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[IndieJoJo]

+ = FUN!

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...and I've got a fairly fleshed out Design Doc. However, my forays into programming have been a bit, well, less than successful. Lots of tears, hair-pulling, and a slow, sad descent into alcoholism.

I've come to the realization that I will never be able to program my game. I was an English major.

However, I feel like I've got a damn solid handle on design, and I'm going to actively recruit a programmer. In the meantime, I'd like to share with all of you the design document. I think it lays a good foundation for a programmer to start, but I'm curious if I'm missing anything.

The game's called Furriez, and it's a concept I've had in my head for a very, very long time. I pitched an early version of it at PAX back in 2006 and ended up one of the finalists. Since then it's expanded in scope a bit, but fans of DROD will immediately know what I'm going for.

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Furriez! is a top-down comedy puzzle title with some slight timed/action elements. Like many ‘survival horror’ titles, the game challenges the player to work in a limited space while contending with an onslaught of enemies, the eponymous ‘Furriez’ who threaten the space station and ultimately… the galaxy!

The player takes on the role of Biff, a young employee of Interplanetary Pest Control. Aided by his bookish best friend/unrequited crush Bop (as well as his overbearing but well meaning boss Threebo), Biff must clear the AstroNomiCo mining colony of the hordes and prevent them from destroying the station and ‘escaping.’ Like Blade Runner, Transmetropolitan, and Dead Rising, the game presents a world where commerce has run amok – AstroNomiCo runs everything from shopping centers and schools to gem smuggling and illegal research, the latter of which factors heavily into the plot.

Link to document:
Furriez

In addition, if you want to get an idea of how the game 'feels', here's a preliminary movement engine I worked on:
Animation Test (music stolen shamelessly from danny B's website)

No enemies, and no diagonal movement. But it should convey the core concept: even though it's a turn-based game, players, enemies/obstacles and environments are fully animated.

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I'd love to hear feedback on how the document could be improved. Also, what steps I should take in terms of finding an experienced programmer and entering into a good working relationship.

Please let me know what you think!

[LiquidAsh]

Just wanted to let you know that your links seem to be broken.

In terms of acquiring help, I have two suggestions: first leverage your talents and write a compelling book around this IP to build a fan base and gain interest.  Your description above sounds very story-concentric anyway without much reference to gameplay.  In fact if you can draw on top of it, maybe try creating and promoting a web-comic!  Second, if you really want to design games, learning a little scripting will go a long way.  It's pretty difficult to get better at game design without practicing it, and it's difficult to practice without being able to build/mod parts of a game.  I haven't played DROD in forever, but it looks like they have to level building tools.  If your game plays very similarly, that may be a good place to invest some more time.  Showing people how cool your game idea is can be is much more effective than trying to tell them.  Good luck!

[CowBoyDan]

What have your forays into programming been?  Were you trying to write a game from scratch or were you trying to do something in say game maker or unity?

I'm a programmer by profession.  I started playing around with unity recently and found I can accomplish more "game" in a few days in unity than a month of programming from scratch (assuming I'm not using any existing code, talking scratch here).

I haven't used game maker, but a lot of people around here have, I'm sure they will express similar results of game made over time.

[Headless Man]

Your game needs a better name - Furriez! genuinely bothers me.  Unless you are literally trying to kill people in fursuits, in which case it's ok but I think I am actually bored with hating furries now (something I never thought would happen).  The link to the doc is dead, unfortunately.  All the best getting a programmer, I'm looking for one too.

[J-Snake]

I used the link but somehow this is what I got, no joke, lol:

[J-Snake]

I'm a programmer by profession.  I started playing around with unity recently and found I can accomplish more "game" in a few days in unity than a month of programming from scratch (assuming I'm not using any existing code, talking scratch here).

Sorry for short off-topic add here. The only reason I avoid Unity is because I am doomed to be a perfectionist. I am not sure it is always a good thing but the main reason I don't use Unity is because you cannot implement your own interpolated fixed timestep there, in XNA I can. Do non of these issues bother you?

[IndieJoJo]

Links are fixed! I'm not sure why they weren't working, I checked them as soon as I posted, and ge.tt registered multiple downloads...

The Animation test was done in Game Maker. I think the results are decent, but in terms of gameplay, fuggedaboutit. I could not for the life of me get a turn-based A* path-finding system to work.

I really, really want to leave the programming in someone else's hands, and firmly believe the strength of the design should show through the document. Otherwise, what is a design doc good for?

Basically, the idea is that a potential programmer would get excited by reading this. And, if not, what am I missing?

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Regarding the name "Furriez!", it's intentionally attention-grabbing. If this were a professional game, it'd probably be called "Attack of the Munchiez" or something similar.

[CowBoyDan]

I'm a programmer by profession.  I started playing around with unity recently and found I can accomplish more "game" in a few days in unity than a month of programming from scratch (assuming I'm not using any existing code, talking scratch here).

