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Zero to Many Review Challenge 2!
So, I have an internship opportunity, but...
...I have no published work.
A conundrum, to say the least. I need to send in a cover letter, a resume, and examples of game design work in the application - which is due January 31st. Now, I've been working on my personal project for about 2 years as a hobby (among other things, I've been busy, scrapped and re-scrapped it, forgotten about it, etc.) and while it's in a good place now it's certainly not finished. I'm also working on a team making an iPad game, as well as another team making a Flash game for a class.
The Flash game will certainly be done by December (when the class ends) although it will be short and sweet. The iPad game will likely be just started. It's possible I could also make a demo of my game, but the application asks for "proven skill to complete projects".
I don't know what to do! I was thinking about doing a game over a short time-span (like 3 weeks or a month or the usual contest lengths) and I could make a potentially fun game in that time that would be short but complete and hopefully fun.
Suggestions? I would honestly kill for an internship like this, I'm craving for a way to sink my teeth into raw experience.
A conundrum, to say the least. I need to send in a cover letter, a resume, and examples of game design work in the application - which is due January 31st. Now, I've been working on my personal project for about 2 years as a hobby (among other things, I've been busy, scrapped and re-scrapped it, forgotten about it, etc.) and while it's in a good place now it's certainly not finished. I'm also working on a team making an iPad game, as well as another team making a Flash game for a class.
The Flash game will certainly be done by December (when the class ends) although it will be short and sweet. The iPad game will likely be just started. It's possible I could also make a demo of my game, but the application asks for "proven skill to complete projects".
I don't know what to do! I was thinking about doing a game over a short time-span (like 3 weeks or a month or the usual contest lengths) and I could make a potentially fun game in that time that would be short but complete and hopefully fun.
Suggestions? I would honestly kill for an internship like this, I'm craving for a way to sink my teeth into raw experience.
People want what they can't have.
post=204783
I've always felt metroidvania type games were the best, and alot of it has to do with the mechanic being presented here. Like when there'll a room that's just out of jumping range, and you can't ever quite get there.. well they give you the Hi-Jump in Metroid. SOTN gives you the Double-jump. Blaster Master gives you the Hover mechanic.
Zelda does this well too! They give you a hookshot, they give you the pegasus boots, they give you all sorts of stuff! But what's important is they show you that these places exist, so once you DO get the item that allows you to reach those areas, you immediately think "OH! So THAT'S how I get up there!"
I always loved that in Zelda. You can see the little hookshot pads and go "efffff I want that item right now gimme gimme"
In newer Zelda games it's fun to try and guess what the game will give me. I'll think it'll be a hookshot and it'll end up being magnetic gloves or a cane that creates blocks or something. Once you've beaten a couple of Zelda dungeons, you know how it works, and the most fun part of the game becomes (for me) getting new dungeon items and dicking around with them. I'd say Zelda does it very well.
Lowering your standards and finishing your game
You'd never imagine it would be hard to follow the advice "keep it simple" but it always is. Great article.
Which came first: The Story or the Gameplay?
Gameplay = Mechanics = the parts of the game that are controlled by the player, and usually result in tangible, non-lore-based rewards. Most "systems" fall under gameplay, including Battle Systems, Item Systems, Menu Systems, Alchemy Systems, Sprint Systems, puzzles, dungeons, bosses, etc.
Story = Theme = includes everything involving the plot, the purpose, the reason, the motive, the non-explanatory dialogue, the characters, etc.
There we go, because I knew someone would ask eventually :P
I'm kind of surprised how many people said gameplay. I agree that most FPS, Action, and Sports game were probably started with gameplay in mind, but I wouldn't be surprised if several mainstream RPGs started with a unrefined story and had gameplay elements added in later. It could be a coin-toss.
Just to clarify - I wasn't asking what you consider more important to a good game (it's been done), but what inspired you to start making your game in the first place. I love my story and it's why I started, but recently I've realized I'll need solid gameplay to hold it up.
Story = Theme = includes everything involving the plot, the purpose, the reason, the motive, the non-explanatory dialogue, the characters, etc.
