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Turn Based Strategies - basics and engine choices

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Hi,

 

I wanted to know if there are any resources online that go through the steps of making basic turn-based strategy games and also wanted to know if there are any recommended engines or platforms to make a turn-based strategy with.

 

I've been toying with an idea for a long time and have a few sketches for something I'd like to turn into a turn-based strategy game, but don't know where to start or what tools I should use. I have a tiny bit of game making knowledge.

 

I'm thinking really basic topdown 2D stuff and any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

uo 

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AFAIK all popular engines are capable of making turn based strategy games.  Go with one that suits you best.  For 'future proofing' (like, ensuring that skills you learn will have future use) more advanced engines like Unity or Unreal would probably be best, but I'm personally using Gamemaker cause I find it the easiest to use.

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Unity, Unreal, and GameMaker are all good choices. GameMaker has the longest history of 2D stuff but I think all three are mostly comparable tool-wise, especially for beginners. Besides, the code will mostly the same no matter which engine you go with.

 

I'd say just get started with the one that feels the most comfortable. Do a few video or text tutorials on things that are in the same ballpark as your idea to get a basic grasp on code, then you'll be ready to really think through and start building up your systems code.

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I definitely recommend getting started with Unity, more and more professional studios (like us) are using Unity, so having that knowledge definitely won't hurt.

 

As for turn-based games, I recommend getting familiar with the state machine pattern (or FMS). When making turn-based games it is good to think of all the stages (or states) the game loops through, map all the actions that happen on each state, and what triggers to change from one state to the next (e.g. moving/attacking in a roguelike, or hitting "end turn" in civ). You can represent every single game with a state diagram, but with non-realtime games it is specially easy/helpful.

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