next »

[PythonBlue]

As of a few days ago, due to the press regarding Primal Carnage, a game I was tempted to play but can't because of my operating system, I've been having a phase in which I'm tempted to make my own game. Spent some of today learning Unity in order to see what I can do to accomplish that. I have some basic story ideas, but I stink at art, both 2D and 3D, combined with lacking marketing skills, so there's absolutely no way I can work on such a project on my own.

What do you guys think? SHOULD I start my own game? Or is this phase of mine causing me to be overly ambitious?

[eigenbom]

Well we're most of us gamedevs here in this here forum, so, yes, make games, it is the single most bestest creative thing anyone can do.

But it sounds like you are a beginner, so you have to drastically reduce your expectations, and then reduce them again. Try to make a roguelike using libtcod or something, it requires no art skillz but should be a fun experience.

Good luck!

[SuperDisk]

Yes, making games is vastly rewarding experience. I'd suggest trying something a little more... Not unity. I've heard from some other folks that it's not really meant for 2D things (which is definitely what you shoul start with if you are making a game for the first time). Might I suggest a tool like GameMaker or Multimedia Fusion 2? I like both of them quite a bit, plus they are both expandable with DLLs you learn how to make them.

[PythonBlue]

Well, I probably am a beginner when it comes to indie games, though I have made a few personal game mods. I do prefer to work on a team regardless, though: while I do have some story ideas as said before, they're far from enough to make a game out of.

[eigenbom]

Well if you're asking "should i start a game where people work on my game idea", then I'd say no, you'd be much better off joining an existing team in a limited capacity (e.g., making music if that's your thing). But, if you see yourself pursuing a career in indie games then you'd be better off working on your own and developing the myriad skills you'll need.

[Muz]

Just do it. Make something. If you fail, you learn new things and get experience you could apply elsewhere. If you succeed, you get something cool. If you get bored, at least it's more productive than getting bored of playing a game.

[Götz]

at least I think you should try to develop your ideas and if you feel you would like to develop that game go for it

[Ryland]

I second the libtcod suggestion. I think a roguelike is a great project for a beginner. You can start out extremely simple. Just make an @ walking around in a square room, then add a couple monsters that do hard-coded damage, etc. You can add more complex features as you learn.

[TobiasW]

You mention your "story ideas not being enough". Well, what kind of game do you want to make? Does it NEED an elaborate story? There are lots of games which don't.

(I'm a programmer without any mentionable skills in writing and art, and I still make games. The ones I do on my own mostly don't look to well, but if I do something cool, I ask one of my artist friends to beautify it.)

[theRayDog]

There's also a critical difference between designing a game and designing a story. If you just want to tell a story there are better ways to do it. Not saying games aren't great for story telling but I think telling a story effectively through games also requires a certain level of mastery of mechanics design, which if you have never made a game before you probably don't have.

[Wilson Saunders]

You should start making games, but you should probably hold off on starting your pet project until you know what you and your tools are capable of. Try and remake classic games like tetris, pong, arkanoid, chute, and asteroids. They should be pretty easy with modern tools. As you build them you will learn how these tools work and how you can use them to build your dream game. You will also make mistakes along the way. Throwing out a half functioning test game is a lot less painful than throwing out your pet project.

BTW: Don't tackle Unity unless you have a strong foundation in Object Oriented Design.

[TobiasW]

Try and remake classic games like tetris, pong, arkanoid, chute, and asteroids.

What is Chute? Google wasn't exactly helpful in finding a classic game with that name.

[impulse9]

Should I start my own game?

A || !A

 

[theRayDog]

You should start making games, but you should probably hold off on starting your pet project until you know what you and your tools are capable of. Try and remake classic games like tetris, pong, arkanoid, chute, and asteroids. They should be pretty easy with modern tools. As you build them you will learn how these tools work and how you can use them to build your dream game. You will also make mistakes along the way. Throwing out a half functioning test game is a lot less painful than throwing out your pet project.

BTW: Don't tackle Unity unless you have a strong foundation in Object Oriented Design.

This is pretty good advice. My first game in flash was a break out clone followed by a terrible Galaxian clone. Redoing the old games will teach you the tool set well enough to give you an idea what you can realistically create from your own ideas.

[Wilson Saunders]

@TobiasW

Sorry Chute was the knock off version of Paratrooper I played as a kid. At least I think it was its name. Here is the wikipedia article on paratrooper:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paratrooper_%28video_game%29