There we go, because I knew someone would ask eventually :P
I'm kind of surprised how many people said gameplay. I agree that most FPS, Action, and Sports game were probably started with gameplay in mind, but I wouldn't be surprised if several mainstream RPGs started with a unrefined story and had gameplay elements added in later. It could be a coin-toss.
Just to clarify - I wasn't asking what you consider more important to a good game (it's been done), but what inspired you to start making your game in the first place. I love my story and it's why I started, but recently I've realized I'll need solid gameplay to hold it up.
Which came first: The Story or the Gameplay?
People write music in various orders. Some hear a few chords and pull a song and lyrics out of it, some start with lyrics and a story and just create music for it. There's no one perfect way to write a song.
What inspires you to start a game: A good storyline that you created, or a good idea for gameplay?
Now, seeing as this is a primarily RPG-based site, and RPGs are often very heavy in storyline compared to other games (as opposed to puzzle or sports games, or even many action games), I would not be surprised to hear that many people started with an idea for a story. That's how my current project began - it spawned from a sprawling story I began writing in my head at fourteen that I felt compelled to tell in some medium. I started with the story, and followed up by trying out some new, potentially exciting battle systems so the player would enjoy the gameplay as well.
On the other hand, the games on this site often try to draw people in with their unique gameplay, and I wouldn't be surprised if several games spawned solely because the author thought of a cool battle engine. A project I'm doing for a Flash class (a retro-dungeon-crawler) evolved solely from gameplay (mostly because I don't know flash and am trying to be realistic).
So how did your game start? Do you always start your games the same way? Does one feel more right than the other? Or did something completely different inspire your game, like a soundtrack or a quote?
What inspires you to start a game: A good storyline that you created, or a good idea for gameplay?
Now, seeing as this is a primarily RPG-based site, and RPGs are often very heavy in storyline compared to other games (as opposed to puzzle or sports games, or even many action games), I would not be surprised to hear that many people started with an idea for a story. That's how my current project began - it spawned from a sprawling story I began writing in my head at fourteen that I felt compelled to tell in some medium. I started with the story, and followed up by trying out some new, potentially exciting battle systems so the player would enjoy the gameplay as well.
On the other hand, the games on this site often try to draw people in with their unique gameplay, and I wouldn't be surprised if several games spawned solely because the author thought of a cool battle engine. A project I'm doing for a Flash class (a retro-dungeon-crawler) evolved solely from gameplay (mostly because I don't know flash and am trying to be realistic).
So how did your game start? Do you always start your games the same way? Does one feel more right than the other? Or did something completely different inspire your game, like a soundtrack or a quote?
Elemental Weaknesses (and battles that make you think)
So here's a question, although it pretty just comes down to a case-by-case basis:
What kind of multiplier do you use for EW? Do you use a x3 so that the person will always use that skill once he knows he should? Or do you use a x1.5 so you do bonus damage but it's not always guaranteed that the spell is completely necessary?
Even further questions - what if there are differences in the spells being cast beside the element? FF7 had Fire/Ice/Lightning that were the same spell unless it took advantage of a weakness. In my current project, I also tacked on an effect to each spell type - Fire spells have a chance to set fire to enemies (damage over time), Water spells slow enemies (halve AGI) and Earth spells cause other debuffs (halve Atk/Def/Mag).
Up until now I had spells using EW doing triple damage, which means that there really is no substitute for that spell - it will almost always be the best choice. After reading this topic though, I think I should reduce it to x1.5 or x2. That way, an enemy that happens to be weak to fire might still be hit with water attacks sometimes (just to reapply the Slow debuff) and would allow for some cycling (thus making the battle more interesting) instead of just always using Fire.
What kind of multiplier do you use for EW? Do you use a x3 so that the person will always use that skill once he knows he should? Or do you use a x1.5 so you do bonus damage but it's not always guaranteed that the spell is completely necessary?
Even further questions - what if there are differences in the spells being cast beside the element? FF7 had Fire/Ice/Lightning that were the same spell unless it took advantage of a weakness. In my current project, I also tacked on an effect to each spell type - Fire spells have a chance to set fire to enemies (damage over time), Water spells slow enemies (halve AGI) and Earth spells cause other debuffs (halve Atk/Def/Mag).
