Community Project Mark 562 - Game Direction Vote (v2)

Business and Project Management Discussions Community & Volunteer Projects
#1

Version 2 - Since the last one got screwed up. Sorry to make everyone vote again, but the forum software seems a bit broken. We won’t be adding any more options :slight_smile:

  • Elite style game, space trading, shared online experience but maybe not typical real time interaction. Can probably add much of the modular RPG (indepedent development of sectors/zones) into this.
  • RTS - again with some sort of online experience, maybe some sort of persistent world where the individual battles you have effect the overall game war.
  • HarvestMoon/AnimalCrossing style sandbox world in which people are free to take on activities and build a world. The amount of multiplayer interaction is still debateable, from trying the whole darkstar thing to simply having each person’s area available to explore to everyone else.

The big benefits of the choices above as I see it are that they’re known concepts, easy to split out and provide some ongoing development that might keep us all interested :wink: In additional they suit multiple client types without sacrificing game play.

Comments are welcome. Indications of interest in getting involved and the amount of time and skills you might be able to contribute. I’d be expecting to flesh out the project specification in the public forums here and then get a core set of folks to get a base line code together pretty rapidly.

However, I’m not intending us to be rushing along, steady pace.

I’d also like to use this vote to canvas interest again. If there simply isn’t enough interest in either project concept we can rethink.

Cheers,

Kev

#2

Newbie here. I would like to inquire if it is at all possible to get on the project being very new to game programming/design. I just recently started learning Java programming a month ago and so far have only learned how to make a tic tac toe game (to my gf’s delight I must add :)). My aspirations are more of designing than programming, though I do want experience in all the components that make up a game. Below are some things I could bring to the project, even if I’m only allowed to contribute in just a small part of it :).

Music
Classically trained guitarist. Played in motown, rock, blues, jazz bands. Can make specific music for the projects needs in a wide variety of styles Edit i should also mention though this does not ensue I make only guitar oriented music.

Testing
19 years of gaming, been playing games since I was 3 years old (Thanks grandma for nintendo :D). Seen all the great games and
unfortunately the horrible ones too

Innovative ideas
Simplicity is my motto, if an idea sounds too complicated and isn’t easy to explain, it probably isn’t fun

Lastly, I believe the project needs to make something unique as I think was mentioned in previous threads. It doesn’t need to be complicated, hard, have spectacular graphics, but just unique in a certain way. A few examples of unique games which I find interesting, seem not to be overly complicated, labour intensive or difficult to program and also give an idea of what I think ‘fun’ is like:
Majesty of Colours
Conway’s Game of Life
Grow
Kingdom of Loathing

#3

Contributing in non-programming ways is very much welcomed. :slight_smile: I suppose that on these forums we actually have more need for other skills than programming. For example your music experience will probably prove to be useful. And for yourself, you may learn something about programming while watching what the other do, even if your skills are not yet adequate for much programming contributions (first try completing a couple of small programs by yourself).

#4

if we do the harvemoon one i think a cool idea would not at first of course but as an enhancement to it make caves or dungeons where you can as an “activity” see how far you can get by killing monters and stuff. =D

i can donate <5 hrs a week.

Im good at art, pixel art, 3d art except i cant figure out the bitmap texturing ive tried i just dont get it, programming but not nearly as skilled as most on this place, web dev

#5

Well, I did the Harvest Moon vote, but that’s more of an underdog thing than much else. I definitely think both the Space Game and the Harvest Moon thing would be awesome, so whichever wins woohoo.

RTS? Pfeh. No thanks. I’m glad it’s losing.

#6

:’(

#7

+1 for RTS ;D The vote is not yet closed.

#8

I haven’t voted yet, iether RTS/harvestmoom.

#9

Should we get more than one vote each? :slight_smile:

Kev

#10

I would rather like to see some discussion how to involve gameplay mechanisms from all three genres into the game.

#11

Start a thread. Maybe prefix it with something we can keep this stuff together with.

Kev

#12

One of the big problems with (especially voluntary) group projects is the ‘knowledge vortex’: The more complex a project is, the fewer group members understand it fully and more and more work spirals down onto them. It can end up with just 1 or 2 people doing everything and getting totally stressed out.
For this reason I’d like to see a simple (and therefore robust) framework on which all contributors can hang their work.
The space idea seems well suited to this. Once the physics and renderer are in place they’re fixed and whoever built them can relax (apart from the odd bug-fix) - it’s up to contributors to provide models, behaviours and textures for the renderer & physics engine.
Keep it simple but extensible seems a good philosophy for this sort of project. Mixing all three genres together strikes me as a recipe for disaster - it would be far more sensible to start 3 separate projects rather than end up with a huge unmanagable beast on our hands!
As a rule of thumb: if you can’t explain the concept to a layman in one short sentence then it probably won’t work.

#13

Man, a game set in space turns me off so much when comparing to a game set in a Zelda/ Animal Crossing/ >Little Big Adventure 2< kind of world. Of course I am saying this purely from the perspective of a game player.

#14

Ohhhh, LBA, how I miss you! :slight_smile:

There’s quite a while left on this vote. I for one really like the sandbox idea - it’s where my vote has gone. However, it’s the art resource requirement that scares me about it unless someone can come up with a wii style mii character art set. I also have a feeling that going with that concept is going to push into focusing on a single client type at least initially just through need for art.

Kev

#15

I have to agree with the above poster, a space game just gives the impression of boring to me. But! That may just mean you would have to make sure the project doesn’t fall into the same stereotype.

#16

I went for the space trader but only because I think we should do a nifty fun little 2D Space Trader, if we were going to attempt to EVE then I would go for the sandboxy one. Also why didn’t a platformer make the final cut?

#17

Once again, all you guys really should check out Escape Velocity for an excellent example of what a 2D space trader can be. This is seriously one of the best games I’ve ever played, and it’s incredibly well executed. Seriously take a look if you think space games are boring.

#18

+1 for space trading game, just lovin elite / freelancer / privateer ;D

i’m just a beginner in game dev, in my little spare time. normaly ( at work ) i code j2ee stuff with webobjects. but i’m willing and able to learn :wink:

btw: who says that there can only be one community project? when there are enough people, just start a second project.

#19

To any cynics who think that this project will be dead within a month: No chance! We’ll still only be on our second vote by then. :wink:

#20

So, here’s an idea. Why don’t we just do exactly that… Pick the game you voted for and go with it, start a thread a get moving. I only started the community thread with the hope we’d get some experience of working together and producing something bigger. Evidently there’s a lot more interest in that then I thought - with plenty of strong ideas.

I’ll just wait to see which has most interest in the vote and join that team.

Kev