So...... making games?

[Saphire1118]

I wanna try. What should I do?

I can draw a little, got some stories written and in my mind. I've animated before, but I have NOOOOOO idea how to program.

I've seen a lot of peps use rpg maker, Unity, and some other programs. I think first I want to stick with 2D and make an action game, I already have an idea of how its going to play.

I know there are a lot of gaming software out there. For Dlsite, is there a requirement?

Anyway, thought I would take babysteps. Ofc I'll do research on my own but any help would be appreciated.

edit - Oh, and It won't be R-18 xD I'll probably try making one when I get my own place or something.

 

[azurezero]

Re: So...... making games?

I wanna try. What should I do?

I can draw a little, got some stories written and in my mind. I've animated before, but I have NOOOOOO idea how to program.

I've seen a lot of peps use rpg maker, Unity, and some other programs. I think first I want to stick with 2D and make an action game, I already have an idea of how its going to play.

I know there are a lot of gaming software out there. For Dlsite, is there a requirement?

Anyway, thought I would take babysteps. Ofc I'll do research on my own but any help would be appreciated.

edit - Oh, and It won't be R-18 xD I'll probably try making one when I get my own place or something.

there are no requirements as long as it doesnt feature actual photos, and it meets the censorship requirements

if you want to make a 2d action game, game maker is simple to learn.
but depending on your art you might prefer flash

 

[Pervy]

Re: So...... making games?

What, no one willing to crush hopes and dreams? A'ight.

Sit yourself down for 3 months, spending either a full weekend each week, or a few hours almost every day, doing nothing but game programming. After about that time your project will be done if you did something small, or you will know if you have what it takes to make a really big H-game, which takes ten times that amount of time.

Thats really it, gamemaking takes crazy time dedication and consistency. Everyone with a three digit IQ and a decent chunk of people below can learn programming, whats hard is learning the dedication it takes to keep going.

 

[Paladox]

Re: So...... making games?

A lot of people will probably tell you that it's really difficult to make a game. Worse yet, you might try out a programming language and quickly discover that it's just not what you want to do. Well, you know what? It's NOT what you want to do.

You want to be a game designer, yes? Then design games. That's why there are programs out there like RPG Maker. Maybe it can't technically be used to make an action game (arguable), but if you've got a story you want to make, then don't let that stop you!

What you do is find a game maker you like, or get one free (I'm sure there are a few people with free RPG Maker keys that would part with one, considering all the humble bundles that have had multiple RPG Maker programs in them). Then find a tutorial to make simple game. Go through the whole tutorial. You'll get at least a minimal grasp of how to do stuff. After you complete the tutorial, go back and add on to your game (or start another one, if that suits your fancy). Keep working at it. A story might even design itself around what you're capable of making.

You can actually use RPG Maker to make a stealth game, an action game, or any other number of games. It just takes time to understand the game engine. It won't happen in a day, but you'll eventually get it.

Bottom line: Don't let people get you down by saying you need to learn to program or that you need a big team of artists, musicians, programmers, etc.. That stuff doesn't really matter in the end. You could draw stick people and if your game design and gameplay are great then nobody will even notice the stick people. There are tons of Steam games with bad art that are successful despite it.

I wish I had and/or knew about RPG Maker for the PC 20+ years ago. I would be a LOT more successful now and likely wouldn't have wasted time trying to learn C++ in college (and just barely not failing it). I spent a lot of time with War Edit and Star Edit in my teenage years. Not to mention the Fallout Tactics editor later on. Again, if only I had had RPG Maker VX instead of those.. sigh.

Good luck to you making games and I hope I've helped some.

 

[Pervy]

Re: So...... making games?

I can agree with that, I suck at programming and am now making money with my game so..

I worked together with someone that had studied informatics something and..while they could do things I barely understood and really impressive too, they also had a lot of flaws, they'd spent 30 min on a 3 min issue, claiming that it was 'better' this way.. sure it might have been, but the player wont care if you flip a yes/no switch, or write a script checking for variable positions. *shrugs*

 

[Perfeccia Ars]

Re: So...... making games?

Avoid feature creep, work with something small, focus on learning AND failing, they go together and you will need a lot of failures to build up knowledge of how complex game development is. Even RPGM can be a nightmare if the scope is too big or your game mechanics are a bit out of the limited scope of the engine. Wise words in this area are "Keep it simple stupid" unnecesary complex things can burn you out and pretty much make you leave forever, making games is intimidating after all.

Since you want an action game go step by step, first simple movement and jumping, then maybe shooting, punching or pushing things, avoid complex stuff because each one is a challenge to learn and takes a lot of time and dedication to get right.

The keywords here are patience, dedication and being constant. No one is going to ask you to work 8-10 hours a day for something that you're learning because you want to, but you should review and tackle it a little bit everyday or weekend if you can. Same concept as learning how to draw or animation.

In my personal experience what I find most difficult isn't learning but being constant, it's not easy to work for months in a project constantly, it takes a lot of discipline and obviously a toll on you. It's also annoying and depressing that you can go at it for months and yet you have nothing to play or show because you've been building the foundation of your game which isn't playable but the skeleton of everything.

 

[Architect]

Re: So...... making games?

Honestly, don't worry so much about "am I ready"? Like anything even remotely art-based, just throw yourself into the deep end and you'll learn. Hopefully, you'll learn fast. When I started making games I went in with a half-assed idea and basically committed fuckup after fuckup after fuckup until eventually it got too mired in amateurish mistakes to go anywhere.

... But I learned so much in that 1 year + that I was devving the game that the knowledge has carried over to every new project I've started since. And it's proven immensely helpful.

So, yeah - throw yourself into it and fuck up a couple of times. You will fuck up. Don't be afraid of it. And don't be afraid of harsh critiques too - especially the really long ones. They didn't spend all that time typing it out just to make you feel shit about yourself. The reviewers did it because they saw potential and want you to improve.

If you're not much a programmer, then you're like me. Fortunately, software such as RPGMaker and Game Maker are great for those clueless about programming like myself. Furthermore MV has javascript integration now so there's no better time to get into it!

Flash... hmm... it's still relevant, but for games, people are moving onto more and more different platforms. You can still use it if you want, but it's a lot of effort and other software might work better. Just sayin'.

And while I encourage trying out all the ideas you want to do - just know that your first project is going to be so flawed. If you don't want it to be flawed, then try sticking to only simple ideas, but while you'll make a complete, working game, you won't learn as much as you would if you just threw yourself into trying everything out.

Also, you don't *need* to be good at programming, writing, AND drawing/art design to make a game. You just need to be decent at *one* of those things and be willing to either experiment or get someone else on your team to do the others.