff in and out of your town, maybe adding a skill system too. You can also perform all the duties you can do in the top-down mode, though the top-down mode is more convenient.

*Have potential, random advantages available only at the beginning of the game, such as a wizard's tower or a blessed temple or rare, valuable local materials.

*As your city grows, it attracts more and larger forces all trying to kill you, your mother, and everyone else you know. This makes conquest a risk (though not an overwhelming one) as you may leave your city underdefended when a massive assault comes. (This also adds a reason to trade with other towns and villages, instead of simply conquering everyone. Though it should still be a legitimate option.)

*I may add more


Any downloads I end up having will be here.

Since this game is primarily for my own self-improvement, it'll be open-source and I'll actually encourage anyone interested in doing so to look over the code and maybe give suggestions to make it better.

And that's it. Updates whenever I have something to update.
« Last Edit: March 07, 2010, 06:25:32 pm by abculatter_2 »
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sonerohi

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Re: City State: Humble Beginnings
« Reply #1 on: February 23, 2010, 10:32:43 pm »

obvious joke is obvious.
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abculatter_2

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Re: City State: Humble Beginnings
« Reply #2 on: February 23, 2010, 10:36:11 pm »

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sonerohi

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Re: City State: Humble Beginnings
« Reply #3 on: February 23, 2010, 10:42:09 pm »

Oh, my bad. I just thought you were parodying DF, but if this is serious, then go for it. I'd like to see what you make.
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abculatter_2

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Re: City State: Humble Beginnings
« Reply #4 on: February 25, 2010, 08:16:10 pm »

Is there anyone here who knows C#, has a MSN and would be willing to help me by answering questions? This would probably go faster if I had someone I could go to and ask any questions I had.
« Last Edit: February 25, 2010, 08:27:52 pm by abculatter_2 »
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Normandy

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Re: City State: Humble Beginnings
« Reply #5 on: February 25, 2010, 09:51:17 pm »

Please, please, please, don't try and learn programming by making a game. It will only end in sadness and hardship, for all parties involved.
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abculatter_2

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Re: City State: Humble Beginnings
« Reply #6 on: February 25, 2010, 10:26:24 pm »

Please, please, please, don't try and learn programming by making a game. It will only end in sadness and hardship, for all parties involved.

You aren't helping.
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Pillow_Killer

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Re: City State: Humble Beginnings
« Reply #7 on: February 25, 2010, 11:33:10 pm »

Please, please, please, don't try and learn programming by making a game. It will only end in sadness and hardship, for all parties involved.
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Re: City State: Humble Beginnings
« Reply #8 on: February 25, 2010, 11:50:43 pm »

I don't think he said "I'm learning programming," he said he's learning C#.  Not sure why this had turned into the stomp-on-your-dreams brigade.

Besides, game programming covers a lot of topics and gives experience with a good portion of the language.  Even if you can't finish or lose interest, there is a lot to be gained.
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timmeh

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Re: City State: Humble Beginnings
« Reply #9 on: February 26, 2010, 01:30:28 am »

Not entirely true Normandy... that's how I taught myself what I know of C++... that being said, it is probably best that you start with a smaller project, and get a decent understanding of C# before starting something as complex as this.  I may have learned making games, but my first game was a number guessing game... and several other far simpler games before starting my rogue-like project.  And even so, I'm still having to rewrite my rogue-like to make up for all the mistakes I made due to my misunderstanding the language...

That being said, if you need any help with console or rogue-like related stuff, feel free to e-mail me (my e-mail address is in my profile) or try and get a-hold of me on google chat (same address).  I don't know any C#, but from what I understand the Curses bindings are fairly similar, mostly syntax difference between the languages, so I should still be able to help there some.  Although if you're going to use C# you may want to look into using this instead of Curses, I've never tried it, but it looks very promising.
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Normandy

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Re: City State: Humble Beginnings
« Reply #10 on: February 26, 2010, 12:14:11 pm »

Quote
I had an idea for a game which I'd like to use as an introduction into coding
Sorta tipped me off.

Also, learning semantics is one thing. Actually learning to program is a whole 'nother thing entirely. You might be familiar with semantics now, but who cares?

Games are complex systems, not due to their depth, but due to their breadth. Programming games does nothing to help you understand algorithms, learn good coding design, or generally gain experience in programming.

Learning how to deal with event structures, simple graphics, or I/O makes you no better a programmer than when you started. It simply makes it so that you now know how to deal with event structures, simple graphics, I/O.

Write a quicksort or two. Write a substring generator. Write small, simple programs that perform complex and challenging tasks. Don't write large, unwieldy programs that perform underwhelmingly boring tasks.

Trust me. I have tried to learn programming by coding games, but this is not the way to do it properly. Game programming can pique interest, but if you're not truly willing to set your own entertainment aside and work at programming, you'll never learn much.

@timmeh:
If that worked for everyone, consider how many threads there would be about people with their own Tower of Azari.
« Last Edit: February 26, 2010, 12:22:30 pm by Normandy »
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Alexhans

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Re: City State: Humble Beginnings
« Reply #11 on: February 26, 2010, 02:15:08 pm »

I'm interested.  I haven't read the whole topic yet but I will when I get home.

For now... check my sig... Blacken is logged 24/7 to #bay12prog and he knows a lot about c#.

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Alexhans

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Re: City State: Humble Beginnings
« Reply #12 on: February 26, 2010, 03:37:28 pm »

The goals of your project, while interesting, are too vague.

You should define simpler but more specific goals like:

1) Make acii character in screen
2) take input and move that character.
3) Define a map with some basic properties in each tile (like passable and not)

etc, etc...

Looking forward to your progress.  Good luck.
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abculatter_2

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Re: City State: Humble Beginnings
« Reply #13 on: February 26, 2010, 04:08:20 pm »

The goals of your project, while interesting, are too vague.

You should define simpler but more specific goals like:

1) Make acii character in screen
2) take input and move that character.
3) Define a map with some basic properties in each tile (like passable and not)

etc, etc...

Looking forward to your progress.  Good luck.

Well, yeah. I was just putting up features that actual players will hopefully experience when the final game is finished, goals like that will come as I program it.
« Last Edit: February 26, 2010, 04:38:59 pm by abculatter_2 »
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Nadaka

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Re: City State: Humble Beginnings
« Reply #14 on: February 26, 2010, 05:15:11 pm »

Is there anyone here who knows C#, has a MSN and would be willing to help me by answering questions? This would probably go faster if I had someone I could go to and ask any questions I had.

Yes, No, Sometimes.

I do know c#. I have no MSN, I wouldn't be able to help in real time anyway. But I would not mind answering the odd question now and then.

C# is a good beginner language. Its got a good IDE in Visual Studio, extensive libraries, is relatively forgiving and faster than most scripting languages.

"Professional Game Design" is a highly competitive job with horrible hours, lots of stress and lots of stress. But its cool and its what every teenager thinks about when they consider a career in development. Good luck, but don't be disappointed if you end up building business apps for a living. You can always code games for fun in your spare time.
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