WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME TO WORK IN A "BIG" PROJECT?

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I have been making short games for a while, mostly because I want to practice with the program, but I have been thinking about starting a "big" project, I don't mean an epic game of 60 hours, I mean a game of about... 5 hours, not too long but not too short (Is long compared to my games, that last no longer than 20 mins)

I have a few mechanics in mind that I think I can pull off and a short, simple story so it can be easier to do, but I'm not sure if I'm able to finish it...

So, have you made a "big" project before? What have you experienced while making it? Is there any tips or recommendations?

As always: Sorry for my shit english
slash
APATHY IS FOR COWARDS
4158
Hmm... this is a good question, and I've debated about it before, too.

Before starting on something bigger, I'd suggest 100% completing at least one small project, and going through the process of building it, releasing it, and handling feedback from it. If you've done that already, good deal.

The other thing you've gotta ask yourself is what your schedule looks like. If you plan out a 5-hour-long game, how many hours is it going to take you to make, and how much free time do you have? When will the game be done? Do you think you can keep your motivation going if it takes longer than you expect? You don't have to answer these questions and many game developers can't, anyway, but it's worth thinking about. The more time you spend on a project, especially if you can only work on it a few hours a week, the easier it can be to lose momentum and eventually feel like dropping it. If you want to finish your game, make it small enough to fit your schedule (and then a bit smaller).

That said, there's no time like the present and sometimes you gotta just go for it, even if you fail! Failure is not only common but is both inevitable and expected in game development, and every failure will teach you something. There's no better way to learn!

Some more practical advice:
  • Limit your game to as few special mechanics as possible. Only add mechanics that you need to make the game fun. If your game is fun with only the core mechanics, it means you have a solid foundation, and you can add the rest in later.
  • Assuming you're working solo, be honest about your abilities. If you're not experienced at pixel art, don't try and do a whole complex pixel art game with dozens of tilesets and character sheets - make a couple characters and one small tileset. If you're not an experienced scripter, don't try and recode everything, just start with small edits to the existing scripts. Be honest with yourself and hone your skills slowly.
  • If you're working on a team, especially be honest about your abilities. A lot of people have the desire to promise the world to their teammates, but bite off more than they can chew. Don't commit to more than you can handle and later be forced to disappoint your team. It's better to surprise your team by doing more than they expect.
unity
You're magical to me.
12540
Slash has some absolutely terrific advice here.

I can add a tip from personal experience that may or may not work for you: Have an rough outline of how the game is going to go, how many dungeons there are, etc for planning purposes. Not everyone needs this, but I personally find it helps a lot and keeps the scope in focus. When I was young, I didn't do this, and just made things on the fly, which turned some potentially medium-length projects into giant ones that didn't need to be giant.

Having played a couple of your games, I'd say you definitely have potential. I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do with a bigger project ^_^
That said, there's no time like the present and sometimes you gotta just go for it, even if you fail! Failure is not only common but is both inevitable and expected in game development, and every failure will teach you something. There's no better way to learn!


This is a good thing to keep in mind. My teachers at Gam Mak College have said time and again that 90% of games never see the light of day. A failed prototype is nothing to be ashamed of.

I can say from experience that the "medium size games" stage is a lot harder than it seems. I've been stuck for months now on what I'm going to do to move forward from making small stuff.
Red_Nova
Sir Redd of Novus: He who made Prayer of the Faithless that one time, and that was pretty dang rad! :D
9192
Slash, you really need to write more articles, because this is some golden advice you just gave.
slash
APATHY IS FOR COWARDS
4158
Thanks, everyone ///

@Red_Nova: It's funny that you say that! If I'm lucky, I might be giving some friendly public advice soon, depending... but I should write more articles too!

@Pizza: Same, I'm stuck on medium games too. Resume was my longest dev time at about 4 months, and I'm thinking my current project is going to be about the same. I want to make more than just jam games, but it's tricky keeping motivation high!

author=unity
I can add a tip from personal experience that may or may not work for you: Have an rough outline of how the game is going to go, how many dungeons there are, etc for planning purposes. Not everyone needs this, but I personally find it helps a lot and keeps the scope in focus. When I was young, I didn't do this, and just made things on the fly, which turned some potentially medium-length projects into giant ones that didn't need to be giant.

This is another really really good point. On bigger projects, preplanning goes a long way and will save you a ton of time. You can plan out systems, outline story, draw out maps on grid paper, things like that. If you can do any sort of paper prototyping of your mechanics - battle systems, crafting systems, etc. - you can knock out a lot of the bigger, more obvious flaws out right away, before doing any code or events or database or maps.
Keep in mind that not only can you spend ten years on effectively 2 hours of gameplay, but can program a game to take 10+ hours in about two (not counting dialogue), simply by creating alot of maps, backtracking, and other tricks.

Five hours to me, is not a big project. Because I can do 5 hours of game is about 3 weeks. To be considered a "big project" a game must have multiple chapters, a few characters, a number of bosses, etc.
As long as you do not quit development, you will finish any project.
author=Zachary_Braun
As long as you do not quit development, you will finish any project.
Ehh, this is a pretty vague response to some extent. Sure, one could finish a 10+ hour game after years of development, but is it really worth it at that point? Is one "big" game more valuable than completing a bunch of smaller ones? I guess that's up for debate.

I saw this Kotaku Article today, which struck me as somewhat relevant. All things considered, I think most people don't fully grasp how long it actually takes to create a finished, polished video game. That applies to both studio execs and the players themselves. When you have that sort of radical disconnect, even at the Indie level, it's especially hard for the developer, I think.

But I think Slash nailed it on the head here;
author=slash
If you plan out a 5-hour-long game, how many hours is it going to take you to make, and how much free time do you have? When will the game be done? Do you think you can keep your motivation going if it takes longer than you expect? You don't have to answer these questions and many game developers can't, anyway, but it's worth thinking about.
The #1 thing you can do is ask yourself these questions.

All that being said, it's good to know you've actually completed several games before, because most people on here haven't (myself included)! That automatically puts you a step above the rest! xD Just be careful of how much work you're taking on, so that you don't "bite off" more than you can chew.

And at the end of the day, learn to know when to be satisfied and put something out there. A lot of serious artists can spend months (or years) endlessly reworking maps, battles, cutscenes, tweaking the most subtle detail and never finishing anything. But you're probably your own worst critic!
Thanks to everybody, I will start writing down every idea that I think it could work, and planning how long will it be, what mechanics use, if I'm going to need scripts, etc.

After the 8 hour event or maybe the after 2 hour, I will start putting the base down (database, maybe even practice with a few test maps)

Wish me luck

author=bulmabriefs144
Keep in mind that not only can you spend ten years on effectively 2 hours of gameplay, but can program a game to take 10+ hours in about two (not counting dialogue), simply by creating alot of maps, backtracking, and other tricks.

Five hours to me, is not a big project. Because I can do 5 hours of game is about 3 weeks. To be considered a "big project" a game must have multiple chapters, a few characters, a number of bosses, etc.

I know, 5 hours is kinda short, but for me that so far I have only released games that last 10-30mins is something could be a challenge (But yeah, I should have said "medium-sized project")
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