Amateur Game Making Night

[ihavefivehat]

Haha, that's brilliant! Those little people can make cities, I tell ya. What are those tiny dots running along the edge of the screen? Did some of them start swimming to the end of the world? Also, it seems they can make bridges too, making it all the way to his ear somehow?

 

Yeah, those are a couple of glitches. I tried to make a crude path-finding system, but it doesn't always work and sometimes they decide to travel in the wrong directions, namely into the endless ocean. I like to think they're just Columbus types.

 

The bridge thing is so cool that I wish I could replicate it on purpose! They're designed to build 'roads' every time they travel over a tile. (This really just means that they color it grey, and that other people are more likely to travel on it.) So the 'bridges' are just a by-product of a glitch where they accidentally get stuck on a water tile and are forced into a weird path-finding loop that I don't really understand.

 

fivehat, your asking for art guidance got me thinking, so here's a really basic tutorial-ish thing for people looking to jump in and experiment with their own art.

 

amateur game art tutorial (one method of a billion)

your first foray into gamemaking will probably be very simple, so apply the same concept on your foray into art!

 

We'll say I'm a making a basic adventure game to learn about dialog trees or something. Victorian theme maybe? We'll start with a chap in a top hat, and try out a low-fi art style, as its often easier.

 

 

step 1: Grab a reference. Work from ref! Often people get hung up on this, but using ref is always a good idea.

 

random image search 'top hat man photo'

 

 

This works. We're going for a sort of standing portrait style character that can pop up on screen for some dialog.

 

 

 

step 2: trace! 

 

 

Resize and trace with the pencil tool on a new layer. Tracing is typically a bad practice, but in this case we're using it more to grab a couple general shapes, not plagiarize. Look at my lines: of much more importance is making smooth, one-take lines rather then following the picture exactly.

 

Keep it simple and cherry pick a couple of the most important shapes to outline. The simpler the end result the better. I choose the face (generally a good idea on characters) and handkerchief. Everything else is silhouette.

 

 

 

 

step 3: color

 

like with the lines + shapes, keep it as simple as you can. Using a limited color palette will give your art much more cohesion.

 

 

as you can see the colors range from light to dark, but all fall within a fairly narrow spectrum of purple/red.

 

 

 

 

step 4: detail

 

 

The face is as simple as I could make it. Two lines for eyes, a straight line+curve for the nose and a single line for the mouth. Use the ref to determine where to put the facial features if you're unsure! 

 

 

 

step 5: polish

 

 

I went though and removed the interior outlines while cleaning up the shapes. Wavy line for the hair, made his eyebrows bigger and added sideburns to give him some character. I changed the color of the handkerchief because the bright red made his hair stand out too much, and I wanted to stick to my guns with only 4 colors. I dropped all his facial features down a color except the eyes to draw emphasis to them.

 

 

final result!

 

did an extremely quick + terrible background using the same method as the character. Stuck to the same range of reds/purples but kept them light (as to not draw too much attention from the guy). With a speech bubble and a little bit of animation it already starts to resemble a game!

 

 

 

Thanks! This is great.

[Twig]

Ever since Unity added a native 2D workflow I personally would recommend just using that.

I feel obligated to add, though, that their 2D stuff is still basically in First Phase and a lot of it isn't perfect or is missing subtle but important features. I've run into a number of limiting factors myself. Many of those things can be solved on your own, but if you're inexperienced it just amplifies the difficulty of doing so.

 

Some examples include: wonky 2D physics trigger objects compared to similar 3D interactions, bounciness issues with their implementation of Box2D, and lack of sprite tiling. The last of which I know they're actively working on, and the other two I know they're thinking about but maybe will decide aren't worth fixing or exposing.

 

But now I'm just kind of rambling. Most of that is probably not an issue for someone just starting out. U:

[darthbator]

Sprite tiling is a pretty big one. I personally don't really use their implementation of Box2D. I have an old system that I use that raycasts off of anchor points on an object (a Sprite class here) and then detects collisions that way. It's how I was making stuff back when I was using 2dToolkit and I still find that method feels the best. Lots of Unity's examples use the physics model to do everything. I don't think there is a way to make direct control communicated to the controlled object via physics forces feel "good" in the way a traditional 2D game feels good (using either Box2D or using 3D objects and PhysX). If you want to do that I would highly recommend coding your own bounding/collision system and then moving the transform of your character. 

