Full Games List
Featured Games
New Games
Reviews
Media
Images
Blogs
Game Updates
Images Feedback Summary
Game Design Highlights
Tutorials
Articles
Scripts
Utilities / Plugins
Resources
Engines
Engine Bulletins
What is Makerscore?
Past Events
Achievements
Misaos
Forums
Post History
Chat
New to RMN?
Full Store List
RMN Music Pack (free)
HOW LONG SHOULD A GAME TAKE TO MAKE?
Posts
Radnen
1806
Radnen
View playlists
Closepost=212787
You do keep notes, right? You have index cards scattered everywhere, notebook pages full of ideas, too many .txt and .rtf files to count? Right?
I have a script written out, and I have the story planned. I only know as much of the game as up to the end of the second chapter. (Mapping, enemies, items, etc).
As far as keeping a folder full of notes, I uh... Don't have quite as many. For example I have only worked on one side quest. What I'll likely do is that later on in development I'll add more side quests (once i know the main story is completable).
Iron Gaia 1 took 3 Years.
Backstage took one month.
They have the same play time!
From this I deduce that there is actually No Goddamn Answer to this question.
Backstage took one month.
They have the same play time!
From this I deduce that there is actually No Goddamn Answer to this question.
Radnen
1806
Let's see... The first conception of this game was back in 2006/7, when I had a rough story and crappy game. I quit that to try a different battle system. In 2008 I made a second game, with a tactics battle system, but got the first demo out and quit it, This is what I mean by releasing a demo and then never working on it again.
This game started late '09, early '10. So it's been close to a year ~10 months. If something can take 3 years. Then I don't think it can be all too bad. So far some of my hurtles have been programatic, like an ABS. With that squared away, I'm really only doing maping, cutscenes, dialogs and eventing. Which is what the last 4 months have kinda been. I think this is the longest endeavor.
Do you guys put more time into planning or building? I think I'm doing more time in building than planning. (I think this is a good thing, no?)
This game started late '09, early '10. So it's been close to a year ~10 months. If something can take 3 years. Then I don't think it can be all too bad. So far some of my hurtles have been programatic, like an ABS. With that squared away, I'm really only doing maping, cutscenes, dialogs and eventing. Which is what the last 4 months have kinda been. I think this is the longest endeavor.
Do you guys put more time into planning or building? I think I'm doing more time in building than planning. (I think this is a good thing, no?)
Defiant
0
http://makegames.tumblr.com/post/1136623767/finishing-a-game
Pretty much sums up a lot of your worries really.
You may only spend an hour on actually planning if you do it with some form of intelligence and start with a good idea. People are easily sidetracked and when they see hurdles and difficulties ahead of them, the panic and don't drive through. People are also perfectionists, (rewrite, rewrite, rewrite!). Bottom line really is, your game could take years to makes, or months to make or even just a few days to make, its your call, just be happy with your result. Just know what you want out of your game, if you want an epic, then realize that it's going to take time. If you want a game that only takes a few months to make, then learn how to cut, cut and cut.
On planning...
If you plan out every aspect of your game and know exactly what you want to do, its going to feel like a grind, its going to be boring, its going to be a grind. Think of a stale workplace, you know what you have to do, but do you really want to do it? You procrastinate. Leave yourself some flexibility. If you have the main story pegged and you hit a bit of roadblock, work on a sidequest where the process is all new again, get a vague idea of what you want and have fun with it.
Pretty much sums up a lot of your worries really.
You may only spend an hour on actually planning if you do it with some form of intelligence and start with a good idea. People are easily sidetracked and when they see hurdles and difficulties ahead of them, the panic and don't drive through. People are also perfectionists, (rewrite, rewrite, rewrite!). Bottom line really is, your game could take years to makes, or months to make or even just a few days to make, its your call, just be happy with your result. Just know what you want out of your game, if you want an epic, then realize that it's going to take time. If you want a game that only takes a few months to make, then learn how to cut, cut and cut.
On planning...
If you plan out every aspect of your game and know exactly what you want to do, its going to feel like a grind, its going to be boring, its going to be a grind. Think of a stale workplace, you know what you have to do, but do you really want to do it? You procrastinate. Leave yourself some flexibility. If you have the main story pegged and you hit a bit of roadblock, work on a sidequest where the process is all new again, get a vague idea of what you want and have fun with it.
post=212779
Releasing a demo more than once is treading in bad territory. Developers tend to get very lazy once they put their product out there. You lose the motivation you once had, and showing something off too much is also a sign that there is a lack of motivation, seeing as you need to be recognized for every little screenshot you make to continue onward.
