MakerOfGames Game Thread [*56K WARNING*]

[MakerOfGames]

Its good to hear your starting to work out the levels etc! Thats where the game is made or broken in my opinion! If youve got great level desighn but the game does not flow it doesnt feel rite and if your game runs through like clock work but the levels are boring then its dull! Thats why it always good to spend lots of time on this and also be prepared to come back later and change things!

Yes, that is very true. I need to go back rework the 5 levels I wrote up. For some reason when I tried to do it I just couldn't think up anything good. I guess my problem is I am more into small scale details. I can see sections of level in my head that are as pretty as metroid prime, but for some reason I just cant think large scale enough. I guess I will have to make very detailed maps of the levels before I attach them to the story. Then I can throw in the objectives and tailor them to the environment. It is forgivable to have awesome levels and gameplay with a story that doesnt seem to follow them right? because that is my only fear of doing things that way.

Any way your game still sounds very interesting PLEASE finish it! Dont get half way and get board! We need sumink to play!!!

Don't you worry, I want to play this game too . If it takes me forever to make it, so be it. The worst that could happen is I would need to ship it to RF2 and up the details and add physics . I will stay with this project until the end. I love the ideas I have for it and I won't stop until I have fulfilled them.

Yeah, it is tough. However, I have trouble keeping my level ideas nice a inventive. I keep finiding myself choosing boring objectives or poorly designing a level in my head.

During that phase I play 3 or 4 different games, to get ideas.

I agree but I have played my games so much I don't really feel like playing them anymore. I guess I could go look at Metroid Prime 2(need to beat that game yet, I am in the electronic temple and its kinda boring). I like MP1 better. That game was amazing. The level design was so beautiful!
Going back to windwaker or Ocarina of time wouldn't hurt either. And of course, I can always go and play Timesplitters 2. I can't think of many other games I own that have really good levels. They are all mediocre.

@ Juutis
It seems that I will now be working mainly on my own because of the circumstances. I will contact you if I need help though. I think I can acctually write the sripts myself! The little I have learned of Java has really helped explain all those brackets and extra parenthesis that I am not used to from VB. I am now very confidnt that I can write the scripts with little error. Anyway, I still need to figure out how everything will work before I can script the player. I guess I need to finish a model before I try to code. I think you are right and it will be much easier to write code when I have somthing to work with.

[psYco]

Okay im not gonna be on the forums for a while (coming up with ideas for my next game my current concept is a game with out a concept! Im not kidding but i might be mad!)
So just a hint to you MoG although you may not like this mthod or it doesnt work for you, I find that when I am struggleing to get the BIG picture clear in my mind, i get a piece of A3 (bigger = better) and with a permenent marker sketch the level ideas i have and then link them and cross them out and link them again! Untill I eventually see what will go together in the levels! also I try and think what the player is feeling in each situation that way you should be able to controll the players emotions! this is important in the way a game feels, think HL2, how valve scared us in Ravenholm but then gave us the symbolic ''light at the end of the tunnel'' and then know the player would need a break, gave us a nice stroll of easy enimies to gun down! Be mindfull of the game play, huh but why am I saying this you are the maker of games!

[MakerOfGames]

So just a hint to you MoG although you may not like this mthod or it doesnt work for you, I find that when I am struggleing to get the BIG picture clear in my mind, i get a piece of A3 (bigger = better) and with a permenent marker sketch the level ideas i have and then link them and cross them out and link them again! Untill I eventually see what will go together in the levels! also I try and think what the player is feeling in each situation that way you should be able to controll the players emotions! this is important in the way a game feels, think HL2, how valve scared us in Ravenholm but then gave us the symbolic ''light at the end of the tunnel'' and then know the player would need a break, gave us a nice stroll of easy enimies to gun down! Be mindfull of the game play, huh but why am I saying this you are the maker of games!

Don't let my screen name fool you, I am learning just like everyone else hear .

I really like your idea. I hadden't thought to go that detailed down to what the player is feeling, but I know that that is something very important. Unfortunantly I need to upgrade my graphics card to play HL2, so I can't identify with that , I want to play it real bad. *I still havent upgraded the old TNT2. I know I said I was going to like 2 months ago, but I couldn't find one that was worth the money and is AGP 1x.* Anyway, I will do just that then. I will plan everything out to be that detailed. I don't have any paper bigger than 8 1/2 x 11 inches though. Maybe I will tape a few together to get a big enough peice . Thanks for the tips .

[MakerOfGames]

Its been over 2 weeks now since I have posted in my own thread ! My how time flies! Unfortunantly little progress has been made. I have started modeling the main character and I might have to remodel the character shown on the previous thread page. I never got to texture the other model. I basically abandoned it for the time being. Anyway, I can't wait to finish one character so I can model some weapons and give the character life.

Thats all for now.

[psYco]

Good to hear your still at it! I know how you feel and trust me ounce that first character is done and you have something tangible to work on it all speeds up!

Good Luck!

[wackedoutbiker]

@ psYco: I'm still in the middle of your SOTD game. Very weird bosses, hahaha. Not bad for a start! I'll write you a full review with points and suggestions when I'm done.

@ MakerOfGames: keep going, and I will do the same with your game.

[MakerOfGames]

Well, it's certainly been a long time since I have posted in my own game thread. Its been nine months!! Anyhow, I am still here even though my posting has been sparse.

Now, I have to say that my game project is still alive. I have not given up on it. I have just been too busy to work on it.

