Any advice for starting a small indy game development?
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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 -
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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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 ;)
venomation wrote:
We will try and share a vision by allowing every one to have some input into the game!
Is the game called "The Road to Hell"? You could have a puzzle section, where the player has to pave it. Good luck, by the way.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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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:
Well for a start, I think you mean indie. Unless you actually mean Dr Jones in which case Lucasarts might want to talk nasty to you. Keep it simple, get your core gameplay things done first then add your nuts and bolts on later, 8-12 months is going to be either a breeze or brutal depending on how you structure it all. Break it into seperate areas so your friends are working on parts that do not necessarily impact each other. Spend a day a week testing each others work. Get a working prototype ready at the 9 months mark. It should cover your intro screen, at least 3 levels and the goal or target as well as any scoring system you might want. If that's working, great, start putting the flashy things on, if not, something is seriously falling behind.
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Give up now. Think of all the time you'll free up, and your friends will still be your 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, 2001John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
Give up now. Think of all the time you'll free up, and your friends will still be your friends.
Yup. No matter how it starts out, the project could well end up as a first-person shooter. ... Then a second person. Then a third. Etc.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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AFAIK GIT is entirely a CLI application because it was written by linux kernel hackers for linux kernel hackers. Mercurial is also a distributed source control app but has gui tools for sane people to use.
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
Dan Neely wrote:
AFAIK GIT is entirely a CLI application because it was written by linux kernel hackers for linux kernel hackers. Mercurial is also a distributed source control app but has gui tools for sane people to use.
Like Subversion then... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Git_(software)[^] "The TortoiseGit, Git-Cheetah and Git Extensions are Windows Explorer extension clients, as well as a standalone GUI and a Visual Studio 2008 Plug-in. The Git Source Control Provider is another open source Visual Studio plug-in that displays project file status of Git in the solution explorer." So there are GUI addons as well as a VS plug-in (just like SVN). Still haven't tried it though... Who needs this GUI cr@p anyway? It's just a fad - lets get back to DOS! :laugh:
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together.
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CDP1802 wrote:
Use XNA
Exactly what were using :cool:
In that case... ... the best advice is really don't do it :) I have been working on a 'small' game for a while, including a XNA graphics engine. The problem is that you are never finished. There are still more ideas, no matter what you do. Our monster now has 42 projects in the solution folder and is still growing. Our website is not finished and the screenshots in the showcase are a bit dated, but you can have a look here: http://www.forcesofchaos.de/[^]
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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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
-----
"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
-----
"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001 -
Dan Neely wrote:
AFAIK GIT is entirely a CLI application because it was written by linux kernel hackers for linux kernel hackers. Mercurial is also a distributed source control app but has gui tools for sane people to use.
Like Subversion then... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Git_(software)[^] "The TortoiseGit, Git-Cheetah and Git Extensions are Windows Explorer extension clients, as well as a standalone GUI and a Visual Studio 2008 Plug-in. The Git Source Control Provider is another open source Visual Studio plug-in that displays project file status of Git in the solution explorer." So there are GUI addons as well as a VS plug-in (just like SVN). Still haven't tried it though... Who needs this GUI cr@p anyway? It's just a fad - lets get back to DOS! :laugh:
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together.
DOS would be nice an familiar, but I doubt you can access Git in a 'DOS' window. My MsysGit installation uses a bash shell and vim as the editor. :~
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Thanks I will look into that ! :-D
The source control system I was referring to is Mercurial. I've been told to steer clear of GIT. I've used subversion and it dumps alot of crap into the filesystem alongside your code. I also found the tortoise explorer plugin to be slow and a bit flakey.
Pete
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venomation wrote:
Does anyone have any advice/ideas that can help the development process (were working mostly online)?
Yeah. Don't ask programming questions in the lounge. ;) :laugh:
L u n a t i c F r i n g e
Don't ask "don't ask programming questions in the lounge" in the lounge when nobody's asking programming questions in the lounge... :-\
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In that case... ... the best advice is really don't do it :) I have been working on a 'small' game for a while, including a XNA graphics engine. The problem is that you are never finished. There are still more ideas, no matter what you do. Our monster now has 42 projects in the solution folder and is still growing. Our website is not finished and the screenshots in the showcase are a bit dated, but you can have a look here: http://www.forcesofchaos.de/[^]
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:
Our website
It appears the difference is that when we finalize the requirements (functional) we will try and stick to it :-D Your game seems to be very big in the "maintenance" side as its online while the game we will make will probably be client side offline... Thanks again!
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Well for a start, I think you mean indie. Unless you actually mean Dr Jones in which case Lucasarts might want to talk nasty to you. Keep it simple, get your core gameplay things done first then add your nuts and bolts on later, 8-12 months is going to be either a breeze or brutal depending on how you structure it all. Break it into seperate areas so your friends are working on parts that do not necessarily impact each other. Spend a day a week testing each others work. Get a working prototype ready at the 9 months mark. It should cover your intro screen, at least 3 levels and the goal or target as well as any scoring system you might want. If that's working, great, start putting the flashy things on, if not, something is seriously falling behind.
Very handy comment here! Also "
JHizzle wrote:
I think you mean indie.
" is dam right :-D ... I think I may had not mentioned that point yet and its pressing people buzzers a bit... To clarify : Its an Indy game! ... And I think it can be done considering there are some pretty decent flash games that if ported to XNA could be rather decent (and flash is relatively easy)... :-D
