TheMessiBeast

I'm Going to Make a Game

Recommended Posts

Hey guys, I recently had a big realization that I was tired of playing consuming so many games, and not creating anything myself. Therefore, I have decided I'm going to make a video game. While I've definitely thought and written plenty about games, their mechanics, and what makes them fun to play, I know absolutely nothing about actually making games.

 

Right now I'm just learning the absolute basics with Gamemaker and its various tutorials (I'm also starting to learn basic coding through codeacademy.com), and while it's fun, I'm beginning to realize how daunting of a task I've undertaken. I've already got a very concrete idea of what type of game I'm going to make (point-and-click adventure with an emphasis on dialogue and characters), however being so new at all of this I wanted to know if anyone has advice, tips, or general wisdom they'd like to share. 

 

What are your experiences with gamemaker, or making games in general? Any resources which you found useful/interesting when making your own game? Share anything and everything which could be interesting and helpful.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If you're making a point and click adventure game, is there any reason you're choosing GameMaker over Adventure Game Studio? Not that there's anything wrong with GM, I'm just curious. I've also never used AGS, but I've heard pleasant things.

 

My advice would be get something up and running as soon as possible, and start playtesting right away - especially if you're serious about finishing it - no matter how early you think it is. Even if you already know everything they're going to say, you MIGHT NOT, and also it's good to get into the habit of letting people see what you're working on. Plus having other people play and criticize it is an excellent motivator.

 

Beyond that I only messed with GameMaker once and did not like it, so I got nothin'.

 

Also I'm going to maybe hijack this thread to share whatever I'm working on, too (which right now is nothing because my last idea turned out feeling boring, but I've got other stuff brewing that I'm going to start on soon).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

One good reason to not go for AGS is the resolution restriction. Can't go above 1024x768, which may be enough for you Twig, BUT IT AIN'T 1080p, AIGHT!

 

Going for Unity instead of GameMaker also would give you the option of having the characters (or the environment) in 3D allowing for smoother animations with fewer resources.

 

Now you must choose!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That's a good enough reason to me! I hate anything that restricts resolution.

 

Also I really like Unity. But I wouldn't go for 3D, unless you can actually do 3D art! They just added 2D support, too. Though it's still early and missing a few/some/many/a billion features 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It's missing a BILLION features. Nah, it's ok, and for an adventure game it's probably enough.

 

Unlimited power!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Plus if nothing else you can take advantage of 3D features, like particles 'n' shit, even if you end up going for a 2D game.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You can have particles and poop lying around in the scene and scale up to whatever resolution you want. Huzzah!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Also, in general a point-n-click adventure games is probably a really rough place to start off, because it's all content creation. Most of the enjoyment comes from discovering new content, so there's this need to have lots of it. If you can keep it small and contained, you could do it, but it's hard to pull off well.

 

If you're completely new to this whole thing, maybe start out by making something smaller.. just to get the feel of programming a full game, even if it is just a Pac-Man clone or a Tetris thing or whatever. You'll be amazed at how much work is in making such a simple thing. And then you'll brain will explode trying to extrapolate that to a full-on Adventure Game with lots of characters and dialogue.

 

:stan:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Obviously you have to go with CryEngine3 for a point and click adventure.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Just to round this out, the downside of not going with AGS is that you have to build and program all the mechanics of inventory, dialogue systems, pathfinding (or some simple variant of that), hitboxes, input, cutscenes, animation, etc.. There's a lot of built-in stuff in AGS that specifically makes it easy to do adventure games. You can do all those things in Unity/Game Maker, but you'll have to program the base of it yourself.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, one of the main reasons I haven't gone with AGS is that I use a Mac currently, and I recently got rid of Parallels so AGS is a no-go right now. I also think you're definitely right Twig about getting started asap. I've been planning and writing just about everything these days, so that as soon as I begin to get the hang of making the game I don't get stuck due to any sort of creative block. 

 

As for Unity, I tried it out, and it seemed so impossibly difficult to me that I closed it in about 15 seconds flat. I tried looking around at tutorials and other resources, but I felt that it would ultimately be simpler and faster for me to get a game going in Gamemaker (especially considering the scope of my game is fairly simple).

 

More and more I'm wondering about whether or not I want an inventory within my game, because while I definitely want it to have aspects which are reminiscent and directly taken from point and click adventure games, I also want to make something much more character and dialogue driven. Rather than inventory interactions being important to puzzles, I'm hoping that environmental interaction (ex. click on fan sitting on a desk to turn it on which pushes a ball into the bucket) can fill that hole alongside deeper and reactive character interaction. The reasoning behind this is because that's the one thing I have some experience with (writing), and while this sounds ambitious, I'd like to have my game be about having multiple characters, each with their goals, personalities, and varying interactions with the player. I'm hoping that if I can pull off the dialogue and writing well enough (with enough dynamism to make it feel like something more than scripted solutions), the simple art and basic mechanical aspects will be overlooked/accepted.