Up until now I had spells using EW doing triple damage, which means that there really is no substitute for that spell - it will almost always be the best choice. After reading this topic though, I think I should reduce it to x1.5 or x2. That way, an enemy that happens to be weak to fire might still be hit with water attacks sometimes (just to reapply the Slow debuff) and would allow for some cycling (thus making the battle more interesting) instead of just always using Fire.
cutscenes
I agree that it's likely the community bias, and I believe it's likely because that in an amateur game-making community, there are so many bad cutscenes that people demand skip buttons for every game (and if it's there, people are likely to use it).
I will never put a skip cutscene button in my game. My cutscenes are short and entertaining and I think the people who really want to replay it will live through it. Call me stubborn.
(The only time where I could see a skip button being useful would be for long-ass cutscenes before bosses that will kick your ass)
I will never put a skip cutscene button in my game. My cutscenes are short and entertaining and I think the people who really want to replay it will live through it. Call me stubborn.
(The only time where I could see a skip button being useful would be for long-ass cutscenes before bosses that will kick your ass)
cutscenes
Okay, just to clarify, Proceed With Movement basically runs everything after it after the current move actions are taken? So if I wanted someone to move and then wait a second before talking, I could put:
Move Action
Proceed With Movement
Wait 1.0s
Dialogue "blah blah blah"
And it would work? I'd be ready to murder someone for not telling me this earlier but now I just can't wait to get to the next cutscene and try this out.
Oh, and on topic, skippable cutscenes may sound nice (especially for repeat players) but that essentially means that you cannot put any valuable information within the cutscene or the players will miss it. Granted you should have NPCs to remind you to go to 'The Desert Village' and how to get there, but if you repeat the cutscene word for word it's gonna dirty up your game.
"Okay now we have to go kill Sephiroth"
"Wait, who is he? Why are we killing him?"
"Because he set fire to Nibelheim and killed your mom!"
"But I thought we were going after President Shinra!"
"No way, that dude got murdered, weren't you paying attention?"
Skippable cutscenes sound like a mad cop-out for not having to make cutscenes that are actually enjoyable.
Move Action
Proceed With Movement
Wait 1.0s
Dialogue "blah blah blah"
And it would work? I'd be ready to murder someone for not telling me this earlier but now I just can't wait to get to the next cutscene and try this out.
Oh, and on topic, skippable cutscenes may sound nice (especially for repeat players) but that essentially means that you cannot put any valuable information within the cutscene or the players will miss it. Granted you should have NPCs to remind you to go to 'The Desert Village' and how to get there, but if you repeat the cutscene word for word it's gonna dirty up your game.
"Okay now we have to go kill Sephiroth"
"Wait, who is he? Why are we killing him?"
"Because he set fire to Nibelheim and killed your mom!"
"But I thought we were going after President Shinra!"
"No way, that dude got murdered, weren't you paying attention?"
Skippable cutscenes sound like a mad cop-out for not having to make cutscenes that are actually enjoyable.
cutscenes
post=208237
Another good thing about RM cutscenes would be if you guys placed a option to skip some of them. I know I have this feature, as most of my friends are getting annoyed about my 10 minute cutscenes.
If people want to skip your cutscenes, either:
1) The player is really impatient, or
2) You are bad at making cutscenes.
And I don't know if you're exaggerating or not, but there is no reason for a cutscene to be 10 minutes long. No, not ever. No, it's not "just this once". Unless your game remotely calls up a butler serving me medium-rare General Tso's chicken and Dr. Pepper on a silver platter so I can eat it while absentmindedly tapping the Enter key, 10 minutes is too long.
post=208071
Uh... yes. Yes it does. I used it a few thousand times in my RM2K3 game. RM2K has it also. RM95 might not...
In RM2K3 it's directly under Move Event, and its name is Proceed With Movement. In RM2K, it's called something else, but it's in the same place.
wat. This better not exist.
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