archived-game-design

[left ruin]

which means we failed to reach our goal of accurately conceptual scaffolding

so thats why I think the true goal is conceptual accuracy

[sharp zinc]

I agree that ceonceptual accuracy is important, however it is impossible to get to it. At least, not in ever evolving environment.

Thus, flexibility is more important

[left ruin]

why couldn't we arrive at a compromise where, we should first strive towards conceptual accuracy as much as we can with the time and resources practically given to us

and see how much flexibility that naturally gives us

and then afterwards, see what hacks we need to introduce

[sharp zinc]

Because, as soon as you start, what you defined might change. The first class you defined might become obsolete or totally irrelevant. Maybe it was 100% accurate 30min ago, but it is not anymore.

The only way to strives for accuracy is to equip ourselves with adaptability.

But yes, as you stated, you should always strives to have the most conceptual accuracy given the current circumstances. I think we only differ in the way that we approach the problem of getting there. While you believe in a strongly anchor approach, I believe in a more agile approach as in the long term it will enable us to follow the ever evolving requirement and domain.

[left ruin]

code often becomes obsolete or inaccurate, yes, but consider this: how often do our own mental models become obsolete?

Imagine the game chess. Your brain knows this domain. it knows all the entities and processes that go into defining the idea of "chess". You have a model of pieces, boards, squares, rules, capturing etc.

now ask this: if you managed to make your code match your conceptual models in your brain, would it be possible for this code to ever be obsolete or unable to capture something you imagine happening in the game of chess?

the answer should be no

unless if your mental models were wrong in the first place, and you have to change them. then of course the code becomes outdated

like if you are coding chess, and you are ever at a point where you go "I can imagine adding this new rule to the game, but my code currently doesn't make that easy", then that means you failed to make the code reflect your mental models precisely

the solution to this is

usually

be much much more abstract starting out

so when I start building chess

I start with an abstract Piece class

and an abstract Board class

and at this point, they are not even constrained to the game of chess

I could use them to start building Go or checkers if I wnated. and I could add any number of pieces, with arbitrary rules

then, I descent one level of detail. get a little bit less abstract

keep doing that, until Im actually building chess

and at that point, its impossible for my code to ever fail to do something that my brain can imagine happening (if i did that process perfectly.)

most programmers do not want to do this

they dont want to start 3 levels above in abstraction land before they even start talking about their app

they just want to start coding their game details

[left ruin]

composition patterns have the advantage of letting you start with little abstraction architecting, and still retain flexibility, since if you get it conceptually wrong at first it's easy to fix (or ignore)

but inheritance does work nicely if you do it disciplined and with patience

[left ruin]

i guess I can summarize all of that by just saying, inheritance takes a lot more planning and philosophizing to do safely

[sharp zinc]

As you stated, in any program you always going to have to change something at some point. And like you said, having a strong accurate model is always going to be the way to reduce a maximum the amount of change that is require to accommodate those new rules or features. However, there is always a limit to how much you can accurately describe something without making false assumption.

There is actual nothing wrong with modeling the Piece and the Board as abstract concept. The issue come when you try to modelized the movement, feature of those piece and then try to combine them or merge them. By example, you have the Queen that can move the same way that Tower or a Bishop. Is the Queen a Bishop or a Tower ? Definitely not. Then, how would you use multi inheritance here ?

For what you are saying about developer being lazy. If we can call it that way. Is totally true in some instance. Most of the time, is by a lack of forecasting and a part of incompetence/inexperience. However, what you seem to suggest, from what I understand, goes directly in the bucket of Overengineering. The issue with overgeneralizing is that you increase the complexity of the program. The cost of developing a feature is directly proportional to the amount of complexity a program possess. In a effort to create a more maintainable structure, you jeopardize the actual thing you care about. Because remember, both flexibility and conceptual accuracy are important because they increase the maintainability of a program which is the end goal of any architecture.

When you say it takes more planning and more philosophizing to do it safely, you are admitting that using multi inheritance can increase the risk of a project in a significative manner. Thus, composition should be prefer over inheritance.

[sharp robin]

Personally, I prefer inheritance over interfaces (slightly easier to debug and I prefer to write a method once and use it in multiple children). Too many nested layers of either can be frustrating (no one likes drilling down 4 layers of inheritance to find out why something was being called). And multi inheritance could be interesting as it provides more tools to developers (but would complicated debugging more)

9 times out of 10 though, whatever I setup as the initial scaffold is what exists at the end. I have templates the team uses on each project, and handles a lot of our architecture by default.

For most small and mid sized projects you'll likely be doing inheritance as you go anyway (or some kind of equivilent), once you know how at least. We have to handle a lot of volume though (I usually work on 8 to 10 projects a month) and most clients have tight timelines (1 to 3 months) so rewriting isn't really an option in most cases.

[sharp zinc]

From the scope you have, I am pretty sure you could handle most project with any type of architecture. The easier to understand seem to be the best in your case for sure. Inheritance is definitely way more natural for most people over interface, that being said, if you were to use composition instead of interface you would not need to rewrite your method.

[sharp robin]

Reality is you should be using both composition and inheritance though depending on the use case as you go

[sharp zinc]

The question is how much inheritance you should use versus composition. Because both can be apply in multiple situation in it is never clear what is the best till you hit the first obstacles.

From what I gather, inheritance usually comes with issue sooner than composition whenever you start to have a big chain of inheritance.

[sharp robin]

I definitely agree, I don't like when I see people using interfaces at our studio. Because I don't like it when I see a key method written more than once (I.e. something to drive interactables)

[sharp zinc]

However, you are right, both have their utility to some extend.

[sharp robin]

To me though they aren't mutually exclusive. There are lots of times where I may have inheritance and something along that chain includes composition such as a base data type

[sharp zinc]

If you were to define the concept of interactable, you cannot at the same time inherit from interactable and have an interactable component. It makes no sense.

However, you can have multiple interactable component that inherit from an interactable abstract class.

So, yeah, you can mix match them, however in some case they are mutually exclusive to reduce the redundancy.

[sharp robin]

I don't follow the question, if you created an intereractable component from the base type of intractable, that would be fine.

IntractableBook > InteractableBase

For example, where you can override the base say mouse events, and is what I'd consider inheritance.

At the same time, InteractableBase may have a reference that leads to a List of some custom class (i.e data types being matched to a json structure) which I'd consider composition.

But maybe I'm misunderstanding the terms - I don't usually think about it a whole lot and I'm not familiar with the terms

[sharp zinc]

public class Chest : Interactable 
{
  public override void Interact() 
  { 
    //OpenLoot
  };
}

public abstract class Interactable 
{
  public abstract void Interact();
}

---

public class Chest 
{
  //Nothing Here because interactable is external
}

public abstract class Interactable 
{
  public abstract void Interact();
}

public class InteractableLoot : Interactable
{
  public override void Interact()
  {
    //Open Loot
  }
}

[sharp robin]

At the base premise though, I'm absolutely onboard with reusing code wherever it makes sense to do it. I think we all know deep down we are doing something bad when we write the same function more than once:D especially if it's a key method

[sharp zinc]

Do you understand the difference between both implementation ?

It seem to me that you can easily see how one can be way more flexible/reutilisable then the other.

[sharp robin]

I consider the bottom as what I'd hope to see someone doing for inheritance

[sharp zinc]

That would be composition. Inheritance is the adjustment on top of it.

[sharp robin]

The top one is closer to what I see with interfaces, I'm not a fan of just templates function names

[sharp zinc]

As I implemented it, it is inheritance pure. You can clearly see that without mutli inheritance it is not scalable.

[sharp robin]

I suppose, but inheritance to me means inheriting from a base class, and override is a key part of that. Composition to me is when someone embeds their references to third party classes, to compose a unique class from from others.

So maybe that's why the terms aren't matching my view

To be clear, I'm saying it's my understanding of the terms at fault, not you 😄

[lost merlin]

Interactable as an abstract class seems pretty weak

interfaces all the way

[sharp zinc]

Strange way to look at composition. Usually, composition is the inverse. You are composed of component, you are not the one that inject itself in other class.

You seem to be looking at composition as a sort of strategy pattern.

[sharp robin]

Yeah like I cautioned earlier though, I don't really think about it or follow terminology

[sharp zinc]

It is. I was using it as an example.

[sharp zinc]

No worries.