This was badluck's whole existence, really.
Radnen
1806
Defiant, I have read that article before! It's what got me back on the blockman project after like 2 months of inactivity.
Some problems I've had is actually with the editor I"m using. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't RPGMaker make it easy to lay out events and tiles? These are areas I've been stumbling on, To make a simple sidequest takes a lot out of me.
Some problems I've had is actually with the editor I"m using. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't RPGMaker make it easy to lay out events and tiles? These are areas I've been stumbling on, To make a simple sidequest takes a lot out of me.
WolfCoder
3554
I'm doing episodic releases and I'll change the text after the : each release to show what chapter I'm currently working on. It'll be reviewable after the first chapter since the game's base would be pretty much complete and only the actual content and story would be progressed on. I expect it to take more months for all chapters to be finished and the final result won't have nearly the play time you would think.
Releasing episodes or multiple demos loses interest quick, if people play 1 chapter then you release chapter 2, people think eh I already played that. They might replay it after chapter 5... but if they have to restart the game each time, that's gonna get dull.
WolfCoder
3554
"Releasing episodes or multiple demos loses interest quick"
It only does if you suck at game design
"if people play 1 chapter then you release chapter 2, people think eh I already played that."
Only if you forgot the gameplay design idea of the curve of introducing new mechanics and the general continuation of the story.
"but if they have to restart the game each time, that's gonna get dull."
No they don't, they'll be able to reuse their save files. I'm not using RPG Breaker.
It only does if you suck at game design
"if people play 1 chapter then you release chapter 2, people think eh I already played that."
Only if you forgot the gameplay design idea of the curve of introducing new mechanics and the general continuation of the story.
"but if they have to restart the game each time, that's gonna get dull."
No they don't, they'll be able to reuse their save files. I'm not using RPG Breaker.
You fail to remember that with a billion games, people are always looking for fresh. If they have to play chapter one over and over and over with each release. Will people keep YOUR game on their PC? When you release a new episode once every month or two and other people don't know when you're releasing.
Pokemaniac
3559
post=213130You can reuse RM saves.
"but if they have to restart the game each time, that's gonna get dull."
No they don't, they'll be able to reuse their save files. I'm not using RPG Breaker.
Corfaisus
"It's frustrating because - as much as Corf is otherwise an irredeemable person - his 2k/3 mapping is on point." ~ psy_wombats
7874
post=213167post=213130You can reuse RM saves.
"but if they have to restart the game each time, that's gonna get dull."
No they don't, they'll be able to reuse their save files. I'm not using RPG Breaker.
Just as long as the new version isn't substantially different than the old version in terms of the bare bones of the project. I doubt anyone wants to download a new version of a game and find out that now they're stuck in a wall or in the middle of a void in a dungeon map.
SovanJedi
320
A game should take you as long as you feel it needs to take you to polish it to the most exquisite state you can get it to be.
If you find it's taking you "too long", then mayhaps you have some motivational issues, or you're just trying to deal with too much. Try scaling it back a bit from your original proposal and see how that goes.
If you find it's taking you "too long", then mayhaps you have some motivational issues, or you're just trying to deal with too much. Try scaling it back a bit from your original proposal and see how that goes.
boos405
636
Truth is, even the developer can't be certain.
It's just how long it takes until you feel satisfied enough to calling it "complete". When it is a project you are serious about, a good approach would be to keep working on it until you think it's enjoyable for the players, even if that means editing every element of the game further after it's "completed".
Quite a few completed projects I have played aren't that enjoyable and thus the "complete" project is made up of broken mechanics or bad maps or something that could have made the project so much better if only the developer looked back and polished it out more. I'd barely call those games "complete". (Thinking about a particular site in mind, not sure what the pattern is like here yet.)
You could still estimate how long this game will take to "complete" by creating a time plan. You may like that.
I.e. Some organised sheet with how many hours you'll work on it every day/week/month to give you a rough prediction. That's only a prediction because plans rarely follow out as you fully hoped.
It's just how long it takes until you feel satisfied enough to calling it "complete". When it is a project you are serious about, a good approach would be to keep working on it until you think it's enjoyable for the players, even if that means editing every element of the game further after it's "completed".
