N7Pathfinder
N3
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
Origin: Ajer17327
XBL Gamertag: Ajer17327
Posts: 964 Likes: 712
inherit
3219
0
712
N7Pathfinder
964
February 2017
n7pathfinder
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
Ajer17327
Ajer17327
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Post by N7Pathfinder on Feb 23, 2017 0:19:31 GMT
Well everybody, I'm interested in the art of game development. Do I hope to make a career out of it? I don't know. This thread is so that I can share my progress with learning game design and programming while also sharing thoughts on games I could make and how to pull them off.
This first post is about 2 things:
1. I have written a synopsis for my entire main questline for The Deep (an action RPG). Now The Deep was envisioned to be a pretty big game, and with no real experience currently under my belt, I don't think I'm confident to make this game just yet. I'm going to keep the papers and documents I wrote about this game safe so that when I feel I got the experience or a team to help make the game, then I'll work on it fully. (A current future plan is to make a bunch of small games, share them online and on Unity's community, and see if that get's me a job or offer with a professional company. I could even the post images or test levels for what I conceived of the Deep, so that if a developer stumbles upon it and wants to turn it into a reality, we might reach an agreement to work on it together.)
2. When it comes to making games, I feel that's its best to be varied, but play mostly to your strengths. I could make games on several different genres, but I need a general game genre to stick with. I don't want to dive into action RPGs yet because of their size, so I want to focus on a genre or model that I feel I do awesome in. My plan is to make one game for each of these genres that picqued my interest:
- 2D: basically 2D scrollers or platformers. I'm more or less referring to games like Limbo or Assassin's Creed Chronicles, and not Mario or Mega Man.
- Point-and-click (Telltale model): I was fascinated by this approach mainly for it's simplistic, more cinematic and story based design without having to add any complicated extra features.
- VR: I don't own a VR headset yet, but the idea behind VR sounds interesting.
- unconventional mixtures: This is basically the idea of taking one genre and mixing it with another genre that probably shouldn't be mixed. For example, racing combined with music rhythm, or first-person mixed with trading card game.
Like I said, I'm first going to try making a game for each genre, and whichever one works out the best will be the go-to genre for me.
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Elvis has left the building
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0
12,173
ToLazy4Name
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August 2016
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Post by ToLazy4Name on Feb 23, 2017 1:17:23 GMT
okay here's what you do
1. play Chivalry
2. think of how to make it better
3. decide that you can't do better than the Mordhau devs and go ask to work for them
good luck
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TEH EVUL CREEP
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0
Sept 27, 2021 23:28:25 GMT
3,757
BamBam the Destroyer
I hunt, therefore I am
2,774
August 2016
jockcranley
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by BamBam the Destroyer on Feb 23, 2017 1:19:45 GMT
1.) Buy a bunch of assets
2.) Slap them together
3.) Sell on greenlight
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N7Pathfinder
N3
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
Origin: Ajer17327
XBL Gamertag: Ajer17327
Posts: 964 Likes: 712
inherit
3219
0
712
N7Pathfinder
964
February 2017
n7pathfinder
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
Ajer17327
Ajer17327
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Post by N7Pathfinder on Feb 23, 2017 15:51:07 GMT
I have a lot of game ideas and stories in my head, but I just need to find the genre. Rather than make full scale games for each genre, I'm going to make some demo levels for each. With the unconventional mixture, I'll test out the mechanics, but for the others, I want to make sure I can pull of aesthetics and story telling (that includes VR).
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N7Pathfinder
N3
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
Origin: Ajer17327
XBL Gamertag: Ajer17327
Posts: 964 Likes: 712
inherit
3219
0
712
N7Pathfinder
964
February 2017
n7pathfinder
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
Ajer17327
Ajer17327
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Post by N7Pathfinder on Feb 23, 2017 16:44:55 GMT
Actually, after some thinking and weighing the pros and cons of each option, I realized that the type of games I would love to make are the Telltale style point and clicks. They focus on three of my biggest criteria. They are choice based, story based, and involve cinematics and unique visuals. So when I get the chance, I'm going to be testing out the Telltale functions (simple walking (including a faster version), triggering cutscenes at button presses, saving choices, etc.).
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N7Pathfinder
N3
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
Origin: Ajer17327
XBL Gamertag: Ajer17327
Posts: 964 Likes: 712
inherit
3219
0
712
N7Pathfinder
964
February 2017
n7pathfinder
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
Ajer17327
Ajer17327
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Post by N7Pathfinder on Mar 1, 2017 22:22:43 GMT
Well, I've decided that for game developing, I'm going to be using Unreal Engine. The big reason for that is that I find it to be a bit more beginner friendly than other engines I looked up. With Unreal Engine, I could make my games utilizing Blueprint programming, so I don't have to worry about writing a single block of code. I'll eventually have to learn how to code anyway, but having something to get started with is a big plus. They also have these neat templates based on various game genres like third person or fps, so I have access to the various scripts for the primary controls which I can tweak to create my own thing. I'll try downloading it over the weekend and try my hand at some of the video tutorials, hoping to get comfortable with the interface.
