So you can imagine all the design of a game but can't program it ?
Damn I'm exactly the opposite

Game design is not an easy thing, neither are level/quest design and concept art. If you feel you have talent for these things then I encourage you to dedicate yourself to them and let programming to others.

If you don't have a programmer to work with you then there's game making programs and modding. It's probably better then wasting your time mastering programming enough to make a full game by yourself.

My two cents.

The main advantage of the trackball is that the hand doesn't move when you use it. It's true the thumb get all the work but it doesn't have to move much compared of what your hand does when moving a mouse.

I'm not a doctor so I may say something wrong here, but since the muscles that move the thumb are into the hand itself (unlike muscles that move other fingers) I guess thumb is much less subject to cramps.

For the Dvorak, there are modified versions of it for many languages. I use a special version that works with both English and French.

I'm a programmer, I type all day. I was also a gamer. But few years ago I started having cramps in my right hand and I had to give up gaming on PC 

I think I tried absolutely everything, all kind of keyboards, all kind of mouses and mouse pads, special gloves that straighten the wrist, even using my left hand instead of the right one.

I've finally found some equipment that works really well. I can't tell if they will work for everybody but for me they do. The pain in my hand is disappearing little by little but I still can't play on PC again. It's been 4 years now 

So here's what worked for me :
-> Typematrix keyboard with Dvorak mapping. It takes a bit of time to get used to it but it's worth the effort. Learning typing with Dvorak is also easier than with standard mapping. I've made myself a small cushion that I put in front of my keyboard to keep my palms at the same level as the keys. I can type really fast and with no pain at all.

-> Logitech Trackman Wheel. Trackballs are much more ergonomic that mouses and they have no learning curve at all, the second you take it in your hand you know how to use it. I don't think I could play with it but for work it's perfect.

-> Also make sure your desk chair has the right height, this is important for hands too.

Hope this help.

You got me curious.

How would the random level generator works ? Level design is very important for platformer (is it for every games but even more for platformer I think). How are you going to randomly generate levels that can always be finished and still be all completely different ?

What would you think of cutscenes after boss fights ?

After fighting a hard boss the player needs some time to catch his breath, and he's expecting some kind of reward too. Don't you think a short cutscene here can serve both purposes ?

Remember in Super Mario World, each time you finished a castle you had an animation where Mario destroyed it. I think that was good.

For example the game Prey, which is very straightforward action shooter and quite good in that area. Many, many times I was distracted from the nice gaming "flow" because forced storytelling / cutscenes. It killed the feel every time.

I agree with this. Also my game is multilayer so I can't pause it with cutscenes.

I first thought I would have dialog scenes in the game. But now I think even that would be too much. I will go for what SundownKid is proposing instead. The story will be told by the environment, the short missions order the characters receive, the few things enemies occasionally say (like "We shall slay the infidels who defied our lord !") and things like that.

Also, when you will start a new game, you will have to go through a single player tutorial level that will take place into some training facility. The instructions you receive here will both teach you how to play and give few bits of information about the setting.

Of course for developers it might be easier to do the audiovisual content and other design, if you have some sort of storyline which works as a guideline for the game world.

That exactly. If I could figure out a coherent sequence of events for the game it would help me imagining the rest 

Why would I as a player be interested of the story?

Excellent question.

As a player the fun of this game will be into exploring, collecting items, getting stronger, teaming with other players and, most importantly, killing 

The story isn't going to be of primary importance to you. So why making a story in the first place ? Because if it isn't there you will miss it. I don't think you can make a game like that without telling the player who he is, where he is, what he is fighting against and why.

The story of this game should be something very simple. I like games with very long and complicated stories but I'm not trying to make one here. The more I think about it the more I believe the setting I wrote above (about killing God and all) is too complicated already.

Yet I need a story to support the rest of the game. I need a story to make the dramatic situations look more dramatic, to make the mighty enemies look more mighty, the bad asses characters more bad asses and the bloodshed more bloody.

Do you think I'm wrong ?

We decided to go for a "near future" background, I mean a world with a sightly more advanced technology than what we have now but still no space ship, flying cars nor laser guns.

The plot would be a war between men and God. Judgment day came and God descended on Earth. Men were afraid, they built a terrifying weapon and used it against him. Nobody knows if the mighty is dead or not but what's certain is that he doesn't rule anymore. Demons and ghost rose from the abyss and angels, panicking without their master, have started an insane crusade to eradicate every single remaining human.

Players incarnate war priestesses. Cute girls (what else ?) who have the ability to reincarnate whenever they die and are well trained in the use of weapons and magic. You shoot gun angels, you beat up demons, you receive mission orders on you smart phone (there's an app for that) and that's it.

As you can guess the story isn't meant to be serious at all. And it's not meant to carry any message or morality about religion, belief or whatever.

It isn't really original, but I hope the countless tales about angels and mythological creatures will give me the inspirations I need to create my characters and situations.

Do you think I can get anything out of this ?

From what you described, it sounds like the game is co-op.

My apologies, I should have made it clear. Yes, it's co-op.

Do you want a story where the goal is already here at the begginning of the game or a more develop one?

Yes I'm looking for a story that unfolds as you play the game. It doesn't have to be very complicated but it has to keep the player interested. I guess that's the hard part

I wouldn't even bother with a story, if I were you. Just make whatever levels, enemies, weapons, mechanics you feel like and don't even worry about their context or whether they connect to each other thematically. Just work on the game and I guarantee that in time, as you're working on all these assets and playtesting, you'll start to see connections between assets that weren't intended to be there and a story will start emerging in your mind naturally and all on its own.

Well, the story should serve the game and not the opposite so your advise makes sense. Still, I'm worried that if I start making things without a story in mind I will end up with something completely illogical and it will be impossible to make a story for it.


Thanks for the suggestions, it helps. Finding a premise isn't too hard. But then developing it is. Imagining characters, situations, encounters and dialogs seems just as hard as programming the game.

Hello there.

Two friends and I are starting our humble game development project. It's going to be a multiplayer (through the Internet) 2D platform game in which players will be able to use close range and shooting weapons to get rid of the many enemies who're going oppose them. The game will provide multiple levels linked to each others by doors and players will be free to wander around them in any order.

For short, you can see it as an Internet mutiplayer Cave Story like game

We're all experienced programmers and we have experience in game development. But none of us have writing talent and we're having trouble to find a simple yet nice story. We have limited means, we can't make kickass cut scenes neither tones of different characters and environments.

If you have suggestions or, better, if you would like to join us as a writer, please PM me.

Kind regards,
MadWatch