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[Mipe]

Modularity++

[swarmer]

I started making this extremely ambitious RPG project.  I worked on it for over 2 years.  I realized that at the rate I was working, I wouldn't be able to finish it ever.  I decided to put it on hold and make smaller games.  Specifically, I had a goal of making several small games, each in just one week.  I made 2 so far. 

Making a game from start to finish taught me immensely about a lot of important aspects of development.  Not only management issues, like feature cutting and time management, but also design issues, like how to redesign features that don't work well during testing.   I would suggest making a few small scale games before making any large game.  A falling block game is a good way to start.  Plus with small games, you can test out innovative ideas.  Maybe one of them will be the Next Big Thing.

[Alec S.]

I would say the next step after remaking simple games is to make new simple games.  Or rather, make some rapid prototypes.  When I was first starting to learn Game Maker, and after I did the basic tutorials, I set out to make one game prototype a week, which I did for four weeks.  The trick to this is to come up with one clever/unique gameplay mechanic and create just enough of a game to test it out. 

Once I was done with this, I felt quite comfortable with Game Maker, and could move smoothly through it.  I then made a full game out of one of my prototypes.  By full game, I mean graphics, sound, and a fair deal (in the case of this game, 5) of levels.  I completed this game in about a month. 

Try to keep your first few projects at around this time-frame.  Of course, as you get more and more comfortable with the tools, you'll be able to make larger games within that time-frame.

Once you have some experience going through the whole design process from concept to finishing and release, then you can start to tackle longer term projects.  I personally like to have a few projects going on at once, of varying sizes, so that even while I'm working on a larger project, I have some smaller projects which I actually get to release.

 

[dspencer]

Thanks so much, everyone! All of your replies are really helpful, and its really encouraging that everyone is supportive.

Before I go on, I should preface that I'm using C++ with openGL. I'm quite comfortable with C++ and have been using it for a long time, while openGL not so much (but I've been using it for almost half a year at this point).

I suppose this would be a good place to ask follow up questions. Sorry this is really rambly! Hopefully others who have similar problems can find some answers/ask more questions in this thread.

On prototyping: Sometimes I'll have an idea, but no idea how to write it quickly. For instance, I'll be playing around with an idea for a platforming game; however, getting even a basic platforming system out is really time consuming and complicated. At this point, I have one; should I just copy paste it for other games? Or would it be better to just use another tool? I've been playing around with Processing, for instance, but again I run into setting up the entire platforming system from scratch. I don't have MMF or GM, although I have experience with other klikteam products.

On Assets: I have no artistic ability - to the point that even my stick figures look terribly ugly. Can anyone give me any advice on how to remedy this? I don't really have time to learn how to make beautiful pixel art, but I'm sure there's something I can do...

Again - Thank you all so much for your help. Its really encouraging.

[I_smell]

I'm making a game with 8 levels. I started it in September and so far I've got 4. I've got Big Game Fever D:

[Mipe]

On prototyping: Sometimes I'll have an idea, but no idea how to write it quickly. For instance, I'll be playing around with an idea for a platforming game; however, getting even a basic platforming system out is really time consuming and complicated. At this point, I have one; should I just copy paste it for other games? Or would it be better to just use another tool? I've been playing around with Processing, for instance, but again I run into setting up the entire platforming system from scratch. I don't have MMF or GM, although I have experience with other klikteam products.

In that case you probably want to use a prototyping tool such as Construct, so you don't have to rewrite the whole engine over and over again. Instead you can focus on mere gameplay elements.

[Starflier]

On Assets: I have no artistic ability - to the point that even my stick figures look terribly ugly. Can anyone give me any advice on how to remedy this? I don't really have time to learn how to make beautiful pixel art, but I'm sure there's something I can do...

Hire someone! *Grins*
No seriously, look around the forum, I'm sure you'll find someone with mad art skillz who can't look at a screen full of Java without crying who would love to collaborate.

[yesfish]

Cut levels out is the easiest way. The game I'm working on only has 3 levels. Tadaa.

[Cevo70]

On Assets: I have no artistic ability - to the point that even my stick figures look terribly ugly. Can anyone give me any advice on how to remedy this? I don't really have time to learn how to make beautiful pixel art, but I'm sure there's something I can do...

You could grab a vector art program (there are free ones) and conceptualize a game with basic shapes/objects.  Honesty, 2 hours getting around a program like Inkscape (or it's PC equivelent) will let you produce some fairly nice looking objects.  Things like spaceships, "stickfigures," houses, etc - they all suddenly become pretty easy to make.  They won't have a lot of detail, but they usually have a nice clean look.

Export them in the format of your choice and work with those.

If you need simple game ideas, my brain could spew a couple for you.

[Loren Schmidt]

On Assets: I have no artistic ability - to the point that even my stick figures look terribly ugly. Can anyone give me any advice on how to remedy this? I don't really have time to learn how to make beautiful pixel art, but I'm sure there's something I can do...

I am more an artist than a programmer, yet quite frequently I enjoy the graphics in games made by people who consider themselves more comfortable with programming than visual art. So yes, I'd encourage you to play around with doing your own visuals if it appeals to you. Keeping things simple is a great place to start. I think nice colors and clean simple shapes can be just as appealing as detailed, highly skilled artwork.

If you would like to do your own art, here are a few pointers. Firstly, don't judge yourself. You weren't born knowing OpenGL and C++, right? I think art is more or less the same. It's not about innate ability, it's more a matter of comfort. Start with really simple things, ask questions, have fun, and you'll be making art you like in time.