Colony of Gamers Community Game?

[Serapth]

Originally Posted by Voodoo

I just talked with the Starfarer developer and he suggested the LWJGL as well. He sent me the projects webpage for other examples of what has been done - http://www.lwjgl.org/projects.php

It's a bit horse before the cart but you really need to pick on a game and assemble a team before getting down to the particulars like choosing an engine.


To pimp my own stuff, this guide goes into extreme detail about the most popular languages and choices to go with them. Yes, it includes LWJGL.

[kyrieee]

Guys, think small.
Then think even smaller again.

Unless you have a programmer with a decent amount of experience you should forget about doing anything more ambitious than say a PacMan or Tetris clone. Right now you're probably all disagreeing with me in your heads, but I dare you to prove me wrong. If you have the knowledge required to make PacMan then you can make it in no time at all. If you don't, well then you're going to have to learn a ton while making it and it'll build a foundation for making more complex games.

Even in PacMan there's room for music, 2D art / animation, different level designs, new game design and hell, maybe even some writing.

The tools don't matter. Nowadays there's an abundance of good, user friendly tools. If one of you knows Java then pick the Java API. Your existing knowledge is much more important than the featureset of the tools. Maybe you think I'm too negative, or condescending, but people don't know what it takes to make a game until they try. Having a grand idea for your first game is like picking up an instrument for the first time and trying to play something written for a virtuoso.

[Hawkzombie]

Well, I think Voodoo is on board if we use LWJGL...unless he's just really pushing it because of some weird Pro-Java agenda

I have no clue ho experienced he is...but I agree it NEEDS a programmer first, and hopefully a well-versed one who is willing to do the majority of the work (more than one would be ideal, actually)

[Voodoo]

Originally Posted by Hawkzombie

Well, I think Voodoo is on board if we use LWJGL...unless he's just really pushing it because of some weird Pro-Java agenda

[Hawkzombie]

Ok, that got me good. Well played

[Akion-Totocha]

I'd love this to actually be true. Even if I can't provide much else, I can be the team motivator/nagger. After all, everything needs a woman's touch~

Story writing or in-game descriptions.

Sound effects, but not music. (Maybe small tunes, 10-15 seconds)

Voice acting.

Funding.

That's about it for stuff I've actually done before. Anything else I'd be learning from scratch, (I've made a sim-date game in RenPy before. It's python based, but simplified)

I self-taught myself photoshop, starting at aged 6, but only have PSE6 at the moment. (I will be getting CS5, soon, when I buy a new mac, as this one won't be able to handle it.)

Any other areas where I can help, I will. Absolutely. Anything I can do, I will. I've a fair amount of time to put into this. (Quite a lot, actually) I don't mind working alone a little, but arranged "team meetings" over a chat client help a lot with team projects like this.

[Akion-Totocha]

Originally Posted by Serapth

... See what happens when you dont have a dictatorship? Someone has to take full ownership, come to a consensus on key aspects of the game, create a basic design doc and start breaking work into assignable tasks or frankly a month or a year from now, this thread will be in an identical state.

If that's the case, then I can take that role. I'm good at dictatorship management and rational logic-based thinking. I've no experience in any kind of real game making, but if someone tells me what I need to take care of/know about, I can crack the whip and get everything sorted. I'm incredibly organized, and I've been itching to take some form of command over this project. The only reason why I didn't check the box is that I have no experience managing a gaming project.

-Sorry for the double post

[Serapth]

Originally Posted by Akion-Totocha

If that's the case, then I can take that role. I'm good at dictatorship management and rational logic-based thinking. I've no experience in any kind of real game making, but if someone tells me what I need to take care of/know about, I can crack the whip and get everything sorted. I'm incredibly organized, and I've been itching to take some form of command over this project. The only reason why I didn't check the box is that I have no experience managing a gaming project.

-Sorry for the double post

Design a game, then beat the shit out of us to the point we follow and implement your dreams.

[Voodoo]

This might be obvious to many but something has been bothering me. Recently, the Star Command game by War Balloon stated that they haven't raised enough money through kick starter to fund their game. I don't follow though because it appears, to me at least, that if you are working a full time job still and are developing on a platform (Android) which doesn't have an associated license cost & with the free tools and engines available ... well ... what costs would someone get hit with during development?

If we want to build something I think that this would be a good starting point to see what it is, exactly, that these indie developers are hit with while building a game.

