102 replies to this topic

[Jeroen]

Hi there,

Since this is a new forum (and looking very nice!), I was wondering how many visitors of this forum are actually in the process of creating a game? And if you are creating a game, are you doing so on your own or are you working in a team? And what kind of game are you making? Etc etc? Tell me/us, I think it's nice to know what people are working on (what's popular, what's not, etc). :)

Of course, I'll start: I'm creating an easy-to-use level editor with my team. When it is finished (if it ever will be), we might consider creating a fullblown RPG game using this editor. Take a look at:

Delgine Website

for more info! ;)

Bye,
Jeroen

[donBerto]

I, too, am working solo [as of right now] on a 'space' engine. it will be geared towards encapsulating space as a void and space as in terrain. at the very moment, I'm working on my own modeling/skeleton system that will be used by the engine. I spend pretty much all of my free time on it.

why I work solo:
I like the control I have over it's development - I get to say what gets included and what doesn't. granted, it's only me. I mentioned above that I'm doing this solo as of right now. one of my best friends is interested in helping me but he's trying to accomplish his own little project before he offers me any help. we share the same interests and have a similar thought-process so it would be cool to have him on the 'team'. it would be nice to have some help too.

what will I make of it:
the way the engine is designed, it's open for all types of games or simulation-type applications. as of this moment, the type of game I'll probably use my engine for is between FPS or RTS. I have ideas of making hybrids of both as well as other types of games.

I'm a full-time undergrad student so needless to say this isn't going to be completed anytime soon. I started the engine in february of 2002 which included mainly design. I'm constantly looking over code to see if I can simplify or clean it as best as I can.

good thread :yes:

[void]

Can i just make 1 comment: there are so many people developing "Game Engines", sometimes they actually finish as well (rarely). The very disappointing thing is that VERY VERY few people actually go on to make a decent polished game with their engine. And this doesnt mean just a character being able to run through a level and maybe shoot a gun at a wall. A game as in a proper game. It is far far harder to actually make a game than it is to make an engine.

BTW, im currently working on things like a model loader, an advanced particle system, a terrain engine, they arent really part of a single game engine, but some time in the future i might put together a game engine using these parts and actually try to make a game.

[CyraX]

IMHO independent game development *MIGHT* not be sustainable for a long time. It might be just a hobby project - but I seriously feel sad that many of the PPL (read: Geniuses) are just working to ultimately bring out nothing much of use.
Just imagine what might happen if ID Soft were to go to the LinuX community and say - OK we release GPL based Quake III (alreayd Quake II is GPLed) and now on all the engines would be OSS. I can only imagine a great day going on.
However I still maintain that it would be great if GD Forum starts off development of @least ONE game - it must be written in OGL/DirectX whichever the group is ready to work on.
That way we as a forum would have contributed to the GD.
I see that don berto, apex are already working on something similar. However they are working away. I do respect your comments of FREEDOM to develop your game/system etc; dont you think it would be a great team if the two of you get together to create THE SPACE sim?
Who knows - you might make a descent decent...
Hope you take this positiely B)

[baldurk]

well, whenever I see communities trying to create games, most of the time it doesn't work. It would be worth a try, but I think a lot of people here are used to working on their own.

I'd be interested though, if it was possible.

[donBerto]

in response to baldurk's post:
for the most part, I'm a very optimisitic kind of person - I'll give whatever it is I'm doing my best even when the majority has given up. however, because of this I can come off as a bit naive. take OpenCombat.org, a promising community that failed miserably. myself and this person from canada by the handle of zyklon were to only active developers out of 50+. our leader guy [the person who organized] wasn't very good at communication - and for good reason. He came to a point in his life where he couldn't afford to spend much time on 'hobbies'. the leader slowly dropped out of the picture and the project unofficially became mine and zyklons. however, he, too, fell out of the picture and then it was just me - the only one doing any real work. I then 'withdrew', and have been working by myself. I'm sort of discouraged working with people over distances now. in short, you're right and it's sad.

in response to cyrax's post:
that would be a great. I humored the idea of working with apex too. 2 heads are better than one. however, I think distance plays a big part. there might be ideas or what have you that is easier shared in person. I know teleconferencing can handle that now. which leads me to ask this: how many of us in this community have worked or is working with distant partners?

thanks.

[davepermen]

what would be useful is to share components, means what ever gets developed gets combined together. so everyone could do its own game, but with combined resources.

and that way we could stay full platform independent, too. no mather wich api.

[baldurk]

from what I can see, normally you need someone to co-ordinate it. The components have to be easily fitted together, and it's that co-ordination that I see failing and that's what brings down community projects. That and lack of time.

