Any advice for starting a small indy game development?
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Me and some friends are starting to create a Xbox 360 game, would take about 8 - 12 months to complete! :-D Does anyone have any advice/ideas that can help the development process (were working mostly online)? Thanks ! :laugh:
venomation wrote:
Does anyone have any advice/ideas that can help the development process
Coffee. Loads and loads of it. And then some more. Did I mention coffee yet?
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." (DNA)
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John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
Think of all the time you'll free up
I have too much free time :laugh:
Take up a sport. Join the U.S. Primate Paddling Team. You can practice on your own time and without any other team members being present.
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001 -
Take up a sport. Join the U.S. Primate Paddling Team. You can practice on your own time and without any other team members being present.
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001 -
Me and some friends are starting to create a Xbox 360 game, would take about 8 - 12 months to complete! :-D Does anyone have any advice/ideas that can help the development process (were working mostly online)? Thanks ! :laugh:
1. Get some kind of distributed SCM tool, like Git or Mercurial. 2. If you are estimating 8-12 months to complete, you have not estimated it right (you still have 50% error, which makes me thing you don't have appropriate specs). Be more precise. Then double it. 3. Consider that half of your friends may (or will) drop out before the project is gone. Does any of them have a specific talent that the rest of the team doesn't? Have backups for everyone, start learning what only one team member knows. 4. Who will give the final word when passionate people want things done in their own way?
I see dead pixels Yes, even I am blogging now!
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Dalek Dave wrote:
working offline, right?
Sorry, what I meant was that we will be developing over the internet possibly using a shared folder or something. I heard of "drop box" being an ok program to share a folder but I feel that we may run into code swapping problems ? :-D
Look for a free distributed source control system. A friend of mine mentioned one to me last night and said it was bloody good, but I can't remember the name. There are also free bug tracking programs available too, so you can all keep track of the issues that come up during programming.
Pete
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1. Get some kind of distributed SCM tool, like Git or Mercurial. 2. If you are estimating 8-12 months to complete, you have not estimated it right (you still have 50% error, which makes me thing you don't have appropriate specs). Be more precise. Then double it. 3. Consider that half of your friends may (or will) drop out before the project is gone. Does any of them have a specific talent that the rest of the team doesn't? Have backups for everyone, start learning what only one team member knows. 4. Who will give the final word when passionate people want things done in their own way?
I see dead pixels Yes, even I am blogging now!
Daniel Turini wrote:
4. Who will give the final word when passionate people want things done in their own way?
The female member.
Henry Minute Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?" “I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.”
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Me and some friends are starting to create a Xbox 360 game, would take about 8 - 12 months to complete! :-D Does anyone have any advice/ideas that can help the development process (were working mostly online)? Thanks ! :laugh:
you need : - online/collaborative whiteboard. - online/collaborative net-meetings. - software development tools and SDK (xbox stuff) - software design and requirements. - a good "game" plan. (pun intended) - online source control system (for example collab.net) - a lot of time (more than you imagine) - a good graphical artist (3d modeler, ... ) - good understanding of game level development ...
Watched code never compiles.
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Me and some friends are starting to create a Xbox 360 game, would take about 8 - 12 months to complete! :-D Does anyone have any advice/ideas that can help the development process (were working mostly online)? Thanks ! :laugh:
You definitely need a source-control system, as mentioned above. And probably a bug tracker too. Don't even think about a "drop-box". And here´s another idea: Complete a really simple game first, with all team members together. This to make everybody familiar with the team tools & process. Good luck
..................... Life is too shor
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Me and some friends are starting to create a Xbox 360 game, would take about 8 - 12 months to complete! :-D Does anyone have any advice/ideas that can help the development process (were working mostly online)? Thanks ! :laugh:
Use XNA, so that you will not have to deal with every little detail of DirectX
A while ago he asked me what he should have printed on my business cards. I said 'Wizard'. I read books which nobody else understand. Then I do something which nobody understands. After that the computer does something which nobody understands. When asked, I say things about the results which nobody understand. But everybody expects miracles from me on a regular basis. Looks to me like the classical definition of a wizard.
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Look for a free distributed source control system. A friend of mine mentioned one to me last night and said it was bloody good, but I can't remember the name. There are also free bug tracking programs available too, so you can all keep track of the issues that come up during programming.
