Creating a process game

[Revan.Prodigal.Knight]

So long as it isn't a circular reference I'd think it would be okay for a few days at least.

[NMe]

I'm going to scrap the design (partly anyway) and go back to the drawing board. I came across some more stuff that I wanted to solve too simplistically. For the initiated: I planned on making regular sprites for platform objects but this is giving me so much trouble that I'll fall back to a tile engine instead. I also purchased another book that will step me through the process of making one. As long as I get that part of the engine right, we're in business.

[nolaf]

Just throwing in my five cents here…

Less work, but equally important: sound. A proper game needs sounds and music as much as it needs graphics. Though I'm okay as a musician, I'm not much of a composer. Neither do I have a special effects studio or software that can simulate one. For the game to be as optimal as possible, I will need a composer/performer who can provide some music, someone who can make decent sound effects and depending on what type of game we agree upon, even some voice actors might be called for.

There are always sites similar to Freesound.org that full of people who give away free or Creative Commons licensed sound effects. It might take some time to find the required sound, but you can pretty much score an entire videogame with nothing but Freesound database and some very basic Audacity skills. Same goes for music. Even if it's not entirely free, royalty-free licenses usually have a tendency to be rather affordable.

[Revan.Prodigal.Knight]

Originally Posted by nolaf

Audacity

Wonderful because it's free, but I can't stand the UI.

[NMe]

Nah, Audacity is alright.

Using anything with a Creative Commons license does have the added disadvantage of not being able to sell the end product. This does not have to be a problem for me as it is not my end goal, but I'd prefer to leave the option open. It will be a big project and it would be awesome if we could also put it on Steam for a few bucks. Luckily, audio can wait until later on in the process, giving us more time to figure something out. If need be we can also opt for the free stuff later.

[nolaf]

Originally Posted by NMe

Using anything with a Creative Commons license does have the added disadvantage of not being able to sell the end product.

Not necessarily. There's plenty material in both CC BY and CC BY-NC zones, just stay in the CC BY and you're good as long as you give credit for used audio. Or just use public domain pieces.

[Dog_Girl_Kari]

another good source for Royalty free music is www.freeplaymusic.com lot's of music and all free to use. I use this place for BG music in PSA's.

[NMe]

Nice combination of avatars.

I'll be sure to keep those sites in mind. I was under the impression that the CC license did not allow commercial use under any circumstance but if that's not true it'd of course a very viable option.

For the time being I am mostly worried about artwork. Luckily, the way things stand now, 3 artists already offered their help, 2 of whom haven't posted in this thread yet. Preferably we'l need at least one more artist for tile map artwork and/or sprite design. Of course there are many tile maps available under the CC license but graphics have such a huge impact on the personality of the game that I guess it'd be better to at least try to make our own.

[NMe]

Just a little heads-up: after this weekend I'll get the three people who offered to help so far together and brainstorm about the story and gameplay with them. Even though more people are welcome to join at any point during this project, the latest possible time to join the team while having a full say in the matter of global directions for the game would be within the next few days.

As for my own progress: I've sidetracked to making a small action/space shooter game to improve my skills a bit more, which is now done. I've also written a draft for a possible introductory level for the game, but before revealing anything about that it's going to go past the artists for their approval and input.

[Err]

I'm a long-time lurker here, but I have some experience making various types of art. If it's not too late, I'd be happy to help with the sprites, backgrounds, UI, etc.

[NMe]

It's never too late. You'd make the fifth artist up to date. That should be enough to get started, though more help is always welcome.

[NMe]

Right, time's up, sort of.

With a grand total of 5 artists who offered their help (I'll leave it to them to introduce themselves if they want to) and besides me one other programmer, we're now a team of 7. Should be enough to get going. If anyone else wants to help out just give me a poke and we'll see what we can work out, but I'll stop actively recruiting artists or programmers.

I'll see if I can find some nice collaboration/project management software that I can install on my web server. Discussing the making of the game here would spoil the game for everyone before even seeing it.

Edit on that note: installing Ruby on Rails onto a Synology NAS in order to run Redmine on it is officially a punishment from a special circle of Hell.