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N7Pathfinder
N3
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
Origin: Ajer17327
XBL Gamertag: Ajer17327
Posts: 964 Likes: 712
inherit
3219
0
712
N7Pathfinder
964
February 2017
n7pathfinder
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
Ajer17327
Ajer17327
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Post by N7Pathfinder on Mar 2, 2017 19:06:34 GMT
Hey guys! Remember when I proposed a game called The Deep? It was supposed to be this underwater sci-fi adventure similar to Mass Effect in terms of gameplay. The problem however is that I can't seem to find a good reason for humanity settling underwater. Originally I planned it to be in an alternate 1930's assuming that humanity discovered Atlantean technology and would have been based around lovecraftian mythology as the antagonist. The problem was, I thought it sounded very lazy. So I want to rework the idea (not making the game yet, but still toy around with the idea!). I have two possible alternatives: 1. The game takes place in a near future where our atmosphere became too unstable for spaceflight to leave. It wouldn't involve discovering Atlantean technology, but it would still involve some ancient marine-based mythology. 2. The second idea is to keep the space travel option available, and make the game about colonization efforts on Jupiter's Europa moon. I like this idea because not only does it seem very likely in our future, but having the setting be an alien planet gives me much more room to make up new stuff (I still need to research what we DO know about Europa though to make it believable) Which of these ideas would you prefer? Just answer "1" or "2". Don't type anything that would give away the idea.
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N7Pathfinder
N3
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
Origin: Ajer17327
XBL Gamertag: Ajer17327
Posts: 964 Likes: 712
inherit
3219
0
712
N7Pathfinder
964
February 2017
n7pathfinder
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
Ajer17327
Ajer17327
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Post by N7Pathfinder on Mar 6, 2017 21:31:03 GMT
So I had a thought. I've been thinking about what I actually want to be in the gaming industry, and found a few weaknesses on my part. I'm not a really good artist, my animation skills are okay but not Pixar quality, and my programming experience wasn't really great since I'm not a huge fan of coding. This of course leaves character designing, animation, and programming off the list so far, unless I extensively practice on those. But the one field I think feel most comfortable with is writing. I've noticed that I'm much more comfortable with making up a story and writing down rather than try to visually represent it. Even with my YouTube videos I seem to mainly enjoy writing episodes rather than make them.
This of course got me thinking, what if I just tried to be a writer for video games? I looked it up and the salary for a script writer can vary depending on the contract with a game company, though full time positions can have a starting salary of $60,000 with experienced writers going to $150,000 or higher.
Now at this point, if I want to try and get to video game writing professionally, there are a few options for me to consider.
1. Make my very own games with my own scripts, and publish them. They could count as experience for video game writing if I try to apply for a writer's job at a game studio.
2. Volunteer to write for non-profit games. I found in the Unity forums (and I think Unreal Engine has the same) a section where people can volunteer for video game jobs for non-profit works. These games do still get published, and they can still count as experience. I also feel that non-profit projects are a bit more open to people who don't have prior writing experiences.
3. Through Unity or Unreal Engine's community, try to get hired as a writer for an indie project. It's a bit more professional experience that I could put in a CV or a resume.
4. Perhaps following graduation and having a steady starter career, I could go back to college to focus strictly on writing for media and entertainment. My current University has a great program for Radio-TV-Film with emphasis on screenwriter, or I could find a different college with programs for game design and writing.
I'll start basic over summer with some small scale projects and volunteer work, and hopefully, if I do enough in the coming years, I may get a job with a small game developing company and hopefully work my way to larger companies like Bioware or Telltale (my two dream places to work). Otherwise, after a couple years post-graduate with a solid job, I can go back to school and work on a full scale screenwriting degree.
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N7Pathfinder
N3
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
Origin: Ajer17327
XBL Gamertag: Ajer17327
Posts: 964 Likes: 712
inherit
3219
0
712
N7Pathfinder
964
February 2017
n7pathfinder
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
Ajer17327
Ajer17327
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Post by N7Pathfinder on Mar 6, 2017 21:33:26 GMT
So I had a thought. I've been thinking about what I actually want to be in the gaming industry, and found a few weaknesses on my part. I'm not a really good artist, my animation skills are okay but not Pixar quality, and my programming experience wasn't really great since I'm not a huge fan of coding. This of course leaves character designing, animation, and programming off the list so far, unless I extensively practice on those. But the one field I think feel most comfortable with is writing. I've noticed that I'm much more comfortable with making up a story and writing down rather than try to visually represent it. Even with my YouTube videos I seem to mainly enjoy writing episodes rather than make them. This of course got me thinking, what if I just tried to be a writer for video games? I looked it up and the salary for a script writer can vary depending on the contract with a game company, though full time positions can have a starting salary of $60,000 with experienced writers going to $150,000 or higher. Now at this point, if I want to try and get to video game writing professionally, there are a few options for me to consider. 1. Make my very own games with my own scripts, and publish them. They could count as experience for video game writing if I try to apply for a writer's job at a game studio. 2. Volunteer to write for non-profit games. I found in the Unity forums (and I think Unreal Engine has the same) a section where people can volunteer for video game jobs for non-profit works. These games do still get published, and they can still count as experience. I also feel that non-profit projects are a bit more open to people who don't have prior writing experiences. 3. Through Unity or Unreal Engine's community, try to get hired as a writer for an indie project. It's a bit more professional experience that I could put in a CV or a resume. 4. Perhaps following graduation and having a steady starter career, I could go back to college to focus strictly on writing for media and entertainment. My current University has a great program for Radio-TV-Film with emphasis on screenwriter, or I could find a different college with programs for game design and writing. I'll start basic over summer with some small scale projects and volunteer work, and hopefully, if I do enough in the coming years, I may get a job with a small game developing company and hopefully work my way to larger companies like Bioware or Telltale (my two dream places to work). Otherwise, after a couple years post-graduate with a solid job, I can go back to school and work on a full scale screenwriting degree. Oh, and this also gives me an extra opportunity to maybe also get hired to write for movies or TV. At least I think that's how it works. Having professional experience to write for video games should also translate to writing for TV or movies. Plus if I do decide to pursue a screenwriting degree, I pretty much already have the chance for getting the necessary experience for game writing.
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