And with that said, I have an update on my games status. I hate to say this, but like all the great games that have been made before, my game will be done when it's done. I know before I have posted that I would try to make it one of the first games for RF2, but I am no longer shooting for any defenant release date.

Why am I no longer shooting for a defenant release?
I am doing this because I have scrapped many of the details I have set in the past and am basically starting over. I am keeping general plot ideas, factions and weapon designs, but all the progress I have made that I have and haven't posted about have been pushed aside for bigger better ideas.

Why scrap so much work?
I am doing this to make a better game. I now have a very clear focus of what I want this game to become. Before, too much of it seemed to be there only for the purpose of "filler".

So, what have the past 2+ years of work amounted to?
The past 2+ years I have been working on my game were very good training sessions. I now have a much more refined, and focused sense of what I need to accomplish and how to do it. It was not a waste in my opinion because the experience I gained is invaluable.

What work is being saved?
Don't worry, I haven't started completely from scratch. Much is being saved and much is being thrown away. I can't get specific though, because everything is subject to change.


I can't wait to move forward with my ideas. Whenever I make progress I will be back and keep everyone informed. I also hope to become a frequent forum user again.

[Juutis]

Yay, you're still here! I already started wondering what happened to you and this project.

And yeah, I've scrapped everything and started my project from scratch 3 (or 4?) times now. Mainly because my skills are improving all the time and I haven't been satisfied with the quality of my work. And I don't think I've lost anything. Well, yes, I've lost loads of models, scripts and stuff like that, but that doesn't matter since I still have the experience I gained and that's all that matters!

Anyway, good luck on your project. I hope to hear more soon.

[MakerOfGames]

And yeah, I've scrapped everything and started my project from scratch 3 (or 4?) times now. Mainly because my skills are improving all the time and I haven't been satisfied with the quality of my work. And I don't think I've lost anything. Well, yes, I've lost loads of models, scripts and stuff like that, but that doesn't matter since I still have the experience I gained and that's all that matters!

That is what has happened to my project. This is about the 4th start of it. It has changed a lot since its infancy, but this time I am focused and have a good direction to head in. I need to figure out the details of where I want to end my project, but I have a clear view of all the elements I want to throw in. I have scrapped a lot of the physical work for my project because my skills have improved greatly since the start of my project.

Well, I have an update, I was able to redesign one of my factions tonight. There is just a little tweaking to do with the armor but I love my new design.

I am going to set a goal for myself and try to get at least one important thing accomplished per day on my game, whether its a design, model, concept idea etc... This gives me confidence that I wont let my game get pushed aside like it has in the past. I think its time for me to start carrying a sketch pad to sketch and jot ideas down wherever I am. That way I can guarantee I will be near something to get my ideas down. That was a big problem in the past.

[psYco]

well its good to see you starting up again, and yeah that notepad idea is great

[MakerOfGames]

I can't wait to get back into development. Well, I already have, but my new pc is having issues. Like right now, the issue is it has no operating system... . I zeroed my hard drive to try and get my Vista working, but apparently I have a hardware issue where Vista will crash during installation like 9 times out of 10. I have tried 3 times in a day and haven't succeeded. So, as soon as I get my pc running the way its supposed to, I will really dive back into development.

I did get some work accomplished though. I have planned a majority of my games extras and "hidden features". Some may think thats excessive and a waste of time for an indie developer in my shoes, but I love it when games have secrets and extras. Maybe it is a bit much to be thinking of now, but hey, secret levels and weapons aren't just thrown in, they are carefully planned .

[scott]

what part is causing vista to crash exactly, could you remove it until you installed vista, mabe find a replacment part for a day ro borrow of someone, i think vista isnt any good, mainly because its using up more cpu power, if compatability with win 98 was better with games i would still be with win 98 as it uses less cpu than xp, just a few features of xp are good but they are like system restore, something i hardly use

[AndyCR]

To be honest I can't stand Vista anymore... It was nice at first, but it's just too darn slow for my taste.

[MakerOfGames]

Well, I have taken my Vista problems to Microsoft tech support and after many hours on the phone, my problems seems to be hardware compatibility. The verdict is hardware because the STOP: error codes I receive are hardware related.
For those interested in the codes I have seen most prevalent, they are:
0x0000003B (System Service Exception)
0x0000000A

I'll really like Vista when I get it working. I like the user account control that halts everything when a program tries to run and many of its other security features. Plus I really like the new look of windows(with and without Aero) When nothing goes wrong and crashes my pc, Vista runs well on my machine, with 2GB of ram, a Core 2 Duo 2.13Ghz processor and an 8600GT Dx10 graphics card.

Anyhow, Im back to trying to figure out whats causing my pc to crash. I haven't had time to work on it the past few days. I have uninstalled my extra hardware for my pc, which amounts to a sound card and wireless networking card. The people at Microsoft said it might be the processor, motherboard or RAM causing the problem. I'm so glad I decided to build my own pc . Actually I am very happy to have built my own pc because I got everything I wanted. I am not happy that Windows doesn't play well with my hardware, or that the hardware doesn't play well with Windows. Well, guess I will get back to a reinstall attempt.

[scott]

with those stop codes it should say what its trying to do i got this once

an attempt was made to execute non executable memory
stop: 0x000000 FC

this was because one of my ram chips had broken

the information that is given before the stop error code can help sometime, and that is teribly bad for windows vista not to work on some systems