[left ruin]

However, there is always a limit to how much you can accurately describe something without making false assumption.
If you start from as abstract as you can go, like imagining "in my mind, what exactly is chess, in the most abstract terms? It's a board game, with pieces, and rules, ... " and so on. then the risk of false assumption goes down significantly.

You are right that the question of movement/rule combination gets tricky. Most people try to do this all with straight inheritance. I assume you're imagining something like this ```ts
type color = 'white' | 'black'

abstract class Piece {
color: color
abstract worth: number

constructor(color: color) {
    this.color = color
}
abstract isLegalMove(from: [x: number, y: number], to: [x: number, y: number])

}
class Rook extends Piece {
readonly worth = 5
constructor(color: color) {
super(color)
}
isLegalMove(from: [x: number, y: number], to: [x: number, y: number]) {
// pseudocode
// if (is_straight_line(from, to))
// ...
}
}
class Bishop extends Piece {
readonly worth = 3
constructor(color: color) {
super(color)
}
isLegalMove(from: [x: number, y: number], to: [x: number, y: number]) {
// pseudocode
// if (is_diagonal(from, to))
// ...
}
}

// what do we do with queen?
class Queen extends Bishop, Rook { }
// this is obviously not right...

// maybe this instead?
class Queen extends Piece {
worth = 9
constructor(color: color) {
super(color)
}
isLegalMove(from: [x: number, y: number], to: [x: number, y: number]) {
if (Bishop.isLegalMove(to, from) || Rook.isLegalMove(to, from)) {
// this technically only works if we make the methods static...
}
}
}
// works OK, but there is probably a better solution...```

this was a problem I ran into personally when I tried to do oop chess

but then I realized, the issue goes away if we stop trying to do simple inheritance for everything. We should use inheritance in conjunction with dependency injection, and inject movement rules a la composition.

Something like this

type color = 'white' | 'black'

type rule = (from: [x: number, y: number], to: [x: number, y: number]) => boolean

const straight_rule: rule = (from, to) => {
    // pseudocode
        // if (is_straight_line(from, to))
        //   ...
}

const diagonal_rule: rule = (from, to) => {
    // pseudocode
        // if (is_diagonal(from, to))
        //   ...
} 

abstract class Piece {
    color: color  
    abstract worth: number
    abstract rules: rule[]

    constructor(color: color) {
        this.color = color
    }
    isLegalMove(from: [x: number, y: number], to: [x: number, y: number]) {
        return this.rules.every(rule => rule(from, to))
    }
}
class Rook extends Piece {
    readonly worth = 5
    readonly rules = [straight_rule]
    constructor(color: color) {
        super(color)
    }
}
class Bishop extends Piece {
    readonly worth = 3
    readonly rules = [diagonal_rule]
    constructor(color: color) {
        super(color)
    }
}


class Queen extends Piece {
    readonly worth = 9
    readonly rules = [straight_rule, diagonal_rule]
    constructor(color: color) {
        super(color)
    }
}```

so oop inheritance usually fails when you try to accomplish everything with it

but the real world is not like that. there hierarchies, but there are compositions too. use both

[left ruin]

When you say it takes more planning and more philosophizing to do it safely, you are admitting that using multi inheritance can increase the risk of a project in a significative manner. Thus, composition should be prefer over inheritance.
This doesn't follow. strict pure functional-programming requires more forethought to do safely, but it has its advantages that are sometimes worthwhile.

Going with inheritance will flavor your codebase with a certain orientation, which may make it conceptually easier to grok (composition is less intuitive), extend, constrain in directions you want to constrain, etc. And you usually only need to do a lot of planning when you're still new to OOP. once you get good at it, you can go really fast and naturally

[left ruin]

I heavily use inheritance (and composition) in basically all of my codebases and rarely feel like I'm stuck having to plan out hierarchies or go back and restructure them. its just second nature to me at this point, like making functions or variables

[left ruin]

This does make sense. Things like fractals, where something inherits from x and has many x's inside of it

or a game object that also has game objects inside of itself

recursive definition. totally fine

class MetaComponent extends Component {
  managing: Component[]

[left ruin]

I just found this

My main problem with OOP is the unnecessary complexity it promotes. Instead of thinking of data and the logic to achieve the required transformations/results, OOP promotes "entities" (classes, builders, factories, singletons, etc) and complicated relationships between them, completely obfuscating data and the actual problem.
and ironically I think this is the exact advantage of OOP. Data and logic is sufficient for the machine, but it's not for humans. We are modeling concepts, that happen to be interpreted by computers. much easier to reason about codebases when they use domain-relevant abstractions instead of primitive data structures.

[sudden pendant]

Can you all make a thread.

[sharp zinc]

but the real world is not like that.

[pure grail]

I'm just curious, what do people think is a good Time to Kill for generic enemies in a game like, Enter the Gungeon/Hades/Other Rogue Lites?

On one hand, its fun to mow down enemies quickly, but on the other hand, if you have things like "On hit burn enemy" then the burn damage feels week. That and lower proc chances of things like "On Hit do X" Feel less enjoyable.

[lost merlin]

I remember Gungeon getting a lot of flak early on because the tempo of the game was actually quite slow and there were very little ways to improve your overall damage.

and Isaac was always about high risk high reward as dying and resetting was quicker than dealing with the slower characters

[pure grail]

Yeah it's something I'm trying to balance currently and I'm struggling on. I could make the pacing a bit faster but overall I'm not really sure in terms of metrics

[lost merlin]

Im a big fan of those status effect builds like burning/poison in many of these games. I've been implementing my own system of status effects and how I am handling it is through a stack applicational process as you still need to continuously apply these status effects to get something out of them.

My idea is to offer a safer way to player, while still offering some similar damage than just smoking all the enemies directly

[pure grail]

Right. Which is sort of what I have as well. However my proc rates are low. Like 25%. So I'm not really sure if that just needs a buff or if I need to look into other options. That and it being linked to time to kill I'm just not sure

[lost merlin]

Could always offer some more reasons to use these types of status effects beyond damage
Fire -> Enemy attack down
Cold -> Slowed
Poison -> Enemy defense down

I'll probably implement something similar along the way

There's also the question of how easy it is to invest into something like this vs just increasing general damage. How about enemy resistance types and access to exploiting them? Should you manage to deal similar damage as a normal direct build if you were to go fully into this archetype?

Early power vs late game power

[nova mulch]

hey! was wondering what the best way to create a skybox with labelable stars?

i want for the player to be able to look at the stars, and name them as they wish

and i was wondering what the best technique to go about this would be

thanks in advance!!!

[cinder hamlet]

probably not making stars part of the skybox but rather separate objects

[fast cairn]

game idea a battle royal type game with procedural generation so everytime you hop into a match you have to adapt to your surroundings

[cinder hamlet]

minecraft battle royale exists

[velvet drift]

Hi there; I am kinda doing a prototype that is not very good, but I am learning a lot and the main gimmick is that you have some items you can drag and they have a "hidden score value/modifier" when dropping them on a on device than can "weigth" them; and you have to kinda figure out how much each item is worth based on if the device reacts to them or not; for example, there is a big box on the middle that reacts when a total of 10 or -10 is dropped inside; and several balances around the map that require the player to drop X amount of them (X being either explicitily told or a combination of other items you previously need to know the value of)

Maybe this is a really stupid question to ask, but I think that the values I gave the items is way to much obtuse and random for a player to know or even remember by this methods; but I don't want it to be obvious or anything cause it would ruin the whole point of it

[fast cairn]

Yeah but it’s battle maps aren’t procedural generated they are always the same Minecraft normally is procedurally generated but it’s battle maps aren’t

[velvet drift]

These are the current weird values; I kinda want something that makes sense, but not to evident; any suggestions?