[J Arcane]

Well, War Balloons problem from what I could see was two fold: 1) They drastically underestimated the cost of their reward structure, so half their budget disappeared to that. 2) they underestimated/overspent on business costs and fees. They spent something like $4,000 on a lawyer and incorporation fees and such, which seems ludicrous for a two-man team.

[Voodoo]

Originally Posted by J Arcane

Well, War Balloons problem from what I could see was two fold: 1) They drastically underestimated the cost of their reward structure, so half their budget disappeared to that. 2) they underestimated/overspent on business costs and fees. They spent something like $4,000 on a lawyer and incorporation fees and such, which seems ludicrous for a two-man team.

That's interesting. The other day I read where the Braid developer spent a crazy amount of cash too during the 3 years he took creating his game. I'm not sure if he continued to work full time though.

1] Solar powered calculator & a scale - those guys make me LoL

2] I was thinking the same. Whomever the lawyer was must have been like this guy...

[MagGnome]

Yeah, that list War Balloons released of their "actual funds" received from Kickstarter is a total joke. They included iPads on there, a trip to PAX, hiring lawyers, and a few other things that have nothing to do with Kickstarter.

Instead of trying to make Kickstarter look bad, they should admit that they didn't think their budget through before starting to raise funds.

Frankly, if I had donated to that particular fund I would be pissed. Not at Kickstarter, but at the developers for seemingly being incompetent and using a large portion of the money on things that have nothing to do with the game's development.

[Voodoo]

Originally Posted by MagGnome

Yeah, that list they released of their "actual funds" received from Kickstarter is a total joke. They included iPads on there, a trip to PAX, hiring lawyers, and a few other things that have nothing to do with Kickstarter.

Instead of trying to make Kickstarter look bad, they should admit that they didn't think their budget through before starting to raise funds.

I agree.

What I'm trying to get to here, though, is what normal costs would be associated with their project if they had stayed on Android & not done the rest of the very inappropriate things. When the project was originally announced, it was an Android game that would be eventually ported to iOS. So, if they had stayed with that plan, I wonder what costs would have been like.

[J Arcane]

A lot if those were for backer rewards, Mags.

[Voodoo]

Originally Posted by Serapth

It's a bit horse before the cart but you really need to pick on a game and assemble a team before getting down to the particulars like choosing an engine.


To pimp my own stuff, this guide goes into extreme detail about the most popular languages and choices to go with them. Yes, it includes LWJGL.

Your guide is extremely well done.

[Ink Asylum]

Originally Posted by MagGnome

Instead of trying to make Kickstarter look bad, they should admit that they didn't think their budget through before starting to raise funds.

They are admitting that, and since they were in the Kickstarter room at PAX I don't think they're trying to slag the site.

Their article is a warning to small indie game companies to not make the same mistakes they made. I found it to be a very contrite admission, aimed at informing their backers and improving the Kickstarter experience for other developers. Here's part of what they said in their statement:

All that said though, its been great and the game would not be where it is if it wasn't for kickstarter. We're extremely confident were going to hit our summer release date and that never would have happened without you guys. We have made a game we're really, really proud of and you guys should be too. We have always felt an obligation to make your investment worth it, and hopefully we dont disappoint.

[Serapth]

Originally Posted by Voodoo

Your guide is extremely well done.

Thanks.

[Hawkzombie]

I think if we're going to be serious about re-starting this project/idea we need a clear cut idea of the scope of the game, what kind of game, and lastly, what sort of design we want for the game.

From there we can decide which programming language best suits our needs, and what sort of other extras and additional materials we'll need along the way.

We also need a leader sort to keep the project on track. To keep costs low everyone involved should volunteer their time, and if it ends up being a commercial project we can deal with that as we go.

[Voodoo]

Originally Posted by Hawkzombie

I think if we're going to be serious about re-starting this project/idea we need a clear cut idea of the scope of the game, what kind of game, and lastly, what sort of design we want for the game.

From there we can decide which programming language best suits our needs, and what sort of other extras and additional materials we'll need along the way.

We also need a leader sort to keep the project on track. To keep costs low everyone involved should volunteer their time, and if it ends up being a commercial project we can deal with that as we go.

I like that. Professionally, I'm an IT Director so I could lead this great band of somethings.

[AntonThaGreat]

I'm definitely still interested if someone wants to take the lead. Unfortunately, as predicted, life did get in the way.

I can help with UI design (hud, menu, etc), texturing and level design on my free time.