Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
If you use an @yahoo.com email or any related Yahoo services, they have blocked us also due to "user complaints"
-UE
I want to create a video game
I know what I want to make.
I know what kind of inventory system to use. I know what underlying combat mechanics I want. I know what kind of visual style I want. I've sketched out a plot, characters, a dialog system and controls. I've even done some character design and learned a bit about voice work. I've sketched out a campaign map with forty thousand years of history and believable yet awesome and fantastic cultures.
I lack any technical abilities whatsoever in actually programming a game. Furthermore, I've discovered that I'm one of those people who never can get the hang of programming. And even if I did either know how to program or had friends who could, I wouldn't know the first thing about making the game.
This bugs me.
Comments
I've noticed that there does seem to be a club forming.
Actually, it might be kind of nice if we did an IJBM project where we collectively made a simple game, building on an older engine like Morrowind's Gamebryo.
See, I'm good at everything BUT programming.
Gameplay? I got that shit DOWN. Character theory? I'm awesome. Storytelling? Generic but decent. Writing? Pretty good. I even have a few ideas about basic mechanics.
But I couldn't in a thousand years be a good programmer.
^^ What if I ask REALLY NICELY?
Hm. That's true.
But here's the biggest problem I'd have with using Gamebryo: Morrowind's built-in mechanics. They're hard coded into the game. And I'm imagining an isometric tactical RPG, which isn't exactly Morrowind's forte.
My secret? I designed my games to be completable by one person with limited time and little ability as an artist or programmer. It's much easier to complete a game when you can see yourself easily finishing it.
Your best bet for a game engine is Unity. It requires only minimal programming knowledge, there are reams and reams of tutorials and free assets you can use, and as long as you make less than $100,100 from your game, it's free.
UDK is an option, but the engine is supposedly much harder to use.
I've got around seven weapon groups planned: Blade, Blunt, Polearm, Axe, Bow, Crossbow, Firearm. The melee weapons have about five actual weapons per group, while bows, firearms and crossbows only have about three each.
I'm thinking about a party cap of the player plus six NPCs. That way you'd have a pretty good chance of covering your bases with regards to healing, fighting, thieving and the like.
Spells come in several flavors: Arcane and Mysticism. The former operates on a sort of Vancian/time-based hybrid, where each spell has a cool-down period before you can use them again, and you have to discover scrolls in order to prepare new spells. The latter operates using a principle called Anima, which is otherwise identical to mana mechanics in other games. I'm thinking about titling the game Anima, since so much of the plot and setting is based around the soul.
The basic mechanics would be really simple. There'd be only four attributes - Agility, Intellect, Might and Spirit. The "core" four classes are based around each attribute, with thieves using Agility, mages using Intellect, warriors using Might and clerics using Spirit. As you level up, you can either choose to stay within your original class or level up into a new one. For instance, a Priest who levels up and wants to be more like a Mage can become a Daemonologist, while a Mage who wants to be more like a Warrior can become a Warden.
Is this game going to be sprite based or polygon based? If it's the latter, you may want to try a hybrid solution where smaller, less important objects are represented as sprite billboards.
Ahah. That's the stuff that I have not been working on. But I'll try to help you.
First off, only plot relevant people would have names. Nameless NPCs - in addition to NPCs with no character levels - would have models, whether it's Slave, Peasant, Commoner, Merchant, Craftsman or Nobleman. Certain schedules, like "go home and sleep" would be necessary, as would some "wander" or "work" tasks. They wouldn't really need to interact all that much; background noise and sound effects would give the impression of people working and talking to one another.
Dialog options would be fairly simple outside of quests. The main character should be able to talk about rumors - "Is there anything interesting going on in town?" - directions, advice and "little secrets" that might point out clues to where a quest is going on. For merchants or craftsmen, you'd be able to ask "Let me see your wares" before opening up the inventory dialog screen.
I'm still working on the crunch. I know that things like Broadswords would add +4 to your Attack Power, making it more likely for you to cause damage, but I'm still working on it.
EDIT: ^^ I'm okay with sprites. I think that it'll be easier to design characters that way, and will prevent the character design to get any more complicated. I am, however, in favor of using polygons, because character design theory states that the silhouette is the most immediately recognizable characteristic of a character, making it a more appealing choice in general. I want it to be possible to immediately tell whether someone's a wizard, fighter, thief or priest.
I don't think the animations really need to be all that complex. Without motion capture technology, the more complicated the animations, the creepier it looks.
We'd just need things like walking, running, attacking, various kinds of talking, and ideally some empty space so we could add animations later.
EDIT: Alright, my little cousin really wants to play. I'll be back to this thread later tonight.