Topic: Anyone up to making a game?

@Tlink we're mainly making it just out of fun, but you never know if it will end up on WiiWare or DsiWare!

Hmm, now that the story is pretty much resolved, I need a new job. I can help work on sound. I'm not very good at creating music and such, but I know how to edit on Audacity. Or I could look into getting possible sponsors or developers from other websites.

There are websites that offer up music for use.

I thought that someone from NL was going to be creating the music.

@Bruinj but what about the script and that sort of stuff for the story. I mean we really only have the main problem, but hAvent gone vey deep into it.

@Funky what we really need is to start throwing levels together (the level designers can use temp art for now)/sketching and then creating pixel art/keep churning out soundtracks. The story people should be able to take it from here with script writing/character design. I don't really think we need to continue contemplating, we'll all gain more ideas as we contribute to the project.

@Shinesprite Yeah I know, thats what I was saying. He said he needed a new job, but I was just telling him that we could go deeper into it.

Since no one has said anything I went ahead and started brainstorming.

Here is concept I did for the Forest Map. (Got the idea from Epic Yarn) Now each World is a Biosphere. So your main goal is to get out of the sphere and go to the next. The area map itself will be a level, in itself. Though you cannot access certain areas until you pass certain parts of it.
http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/2503/46845213.png
For example when you beat 4, you will get a bag of coins from the boss, which you can use to buy seeds at the shop. You need the seeds to plant a sapling below area 3 which grows into a giant plant, which allows you to reach area 5. You can run around freely in the map. You enter levels ala, Mario Bros 3, but they are much bigger levels.

I will decide between you guys if it's a good idea or not but I always liked games that are new every time you play them. I wanted to incorporate this in different ways, for example a Boss could appear anytime within any of the levels. Now there's a 70% chance the boss will be at the end, however he can appear in any (pre designed) areas withing the level. Or sometimes the boss could escape the level itself, and appear on the world map. Which means sometimes, some bosses are fought earlier, or later then they are suppose to. It could make things easier or harder. Though certain bosses will not be able to do this. Also certain actions in the world map could effect how the boss appears. Say you somehow, find seeds hidden, and grow the plant before you are given them story wise. This shakes the ground and awakens the boss in area 4 to come out an appear on the world map. By doing so, you have a choice, not to bump into him.

Sorry if it's confusing but, I think this encourages people to replay the games over again just to see what different events they can make happen.

All the random boss stuff confises me, but the first thing you mentioned sounds a lot like Kirby games.

Dear god that sounds complicated. Try to remember you have one programmer on this project, Kaiser, not a team of several.

It's not as complicated as it sounds.

Each boss is capable of doing 2 types of Encounter.
Appearing randomly within a level (which would be around 3 areas it can appear in), or appearing in the World Map. (either by a random timer, or unlocking a certain level, or having a certain item.

Code wise, each Boss can only do at most, a combination of 3 things.
For example
MegaMole_Encounter = If Level 5 is unlocked, Seed in Inventory,
LockJaw_Encounter = Set (means it can only appear one way).
BearNTear_Encounter = Random Timer, Honey in Inventory

Btw Raylax, this is the real basics of programming. Meaning if this happens, then do this. If you ever played Wario Ware D.I.Y it's not more complicated then that.

Don't need to tell me about the basics of programming, I'm doing a Software Engineering degree. And, programming is far more complicated than Warioware DIY. WW DIY is barely even programming, it's at best a toy. It's far more complicated than Game Maker. The if/else may be simple, but what about the things being tested and the events that occur? Tell me how the game knows that level 5 is unlocked. Where does it look for that information? What puts that information there in the first place? Tell me how the game is going to know to test the BearNTear_Encounter at the right time. Tell me how the game is going to keep an inventory system, and look through the items in it. How is it going to keep them in order, know when to add things and remove them, or know that a specific member responds to a specific task? Tell me how you plan to build a shop system, build the GUI for it, keep track of the player's cash and keep a note of item availability. It's all doable, that's not the problem, but it is one hell of a lot of stuff. If this is all really simple and you could do it yourself, then I don't know why you're bothering with a programmer.

Beware of the scope and expectations of this project. You've got yourself and Yai with bags of talent, sure, but everything else you're relying on the community for, which hasn't given much particularly brilliant yet. No offense intended guys, but the vast majority of stuff in these 14 pages ranges from pretty weak, to hurling a barrage of utterly random ideas at a wall to see if they stick. Nobody in this community has the heart to tell someone something is awful if it is, especially when it comes to minors, but if we don't start doing that it's going to utterly destroy the project.

It needs to be organised. Properly. And fast. Allocate actual positions to people, based on their talents and not because they posted their interest first. Graphics lead, programming lead, story lead, etc. Before we start hurling ideas in the air, we need to know the scope of the project. Right now it's just growing wildly out of control and it's going to smother itself. We're seriously talking about having bosses appear in the middle of levels when we don't even know how many levels we're likely to have?

Just because an idea worked in another game does not automatically make it a great idea for this one, and before this project has a proper direction (a 'platformer' label, a squirrel sketch, and a vague storyline does not class as direction), all ideas are bad ones. Haphazard brain farts that just sound nice with no solid backing. It's like deciding you're going to build a big house on a plot of land you haven't bothered to go look at, what happens when you get there with your plans and the plot's too small? Or the side you were going to put your big balcony on actually looks out over a local sewerage plant? Proper planning and organisation is essential before diving in, or chances are it's not going to work. That's something you and Yai need to discuss and then communicate to the community.

Right now this project is a mess. Sorry to be Mr Negative, but it really is. I recommend you sort it or it's going to die.

Long negative post. Here's a smiley to brighten things up a bit.