[Dewar]

I'm not experienced with game maker so I can't really comment on that. Ever since Unity added a native 2D workflow I personally would recommend just using that. Unity is seriously the "baby bear" of video game development tools. They get almost everything "just right". It's powerful enough to do really anything that you can think of and is intuitive enough to actually get it done with a minimal amount of work. I think there is an initial bar of complication to get over. Even using other game dev tools for a long time the component interface inside Unity made little functional sense to me in the first 2-3 months of using it. But their youtube channel is seriously amazing. I started in Unity 3.0 by using Will Goldstone's learning Unity book. I would recommend just about everyone go through the newest edition until you get bored and feel like you can make a thing. I think I finished about 11-13 chapters of the book before I decided to just start doing my own thing. He does an excellent job of instilling foundational knowledge in that book. Will also is now one of the heads of Unity's education program so lots of the youtube stuff is him or his team. 

 

Is this the book you're talking about?

 

http://www.amazon.com/Unity-3-x-Game-Development-Essentials/dp/1849691444/ref=la_B004N71HBC_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391814580&sr=1-1

 

I find it a lot easier learning from a book than watching videos or even reading webpages. I guess I'm just old fashioned.

[srslyyou]

I've been trying to teach myself game maker, I grabbed it when they had that free special. I've been trying to use me learning it to get my 7 yo interested in learning it as well. Haven't gotten too far into it yet. Mostly creating movable objects and bullets. I've been using this youtube series to learn it. http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn7FE3Tx391g1tWPv-1tv7Q 

[darthbator]

 

Is this the book you're talking about?

 

http://www.amazon.com/Unity-3-x-Game-Development-Essentials/dp/1849691444/ref=la_B004N71HBC_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391814580&sr=1-1

 

I find it a lot easier learning from a book than watching videos or even reading webpages. I guess I'm just old fashioned.

 

Yup! I got the 3.0 version of that book a few years ago. Is there a version of it for Unity 4.0? Looks like no

 

Looks like Will says that he is putting addendums to the book for the 4.0+ versions of the editor on his site (http://unitybook.net/) while he works on the 4.0 version! Really I think everything in the programming sections of the book will be fine unaltered. The real differences are in the new animation and particle systems (mecanim and shuriken respectively). The current version of the book covers what are now considered to be "legacy" systems for those 2 facets.  

[benArcen]

Hi, long time listener, new forum member. 

 

I'd be into this as long as the deadlines aren't super strict. I'm studying Computer Science at school with a concentration in game design and development. I would be willing to volunteer my services to anyone who needs a programmer. Also, I've worked on a few projects previously as well as many small recreations of classic games by my lonesome. I'm familiar with a few different languages. 

 

I've never actually joined a forum before, always just lurk and read topics, am I doing this wrong? lol

[benArcen]

 

 

 

Yup! I got the 3.0 version of that book a few years ago. Is there a version of it for Unity 4.0? Looks like no

 

Looks like Will says that he is putting addendums to the book for the 4.0+ versions of the editor on his site (http://unitybook.net/) while he works on the 4.0 version! Really I think everything in the programming sections of the book will be fine unaltered. The real differences are in the new animation and particle systems (mecanim and shuriken respectively). The current version of the book covers what are now considered to be "legacy" systems for those 2 facets.  

 

 

Unity for 2D development, in the version 4 update, became much more digestible for beginners. Before update 4 you basically had to use a 3D environment, flatten a camera's view, and use some math to make sure everything was pixel perfect. For someone like me starting out before update 4 it was a nightmare. However, now almost everything has a "2D" version. 

 

There were tools made by Unity App devs that automated 3D to 2D scene conversion and now they're basically irrelevant except for some importing features which are probably still useful. I'm not sure if they changed that too. I mention this because I read that some forum members are checking out tutorials. I'm just throwing out a warning so they don't get confused and I urge that you watch a tutorial that matches the version of Unity you are working with. Otherwise you might be very confused which can lead to frustrations I dealt with when starting out. 