Sorry for short off-topic add here. The only reason I avoid Unity is because I am doomed to be a perfectionist. I am not sure it is always a good thing but the main reason I don't use Unity is because you cannot implement your own interpolated fixed timestep there, in XNA I can. Do non of these issues bother you?

Nope.  How is that a deal breaker for your games?  Does it prevent your game from being an enjoyable experience for the player?

[CowBoyDan]

Basically, the idea is that a potential programmer would get excited by reading this. And, if not, what am I missing?

I think most programmers have a list of their own games they want to make.  While your game doesn't look bad, it hardly looks like something that should require multiple people to make.  Say they like your game, except for say name and theme, why would they make your game instead of just making their own with the changes they want?

Are you providing (creating) all the music/sound/artwork?  Or is this going to be "looking for programmer.. ok now looking for artist.. ok now looking for music...." (I see you have artwork, is that original?  if not are you making the new artwork?)  Do you have a strong marketing skill?  For instance, think about the urls you are posting, some people might not even trust your links, look at them.  http://api.ge.tt/0/8CROFy7/0/blob/download 

In lieu of a real web site, try creating a free blog account, write about it there.

[J-Snake]

I'm a programmer by profession.  I started playing around with unity recently and found I can accomplish more "game" in a few days in unity than a month of programming from scratch (assuming I'm not using any existing code, talking scratch here).

Sorry for short off-topic add here. The only reason I avoid Unity is because I am doomed to be a perfectionist. I am not sure it is always a good thing but the main reason I don't use Unity is because you cannot implement your own interpolated fixed timestep there, in XNA I can. Do non of these issues bother you?

Nope.  How is that a deal breaker for your games?  Does it prevent your game from being an enjoyable experience for the player?

It is not only about being enjoyable for me. I want to offer something relyable. I want to give the player exactly the same glitch-free game-mechanics on any system. With variable step you cannot do it because of numerical errors your game-mechanics are always slightly changed. If you make everything in fixed timestep then you will solve the problem but your game might jitter on the screen significantly, just dependent on your refresh-rate.

For example where do you personally put jump-mechanics in unity, fixedUpdate or update?

[Falmil]

Without bringing something solid to the table (cash or code or art), it will be hard to get a decent team together. While design is important, the actual execution of it will be more significant as it will be more time consuming and more difficult. Without having knowledge of programming or art and resource creation, you won't know all the extra work involved either. Experienced devs will be wary about joining such a project, especially when you've designed it all to the point that they are literally making your game for you and not a game of their own.

[CowBoyDan]

It is not only about being enjoyable for me. I want to offer something relyable. I want to give the player exactly the same glitch-free game-mechanics on any system. With variable step you cannot do it because of numerical errors your game-mechanics are always slightly changed. If you make everything in fixed timestep then you will solve the problem but your game might jitter on the screen significantly, just dependent on your refresh-rate.

For example where do you personally put jump-mechanics in unity, fixedUpdate or update?

Fixed updates are for physics
Regular update is for everything else

I don't notice 60 fps jitter from fixed update, and its adjustable.

We can make or find another thread about Fixed/variable updates if you want.

[J-Snake]

I made a thread in the tech-section. Join the conversation. Offtopic ends, excuse me.

[IndieJoJo]

I think most programmers have a list of their own games they want to make.  While your game doesn't look bad, it hardly looks like something that should require multiple people to make.  Say they like your game, except for say name and theme, why would they make your game instead of just making their own with the changes they want?

Are you providing (creating) all the music/sound/artwork?  Or is this going to be "looking for programmer.. ok now looking for artist.. ok now looking for music...." (I see you have artwork, is that original?  if not are you making the new artwork?)  Do you have a strong marketing skill?  For instance, think about the urls you are posting, some people might not even trust your links, look at them.  http://api.ge.tt/0/8CROFy7/0/blob/download 

In lieu of a real web site, try creating a free blog account, write about it there.

Right now, all I really care about is getting the mechanics working. With solid level design, I think the gameplay will speak for itself. But as far as art is concerned, I think I can do tile-art reasonably well, but I'll definitely want an artist eventually to work on original sprites and animations.

I'll definitely want to start a development blog of some sort when I've got something playable. Already have a name for my 'company' ... Calamity Games.

Without bringing something solid to the table (cash or code or art), it will be hard to get a decent team together. While design is important, the actual execution of it will be more significant as it will be more time consuming and more difficult. Without having knowledge of programming or art and resource creation, you won't know all the extra work involved either. Experienced devs will be wary about joining such a project, especially when you've designed it all to the point that they are literally making your game for you and not a game of their own.

I recently spoke with a programmer in the #tigIRC channel, and we're going to work out an agreement of X amount of money for reaching various milestones. He's checking things out and coming up with a plan of action in terms of coding, so we'll see...