There's nothing wrong with using Game Maker or a similar amateur toolset for a project like this. It would probably be the best way to go, given the expectations of the people who expressed interest. Of course... that would also mean a proper programmer (such as Yai) wouldn't really be necessary.

@Raylax Tbqh I'm surprised you expected all of that in the first place. Nothing in this thread surprised me until your post right there lol.

Still, good efforts so far. I agree with Raylax. If you guys could get a little more organised on all fronts then this idea could take off. Until then you're going to be spinning in circles coming up with far-fetched ideas and nothing will ever come to fruition.

Really? I've been waiting for someone to man up and finally make a post along those lines for quite a while now. I'm pretty sure KaiserGX's post prior to his was the straw that broke the camel's back, though; given Raylax's background, it comes off as pretty insulting.

Yeesh, Raylax, chill? I for one don't think many of these ideas are bad ones, and tbh, I don't think your smiley helped that much.
_{just sayin}
EDIT: Oh. Well, now I've seen Kaiser's post and see where you're coming from. I take it back.
_{My, aren't there a lot of tongue smileys in this post?}

Yep, really. KaiserGX's comments were ignorant, but not surprising. If only things were as easy as imagining it and there it is... Pretty much everything that happened in this thread I've seen happen before in other amateur game projects. To clarify, what surprised me wasn't the content of Raylax's post - it's very sensible and these guys should pay attention to it - but what he was originally expecting from such a ragtag group.

Still, getting overly critical isn't a good way to motivate people to continue. There have been lots of successful amateur projects out there which have ended up with fun, complete games and the common thread amongst them all was good planning, organisation and communication. So now that the house of cards has fallen, I'll chip in with something (hopefully) constructive:

Planning: Write everything down. Not in a forum thread where things keep changing. Write it in a document so everything is concrete. Set a deadline for ideas about the game and don't add any new ideas once that time limit has ended. That way the programmers and artists can prepare everything they need. Give yourselves plenty of time for the deadlines so there's no rush. A basic flow of how a project should go:

Planning → Brainstorming → Programming + Art/Music Creation → Testing → Release

Right now you're probably in planning (since there's no plan yet?) and everyone is tossing ideas and artwork all over the place which is why it seems chaotic. For a casual project like this, set a deadline for planning then meet it, then set a deadline for brainstorming then meet it and so on. Everything will take a lot of time so don't get impatient. Testing and fixing bugs will also take time and that can also be really not fun. You'll need dedication to reach the end.

Organisation: Designate everyone involved with appropriate positions. Programmers, artists, musicians and testers. Designate a leader for each of those areas (probably the most experienced person) to have the final call on decisions about their area. Depending on the size of your project you might want a level designer or two. Again, this is a casual project so you don't have to be really strict about it. Just make sure people don't overstep their boundaries. No artists telling programmers what they should be doing and vice-versa.

Also testers are important and need to be chosen for their ability to find bugs and also to figure out how to tweak and improve how the game plays. They also need to be able to play the game repeatedly - a lot. Your testers can't bail out on you because it's boring to play the same stage a hundred times. Not an easy job and not everyone can do it. It's hard to say how to pick them, actually.

Communication: Brainstorm ideas for the game together. Make your plans and designs accessible to everyone so that everyone's on the same page. Everyone can chip in ideas during the brainstorming period, but once you're past that then people should stick to their side of things. If programmers say an idea can't be done, then that's the truth. Don't push it or argue with them. Programmers should send out completed parts for everyone to test out. I'm sure everyone will have feedback about how the platforming feels or if the game is too fast or slow, etc. Be reasonable about deadlines - do not rush anyone because you'll end up with arguments and the project will fall apart. Also be lenient about the "no more ideas after brainstorming" thing. If you have a good idea later on and everyone agrees it should be added (particularly the programmers who will have the extra work to do) then go for it.

That's probably more advice than you need so feel free to ignore whatever parts you think are unnecessary.

I agee with everything HolyMackerel said there. Sorry if my post was a little 'aaaargh' up there, but I felt it needed to be said. This project has potential. A huge amount of potential, but it's all going to go to waste without proper organisation. I don't want this project to fail, I'm looking forward to seeing something really good come out of this. Do what HM's suggesting and you're already half way to seeing this become at success. If you don't have the time to manage this effectively yourself (you don't seem to be posting in this thread very often), then let someone else do the management. You'll still have final call on all decisions and overall control of the project, but keeping things in order and making sure progress is smooth will be handled by someone else. I'll put myself forward to do that if you want, I'm around on NL pretty much every day, and I've had to manage projects at uni.

@tbd, KaiserGX: Nah, I wasn't insulted by Kaiser's comment, I'd be planning on writing a comment like that for some time. That post just gave me the best opportunity for it

EDIT: Oh yeah, I just want to clarify something else. I was never concerned about Yai's ability to program the things suggested - the reason I suggested her is because she's the most talented programmer I know and she can build some pretty incredible things. We're in safe hands as far as the code's concerned. My problem was with the scale being suggested, no amount of coding expertise makes several tons of code appear any faster.

@Raylax_&_Mackerel I completely agree with your views. The problem with a forum is that it is easy for everything to become scattered. We REALLY need a page with a more-less finalized storyline for the first 40-60% of the game, along with a categorized Progress/To do list, an artworkarea, and a pixel art page!

On a side note, sorry for not posting my sketches yet, I had some unexpected things come on an already busy weekend and haven't had a lot of time this week to finish them. One remains to be finished, so I'll post them when I'm done.

Thanks, I've been a bit scared to post here with all the chaos. =/ Hope we can organise this a bit better.

@hulklol: Random ideas hurled around, no plan, nothing codable yet. So, not very far at all.