 

If anyone has a question I'm not a Unity guru, especially with update 4 because I haven't worked in it much aside from toying with the new 2D code, but I do have a good bit of experience making games inside the engine and I can probably answer most questions that don't get to technical concerning Unity's internal structure.

[danimo]

This is the book I'm currently working through.

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HJR6RLS/ref=oh_d__o00_details_o00__i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I'm almost halfway through, its pretty good it seems. My only programming background is a year of introductory Comp Sci classes in college, and this book assumes you don't know what a function is or anything.

[Gaius Julius]

Hi, long time listener, new forum member. 

 

I'd be into this as long as the deadlines aren't super strict. I'm studying Computer Science at school with a concentration in game design and development. I would be willing to volunteer my services to anyone who needs a programmer. Also, I've worked on a few projects previously as well as many small recreations of classic games by my lonesome. I'm familiar with a few different languages. 

 

I've never actually joined a forum before, always just lurk and read topics, am I doing this wrong? lol

Nope, you're doing fine! Welcome!

[Blambo]

I've heard that Game Maker is easier for beginners than Unity. That's why I started learning it. For small 2-d experiments would you still recommend Unity for someone with very little programming experience? I haven't plunked down the $50 for studio yet, so I'm still flexible.

Oh also, can you export Unity games to an executable with the free version?

 

Gamemaker is 100% baby tailored, though at times that makes it pretty difficult to work with. A lot of functions in GML (game maker's scripting language) are made specifically for commonly designed processes, are black boxes and are mostly poorly optimized, but it usually doesn't matter if you're making a small game or are experienced enough to design your own. It's good for prototyping and small games, and is pretty easy to learn but you hit diminishing returns after you start getting to experienced because the environment and work infrastructure doesn't transfer well to more involved tools.

 

That said, Gamemaker is a super great way to get your grips on basic programming concepts.

[BigJKO]

I felt like airing some old, dirty laundry. Mostly to just get it out of my system.. It's a bunch of stuff I started but never got further than implementing controls, drawing some sprites for and then abandoning. I feel like putting it out there for people to mock, then maybe I won't be as embarrassed about having never finished them! This is all so old it's been in lying dormant on old HDs I've dug up. Some of them I don't quite remember making even. Ahoy!

 

A pirate fighting game? Trying to make some kind of combat system for a pirate game thingy I had made earlier. Never got further than controls and these sprites. 

http://kristinsson.dk/oldgames/pirate/

 

A Simulation of a Shoot 'Em Up game. Never got further than creating a deck for you to walk around, and officers who ran around from the start to their terminals. Never got any sort of ship movement running. Don't know why I abandoned that, because I really liked the concept. It could've been quite boring, though, which was always my concern. I think this concept's been done by someone else by now, though..

http://kristinsson.dk/oldgames/simshmup/

 

A space man who shoots with his gun? I don't know.. It has an endless corridor!

http://kristinsson.dk/oldgames/spaceman/

 

And the beginnings of trying to make an adventure game in Flash. To simplify, the player would only be able to walk left to right on the screen (no pathfinding!) but I didn't get further than doing one background, the character's walk cycle and some the start of some interaction scripting..

http://kristinsson.dk/oldgames/adventure/

 

I don't even know. I guess I was trying to do some Wario Ware-like thing? Suffice it to say, it's awful.

http://kristinsson.dk/oldgames/minigame/

(I can see from the files I was going to have one minigame be this Casablanca sequence and just the instructions "Cry!" with no win or lose state?)

via Imgflip GIF Maker

 

And a kung-fu giraffe I was going to make an endless kung-fu game with?

 

That's it! Thanks everyone for sharing what they're working on. It's really inspiring. I had to get all my shitty unfinished stuff off my chest. Now my head is hopefully free to get to work on something new. Something that I actually finish.

[syntheticgerbil]

I really like that walk cycle in your adventure game. Plus that background really took me back.

 

I just remembered I have some "sprites" I did for the Global Gam Jam in 2013. I really just did some character art for viruses and tweened them really quick in Flash and then exported it all as a sprite sheet for Unity.

