Prototyping conundrum

Game Play & Game Design
#1

I’ve been working on a new game for a while now, but it’s a bit more experimental than my usual and relies heavily on procedural generation. So much so that I’m not even sure if I can make it work. I’ve been prototyping purely with text output so far (not roguelike text output, just straight console out) but it’s getting to the point where I need to actually put it into a world to get a better feel for how it will eventually play.

Eventually I want to have a proper 3d world (think subversion), but the world generation isn’t something I want to focus on yet. At the moment I seem to have three options:

  1. Throw something together with Java2d, with a crude 2d tile world. Advantages: simple, won’t get bogged down in graphics programming. Disadvantages: will probably have to rewrite the whole thing when I do the world proper.

  2. Start developing the 3d world with a 3d engine (most likely Ardor3d). Advantages: Minimal wasted work, closer to actual final feel. Disadvantages: Slow to develop, learning curve as I figure out Ardor3d. Possibility of being sidetracked by pretty graphics.

  3. Do some crude 3d with OpenGL directly. Advantages: Quick to get started. Will only have to throw some code away. Disadvantages: Probably involves a lot of tedious 3d engine ground work, even for a simple world.

For the final game I’ll probably be using Ardor3d (or at least some kind of 3d engine) so part of me wants to start with that. But a java2d tile engine would probably be a whole lot quicker and probably keep me focused on the actual gameplay rather than graphics.

Thoughts?

#2

My vote would be for a quick mock up in 2d for now, then when you are ready to dive into polishing up, go with Ardor3D or whatever.

Keep it simple though, especially if its all going to change later

#3

Hi,

I’d say definitely 2d. Badly done 3d looks so so off that it’s not worth it. You’ll end up re-writing the 3d part anyway when you focus on graphics so what’s the point at all when you just want to test game play?

If you go 2d, there’s a bunch of pre-made tile sets and character sprites you can use which will look decent straight from the get-go.

Keith

#4

I would say that the answer is (as always) “It depends…”

What are the odds you think that the idea will pan out at all? It is an advantage if you haven’t committed too much time on it, if you realize that you need to revamp the idea a lot, and need to throw out lots of work related to the rendering (or other things).

On the other hand, it will probably not be wasted time learning Ardor3D either.

I normally go with quickly mocking the rendering so that I can tune the gameplay without worrying about breaking too much of rendering work. Then do final polish of rendering.

You wanted help, getting confused, right? ;D

#5

2D. Separate logic and rendering (almost zero cost) along the way. Minimal code loss.

You got 3D and an engine you’re not entirely used to you risk no project at all.

Just do it :slight_smile:

Kev