[cinder hamlet]

ok yeah so basically your idea is battle royale with a procedurally generated map, but I'd say it's more of a mechanic idea than a full game idea

[fast cairn]

Yeah just an idea like that I just couldn’t find the words

[fast cairn]

So is this like capture the flag like where the score system depends on random score sorry I may have read it wrong

[velvet drift]

Is more like some kind of exploration/puzzle game where the main gimmick is to drop items you find into boxes to match the value they ask you, but you don't know how much each item is worth and have to figure it out

[fast cairn]

That’s good is it random upon spawn or is it fixed when you place it into the world

[velvet drift]

It is fixed, since the idea is that everything is kinda settled so you can kinda figure it out more easily; for example one balance is asking you to match the value of one green ball; and there are 2 grey balls around; so you can easily find out that they are worth the same

[fast cairn]

That’s an interesting gimmick and it makes sense is it just puzzle game or is it like a combination like a puzzle to get through a door then to explore or is that just the game solving puzzles with the correct weight

[velvet drift]

I mean, it is kinda of a small and begginners project, but is sorta of a sandbox where there like 4 zones with different themes and you can complete them in different ways or in whatever order you want

If I had to compare it with something it would like kinda a superprototype version of something like The Witness

[fast cairn]

Yeah sorry never played the witness just give me a sec to look what it’s like but you are doing well so far you have thought this through quite well

Wow so that’s quite cool

[velvet drift]

I mean, I cannot do something even near that cool, but it is like the main idea of this littel thing XD

The thing is that; I cannot really trust a player to remember that a red ball is 5, a red box is /2 and a red cone is -7; seems completely arbitrary and hard to remember even if they find out

But it I make it like -2, -5 and -10 is kinda too easy, you know?

It is an essential part of the game even if its just part of the game balance, so I have to figure it out before doing anything else, so kinda stuck here

[fast cairn]

I’d probably guess if I was the player but a way to add a value that makes sense is to count the sides or corners and assign a colour for different intergeres for example a red box would be 2

[fast cairn]

Then you communicate it to the player an make them retain the information

[velvet drift]

Ok, so not sure if this makes more sense or if it easier to remember, but it feels a bit better somehow

[fast cairn]

So if it was a green sphere it would be 3 or did I miss something

[velvet drift]

Yep, it would

Green boc would be -6 though, that's wrong

[fast cairn]

Most of the solutions cancel each other out I’m pretty sure but I’ve been out of maths for two years so I’m probably wrong

Oh wait I’m adding the grey to the colours

Ok I’m starting to get it so a blue cone would be 97

[velvet drift]

x doesn't mean a value; it just states that the object is a mutiplier

So if you have one grey sphere which is worth one and then you drop a blue cone in, it would multiply the value of that ball and it would make it 10

[fast cairn]

Ok I see the table I read wrong sorry I’m tired it’s almost 2 am here so I’m gonna get to sleep

[velvet drift]

Ok, thanks, I needed someone to talk about this with 😄

[fast cairn]

No problem it was quite fun good luck

[sharp zinc]

They are/were... I was doing "Hunger Games" back in the day which a good portion of it was using the procedurally generated map. The truth, is that people preferred none procedurally generated map because it removed the randomness element.

[cold onyx]

One message removed from a suspended account.

One message removed from a suspended account.

One message removed from a suspended account.

[atomic anvil]

This is just how computer graphics work. When the GPU samples points to render on the screen, the smaller the part of the texture is mapped, the less detailed it would be. You can't fit more than 1 pixel into a screen pixel.
That being said, are you using mip maps?

[cold onyx]

One message removed from a suspended account.

[atomic anvil]

Mip maps are smaller versions of the texture that the GPU picks to render if the texture is smaller on the screen.
You can enable them in the texture import settings.

Also, this is hardly the appropriate channel.

[cold onyx]

One message removed from a suspended account.

[atomic anvil]

If you still have a problem, move to #💻┃unity-talk

[cold onyx]

One message removed from a suspended account.

[frozen urchin]

Thoughts on a roguelite that is a mix of apocalyptic and fantasy themes?
Zombies, skeletons, mutated creatures for enemies.
Shotguns that shoot fire bullets and lazer weapons that freeze enemies.
City level, dungeon level, sewers, etc for biomes.

Would you see that working? Know any games that do this?

[cinder hamlet]

Enter the Gungeon, Soul Knight

[cold onyx]

Hi! Im a newbie to unity and I have a few questions about importing trees from blender into unity (they don't have any colour). I ve looked everywhere online and couldn't find anything helpful. I tried making a separate material but it does not correspond with a tree, extract them, re import, literally everything but it's not working. Please help me out

[mortal niche]

Export as FBX then just import into Unity?

[cold onyx]

its a blend file, i got it from the internet

[mortal niche]

Blend files should also import just fine (except bigger file size) but I would go into the .blend file and export it as FBX from there

Blend files include unnecessary metadata and stuff like that which just bloats your game later on

[cold onyx]

the things is when i open it in blender it's gray also, even if the textures are in the folder

[sudden pendant]

This conversation belongs in #🔀┃art-asset-workflow

[wary spire]

hi

Imagine a horror maze game where you need to find keys and hide from a monster, but with a twist. An actual AI you can talk to throughout the game, it can help you find keys but also can have a conversation

[clear bluff]

That seems pretty sick

Have you made games before?

[wary spire]

kinda

[snow nacelle]

assuming you mean an LLM, what benefit to the game would that add

[wary spire]

I made a vr game but I am not very experienced

[clear bluff]

I’m still a beginner and I had all these crazy ideas in my head and when I tried to make them in unity I’m all like wtf. It’s good to start small

[thorny saffron]

maybe some novelty but not sure a horror game can benefit from it

[clear bluff]

This game seems possible tho

[wary spire]

well you can ask where keys are or just have it to talk to

[snow nacelle]

or just have it to talk to
and again, what benefit would that add?

[wary spire]

it would also make a good video imagine the title "I made a game where you can talk to a REAL AI

think of halo

[thorny saffron]

On the other hand, @snow nacelle , a visual novel might benefit from LLM 🤔

[chrome jetty]

Will you allow it to lie to you like chatgpt does? Maybe it tells you the key is actually where the monster is

[wary spire]

Throughout the campaing of halo you have an ai

but in this u can talk to it

[wary spire]

ye

[wary spire]

definitly would give it a personality and make it do stupid stuff

But think of like portal 2

You have wheatley who assist you

but you cants ask for anything or any help

but a real AI would change that

[snow nacelle]

i'm not so sure about a visual novel. you would typically want to have a pretty tightly controlled story for something like that, no?
maybe like an open world game where npcs can have their backstories generated by an LLM. you'd have to be super careful with the prompts though so it doesn't just go off the rails

[wary spire]

@snow nacelle that is the kind of benifet

benefit

[snow nacelle]

how would an LLM add any benefit to that? you can just add hints to the game manually that your "helper" could provide

[thorny saffron]

indeed but you could do some semi scripted stuff. Like say - generate negotiations with a Pawn shop owner or something. And you choose how to converse with them. If you choose to write something insulting they might tell you get lost.

[wary spire]

it would just be fun to actually talk to it throughout the game

[wary spire]

good idea but how would that be original

or creative

[snow nacelle]

how would your idea be original or creative?

[wary spire]

games need something that makes them different

not exactly creative but something no other game has

[snow nacelle]

yes and that something needs to actually benefit the game in some way. just throwing in access to an LLM to have a conversation isn't beneficial to the game except to attract people who are obsessed with LLMs for no other reason than that they exist

[chrome jetty]

Many games are starting to have llms in them now. Just fyi.
Certainly not something unique anymore.
There are plugins for it

[wary spire]

it can also help you tho

[wary spire]

name one

[chrome jetty]

I have helped probably six people integrate them in the last couple months
You're quite late to the party with that idea

[wary spire]

alright but name one game with a llm

[chrome jetty]

There is a $12 asset on the store even
https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/ai-ml-integration/chat-gpt-for-games-ai-integration-248841

[wary spire]

Do u know if they even published there game

[chrome jetty]

No, because it's boring and I don't care to keep track

[wary spire]

that also just using text

[snow nacelle]

there won't be any good or popular ones because just throwing an LLM into a game like many people (including yourself) seem to think is a good idea just isn't

[wary spire]

something that uses ur mic

[chrome jetty]

Yeah, a couple people were doing that. TTS, STT, and openai integration

[snow nacelle]

not only this, but you also need to be mindful of what the LLM you are integrating was trained on otherwise you may end up with licensing issues

and then there's the issue of making sure that whatever it generates actually makes sense and it isn't just hallucinating random bullshit

[wary spire]

You seem to be putting a lot of thought into this is was just one idea

[snow nacelle]

so it's not only incredibly difficult to get right and moderate, but it adds no real benefit and can land you in a pile of lawsuits

[mortal mountain]

A dog with a key is followed by Player, because of shiny golden necklace till to river, where zombies talk about hungry flesh, in moment dog drinks water you steal the key, dog runs a path till underground and always back and forth till you go to undergound, but zombies huntig, with the key you enter the underground, the dog gets the key and run away the door gets close to figure out of underground, a lot of optimisation ideas from #💻┃unity-talk ( investus.itch.io has prototype with of zombie game than to modify, what is possible: incl polybrush: underground, add your door/key, but needs the talk;drink; dog-zombie ) and how to communicate that for player is it ok?

[gentle fossil]

what is the purpose of the key and where did it come from

[mortal mountain]

zombies talking and the key, i just added them to the dog that is drinking near river

[mortal mountain]

to open the underground / gate / door of bunker, that locks if key removed //from dog again + (a shelter, usually underground, that has strong walls to protect the people inside it from bullets or bombs and zombies, but they are inside)

[fleet badge]

Do u have any suggestions on how could I make a FUN sort of ''rpg'' and/or ''tower defense'' from that

[misty stirrup]

hi guys need help if anyones free (its regarding incremental game balancing)

[snow nacelle]

https://dontasktoask.com
just describe your issue and if someone knows how to help they will

[bleak kestrel]

oh i might be able to help

[misty stirrup]

I have 10 blocks of code like this for fire water earth etc each having these skills public enum Earth { Block, // converts damage into defense more effective on shields BlockPct, // block 3% of damage, Defence, // Block +X damage Immunity, // every X turns turn immune of x cooldowns Defect, // defect x% of damage back Parry, // 1% chance to completly block the attck Motivation, // take x% less damage for first 5 secs Shield, // + x health RockAttack, // every 2 attack throw rock to enemy EarthQuake, // slow both you and enemy down but Both take more damage Dust, // enemy attacks are x% slower HeavyWeapon, // attack very slow but do large damage Dig, // Every 10 cooldown dig inside for 2 cooldown BuriedTreasure, // on death recive X amount of gold Mineral, // gain x ruby per victory LevelBoost, // all ice of this weapons +x levels FullBlock, // fully block the first hit of the battle RandomTypeBoost, }
Is there a way to balance all the skills without individually balancing everything would there be a faster way to do it
example of my health formula-(1-sign(floor(x/200001)-1/2))/2*10*(139+1.55^139*1.145^360*(Product[1.145+0.001*ceiling(i/500),{i,501,x}])+((1+sign(floor(x/200001)-1/2))/2)*ceil(1.545^(x-200001)*1.24e25409+((x-1)/10)) here x is the area/wave

[bleak kestrel]

nah I am out of my depths here :<

[misty stirrup]

anyone else?

[lost merlin]

player stats * skill coefficient = damage done

[misty stirrup]

[cloud delta]

why not just make the skills a class that inherits from a parent skill class?

i get if you want to do functional programming however, that doesnt seem to be the aim here

[sinful sandal]

Quick question, for an RPG handling a lot of data, would a Scriptable Object database be a suitable solution? Or would an SQlite DB work better? I currently have a couple working ScriptableObject databases, but I'm worried about how it'll scale.

[cloud delta]

Data in terms of like meta data or?

Ultimately depends on the data you want to store

[sinful sandal]

Just data in general. Item stats, character stats, drop tables, etc.

Right now I've just made a Scriptable Object DB for each type.

[lost merlin]

im usually fine with a dictionary of keys. I don't really need to query anything too large, but if you're talking about hosting the db via server then that's always a plus

[sharp trail]

where can i read about gameplay asymmetry when you want to make complex gameplay for player but you also simplify things for ai opponent, like if you play some team battles, player's team consists of different people with perks(good and bad), have relations between them, have mood, demand bigger salary, need to find synergies while ai opponent is just team of robots with simple behavior?

or what's name of this?

[open perch]

How about, something like a hill defense? So your base is on top of the hill and monsters come from bottom. Suggesting this because noticed you have platforms

[misty stirrup]

💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀

[cloud delta]

im curious why you're using an enum is all

[marble ferry]

Rpg developers, is it more optimal to create stats, equipment, inventory, etc and then do combat and enemy npc’s or should I be working the other way around?

[cinder hamlet]

gonna be pretty hard to design stats without a combat system to test them on

[marble ferry]

Combat it is

[void canyon]

What do u guys think about how it's look and sound?

[normal heron]

why is it making footstep sounds when the cube has no legs/feet/shoes

[void canyon]

'cause

its sounds cool

[north trellis]

"When the free tier expires, calls to the chatGPT api cost a small amount of money"

in before somebody inevitably goes broke by messing up their implementation

[cold onyx]

does anyone know a solution to this problem?
Internal build system error. read the full binlog without getting a BuildFinishedMessage, while the backend process is still running

[round aurora]

The screen shake is pretty overkill for when you’re jumping up for those platforms. May want to tone it down for that interaction specifically somehow.

[languid flare]

Hey could someone who has experince with unity help me

[sharp robin]

It helps to post the problem. But it depends on if it is #archived-game-design related

[languid flare]

I need help with a map i've never used unity and im working on a vr game

[sharp robin]

What's not working?

[languid flare]

well i don't know how to use it

[sharp robin]

If it's a VR problem, #🥽┃virtual-reality is the way to go. #💻┃unity-talk for general how the heck to do X using Unity. #archived-game-design is for well how to design games

[languid flare]

It's for map design

[sharp robin]

Sounds like you need to take some tutorials

For learning blender, there is a blender community.

!blender

[desert marten]

A supportive community for Blender artists of all levels. Share your work, ask for help, and learn from others! https://discord.com/invite/blender

[languid flare]

i ment unity not blender

im great with blender

[sharp robin]

In that case !learn might be better

[desert marten]

:teacher: Unity Learn ↗

Over 750 hours of free live and on-demand learning content for all levels of experience!

[sharp robin]

There are some sections on XR. I'd recommend OpenXR, go carefully, don't skip any steps. And keep in mind each headset manufacturer has its own additional things you are expected to do (I.e. openvr install for the vive, manifest files for quest, etc.)

[fringe obsidian]

Why the ground is shaking when the cube jump ?

[shy crest]

Hmm, has anyone made an idle game in the vein of Factorio before? I'm new to idle game development, of which I myself...

Have no clue what I am doing because I'm making a new game from scratch.

I have one idea on what an idle game is but I have zero idea on making one, the tutorials do help but not by much

[grand bronze]

it actually does

[amber barn]

I had an idea for a simple 2D multiplayer mobile game and I was wondering if anyone could help me expand upon it

It's basically where every player is placed into a white box, and the players are all squares

And players have to eliminate each other in order to gain more lives

Lives are represented as how many sides you have

So if you are a cube and eliminate another cube, you become a pentagon and they become a triangle

if you get hit as a triangle, you're out

last one standing wins

But I have no idea how to actually go about the attack system that would fit the simplistic geometric style of the game

Thoughts?

[unborn field]

I don't know about an attack system, but I envisioned your player kind of running into other blocks and sort of absorbing them. You could have a system of sort of.. bumper cars? Where if you run into one that's moving away from you you get the "hit"

Which you then get a chunk of their block or however you want to make it

You could also have a kind of rebound mechanism where after you hit another player you bounce off eah other to keep them from hitting you back right away. You'd have to figure out how to handle what happens if two players hit ea other in the front. Maybe just rebound off or something

[sharp zinc]

You could make the attack:

• Be push base, if someone fall off it lose a life.
• Be something like a game of thumb, you try to crush the other without being crush.
• Be speed base, the damage you give is base on the speed you are going.

However, you can really do a lot more if you give yourself more latitude:

• Maybe it could be a game of collect things. (Instead of losing life, you could be evolving into a higher shape)
• Maybe you could shoot projectiles, where the rate of shooting depends on circumference of your shape (The lower the faster it is).
• Maybe it could be a race of some sort, where some path or blocked depending on your shape.

[rigid smelt]

sound is good. maybe a subtle rain sound?

[jovial magnet]

I wonder how good chatgpt would be at writing dialogue and quests, has anyone tried it?

[amber barn]

See, I feel like the problem with collision based attacks is that it might feel unfair for the players when deciding who gets the point in the collision

Cause if it's based on direction, they could be moving nearly parallel to each other then it's pretty much random chance from the players' perspective on who gets the point

Or if a player turns last second

[amber barn]

I am planning on it being a top-down game so you really have as much length and width as you need

So it could be a projectile based on the kind of shape you are

Maybe since you're more massive as a bigger shape, you travel slower and so do your bullets

[velvet drift]

Don't really know where to ask this..., but; can I like, take two gameObjects and rotate them from their bounding box center a specific angle without parenting them to a emptyObject?

Like this but actually inputing the angle instead of doing it manually; if I use the inspector just rotates both objects from their own center

[amber barn]

Not that I know of

If you want to, you could go above and beyond and make an editor script to do that

[velvet drift]

Why is not something so basic, such as precise rotation tool, implemented by default?

[amber barn]

I mean, Unity isn't exactly feature-rich when it comes to scene creation out of the box

They do the heavy lifting for you and then it's the developer's job to add features that cater to their needs

[amber barn]

Since something like this could just be a lot of extra work on their part yk

[grand bronze]

is there any problem in watching blender tutorials from like 2021? idk how much the program changed over the past years

[velvet drift]

Like, I have no idea of how to make 3D engines, but the stuff is actually there, it is rotating the angle, i just need precision

[amber barn]

They've added a lot of features but if you're looking at general tutorials then a large portion of it should be around the same

[grand bronze]

thanks

[amber barn]

especially if it's blender 2.8+ tutorials

[amber barn]

I totally get it

Let me do some research rq

No yeah they don't let you do that

Because think about it

If you could type in numbers while rotating multiple objects, where would you do it?

It can't be in the transform component because then that would mean that they would need a whole other system for selecting multiple objects

It could maybe be in the editor where you click a button to enter a value, but that would still be funky

The way that blender implements it is really nice where you just press R and then type in the number, but Unity isn't built like that

There's some pretty simple tutorials on how make editor scripts if you're determined to make this a feature

[velvet drift]

Actually I just found out; you can "snap" rotate holding Cntrl; not exactly what I wanted, but is good enough

[amber barn]

Yeah that works too if you're not too worried about precision

[velvet drift]

Anyways, the input could be stored on a temporal "ghost" emptyObject placed on the medium point and then just delete it

[amber barn]

It could

Not too hard to do programmatically

[void canyon]

'cause

it looks cool

[sharp robin]

My assumption when I see responses like that - is you don't really want opinions on the project and are more or less just showing it off. It might be better to post it in #1180170818983051344

[glossy root]

i need opinion

so this is the current character i have in my game

but i find it so difficult to make all the animations

inverse kinematics etc

because im a solo developer

so i was thinking if i went for unturned style characters

how much easier would that make everything?

this is a reference of what i mean

like he wouldnt have fingers so animations would be a lot simpler

[sharp robin]

I use add-ons for blender and unity to let me do hand and basic animation and poses a lot quicker.

But yeah don't use them if you don't need them

It just comes down to the game design

But using a proper rig is helpful so you can do retargeting later

[wild junco]

I'm making a 2d platformer with a gamepad as input, do people usually use analog left and right movement or a couple of different set speeds (run and walk)

[sharp robin]

It's pretty common to have one for movement and the other for aiming (think straffing).

And run is usually when you push the stick hard

But there are so many different ways to do them

[crisp solar]

Does anyone wanna be a playtester for a unity project?

[cinder hamlet]

it's better to stick with fixed speeds imo because many people prefer to use the dpad (or a keyboard)

so if you tilt left stick past its deadzone, its max speed

[cinder hamlet]

Im pretty sure you are talking about 3d shooters

[steel stratus]

How do I make a certain item disappear when my score reaches a certain value?

[lost merlin]

if(score == num)
{
//destroy itemObject
}

[sudden pendant]

Not a game design question. #💻┃code-beginner

[onyx garnet]

When making grenades that send out a bunch of ray casts to do damage which one is better? :
1-apply the damage value of x to each object that was hit by raycasts, only ONCE per explosion

2-apply a small damage value to each object that were hit by raycasts, for every raycast that hit the object (if 10 raycasts hit the object the damage applied is 10x)

The second option means that the bigger the object, the more damage it takes, and it also means if the object is like, 50% in cover, it will take half the damage it normally would

[cinder hamlet]

probably the latter, though raycast-based grenades will probably be pretty unreliable

[onyx garnet]

Soooo what is?

All explosion implementations ive seen use raycasts in some way

Aome get objects in a overlapsphere then use raycasts to check visibility

[cinder hamlet]

Send a single raycast to every object in grenade's explosion radius to see which were hit

[onyx garnet]

(Which is not good beacuse it only checks the objects pivot)

[cinder hamlet]

I meant like the "realistic" grenades that just send a lot of raycasts randomly in every direction

[onyx garnet]

But this way if the player is behind the thinnest pole ever that just covers the pivot they wont get damaged

[cinder hamlet]

count every body part as an object

[cinder hamlet]

but imo, that should work fine

[onyx garnet]

My player is a capsul, only my npcs have seperate colliders for each limb, since my game is single player

[cinder hamlet]

well then, "if you cant see it, it cant see you" approach is generally good for first person

single raycast to the camera should do (and maybe another one to the legs)

[onyx garnet]

Do raycasts have a high performance impact?

[cinder hamlet]

nope, it's one of the lightest ways to do physics

[lost merlin]

So I've got a system of projectiles and other abilities that have a duration that signifies its lifetime, meaning that its range is ultimately clamped by the speed and duration. My problem is that I've a system of upgrades that increases this duration and what I've noticed is that my particle system eventually becomes out of synced, or rather makes for more of a less desirable effect. What I think I need to do is chop the lifetime of these projectiles into different states; one for the start, middle, and end of the particle. This way I can create a projectile that always expands to its largest size without delay if I were to only apply these duration modifiers to the primary (middle) portion of its lifetime.

Does that sound like a good implementation or maybe a little too crusty?

[sharp robin]

I just wanted to say I've used this approach a few times, shotgun and explosions, and it's always worked out really well for me. But I wanted highly accurate physics checks to the grenade pieces that exploded.

[sharp zinc]

Cant you just adjust the speed of the simulation ?

At least, that would be my first reflex if adjusting the lifetime does not work.

That being said, you should almost always have start, middle and end in any "animation" you do so you can loop the middle part.

[lost merlin]

An example here would be say a smoke grenade such that it has the explosion state, but you don't exactly want duration increase effects to apply to that part. Same with the dissipation of it all. What I want to affect is the lingering duration

[sharp zinc]

In that particular example adjusting the lifetime of the particule seem to be the best ?

[lost merlin]

right, if I were to just not use the explosion particles I can keep them separate. Maybe a better example is a blackhole effect that expands out into the primary size before the duration affects it.

and by just apply duration over the whole animation it makes the wind up even slower where you just want the primary effect to linger longer

so ideally I'd have the start, the lingering state, and the state which is fades out

Oh, yeah. Not exactly an example of projectiles but similar behavior so how a fireball would expand to it's largest size before it moves far enough away from the character.

even though I've noticed games like to just make a lot of these effects snappy and completely remove that wind up by masking the instantiation of particles with smaller particles

[sharp zinc]

Usually, we have a multiple fx per effect. Rarelly we use the same effect for the start and for the "looping" part.

One thing you could consider is to look into https://unity.com/visual-effect-graph where you can easily add parameter to your effect. I never used due to not being compatible with Built-in render pipeline though.

[lost merlin]

I've actually chopped up the VFX graph for continuous cpu readback because of this

otherwise I'd have to do the states inside of the graph itself which is a pain

kinda defeats some purpose of the vfx graph but I dislike the shuriken system UI

I find it hard just to do a statemachine in the vfx graph in general.

[sharp zinc]

Not sure why you would do that though

[lost merlin]

Maybe I don't fully grasp the concept of it, but seems odd I'd have to do a lot more outside of the graph itself if I wanted to meld different particle animation/effects together

in a linear fashion at least

one-off effects it's really nice

[sharp zinc]

Not really, you just stated why it is the case. You have multiple things to orchestrate.

[lost merlin]

Right, so it would be a bunch more usage out of unity's animator to really get something flashy going on

[sharp zinc]

Animator and particule system are really closely related.

[lost merlin]

Technically I've got a particle controller I've made which fixes a lot of the problems vfx graph has. One being what I was discussing, and another being collisional feedback and registration.

but that itself requires modifying the buffers you send into the graph, which makes it less performative for large particle systems but makes controlling smaller systems somewhat more perfomative than shuriken

• you don't need to deal with shuriken

[sharp zinc]

Performance is usually not an issue for small game with low amount of asset. I would think that much of it given that whatever you do you probably be able to optimize it down the line.

[lost merlin]

Yeah, I don't care too much for absolute performance, but it does feel like a lot of the vfx graph suffers because it's made to simulate "millions of particles" but realistically I just want a nice particle system with a decent UI to navigate.

[final kiln]

Question about 2D (not sure where else to put this). I'm sorting layers by pivot points, but I'm not sure what to do about the trees in my world (using tilemaps, btw). If I put the trees in the world as a separate tilemap layer, they don't really have pivot points right? Right now, I've separated all trees into 3 different parts so it sorts correctly, but it still has kinks, and I feel like that's not the way to do it. Is there something I'm missing?

[sudden pendant]

@glossy root Use your devlog for feedback

[lost merlin]

They should have pivot points if you set your tilemap to individual mode as opposed to chunks. Why not use the sorting layers for your trees too?

[lilac fjord]

hey guys, I've made some ideation art for a potential game, but not sure what type of game it would be

looking for suggestions / improvements / ideas on what type of game to make

[rare briar]

does someone have ny resources on guides to how to write a GDD? I'm so lost

[sudden pendant]

Just find a template. But honestly, with all the online tools and such, making a traditional written document for a design is archaic.

[lost merlin]

The images do give off a turn-based dungeon crawl vibe to them, and frankly there's a real lack of them lately

[lilac fjord]

sweet as, thanks 🙂

[onyx garnet]

Have any of you guys played any games built on the source engine? If so you might already know what im talking about. in the source engine, when you are transitioning from one level to another, any physics objects that you take to the level transition zone, it will follow you to the next map and i want to replicate this

So, lets say scene A and scene B both have a room in them that look exactly the same, and when going from scene A to scene B, you want evrey game object in that room that has the tag "transitionValid"; to also transfer to scene B, with all the same components and values.
How would you do that?

[onyx garnet]

I want to know how i should go about implementing this

Making all my objects prefabs, saving components values, instantiating them in the next scene and then assigning the values?

Maybe having a "interloper" scene... when level transition starts
-all "transition valid" game objects are moved there
-Scene A is unloaded
-scene B is loaded
-Objects are moved from interloper scene to scene B

[sharp zinc]

You mean Unity ?

[onyx garnet]

i want to do this in unity, ive seen it in source

[sharp zinc]

Because that would be:

• Move Object To DontDestroyOnLoad or Additive Scene
• Unload Scene A
• Load Scene B
• Move Object back

[onyx garnet]

So this right?

[sharp zinc]

If you know that object should not change, then you can also simply use an additive scene or lets them live in dontdestroyonload

Also, not game design. Use #💻┃unity-talk instead

[onyx garnet]

No its not something that is predetermined beacuse my scene is full of interactable physics objects that you can move, and you dont know before hand which ones need to go to the next scene

[sharp zinc]

Then you have the solution I gave you

[quick void]

Is anyone up for reviewing / giving initial impressions from a very short and brief GDD draft? I've been toying with a platformer project for a couple months and decided to write down the "pitch" to limit scope.

[sharp zinc]

Shoot it here

@quick void, no dm.

[quick void]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1e-IA1cvsmgc2u_P5ElhtHYpNSYA9Q-k12FYfqHbEjWk/edit?usp=sharing

[sharp zinc]

Overall, the summary seem to really be strong compared to what I have seen.

While there is area where there is too much detail (tutorial), there is area where there is not enough detail (map).

We are also missing some important part such as combat, trading (if there is any), objective, concept art, etc. I would expect the document to be considerably more long.

Finally, a GDD is a document that you use to express what you are committed to do. It seem to me that you are still in the brainstorm phase. It is also not a document to express every details, that would be when you do your "sprint planning" if you were to work with this methodology.

That being said, on a market perspective I do not believe there is anything of value you are adding. Either commit yourself on specifics such as making extremely good puzzle, having the best art for this type of game, have the best combat system, the best exploration system, etc. or add a special twist that has never been seen. We want to know what your guiding principle will look like. A good way to do that, is to define 3 pillars (words) that represent your game and that you will follow through.

I added extra message as comments if you are interested in them.

[quick void]

Thank you so much this is great. I'm curious about your concern about combat, that's something I've been actually worried about: can a 3d platformer exist without combat or does it just imply certain elements players will expect?

This was originally meant to be like a $5 "walking simulator"

Not sure what you mean by "guiding principle" but my main objective is to recreate the "aha" feeling I experienced playing Tunic

[quick void]

Read the notes, thanks again, yeah I know there shouldn't be questions 😉 I'm not sending this to a publisher was just looking for feedback on the ideas. 👍

[sharp zinc]

You can make a game without combat for sure, however we do not know if it is the case or not. This is the issue.

Guiding Principle can be thought in form of pillar. Example:
Exciting, Warm, Medieval
Dark, Sad, Overpower
Mysterious, Brotherhood, Stars

Those helps in guiding what you are going to do. By example, in the case of your game, if you want for Exciting, Warm and Medieval I would expect mechanics/narrative that support the exciting part with an art palette that is warm and a theme of medieval.

Just naming those words should trigger a lot of expectation for you. This is what we are looking for in the pillar. Whenever you ask yourself should you do A or B, justify your choice in term of pillar.

Is the pirate or the druid background fitting the Exciting/Warm/Medieval pillar ? The pirate can definitely be exciting, but the druid could also be if you have a more carefree touch. If you go for the druid, the warm aspect could come from the druid power for shapeshifting in adorable creature. The medieval touch could be done in contrast with what the druid actually is. Iron vs Nature by example.

The idea is to root your game really deep such as you can easily build upon it without effort.

[keen egret]

ive made two games (pong clone and basic platformer) to start out learning Unity, and im deciding what to do for my next project. id like to get basic weapons, enemies, and maybe enemy ai down. which of these ideas would be best for my next game?

• abilities being bound to movement keys (moving left does one thing, moving up does another)
• simple puzzle platformer (first person, 3d this time)
• vampire survivors clone (shameless, but just for learning)
• game where you can only parry

[lost merlin]

wave-based 3D game with weapons and enemies ;)

3D you get the benefit of unity's navmesh (unless they've added 2D support lately)

so you can tackle AI with that along with your other requirements

[keen egret]

i could adapt my first idea to 3d quite easily if i make it top-down

[lost merlin]

isometric pretty ideal

3D without having to deal much with the y axis

[keen egret]

wave-based would make sense
with potentially random abilities each wave?

thanks for the input!

[lost merlin]

it's the flavor nowadays but would teach you a lot I'd say

[keen egret]

i mean, its like my 3rd functional game

im not too picky

it will be entirely for learning purposes anyways

[sharp zinc]

"vampire survivors clone" is the best option for learning in my opinion, simple but can drastically increase in complexity. You can something functionnal quickly and then build upon. It also do not require any animation or assets.

[keen egret]

should be an easy game to prototype then!

[dire spear]

Guys, I happended to have some MMD models for my current 3D project, how can I import them to Unity?

[tame yew]

so I have a weirdish cultural question, mostly meant for non native english speakers. It's for a puzzle i'm designing, however I need it to be universally understandable in other languages other than english:
some emotional states are often associated with a specific color, for example there are classic english expressions like 'being green with envy' or 'feeling blue (=sad)'
what i need to understand is how universal these colors are, cause i assume other languages might have similar expressions, but with different colors or in general those colors would commonly represent different moods)
so what i would like to ask you guys is to thumb up or down these 4 sentences, according to wheter in your country they make any sense

"I'm feeling sad" (=blue)

"I'm feeling angry" (=red)

"I'm feeling jealous" (=green)

"I'm feeling uncertain" (=gray)

thanks for helping and sorry for spamming!

[dense scarab]

Germans will understand red=angry and green=jealous. When Germans say "I'm blue" they usually mean they're drunk 😉
I probably would not associate gray with uncertainty if gray color is the only context I have. For me, gray is more a lack of emotion.
Also note that even in English, colors can mean very different things in different situations. You can be green with envy, but green can also symbolize hope or desire (like the infamous green light in The Great Gatsby).

[tame yew]

Excellent point, in fact I'm trying to eventually have a bunch of pretty common expressions whose color association is pretty straightforward and not what the color might symbolize in their culture... problem is, at least so far, there are only a few that overlap in several languages and many other simply don't have that expression at all 😦

i think I might have to ditch the entire thing, for the sake of avoiding confusion...

[hard dagger]

Hey all just wondering if I can get some initial opinions on how things look here.

Context:
This is an ant-farm style game where the player places down things like towns, dungeons, etc and spawns events like lightning, goblin invasions, etc. It's sort of like a very simple version of worldbox where the player has next to no control over the actual actions of the AI. I think it's more like an Aquarium sort of thing.

Some things like the trees / rocks feel too highly detailed for the aesthetic. I feel a bit lost TBH on what art direction to take it in.

https://gyazo.com/69b7cab814f23f93e5c48d8610df3820.mp4

I'm also wondering if anyone could suggest things like post processing effects, doodads I could add like clouds floating overhead, and stuff like that to help it come to life more. One thing I am going to add for sure is wildlife like birds, bears, etc.

I'm not very good with things like shaders but I would absolutely give them a try too

[cinder hamlet]

the trees and rocks look fine to me

[slim drift]

any tuts on vector and pixel designing for game development?

[manic wind]

you want to combine them together?

[cinder ivy]

hey guys, does anyone have ideas to improve this?

[cosmic leaf]

looks good to me

[sharp robin]

It's hard to say without seeing the rest of it. Offhand it's a lot of green and using the default Unity UI blocks. But nothing wrong per say

[worthy vortex]

Is there a reason for Mega Man only firing in front of him, design wise?

[cinder hamlet]

you mean no diagonal/vertical aiming?

I assume it's for sake of simplifying the controls

[obsidian briar]

does anyone think this gameplay mechanic would work for a puzzle / adventure game? I cant tell if its going to annoy players only stepping out the shadow for a small part at a time. Idk if it will remove any desire to explore as you can only walk in like 10 percent of an area.

might add an object that you can pick up to block the light.

[jovial magnet]

V rising with bugs?

[lilac fjord]

research inspiration for game over screens 🙂

[torpid sorrel]

maybe since its a dung beetle u got include something to roll around to block the sun?

[north pasture]

I think 2d games are better than 3d games

But my favorite type of games are 2d games with 3d graphics. Like this.

[cinder hamlet]

Yeah, they're very cool (usually they're called 2.5d)

[north pasture]

ah

[white jay]

2D games on rails ❤️

[dawn sapphire]

are they made in a 3d project but with the camera facing flat?

i assume that's how it is

[cinder hamlet]

yep, in Unity you can easily mix 3d and 2d

[manic wind]

do people have animations in sprite sheets for cutscenes?
for example the protagonist smoking/drinking while engaging in dialogue with an NPC
which only happens during cutscenes
i'm thinking about having a black bar top and bottom to let the player know its a cutscene and input is dis

[sudden pendant]

As opposed as what?

How would you animate a sprite otherwise?

[onyx garnet]

In am fps game, would you rather have the main charachter that you play as, be one of those silent charachters like gordon freeman from half life 2

Or

Would you rather have them talk (screaming when there is a grenade, getting shot at, and scripted dialog)

[cinder hamlet]

that's just a design choice, entirely up to you

but you'll save a bit on hiring voice actors

[sharp robin]

The problem with talking is association. When I played Arizona sunshine or whatever its called in VR, the main character complaining and acting tough 24/7 was beyond annoying. But in that context you can't disengage the same way you can on a console

So if they don't like the voice or character or associate to it, they will just not like the game and not really think about why

But same could be said for art, characters, music etc. It's personal preference really I think

[cinder hamlet]

Actually now I think in first-person game it might be a good idea to just make the character shut up outside of dialogs, only making simple sounds like struggling when climbing a ledge or breathing when tired

[swift adder]

Need some advise on this
For a competition, guidelines say to create an adventure game with a hero and antagonist that also has heavy focus on business practices
I'm currently prototyping a simulator game where you help out an old business by managing it and bringing in new technology to bring the company into the competitive market, with the antagonist being a competing company always causing disruptions. I'm in love with the concept of it all, but can't bring myself to connect the dots and turn it into an "adventure" game... any suggestions?

[tired vessel]

Any body have any advice on adding horse riding to my 3D unity project

[sudden pendant]

Make horse. Code horse.

[sharp zinc]

You can make a really standard adventure game which has the exact theme you described. By example, you could be fighting old technology inspired enemies with new technology weapon.

The issue seem to be that you are trying to make a managing game and then turn it in an adventure game.

[swift adder]

ya thats my issue, brainstormed too much that i deterred from the original guidelines
but does adventure have to necessarily be a fantasy rpg? is it possible to sell it as an adventure game through small cutscenes alone? like after each "month" or level, small story segment about the characters to drive a narrative, like the mc slowly getting closer to exposing the rival company for bad practices

[sharp zinc]

It does not need to be an RPG, but the core loop of the game most be exploring/discovering.

From what I see, you core loop would be "managing" which is not what we would describe as adventurous.

You could, by example, explore the rival company and discover secrets about it.

[steel stratus]

I'm trying to create a snowboarding game where the player moves down the mountain automatically but can be controlled to move left and right. What's the best way to add that mechanic in because I'm struggling?

[manic wind]

Final Fantasy 7 original snowboarding minigame

just move the player forwards constantly

they can only turn left/right

[jovial magnet]

I've been thinking of making a game like dungeon of the endless, anyone played it? But I can't come up with an USP. Don't just want to copy what they did.

[slow swan]

Starting with someone else's idea and trying to find a way to put a unique spin on it may not be the best approach

Why not just start from the ground up and think about how you can make a great game that captures the spirit of dungeon of the endless?

If you take that approach you'll end up with a unique game

[jovial magnet]

@slow swanThat is how 90% of games are made lol, everything is an iteration of something else. Coming up with a unique idea is like trying to invent something new, which is pretty hard to do

Considering I have not seen an original game idea since Minecraft 13 years ago (which was also an iteration on other games)

[warped kelp]

I have an area called "the void" in a project of mine, and it's supposed to be.. well, mostly empty. But, if I keep it completely empty, with a flat background, then while moving there is essentially no sense of direction. the void is technically in space, so perhaps i can add a dim starry background. any other solutions for this, that doesn't mess with the idea of a "void" itself?

[slow swan]

Sure, Uncharted is a great example of that. But if follow the alternate thought path I laid out you may end up falling into a genre but it'l still be a unique game.

[knotty oyster]

not sure if this is a right channel for PS1 graphics? Anyways should i make the Pixel Renderer more pixelated or is it fine as it is?

[lost merlin]

going to have to make it look a little more crusty if you're going for PS1 Graphics

[sour ridge]

is this hdrp?

[steel stratus]

How do I go about stopping Rigidbodies from 'bouncing' when hitting the ground?

I'm trying to make my snowboarder slide down the mountain but it keeps bouncing on the ground

[knotty oyster]

nope it's urp

[quick void]

I'd go with a look like stranger things "void" or the "under the skin movie". Completely black with a little light on the characters, and something resembling a thin layer of liquid on an endless plane. just a subtle "wet" walking sound plus a trail of wave circles around foot steps. I feel like this is an "understandable" trope without being overdone.

[jovial magnet]

lol

[silent hull]

brain-breaking surprises indeed.

[heady gull]

if you want it to be more ps1 you should make it more pixelated ngl (ps1 is 320 x 240)

[knotty oyster]

gotcha gonna test it now!

[heady gull]

but if its gonna feel too pixelated you should go for 640 x 480

[knotty oyster]

i've tested it but it gone higher reslution and i didn't mention i was using a camera render image

[heady gull]

btw

look at josh

hes a nice guy

[knotty oyster]

this is the current res, it goes pixel, not sure the old one was using a old res of mine, checking

[knotty oyster]

ayo why hand got another growing out of it with a gun?

[heady gull]

oh

its just for weapon switching

it disables anyway

[knotty oyster]

ah fair enough

[knotty oyster]

not sure if it's better now with the pixel renderer

more lower or fine as it is?

[heady gull]

maybe a bit lower

like a bit

[knotty oyster]

gotcha

better? or tune it up lil?

[heady gull]

looks good

enough

[sudden pendant]

@heady gull @knotty oyster Make #1180170818983051344 if you want to get feedback on your work.

[knotty oyster]

thank you for the reminder! 😄

[thick minnow]

Hey would this be the section to ask?

Can't easily find resources on how to implement sliders for character body shape creation.

Anyone have a keyword or resource that would help?

[atomic anvil]

2 separate queries:
-unity ui sliders
-skinned mesh character body shape unity

[thick minnow]

hey, thanks a bunch! I appreciate it

[heady gull]

do this weapons look good?

