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Simplify ur gayme, plzthx.
Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 10:32 am
by Moosader
Egh, I've been writing back and forth to this one guy and I don't know what to tell him.
So far, the only game he's completed is Pong with C++ and a library to do stuff for Wii homebrew, and he sent me a design doc of what he wants to make and asked if it's too complex...
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AerH8 ... OGM1&hl=en
So yeah, I told him that's too complex. To remake an arcade or atari game instead, or if he wants, maybe try writing that as a text game first so he can see just how much is involved, without even putting in graphics.
So here's his new idea:
Code: Select all
Okay, well you said a text based one, so instead of SDL, for now ill use only Public Domain Curses.
Instead of this big idea I had, it’ll be something simple. Kill monsters for exp, drops and recipes. And use those recipes to cook the drops you get, which the results can do a number of things, heal you, buff you, cure you, give you exp, learn new fighting skills, or be sold. Each time you make something, you get cooking exp. Cooking exp earns you the ability to learn higher leveled recipes, but you still have to find them. Also if you find any, Duplicate recipes could be sold for a fairly high price. Likewise, buying recipes requires quite a bit of gold.
The fighting system will be turn based. The hit/miss equation will give you a 50/50 shot with your Aim == Opposing Evasion. If your aim is 1% higher, then you get 51% chance to hit. If your aim is at least 50% higher you hit every time. Likewise, if your Aim is 50% lower you miss every time, etc. recipes early on will let you temporarily increase you aim and/or evasion. For the actual damaging side of things, strength increases damage, and opposing endurance decreases damage. In a nutshell I have 2 equations I could possibly choose: Health -= (STR * weapon power) / (END + armor bonuses) OR Damage = (STR+WEP)-(END+ARMOR); if(Damage <1) damage = 1; HP-=Damage.
What is Curses? He needs a library to write a text game? :/
And why why why don't people understand what a "basic game" is?? Write freaking Pickin' Sticks, then build up from there. x_x Don't attempt to improve on SPORE for your first game! DX
Re: Simplify ur gayme, plzthx.
Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 11:48 am
by trufun202
Moosader wrote:What is Curses? He needs a library to write a text game? :/
I haven't heard of it either, but using that for your first text-based game is just silly...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curses_(pr ... g_library)
Moosader wrote:And why why why don't people understand what a "basic game" is?? Write freaking Pickin' Sticks, then build up from there. x_x Don't attempt to improve on SPORE for your first game! DX
Yep. We all must find our "Hello World" equivelant for gaming projects. As game developers, there's a damn good chance you'll need a
simple, go-to game when learning a new language. Pickin' Sticks and Bop N' Pop ftw!
Re: Simplify ur gayme, plzthx.
Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 12:06 pm
by Bakkon
Looks like the usual variation of "IMMA MAEK DAH BEST MMORPG" approach of most novice game developers.
Re: Simplify ur gayme, plzthx.
Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 12:38 pm
by aamesxdavid
If he doesn't immediately see the huge jump from pong to a full-blown RPG with potions and a combat system, etc. then the only thing you can do is let him start it, and smack him in the back of the head when he's completely lost because he got in over his head.
But really, if it's going to be text-based, then the best thing to do is make the simple parts of that game first. Have the player follow a short story, and have to kill some bad guys along the way. None of this learning new fighting skills, cooking exp, selling recipes - this is all extraneous nonsense, particularly for a text game. Furthermore, if the basic parts of the game actually get finished, the other things can be added later.
Re: Simplify ur gayme, plzthx.
Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 4:18 pm
by MarauderIIC
I disagree. It's a Linux terminal library. With stuff like
color and
text manipulation and
key mapping. Although he should probably use
ncurses. He
should use curses/ncurses if he's doing text on Linux.
Re: Simplify ur gayme, plzthx.
Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 4:34 pm
by trufun202
MarauderIIC wrote:I disagree. It's a Linux terminal library. With stuff like
color and
text manipulation and
key mapping. Although he should probably use
ncurses. He
should use curses/ncurses if he's doing text on Linux.
