Amateur Game Making Night

[Twig]

I use XChat, but I mean there are a million and everyone seems to have their own. For a simple web client (or at least it was back when I used it over five years ago), there's www.mibbit.com. Now's down to just picking a server to create an #idlethumbs channel on.

[TheLastBaron]

I've used mIRC since like 1998 and I actually don't know if I've ever even tried another client.  I think maybe something for my phone.

[Dewar]

mIRC is what I used to use as well. I should probably shoot that guy some money at some point.

[BigJKO]

Last night's Hangout was great! Nice talking to some of you, whoever you were (stupid that Google doesn't let you display a nickname..) - I got nothing done, because I'm stupid, but watching Blambo create artwork and seeing the little platformer prototypes was good fun.

 

Stealth Immigrant in Desert game will be GOTY 2015, Mark My Words.

[clyde]

Progress Report #1
What was my goal for the week?

 

I'll post progress atleast three times a week and include links to things like image files and playable builds. It might be a few weeks before I have a build.

 

My plan is to use Game Maker to have a circle of characters that clap during a song and take turns going into the middle. The player won't have a choice of who goes into the middle, but once they do, the player will be able to press buttons to make them use certain animations. I'm wanting it to be really choppy and simple. I'd like to use something that sounds like upbeat, greek, folky dance-music from the mid to late 20th century, but I imagine that switching out song tracks won't be hard. I might eventually add something at the beginning or end of the song that establishes place. Ideally, I'd like the game to choose a random circumstance, all of which will have to be authored. For instance, two of the characters appear on the screen and one says "This is the best wedding ever!" Another example might be two characters appearing on the screen and one saying "Let's just dance all night and forget about Alex."

Here are some of the character designs:
http://doodle-plans.tumblr.com/post/75481450586

Did I accomplish my goal? 
-No. I posted two updates (including the idea above).

What challenges did I face?
-I took a few extra shifts this week, got kinda addicted to playing Rust, and decided to abandon Game Maker long enough to see what this Unity-hype is about.

What steps can I take to increase my progress
-The decision to consider changing the game-making program is a significant set-back. I'm resistant to doing it because it puts my Dance-Game project on an indefinite hiatus (adding to the many projects I have started that I may never finish). But learning Unity is something I'm excited about and enthusiasm is the most valuable thing in this world. I'm going to go ahead and accept that I have abandoned my goal for a new one, might as well do it at the beginning. So I'll be writing a new goal for the next coming week.

What is my long-term goal?
-Make the dance-game.

What is my goal for week #2?

-Watch tutorials 2-6 on this page and have Unity open during it so that I can mimic what dude is talking about in order make sure I comprehend it.

What challenges am I likely to face and what steps can I take to prepare for them?

-Amnesia Fortnight is going to suck up a lot of my available time.

+ I can make progress on my goal while waiting for a time when Capt. Hastings and I can watch the documentaries together. I can limit my consumption of the Twitch-feed by making a rule that I'm only allowed to watch it if I am currently on schedule for completion of week #2's goal. 

-I might start getting into material that doesn't seem applicable to the dance game and feel like I don't need to watch it.

+ I can be open to coming up with tiny experiments with which to apply those portions. As I begin to see how to make the dance-game in Unity, I should apply those techniques in a separate project. So I'll have two Unity-projects, one for things that may be applicable to the dance-game and one that will be for things that do not seem applicable. 

 

 

[Stuart]

Stealth Immigrant in Desert game will be GOTY 2015, Mark My Words.

 

Hey hey, it's a "Done When It's Ready" project.

 

But yeah, it was fun sharing game ideas! Never told people about that one other than my own mother, who was the inspiration behind it. Hope we can get more people next time.

[Blambo]

Last night's Hangout was great! Nice talking to some of you, whoever you were (stupid that Google doesn't let you display a nickname..) - I got nothing done, because I'm stupid, but watching Blambo create artwork and seeing the little platformer prototypes was good fun.

 

Stealth Immigrant in Desert game will be GOTY 2015, Mark My Words.

 

Fo sho. I was actually pretty surprised at the amount of programming going on during it; from now on Sunday will be my "fix my code please" night.

[BigJKO]

It looked like I was coding, but in reality I typed maybe five lines of code in that hour..

[Stuart]

It looked like I was coding, but in reality I typed maybe five lines of code in that hour..

 

liess!!!11! u wer haxing u haxnub!11! i saw u!!11!

[Dualhammers]

While you tried to hang out on the internet I went to see the LEGO Movie with my Wife, ate Ice Cream, and played Pinball. Pinball is such an interesting game structure. It has tons of visual permutations but there is a very rigid set of rules governing how you can structure the board based on how the ball will invariably interact with the flippers placed at the bottom.