Quite a few completed projects I have played aren't that enjoyable and thus the "complete" project is made up of broken mechanics or bad maps or something that could have made the project so much better if only the developer looked back and polished it out more. I'd barely call those games "complete". (Thinking about a particular site in mind, not sure what the pattern is like here yet.)
You could still estimate how long this game will take to "complete" by creating a time plan. You may like that.
I.e. Some organised sheet with how many hours you'll work on it every day/week/month to give you a rough prediction. That's only a prediction because plans rarely follow out as you fully hoped.
WolfCoder
3554
post=213134
You fail to remember that with a billion games, people are always looking for fresh. If they have to play chapter one over and over and over with each release. Will people keep YOUR game on their PC? When you release a new episode once every month or two and other people don't know when you're releasing.
"If they have to play chapter one over and over and over with each release. Will people keep YOUR game on their PC?"
Didn't you hear me the first time? They don't have to start over.
"When you release a new episode once every month or two and other people don't know when you're releasing."
Except for about 32 people and counting.
post=213167post=213130You can reuse RM saves.
"but if they have to restart the game each time, that's gonna get dull."
No they don't, they'll be able to reuse their save files. I'm not using RPG Breaker.
I've actually designed my save records to support agnostic game loading. You can even resume a game save after updating on a map which I removed from the game without a problem and can leave the map just fine.
Let's say you played chapter 1 and saved on some map I decided was a problem or didn't add much. I release chapter 2 with that map completely missing. You can update and resume with little problem (just get out of that map to be safe). A person starting fresh from chapter 2 and on won't even know about the map.
Quite different from RPG Baker.
Radnen
1806
I agree with WolfCoder, my game updates can be released as a patch, and if done proper, there should be no reason to start over. I will be able to create seamless patches (unless I do something kinda weird and modify the level formulas, even then I can still code a "remodification" formula, to note the game is not highly stat oriented).
But I do agree with the fact that if I release a chapter, I might not want to work on it again (or for a long period of time). This is what ultimately gives me pause for concern.
I do know that with a coded video game, I'm always looking to optimizing my code (which is not necessarily making it better, but faster, or more reliable). Because "better" is really a function of usability. You can code a fast and efficient battle system, but it may still be crap, which is definitely not better. And I must balance the time spent here.
Right now, I've been dabbling with game state (good to know if you are in the industry), but when my project was first created I didn't have a game state handler (even if I had hard-coded game state). Therefore I'm on the fence if right now is the best time to introduce this: Good news is that I don't have too many menus made yet.
But I do agree with the fact that if I release a chapter, I might not want to work on it again (or for a long period of time). This is what ultimately gives me pause for concern.
I do know that with a coded video game, I'm always looking to optimizing my code (which is not necessarily making it better, but faster, or more reliable). Because "better" is really a function of usability. You can code a fast and efficient battle system, but it may still be crap, which is definitely not better. And I must balance the time spent here.
Right now, I've been dabbling with game state (good to know if you are in the industry), but when my project was first created I didn't have a game state handler (even if I had hard-coded game state). Therefore I'm on the fence if right now is the best time to introduce this: Good news is that I don't have too many menus made yet.
WolfCoder
3554
Hah, my code is incredibly sloppy and could be much faster, but it doesn't need to be so I leave it alone and move as fast as possible.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
My last game took almost eight years from start until its first public release. Another year since then of updates, with anywere from a week to a couple months in between each update.
If I ever think of more things to add to it, I will. It's never done. Only reason I'm starting a new game at all is to remake it in an engine that has scripting, so that I can do the things I really want to do.
If I ever think of more things to add to it, I will. It's never done. Only reason I'm starting a new game at all is to remake it in an engine that has scripting, so that I can do the things I really want to do.
Releasing episodes or multiple demos loses interest quick.I'm fine with people not replaying it. People who haven't played it before will have a better game to play.
Darkflamewolf
2178
Honestly, don't worry about the length of time it takes to get your game right. Like LockeZ, I'm coming up on 6 years now working on Amulet of Fate and it isn't 25% done yet. Granted, I threw out everything and rebuilt it from the ground up 3-4 times because I wasn't sure myself what the final end product would be. Now that I've got a more firmer grasp on what I truly want for the game, things are going faster. But it is still going to take a few years more before its finally finished. So I wouldn't be surprised if mine also took almost eight years as well.
