Hey fellas, I’m semi-new to the whole programming business, I’m 16 years old but I’ve been programming since I was 13 - 14 years. I’ve been using Unity for about a year total, with a couple breaks in between. I’m currently working on a spaceship top down shooter with 3d models, or 2.5d if you will. If you ever played EvE Online, I’m hoping to make it sorta like that but smaller, single player and top down. I started on this about a week ago, and so far it’s going good, and I don’t feel like I’ve lost my drive to do it, but it just seems very ambitious when I think it through. Anyway, enough about me, all I’m asking is: How do you know when your mind has drifted off into something you can’t do? Do you think my idea is too ambitious? Discuss !
Also, if you like the idea, why not follow me on twitter @7m2games
I have no experience with modelling or art in general, I’m hoping to make a good part of the game and using “programmer art” and then hopefully finding an artist to collaborate with
I dont think you would lose intrest after working on a project for a week. Anyway if you can not lose intrest in it for a few years you might be able to do it. Though you are almost certainly going to want to scale it way down
I think you’re already on the right track. At least you’re asking the right questions. Too many people are afraid to actually think about their ideas being to big and to really look at the amount of work. So you’re ahead of all of them.
I suggest making a list of all the big features you want to have in your game. Then you create the one that seems fun easy to program. As you’re working on this you’ll get a good feel for how long the other parts will take. As you keep moving you’ll see what needs to be cut very quickly.
In short, start programming!
Here’s a little list for your programming tasks to help you get started:
–Top Down Camera
–Player Controlled Ship that shoots
–Enemies that explode when shot
–Terrain or Level that the camera looks at
–Script that makes either the camera or map move, depending on if your game is open exploring(Asteroid), or a kind of on rails shooter always moving forward(Galaga)
It doesn’t seem to be too much. The first game I ever made was a flash game exactly like you describe. It was a side scroller where you control the ship and shoot at enemies moving towards you. essentially Galaga.
It’s too ambitious. Think MUCH SMALLER. Here’s three schools of thought:
My approach. I pick a date, 8-12 weeks in the future. I pick a smaller project I can complete in that time. I postpone ANY idea that prevents me from making that date. I finish it on time. Take a break, then repeat.
Another approach. 1 day to prototype, 1 month to polish.
Joel Spolsky’s argument: “Shipping is a feature. A really important feature. Your product MUST have it”
What do all these have in common? Finishing a product as fast as possible. So you can learn from the feedback-loop as quickly as possible. You need smaller goals, or you will quit. THE SMALLEST POSSIBLE IDEA. Finish it. Learn. Repeat.
I think you should find a good artist as soon a possible for 2 main reasons:
Good models add life to any game.
It is much more fun to script a modeled and textured spaceship than to script a gray cube. Dealing all day with base primitives is really boring.
So, I don’t think this game will be hard to make if you are familiar with scripting in unity and if you will have a good artist who will make the game look beautifull.
If you will have any questions during the development of the game you can ask me at any time
Based on the somewhat brief and un-detailed explanation of the game, where do you draw this conclusion from?
Sounds like it would be a reasonable game to work on, besides, there’s no point working on a smaller game just to get something done. What will end up happening is you will have a dozen un-finished small games because you were never really that into the idea to start with.
Make the game you want. What you’ve mentioned doesn’t sound complicated (although like I say, theres far too little information here to judge). It may take some time, but it sounds achievable.
Ive been working on my game for (cant even remember… maybe 2 years). Its taking me a longgg time, and I still have a lot to do. Every now and then I think to myself, I should just make a few small games… and I have started ‘a few small games’. None of them have gone far surprisingly, because they dont excite me as much as my main game.
If anything, you could consider making a very simple top-down space shooter. At least you are working in the direction of your main idea.
It’s not too ambitious. Start getting your basics done, nothing fancy. Then just keep adding on and if you’re passionate enough about your game get it done.
Not to toot my own horn, but I started programming, modeling, and texture editing two years ago when I decided I would get into app development. I am 17 years old now; during this time I managed to learn enough that I could make a clone of portal. So I would say yes, with that much programming experience you can definitely make a simple top down shooter.
I would say that the OP is pretty much on the right track, but I also have some sympathy with Gigiwoos position.
I think having a deadline to work towards is good because it gets you focused. I would suggest that for this deadline you work towards having a playable prototype. The size of the prototype will depend on how much time you have, but its much better to have something small finished soon so you can test it.You should have something that you can give to someone else who hasn’t been working on the project which they can then play.
Don’t just send someone a link and ask for comments - sit and watch them play.
What you’ll discover is that creating a good game isn’t just a matter of creating the elements of the game and bolting them together. There’s a huge amount of design and small tweaks which make the difference between a fun experience and a boring one. Once you’ve got something that someone enjoys playing for 5 minutes and asks for more, then you can progress.
I disagree with AndreyL’s post. Stick with programmer art at the moment. Players need to understand what things are but for the first prototype this is enough. Once you’ve got past the “fun for 5 minutes” stage you can start to talk to artists. You’ll also find it much easier to talk to artists if you’ve got something to show.
Been working on my dream game for 39 months and going to have my first feedback onsite in about an hour.
It’s about 65% finished (maybe).
I only work on it days off and vacations and absolutely love my game, hope someone else will too!
Thanks for the great feedback guys! I’m going to keep working on this project then and hopefully it will go good, although what you guys say is pretty mixed, I think what I can make of it is that I’ll continue working on it and occasionally looking for an artist, but not really searching all that seriously until I’ve actually got something I can show :). Thanks!
!
@7m2games