Pete
Thanks I will look into that ! :-D
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Me and some friends are starting to create a Xbox 360 game, would take about 8 - 12 months to complete! :-D Does anyone have any advice/ideas that can help the development process (were working mostly online)? Thanks ! :laugh:
Game development is often hindered by two things, 1) differing visions and 2) differing loads of work. When you have a team working together for free and the visions differ the amount of work by the team members whose ideas have been quashed will approach zero. Also, there are just bad apples who will not contribute but will expect full credit. Spell out the exact obligation of each member IN WRITING before beginning; also finalize as much as possible the vision.
Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. I also do Android Programming as I find it a refreshing break from the MS. "And they, since they Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs" -- Robert Frost
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1. Get some kind of distributed SCM tool, like Git or Mercurial. 2. If you are estimating 8-12 months to complete, you have not estimated it right (you still have 50% error, which makes me thing you don't have appropriate specs). Be more precise. Then double it. 3. Consider that half of your friends may (or will) drop out before the project is gone. Does any of them have a specific talent that the rest of the team doesn't? Have backups for everyone, start learning what only one team member knows. 4. Who will give the final word when passionate people want things done in their own way?
I see dead pixels Yes, even I am blogging now!
Daniel Turini wrote:
1. Get some kind of distributed SCM tool, like Git or Mercurial.
Will do !
Daniel Turini wrote:
2. If you are estimating 8-12 months to complete, you have not estimated it right (you still have 50% error, which makes me thing you don't have appropriate specs). Be more precise. Then double it.
The estimate is more like a dead line which should force us to try really hard!
Daniel Turini wrote:
3. Consider that half of your friends may (or will) drop out before the project is gone. Does any of them have a specific talent that the rest of the team doesn't? Have backups for everyone, start learning what only one team member knows.
Already considered that (including for my self)however my friends are quite skilled and we want some experience working in a team.
Daniel Turini wrote:
4. Who will give the final word when passionate people want things done in their own way?
Every one will have a say in the game some way or another, we will all have to sacrifice vision sometime so why not now? :laugh: Thanks :P
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you need : - online/collaborative whiteboard. - online/collaborative net-meetings. - software development tools and SDK (xbox stuff) - software design and requirements. - a good "game" plan. (pun intended) - online source control system (for example collab.net) - a lot of time (more than you imagine) - a good graphical artist (3d modeler, ... ) - good understanding of game level development ...
Watched code never compiles.
Very good thanks ! :laugh:
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You definitely need a source-control system, as mentioned above. And probably a bug tracker too. Don't even think about a "drop-box". And here´s another idea: Complete a really simple game first, with all team members together. This to make everybody familiar with the team tools & process. Good luck
..................... Life is too shor
megaadam wrote:
Complete a really simple game first
Thinking of doing that sometime this week actually :laugh: Pretty imperative really xD
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Use XNA, so that you will not have to deal with every little detail of DirectX
A while ago he asked me what he should have printed on my business cards. I said 'Wizard'. I read books which nobody else understand. Then I do something which nobody understands. After that the computer does something which nobody understands. When asked, I say things about the results which nobody understand. But everybody expects miracles from me on a regular basis. Looks to me like the classical definition of a wizard.
CDP1802 wrote:
Use XNA
Exactly what were using :cool:
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Dalek Dave wrote:
working offline, right?
Sorry, what I meant was that we will be developing over the internet possibly using a shared folder or something. I heard of "drop box" being an ok program to share a folder but I feel that we may run into code swapping problems ? :-D
I think Peter is referring to either GIT or Subversion - GIT is supposed to be good (never tried it) Subversion works (which is why I've never tried GIT). Both have major advantages over just dumping code for sharing - rollbacks, merging, that sort of thing.
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together.
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Game development is often hindered by two things, 1) differing visions and 2) differing loads of work. When you have a team working together for free and the visions differ the amount of work by the team members whose ideas have been quashed will approach zero. Also, there are just bad apples who will not contribute but will expect full credit. Spell out the exact obligation of each member IN WRITING before beginning; also finalize as much as possible the vision.
Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. I also do Android Programming as I find it a refreshing break from the MS. "And they, since they Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs" -- Robert Frost
Ennis Ray Lynch, Jr. wrote:
differing visions
We will try and share a vision by allowing every one to have some input into the game!
Ennis Ray Lynch, Jr. wrote:
differing loads of work.
We have a project manager who can deal with that stuff however we do have individual roles based on strengths/weaknesses and it is (i'm sure this is rare..) - Balanced ;)
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I think it depends on what you knead. If he's trying to make some bread from this experience, but all he's going to end up with is a bread of flours. Of course, I'm just trying get a rise out of him. If he gets tired of this discourse, he'll just pop down to the local pub, get toasted, and hang out with his not-quite-upper-crust friends.
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001