 

http://mrseanlane.com/WestNile.swf

http://mrseanlane.com/Rhinovirus.swf

http://mrseanlane.com/CowVirus.swf

 

We were supposed to try to finish it as an actual game (it was Tower of Defense), and we met like 4-5 times after that but I guess everyone lost interest. I hope they don't lose interest forever, I have a few other viruses ready to be implemented.

[Blambo]

That space sim is sick!

 

I had an idea for an endless kung fu game too, except you're a disgruntled office worker on the roof of a high-rise fighting off customers.

[Twig]

I don't think there is a way to make direct control communicated to the controlled object via physics forces feel "good" in the way a traditional 2D game feels good (using either Box2D or using 3D objects and PhysX).

I agree in most cases, but if you want to make a game that's not about direct control, there really should be no need, unless you want some particularly wonky physics, to write your own.

[darthbator]

Yup pretty much. You can totally tell that there are a bunch of Unity made platformers out there that just feel like junk cause they're using the physics engine to move the players object. 

[ihavefivehat]

I've been wondering about that... is there any other way to make a controllable object interact with rigid bodies?

[clyde]

A Simulation of a Shoot 'Em Up game. Never got further than creating a deck for you to walk around, and officers who ran around from the start to their terminals. Never got any sort of ship movement running. Don't know why I abandoned that, because I really liked the concept. It could've been quite boring, though, which was always my concern. I think this concept's been done by someone else by now, though..

http://kristinsson.dk/oldgames/simshmup/

This is brilliant. The shmup would have to be slow paced, but I love the concept. If the shmup portion became more and more of a back-burner, I would be entertained by that.

[clyde]

But more important than THAT, I have a different idea that I'm quite fond of that I made in half a day a couple weeks ago and then promptly forgot in all the excitement about getting a job, which can be found here: http://www.twigbits.com/2014/02/04/a-new-idea/

 

Please to be making fun of everything I do, thank you.

The game doesn't load for me.

[Twig]

The game doesn't load for me.

I dunno, it loads for me and everyone else I've shown it to. U:

 

Are you using Chrome? I have a weird issue with Chrome where sometimes things are... hidden, until I grab the tab and break it out of the current window and put it back. If that made sense. It probably didn't.

[syntheticgerbil]

Hey that Drake Savage video is great! Also have I seen So I Ran on the forums here before? Is it sort of a love letter to Mirror's Edge?

 

I also made the guy punch the magnet around and blew up some barrels.

[clyde]

I dunno, it loads for me and everyone else I've shown it to. U:

 

Are you using Chrome? I have a weird issue with Chrome where sometimes things are... hidden, until I grab the tab and break it out of the current window and put it back. If that made sense. It probably didn't.

I am using Chrome. Oh well. If it's working for other people it's not as bad as I imagined.

Edit: I did the thing you said. It works now.

[Twig]

Hey that Drake Savage video is great! Also have I seen So I Ran on the forums here before? Is it sort of a love letter to Mirror's Edge?

 

I also made the guy punch the magnet around and blew up some barrels.

Haha wow I didn't think anyone would bother digging around on my website to find the stuff I made while at DigiPen. U: No, I don't believe I've ever posted any of that stuff on here, but I may have at some point randomly decided to. Yes, it is a love letter to Mirror's Edge! I did all the gameplay programming for that. It's something I really want to go back to some day and make it the game I really want it to be. Probably start over from scratch (in Unity) and really make it feel good. My original desire was to make a Trackmania-esque game with super ridiculous jumps and such but with first-person parkour instead of cars. The direction of the game changed pretty early on because I got outvoted into making artsy fartsy crap because apparently people don't want to beat levels in a video game if there's no story BUT WELL WHAT DO I KNOW I GUESS.

 

Anyway, yes.

[Cleinhun]

I've tried to figure out Unity a few times in the past, but I always bounce off it, and I don't really understand what it is that's causing me to not get it. I used Game Maker to make something for a game jam not too long ago, and I kind of understood what I was doing, but it was a pretty simple game. Does anyone know of a good starting point for someone who is apparently really stupid about this sort of thing?

[dibs]

Decide to do something and then figure out how to do it. You will probably fail many times, and succeed many times before hitting on a very good solution, but at the end of it to sure will have learned how to so some research on solving problems. Then start working on the next problem. You'll be quicker.