For your first project though?
I think there's value in having to do things on your own at first. It may not have all of the bells and whistles, but you'll know what's going on and learn to appreciate libraries that much more.
Re: Simplify ur gayme, plzthx.
Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 10:05 pm
by MarauderIIC
trufun202 wrote:For your first project though?
I think there's value in having to do things on your own at first. It may not have all of the bells and whistles, but you'll know what's going on and learn to appreciate libraries that much more. ;)
Yeah, for your first project. Nothing helps impress (others and yourself) like colored text.
Re: Simplify ur gayme, plzthx.
Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 11:41 pm
by Joeyotrevor
This guy reminds me of my friend; always going on about what swords there will be or the formulas for dealing damage or whatever when he can't even set up OpenGL.
Re: Simplify ur gayme, plzthx.
Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 7:44 am
by dandymcgee
This guy is not a programmer. He is a writer. Maybe a fiction novelist.
Re: Simplify ur gayme, plzthx.
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 8:53 am
by Pickzell
He'll give up before he even gets 1% of the way through his super-rad-mega-hella-awesome vidya game RPG with super epic uber combatz and such.
Re: Simplify ur gayme, plzthx.
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 12:10 pm
by Moosader
I really need to figure out a sugar-coated way to tell people their ideas are really ambitious. Especially the second or third time after they "revise it to be more simple". >_>
'cuz I just know they're going to hate me or say I'm a bitch if I am too firm with them. v_v
Re: Simplify ur gayme, plzthx.
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 1:11 pm
by andrew
This is what
Lazy Foo has to say about it:
So you say you learn faster by jumping in and you'll learn by just making your dream 3D MMOFPSRTSRPG and you'll just pick up what you need as you need it. Well here's a guide to help you along your way:
1. Go to your local market.
2. Buy a whole fish. Salmon or Cod is recommended but even a Catfish will do.
3. Go home and turn on your computer.
4. Start up your IDE of choice.
5. Now take that fish you bought and smack yourself in the head with it.
6. Repeat step 5 until thought of "jumping in" leaves your mind.
You didn't learn algebra by doing calculus problems. You learned the fundamentals and then built on them. The same goes with game programming. If you're looking for a shortcut I'm here to tell you there aren't any. Don't rush yourself, learn the basics and build on them. Otherwise you're going to crash and burn.
Andre Lamothe said this in Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus:
I want to say something that's very important, so listen carefully—don't bite off more than you can chew! I've received thousands of e-mails from newbie game programmers who want to create something at the level of DOOM or Quake for their first game. It's simply not going to happen. You'll be lucky if you can finish an Asteroids clone in three to six months, so don't get crazy. Set a reasonable goal. Try to think up something you can do by yourself, because in the end you'll be working by yourself—people flake out. Again, try to keep your first game ideas simple.
Re: Simplify ur gayme, plzthx.
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 2:27 pm
by Pickzell
andrew wrote:This is what
Lazy Foo has to say about it:
So you say you learn faster by jumping in and you'll learn by just making your dream 3D MMOFPSRTSRPG and you'll just pick up what you need as you need it. Well here's a guide to help you along your way:
1. Go to your local market.
2. Buy a whole fish. Salmon or Cod is recommended but even a Catfish will do.
3. Go home and turn on your computer.
4. Start up your IDE of choice.
5. Now take that fish you bought and smack yourself in the head with it.
6. Repeat step 5 until thought of "jumping in" leaves your mind.
You didn't learn algebra by doing calculus problems. You learned the fundamentals and then built on them. The same goes with game programming. If you're looking for a shortcut I'm here to tell you there aren't any. Don't rush yourself, learn the basics and build on them. Otherwise you're going to crash and burn.
[/quote
This really applies to anything... Most people who have never played guitar would never think they could play the solo to one by Metallica, but after about 9 or so months of practicing, the solo to one will be really easy for you... So why do people think game dev is different?