"A Really Retro Game" Early Development (Recruiting)

[recme]

um, great i guess...









may we see some of it? updating your post without any content is pretty much a useless bump

[golbez22]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv-l8LLgLhU

here is a quick dev log video which includes the music composed by my team member Jack Caldwell

[golbez22]

I am currently trying to affirm a more solid art team, than just myself

[[robo9]]

Have you tried learning RPG Maker

[golbez22]

Have you tried learning RPG Maker

Rpg maker handles the code for you, and it is not often you see a game made in rpg maker go far (besides Spelunky)

[Vipershark]

Spelunky was made in Game Maker, not RPG Maker.

[golbez22]

my bad viper but still canned game development will not leave me satisfied

[tykel]

I am a software engineer, so let me give you my perspective.

Your first dev log is reassuring, it looks like you are making good progress, and assets are coming in as you code. That is good news! I like the auto-tiling, that should save you a lot of time down the road. My programmer self is happy you are coding in Java, not Game Maker, you will have a lot more flexibility and experience from it.

Now, that being said; heed the others' advice.
You mentioned an MMORPG, with terraforming and building, an economy, character customization, and all sorts of in-depth features. Wow, that is very ambitious! But what is the *real* focus of your game? Will it have a single defining feature? If not, don't you think it should?

Basically, it is likely you will be overwhelmed by the sheer scale of features you are trying to implement. That is why others have recommended you scale down your ambitions somewhat, and I would tend to agree with that.
Don't panic, though. If you manage the development process in the right way, you will get there.

What I suggest is you set yourself a series of milestones. Here is an example:
- 1: Movement on the level, including water (looks done)
- 2: Generate tilemap from level file (seems you're nearly there)
- 3: Minimap feature
- 4: Interaction with NPCs
- 5: Combat (with NPCs first)
- 6: Stats/levelling
- 7: Items/trading
- 8: Building etc.
- ....
And so on. A milestone is complete once that feature is implemented correctly and debugged. My point is, do not try to do everything at once. Increment on a regular basis instead (this is called iterative development). This will allow you to have a clear set of goal posts at every stage, and have a functional game engine after every milestone. You will then have a clear timeline of the features you added. Also, continue making your dev logs, I am sure one dev log per completed milestone will be a very natural process to you.

There are some features I am doubtful about. Writing network code as a beginner is difficult, and it will also require you code up a dedicated server program. The non-core RPG gameplay features you describe quickly add up too.
What I recommend you do is stick to the core RPG mechanics for now. Once that is done, and only then, start adding your innovative features, one by one. Networking should happen later, once you are really comfortable with your engine code.

If you are not using a version control system, do so now. Use git and commit regularly do keep rolling backups of your work you can easily fall back to.

Finally, you do not have to take anyone's advice, but I sure recommend you do. Many members on this board are seasoned pixel artists, and their advice is grounded in knowledge and experience. I do not know you, but I think I know something about developing computer programs. Taking (constructive) criticism is always hard in the beginning, but it is a necessary skill in life. You learn from the best.

Good luck on your endeavour!

[golbez22]

Thank you kindly your very insightful, I am using a code control. I am following what you said almost to a "T" except for I gave specific team members focused areas to focus on instead of progressing as a single unit, that way we cover more ground. The debug time is much longer but it pushes development further...but that is the reason for so much time between dev logs. We currently have a server being written quite intuitively. We do not plan to cut back our ambitions...but it is true we are focusing on on small sections. nothing worth doing is easy. We are currently tackling terrain generation, combat, and trying to develope a defined art style.

don't expect these for a while, but here is a quick peek at the generation results:

[-¼-]

Ahh I'd certainly join you if I was a good spriter and had more coding experience than base knowledge of Java and C programming languages. Good luck!

[Sketchasaurus]

I think having a concise design document is important. even though using comparisons to other games as shorthand for explaining your game is helpful, I think it can be at times limiting since it makes people think more along the lines of "oh, it's just a *insert popular franchise* clone" What I'm seeing is a list of features, but there isn't any sort of unique connection that would make me feel particularly interested.

Part of creating a nostalgic experience is eliciting an emotional connection with the audience, it's not necessarily gameplay features, or even the graphical style, I feel it's more of the passion put into the game, that sort of "I want to make the best game I can, something that I'd love to play and would love to have others play" mentality of the creator. I mean, the technical aspects of the game could be flawless and the graphics could look nice, but you can't fake passion. (oop, I don't mean to sound too judgemental, sorry!)

I'd also say, in regards to the art direction as a whole: before sprites even enter the fray, establish how things look in drawings. I see a lot of people try to sprite something from scratch without finalizing a solid idea on paper first; sure, some people are good at it, but having art to refer to (and to keep the team interested) will only help your project.

Also, you'll find that some features won't make sense within the context of your world, it's important to determine what the game needs rather than what features you'd like it to have. Sometimes stuff won't work out and will have to be left out, nothing should be set in stone especially early in development.

[golbez22]

I agree, I think the short of this is that... I've been a gamer all my life I missed the 8-Bit era, but the 16+ Era was my forte, I grew up with Link to the past, Pokemon Blue, Final fantasy IV, the online MMO evolved before my eyes, not only them bu I have fond memories of Harvest Moon, Animal Crossing, and those sort of fun games that will stay in everyones hearts forever. Since those days I have had an idea forming about what if there was an in between; a single game that could offer the dungeon puzzles and hack and slash combat of zelda with the random generation of rogue and the stats building and skill trees of the mmo and final fantasy. The world should be gripping like secret of mana, and explorable to new levels. I think that it should be sandbox in presentation, but built on the concept of banding together or things will be slow and hard...you should to be able to level a mountain or dig a ravine with ease like you would in say minecraft, it should be hardest to change the world but easier to say build a ladder or start building a bridge...but as you advance everything will be easier either by becoming technologically advanced, or archanely, that sort of thought. There will always be a few way to do things, but you have to work on things to be any proficient....and the game doesn't even have to be for fighters you can just as easy play it as a city sim by focusing on running a building project...writing the quests to the quest board so you don't have to cut the trees or quarry the stone yourself...you could even find yourself a little nook...build a home of your own then start a farm spending your days fishing and trading with locals for luxuries...or be a nomad your only companion your mount and your stores of goods....don't like traveling so slowly, build a railway system...this type of thing is ambitious, but I think that it is something a lot of people would enjoy, no matter your preference the game will aim to be versatile and fun. Replayability will be near limitless, and there will always be something to do