 

All of you guys' feedback is super awesome! Also, people should definitely post what they're working on!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That's good. Very good. Focusing on some aspects, to make the scope a bit smaller is good. Good! :tup:

 

Now start making it! Show us what you're making. Stop writing, and start doing some of the basic stuff (get the character walking, talking, etc.)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

(I would've also suggested starting with a simpler, less content-driven game, but if that's what's inspiring you to actually Do Something, then by all means, Do Something.)

 

Art-wise, if you weren't going for an adventure game, I would've suggested more abstract art, so you can get away with something easy. Maybe you can sitll pull it off, though. I mean, look at Thomas Was Alone. That game looks super simple and still manages to OOZE charm. Maybe consider that, too!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

There are also multiple internet juggernauts who've built their empires on MS Paint and stick figures. Even if it is a low fi aesthetic, just own it and make it consistent. Maybe make future games modular and standardized enough to be able to get some suffering game artist to give it a makeover in exchange for a few sandwiches and a hug.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If you've never made anything before, I would definitely suggest not getting too caught up in planning stuff you want in the game until you've actually got something up and running and working well. Then based on the amount of time and work that goes into that, you can have a better sense of how you should scope out the rest of the game. I feel like if you get too ambitious too early, then once you start getting into the nuts and bolts of it, it can feel pretty overwhelming.

 

If you want to do an adventure game, I'd say start out with a simple one-room puzzle or a conversation with a character (even if it's not something you expect to end up in the final game, just a test environment to get all your systems up and running in), then go from there.

 

Also, have you considered doing this as a text adventure? For me at least, graphics were always a stumbling block; if you don't have to worry about those, it's a lot easier to create a lot of different, dynamic content.

 

However you decide to do it, I recommend prototyping the shit out of it; get the basic interactions/puzzles in first and see how that feels before you start filling in all the content.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

GameMaker Studio is also Windows-only, by the way. Only the older versions work on OSX.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

legit considered this for an adventure game recently

Can't be, you must have been thinking about UE3 (or UDK which is still UE3 for the time being). None the less, UnrealEngine isn't that bad for a point and click adventure, it's just that you have to do a lot yourself while WASD like action controls come well supported out of the box. But as Epic Citaldel has shown, point and click can be done quite well.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah, I've been using an older version thus far and seeing as I'm at such a basic level it's more than enough for now. Perhaps after getting familiar and making a few projects in gamemaker making the leap to 2D Unity won't be so difficult? Not sure about that though, and I feel like it's a far ways away.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

There's also visual scripting add-ons for Unity such as Playmaker and uScript. They're expensive - around $60 to $100, but they'll probably be going on sale in the next two weeks.

 

If you're thinking of an adventure game, it might not be a bad idea to prototype it out in Twine. It'd force you to write it as a text adventure basically.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Can't be, you must have been thinking about UE3 (or UDK which is still UE3 for the time being). None the less, UnrealEngine isn't that bad for a point and click adventure, it's just that you have to do a lot yourself while WASD like action controls come well supported out of the box. But as Epic Citaldel has shown, point and click can be done quite well.

no, I'm thinking of UE4, which I have but am not really making anything with at the moment. i am toying with an adventure game on ue3 though

edit: to clarify Impromptu Games has access to UE4 through an arrangement with Epic

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm going to bet on the the assumption that if you announce you are doing something you are actually going to do it!

 

So here it is:

I am also making a game! In Game maker! It's hard-rock themed Asteroids-like called Space Rocks! It's a pun!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Awesome!

Although I actually sometimes find that I'm more likely to follow through on something if I haven't told anybody about it, maybe because the "hey person, I'm going to do this cool thing" "awesome!" exchange feels rewarding in itself

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hmm, feel like I'm the opposite, having a set of people expecting something from you works well to motivate me. Also, I posted mostly because I wanted advice/stories as a true beginner to game making. 

 

A small update - I've realized that I need to do some more "studying" of old (and some new) adventure games. I'm playing through The Last Express, first two monkey island games, as well as Gone Home and Device 6. Any suggestions on other games which I could play through? 

 

I recently found a post by Derek Yu (creator of Spelunky) which is basically a fantastic tutorial for beginners. As for the art/aesthetic/graphics, some useful suggestions about keeping it simple. From the start I wanted to have it be minimalist, crisp, pixelated. I really like the way games like Fez and Hyper Light Drifter use colours to really bring their games "to life", but my game will be an incredibly more constrained and more familiar modern day setting (so I don't really know how much I could really play around with color). Also, recently thinking about all the environment and its objects which I want to make properly interactive (with the player but also with other objects) is starting to scare me. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now