Sorry to be pessimistic, and I'm quite happy to join a group effort, but perhaps we should learn from others mistakes?

[Dia]

Thanks donBerto : yes certainly working with a team is a good idea. Has some advantages and disdvantages though.
One major advantage is that each team member can focus on a specific aspect of the game which definitely reduces down development time.

[donBerto]

apex: you're absolutely right and is the heart of all partnerships - to reduce dev time.

working with a team, though, you lose control. be it design or approach. there will be things that are generally wise to do and that everybody should do and that's fine. it's things like wanting a certain feature done a certain way and a fellow team member may have their own way of designing or implementing that feature which may not go well.

but that's why working with people you know* is key. if you know the person, you can kind of tell how they're going to develop it. better yet, you can let that person know how you want it done. all leading to what baldurk and davepermen are saying. communication and sharing of resources. divide and conquer BUT act as one entity.

:yes:

[DarkLight]

Currently I'm writting a game. It will be Open-source - I whink games should be kept open-source for many reasons. Game is using OpenGL for graphics and have level-editor included. I'm working in a team - I'm writting the game and the main code of the level editor, another person is making textures and writting parts of level editor :)

[vinmar]

I'm writing a SpaceSim game at the moment too. Seems to be quite a fashionable thing to be doing?!?

I think a group project would be fun, even if it didn't work out, you know?

[fringe]

I am still learning bits of openGL but am lacking devotion at the moment. I got a bit sidetracked by Jedi Knight.
I would love to get involved in a project, I don't mind doing grunt work as long as there are long time limits. It would give me lots of incentive to so more learning etc.
Anyway if a new project starts I would like to be involved


fringe

[baldurk]

just a thought to get some brain-cells firing, I'd be interested in doing a game that is like a space-sim, but with a different slant. I'm thinking of a game where you control a ship, either 3rd or 1st person, but not in space, on a planets surface, perhaps even inside somewhere (like descent).

[fringe]

Ideas are hard :confused:

I like the idea of a ship based game (ships are easy to draw). I am a bit tired of just shotting things though maybe we could makeit resource collecting or trade orientated. For instance you own a minning ship you start bvy collecting resources and taking them toi the local "market" through enimies or tricky tunnels or something. You can upgrade yourminning efforts with automated robots and you can seek out new minning areas but you have to protect yourold areas from theives with robot dronesorusing your guns on your own ship. Don't know really sort of an elite clone-ish Iguess,

fringe

[vinmar]

I think what everyone loved about elite was the ability to land on planets. But I suppose this is too much to take on in a 1st group project?

[anubis]

i'd be interested in joining a group project, too.
allthough i have to admit that i have no real idea for a game. fringes idea sounds nice though.
i just finished school last week so i should have plenty of time in the near future to contribute to such a project.

[baldurk]

the two things I would like to see in, just because I like them:

* The ability to dip in and out without learning much more than the controls. This means an action oriented game unfortunately, but that's just my preference.
* A large world. Not necessarily comples, but e.g instead of 2 or 3 different worlds, have 30 or 40 worlds that are similar.

[fringe]

Yeah a big game would be cool. I was thinking action is cool but I want to be doing it for a reason, not just lets blast some stuff and buy the way there is some plot too.
Maybe you should start with an inherited ship that can go not very far. You could use the ship for a couple of things cargo firstly you could buy a mining thing so you could mine minerals and sell them. You could buy a better gun and rent yourself out as a protector of local cargo shipments. You could become a trtader going between markets. Then as you progress you can specialise and get better equipment or become an alrounder.
So in the end you could run a protection buisness that protects trade routes or mines.
You could become a mining buisness which has to hire protection and traders to take stuff to market.
You could become a trader who takes stuff from market to market making money.
Or you could generalise yourself.

I would also like a way in which you could be corrupt, stelling money from others stelling the stuff you are trying to protect, killing mining places. Of course there are consequences (word get round, etc.). This would make the game play quite deep, I think (not sure though).


And as you get better you get access to better ships that first allow you to travel outside your vicinity then off world to the local solar system then to other solar systems.

You could win when you become of of the top 5% of people in the universe in monetry propety.

Sounds like it is a bit ambitious esp. because Tertris is the best thing I have programmed to this point and I didn't finish that. I guess this could be done in stages though. It is always fun to dream. Hmm, maybe we should have a think and cobble together some stuff we might need,

fringe

[donBerto]

played earth and beyond? sounds similar

...i like! I'm VERY interested in this development. keep the ideas flowing.

:yes: