So, going to post a blog-like system for this game seeing as progress is coming along to the point where i’m getting more comfortable with sharing what i’ve got so far.
Name: PsychoGenesis
Game-play style: Top down shooter game
Single-player: Yes
Multi-player: Yes
Story Concept: a tear between the realms of fantasy and reality occours and as such, Fantasy is bleeding through into Reality causing all manner of chaos. It is up to you, the Player, to close up these tears and clean up the mess.
Gameplay Concept:
-I want this to be a swarm shooter… as in, many, many, many enemies on screen at any point with giant bosses to defeat.
-Weapons and abilities can be upgraded with a skill-point system which you can earn via leveling up and also defeating bosses and other big-scene stuff.
Progress (as of December 28, 2012)
-Working on adding in assets as they’re being created and getting their behaviors working. this is in progress
-Character selection system is set-up (the basic infrastructure… assets to come.)
-Weapon management system is set up. (not every weapon is programmed yet, however)
-upgrading system is in place. each weapon will have a semi-unique skill tree that will increase it’s efficiency, power or other frills.
-Camera control system is finalized and works in both single and multiplayer instances
Progress (as of May 16, 2013)
-Conversion to the Mecanim system. Couldn’t save all the animations i had made before conversion (lesson to be learned here.)
-additional weapons added.
-art assets for remaining characters completed.
-improved targeting systems
-improved AI systems.
-basic multiplayer testing underway.
-save state architecture in place.
Also, everything in this game so far is done using Playmaker… and there’s a LOT of “code” set up with more to come. Hoping to keep it Playmaker only but i’m more than willing to go outside that if/when the need arises.
I’ll post more information as i get things done… This has been a solo-gig so far… and i’ve had to wear many hats that are unfamiliar to me… I’ll see about putting together a collaboration thread soon since there are some hats i don’t have the chops to wear (and this will be a profit-sharing venture since i’ve had to do all this in my spare time without any funding.)
The reason for the low price is to appeal to the impulse-buy crowd… and also since this is my first serious game, i’ve read that if a developer doesn’t have much in the way of games to their name, the customer is less inclined to spend a larger amount of money. I hope that this will work and will result in more sales because i’m hoping to use my share of the profits as seed-money to get a game studio set up so I can form a team (and actually be able to pay them for their efforts) to make more games (of which i have many ideas/concepts in mind.)
Don’t start talking about marketing or the price of a product until you have a product and can determine its viability. Counting chips now before you even have your proof of concept is a bit foolish. Also, it doesn’t matter the pricing structure, some games never even get downloaded even if they are free, so don’t think the pricing structure or you being a no name is the reason why it isn’t doing well. If the game isn’t fun or looks like crap, people won’t buy it. Do some research and see what is topping the charts and what people tend to gravitate towards. For the most part, most of the top games are very highly polished 2D games that are super casual and you only play against yourself. You speak of impulse buyers, these people buy things that look flashy and pretty, they don’t just impulse buy because the price is right.
I agree with hellraizerhhh. Shouldn’t be talking about Marketing and Pricing too soon (It will only make people not buy your game)…
Also any screenshots?
the reason why i’m thinking about the pricing as things are now is so that i can find ways to keep motivated (since the love of the craft is a big one, so is the potential revenue.)
also, there’s been a lot of studies done on the pricing of games and if a game is priced low, it’s more likely that it’ll make more sales.
the emphasis on making this game fun is a bit of a red-herring because in the end i’m making this game which i feel will be fun… but what’s fun for me may not be as fun for someone else (because a game’s “fun” factor is a subjective qualifier and as such, impossible to nail down what makes a game “fun” in the first palce.) I am making in a way which i will find enjoyment playing and if i enjoy it, given that my tastes in games isn’t totally esoteric, it’s likely that there will be others that will think it’s fun also… besides, if there were a formula for someone to follow to make a game instantly fun, that would mean that the games industry was in a decline since this formula would dictate how games are made… and that’s not the case, the games industry is booming what with the advent of the internet and the more approachable distribution systems out there, we’re living in the era of the indie-developer now and there have been quite a few indie games that have made sales on par with some of the AAA-level, big-studio games… but still, in the end, i’m doing this the way i am because i want to make a game i’ll enjoy playing… it may sound selfish but to me, if you yourself don’t enjoy playing it, what’s to say others will not feel similarly?
i’ll be posting some screenshots soon enough. since it’s currently in the greybox phase, i’ll have to post a webplayer as well once i get there (i could post the workshop levels but those might not be as exciting since that’s the level where i build the systems up.
A fair amount of work later and some time off from work and here’s a video of the basics i’ve got up.
can’t post a web-player at this point seeing as the webhosting solution i had would consider unity files as viruses (and would nerf them.) so, this will have to do for now.
this is a dev-blog… so, it’s got issues… and it’s also done 100% using Hutong games’ Playmaker Visual scripting add on.
if anyone has any suggestions for screen-casting software that can record at a good frame-rate, i’m very open for suggestions.