In any event, if we have an IRC up I may join, but I get easily distracted by conversation and I imagine we could easily all just spend the hour navel gazing about physics engines instead of working.

[clyde]

Pinball is such an interesting game structure. It has tons of visual permutations but there is a very rigid set of rules governing how you can structure the board based on how the ball will invariably interact with the flippers placed at the bottom.

 

Indeed, and when themes are expressed within those limitations, there is a cleverness to it similar to solving a really good puzzle. 

[Vasari]

As someone who's mostly played video games and only recently become addicted to my university's pinball machine, I love the idea of every interaction being a physical trigger. Those kinds of limitations are super fascinating.It's made me think alot about making games that are based on tangible objects, like a physical installation rather than code.

[clyde]

As someone who's mostly played Video games and only recently become addicted to my university's pinball machine, I love the idea of every interaction being a physical trigger. Those kinds of limitations are super fascinating.It's made me think alot about making games that are based on tangible objects, like a physical installation rather than code.

I was attracted to Little Big Planet for similar reasons.

[darthbator]

As someone who's mostly played Video games and only recently become addicted to my university's pinball machine, I love the idea of every interaction being a physical trigger. Those kinds of limitations are super fascinating.It's made me think alot about making games that are based on tangible objects, like a physical installation rather than code.

 

I love physical games! I just think it's important to be honest about how extremely limited the exposure of physical games usually is.

[Lork]

Did you guys end up picking a server and making an IRC channel? I can't seem to find the server in the thread if you did pick one, but I'd love to get in on this whole talking about making games business.

[darthbator]

I don't idle in enough IRC channels! We should probably make one of those so I can idle in it!!!

[srslyyou]

Speaking of idling in IRC, has anyone ever played the idle rpg ?  You get penalized for being active. http://www.irc-wiki.org/IdleRPG  . This just randomly popped in my head after something like 10 years of forgetting it's existence 

[Twig]

Nobody's set up a channel yet. I don't want to do it, even though it was my idea, because I hate responsibility. Plus then I'd be the channel creator and who KNOWS what kind of stress that brings and wowowow!!!

 

I actually thought there was an Idle Thumbs IRC channel at some point but all I found when searching for it was an ancient thread regarding the Mumble server where some people (me included) expressed desire for an IRC channel.

 

EDIT: I just joined #idlethumbs on irc.quakenet.org

 

OH GEEZ I DID IT

 

EDIT EDIT: Maybe someone who uses a client that isn't weird (mine is weird and has a bunch of different versions, some of which are borked, and I think I may have just bought a version at some point?? it's been a million years) should write a quick how-to for the less IRC-inclined. U:

[Twig]

All right, if you want a super simple web client, HERE:

 

http://webchat.quakenet.org/

 

Choose your nick (though be aware that your nick may already have been taken somewhere else on quakenet) and type "idlethumbs" in the channel name. Click Join Chat. Voila!

 

I prefer to have a dedicated client, but YMMV. This is convenient for accessing from places you might not have said client, too. At any rate, I can pretty much guarantee I'll always be idling in here, though I may not respond immediately (or maybe even hours). That's just how I IRC, yeah? Hopefully, if enough people get in on this, there will always be at least one or two people present and active. And then we can have our big scheduled Google Hangouts for awesome show and tell time on top of this.

[Forbin]

You guys should consider project management systems, even if you're working alone it'll help you define a roadmap and file feedback.  For small/personal teams I recommend:

 

https://trello.com/

https://asana.com/

http://pivotaltracker.com/

[clyde]

You guys should consider project management systems, even if you're working alone it'll help you define a roadmap and file feedback.  For small/personal teams I recommend:

 

https://trello.com/

https://asana.com/

http://pivotaltracker.com/

I downloaded Trello. Thanks, this may prove useful.

I made an Idle Thumbs group on Trello. I haven't used it enough to really understand how useful it might be. I do like the progress bar on my checklist though.

https://trello.com/amateurthumbs

So which one of us is going to be the Bob Ross of Unity one day? 

http://youtu.be/Qv82XOAENZY?t=40m23s

[darthbator]

I've used trello to manage game jam projects before. It actually works rather well!

[Dewar]

Hmm, maybe I'm dim, but I can't figure out how to actually join the group.

[darthbator]

If you're talking about trello I believe you have to be invited.

[TheLastBaron]

By the way, if anyone is interested in trying their hand at audio implementation Wwise (audio middleware) includes Limbo in the installer so you can mess around with that.