Specific direction for a newbie

News & General Discussion
1

Hi all, I’m a brand new developer when it comes to making actual games. Last year, I decided to start learning java, because i needed to start making custom plugins for my minecraft server.

But thats just my first stepping stone in my career working with code. I have an idea for a game, and after watching a few videos about unity, i decided to give it a try finally.

However, there are specific things i need to learn, as there are a lot of non-standard mechanics in my idea.

First of all, i am going to be building a strategy game. It is planned currently to be a 4x style, in space. There will be fully rendered planetoids (not to realistic scale) that need to have units walking on their surfaces, buildings built and maintained, pathfinding on sphere surfaces, etc.

In a quick bit of searching, i found this youtube video, and fantastically enough, this is exactly the kind of thing that i need to be able to do.

There is a link to the guys blog post about it, and apparently hes using GMOGRE to do this, along with creating a sort of grid, and wrapping it around the “planet”

Now, before i ask my questions, please note, i downloaded and installed unity like, two days ago. I dont know it all that well, but i understand the utter basics of how it works (game objects, adding components and scripts to objects, etc) But i dont know anywhere near anything that could be called specifics.

That said, my question for anyone willing to answer, What kinds of resources, methods, and tricks will i have to learn to be able to pull off such a feat? Written/video tutorials are good and all, but i need to get my hands dirty to actually learn. So if anyone would be willing to give me some pointers, or even an exercise to perform that would help push me in the right direction, i would be extremely grateful for any help given :slight_smile:

Thanks!

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Step One: Archive this thread, specifically your first post. The reason I say this? This is obviously what you really want to create. You’ve got this awesome idea, and being a creator myself, I absolutely have to say: don’t lose sight of your dream!

Step Two: Stop, and ask yourself some simple questions:

  1. Will the player find this game to be fun? Why will it be fun?
  2. What does my game contribute that no other game does? In other words, how will your game be special? I suggest taking the first two awesome answers your produce, and not worrying about the others - or you’ll get a bad case of scope creep!
  3. How long will it be before I get bored and do something else? This is one I have a hard time with. A short development cycle is superior to a long one, as you stand a chance of actually succeeding. Gigiwoo2 typically suggests choosing a date 8 weeks in the future and sticking to it no matter what. Given that you’re a beginner, you may want to take a bit longer.
  4. Can I talk myself through the process of creating this in my head? At first you’ll say, “Yeah…sure I can!” But, really start thinking about it. Will there be any AI? Do you have any idea how to get a building to point upward relative to the way the face is pointing? Can you make 3D assets in a reasonable amount of time, with good enough quality to not shut off the player? This is the dreaded reality check - you’re really asking yourself, “given my current skillset, can I do it? If it’s out of my current skillset, is it too far away from my current capabilities?” If the answers are ‘no I can not, yes it’s too hard’, consider making something a bit smaller.

Step Three: Prototype.

What do I mean by prototype? Break apart your big problem (strategy game on the surface of multiple planetoids) into smaller sub-problems (for instance, building things on the surface of a 3D object.) Build the code and some prototype assets, and get these pieces to work individually. Building your game will consist of mixing these, and then adding that dread element, content. Bear in mind, you’ve given yourself a time limit, and you have to reach it with style!

I know what I’ve said isn’t sugar and rainbows, but the first part to making that dream you have a reality is taking the time to think it through. If it won’t be fun enough - case in point, SHMUP: Orbital Combat in my sig, which was my first project - well, you can put up a webplayer to show others what you’ve done and honestly say to yourself, “I make games”…but to succeed, it’s all about going that step further and pleasing people!

You’ve got what it takes from a creative perspective…now just do the forethought needed to make it happen. Remember: it dosen’t matter if it dosen’t occur.

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Thanks a ton for the response, I appreciate it!

I was talking to one of my friends yesterday, and he said a lot of what you said. Lots of pre-development questions… However i answered a little differently than i probably should have.

Honestly, i do not have the required skillset to complete this project. But hey, thats not actually a big deal. I love to learn, and im pretty good at it. I think that what i will end up doing, is breaking the project up into multiple prototypes, to learn what i need to, like you said. I think the first thing i need to do is work on getting objects to move around on the surface of a sphere, working out pathfinding (something i need to learn from scratch, admittedly! xD)

Dont worry. I am not kidding myself, as i understand the reality of a project such as this. It is my dream game. Ive had this idea since i was little, and ive always known i am going to make it, in some form or another. At the same time, i understand that noone is gonna make their magnum opus on their first shot. I mean, its possible, but highly unlikely. (also, sad, if their first is their best, and everything else sucks afterwords D: )

Anyways, thanks for the response c:

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Good call :slight_smile:

Just remember - forum searches are your friend, as is Google. I’ve found that 90% of the time, if I’m having an intellectual problem, someone has already solved it first.

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I think the best way to go about figuring out the pathfinding issue is twofold

First, actually learn how to pathfind on a plane.

Secondly, learn how to walk an entity on a sphere, without using physics/gravity.

this should be fun xD