[lost merlin]

I dig the old-school animation design, though I think the hands are a little too shiny

makes them look plastic

[heady gull]

yea,

that might be someone ill have to fix

i indeed agree

the hands are shiny

i dont know why tho

but ill try to fix it later

[lost merlin]

specular lighting on the material

[heady gull]

yes

[lost merlin]

metalic slider

[heady gull]

i make all those weapons by just rendering them in blender

[lost merlin]

or is it smoothness slider

one of em

pretty coool

[sudden pendant]

@heady gull #archived-game-design message

[heady gull]

i did it

a had no comments besides some one nice guy

not even reactions

b r u h

[sudden pendant]

Okay 🤷‍♂️

[vague fable]

When designing a boss fight for a metroidvania, should its attacks be in the same location or should they be the same type but in different locations depending on where the player is standing.
For example, should i

1. make the boss shoot lasers at the same spots (bottom, top, middle) so the player can learn and memorize this pattern
2. make the boss shoot lasers at the location of the player each time

[sharp zinc]

Both seem to be valid. I guess the best would be to have different pattern for different bosses.

[vague fable]

not sure which one would be more fun

[sharp zinc]

Both can be fun for sure

It is all about the implementation.

[vague fable]

ty for ur help!

[native tulip]

Does anyone know what the name of this texturing/rendering style is and maybe how to recreate it? https://mikeklubnika.itch.io/the-other-side

[heady terrace]

Prerendered?

[steel stratus]

How can I get my character to launch forwards off the swing after pressing space, rather than just plummet to the ground?

If it helps, I'm using the Third Person Controller

[sudden pendant]

You need to track the velocity the player has while on the rope and apply that the moment of release as the new velocity.

Also not a game design question. #💻┃code-beginner

[native tulip]

Not really, more like the low quality/psx style

[median sky]

Does anyone know how these animations on the trees are done? https://youtu.be/oS7l_cAFdNM?si=mK096Z9m_qvTPTOY&t=201 I linked the tree animations. I don't think it's a spritesheet animation. But not sure what I would lookup either.

[sudden pendant]

Using a custom shader that displaces the vertices. It's a classic method for creating wind/sway effects.

[hollow spruce]

The year is 2024. You purchase an expensive RPG asset to ease your dev journey. You quickly discover that basic things do not exist, such as Compare Inventory Weapon Stats to Equipped Weapon Stats on Hover. You suggest the possibility of a refund, since core functionality is missing. seller tells you, 'it is up to unity, i have no control over refunds'. well, that whole attempt to Build an RPG left a bad taste.

[silent hull]

Simply do it yourself (or read the description/docs of what you're about to buy)

[hollow spruce]

you have no knowledge of what i am talking about, nor what was promised in the package. move along.

[silent hull]

Understandable.

[sharp zinc]

Yeah, I have hard time trusting 3rd party code asset. You can either get someone that will develop half your game for you, or that will laugh at you when it does not work.

[lost merlin]

Eh, goes both ways because there's numerous large assets on the asset store that have ceased updates and become "newer" versions that you have to buy into

[median sky]

Would this be called vertex shading? Or is there another shader term I can google for some tutorials on

[sudden pendant]

Vertex displacement

[sudden pendant]

@hidden helm you can share your game in #1180170818983051344

[hidden helm]

oops sorry

[sudden pendant]

@silver elk Collaboration posts belong on the forums !collab

[desert marten]

📢 Collaborating and Job Posting

We do not accept job or collab posts on discord.
Please use the forums:
• Commercial Job Seeking
• Commercial Job Offering
• Non Commercial Collaboration

[heady terrace]

Question, on hack n slash game, when you block by pressing block button, do you expect it to immediately blocks even before the animation is still in transition between blocking and idle, or only blocks when the transition is completed (say, about 0.2s delay)?

[lost merlin]

I like more immediate response, but for balance reasons I could understand some delay if it's not just a few frames of parrying, such as a parry into a block. Few ideas from souls and soul-like games is tying the block time to the weapon type, making the lighter weapons quicker for parries, but larger damage chipping for continuous block. And, vice versa for heavier weapons.

[cinder hamlet]

instantly is usually preferable and feels a lot more responsive, unless there's a good reason for the delay

[sour cipher]

Any other devs out there know if there is a rule of thumb on how to determine if your game is interesting/fun enough? I'm finding that I have systems in my game that don't add much or even in some spots break the flow of my game.

[cinder hamlet]

You determine if your game is fun by making people play it

it's near-impossible to do that on your own

[sharp robin]

We have a public beta testing group for feedback. But the way I tell, is if I find myself playing it as much as working on it.

But one option is always to run in person play testing and just ask questions about the usage

There are some loose rules though, and rules are meant to be broken. For example I recommend having at least three layers of game loops for casual games. (Crafting, searching, selling, for example).

[iron gazelle]

the way evgarre and I saw it, good game ideas need to work both on paper and practice

it needs to make sense when you explain it, and it also just has to feel right, which is not something you can tell by thinking about it.

playtesting mostly serves to iron out snags in a level, but cannot really be used to identify good/bad ideas. they can only really show if the final product works well when put together (showing if the idea+implementation work together when combined).

[sharp robin]

I'm not sure if you meant to reply to someone else

But I do agree

[iron gazelle]

i think i meant to reply to @cinder hamlet. mb

[sharp robin]

Its good feedback I wanted to make sure they saw it too 🙂

[cinder hamlet]

Game design tutorials are overally very handy too since the knowledge will allow you to spot many design flaws early on

[north jetty]

Yo guys, help me out here I am developing an asset for the store, 3D dungeon gen, I have a bit of impostor syndrome and I am relunctant that my generator might not be good enought, right now it generates n number of rooms, the user can define sizes, the rooms can generate interiors, user has a graph builder that can define connectios if desired, for example there must be a connection betewn spawn key room boss, and boss is a dead end, what you guys would expect ia a dungeon gen?

[cinder hamlet]

It's really hard to answer the question like that

I think it has to be tested in practice

though off the top of my head, it might be nice to account for items like keys & locked doors - so that a key will never spawn behind its door

and perhaps ensuring spawn doesnt appear right next to exit

[north jetty]

well you can predifine rooms before, and you can stup the items it will spawn inside

[glossy ledge]

What are some resources to find user experience examples/patterns inside 3d games. For example selectable items within a scene by pressing f. Where can I find examples of this effect in 3d environment that showcases the lifecycle of said interaction (hovering, shader changes to the selectable item, deselect) that sort of thing?

[sharp zinc]

Are you able to define arbitrary condition for the Room Generation ?
By example, can you do:

• A must exists if B exists.
• C cannot be there more than twice.
• You must have no more than 2 Room of category A
• If player has attribute A, do not included Room D
• Every five room must be a E room.

Does it uses dynamic loading ?
What algorithm is used ? Back-Tracking ? Wave Function Collapse ?
Has the solution been use in a game ?
How much testing has been done ?
What is the performance ? Does it works on Android, IOS, WebGL, Switch, PS4, PS5, XboxOne, XboxSeries, etc.
How well does it present itself ?
How easy it is to achievement a minimal results ?
Is the code obfuscate ? / Can we modified the code ?

[sharp zinc]

The best is to look at what other game has done, ideally game that are similar with what you are trying to achieve.

[glossy ledge]

Fiar

Fair

[north jetty]

you have a node graph menu were you can define all of those limitations of rooms, you can make certain rooms to connect to another ones, and define wich type of rooms apear, you can add more n number of random rooms into it and you can define what kind of random rooms with probabilities

[north jetty]

right now its random room placement in a grid then A* pathfinding to connect the rooms with the desired connections, solution still not being used in any game, not much testing and that is kinda of a challenge, I would like to get people to help me out but I dont know any one of trust, I dont know how well it presentes it self need help for that I guess and you can modify the code, dont know how to obfuscate and didn't want to really, people might find solutions to problems

[sharp zinc]

If you are not using any form of Back-Tracking algorithm and only relies on Randomness, I believe that it won't be able to efficently find a solution given a high number of constraint. Having the needs to use a grid is a constraint that is unnecessary.

If I understand correctly, you define what each room can be connected to what room given a probability ? What factor can be use to define thoses probability ? What happens if you have no possible outcome ? (There is no possible next room ?)

Can you generate more room at runtime ? To infinitely generate room ? Are they persistent ? What is the performance ?

[north jetty]

let me give you some print examples

radom result of the nodegraph made

but you can add more custom stuff into it

for example I am gona try to make the dungeon tigher and with more random rooms

[sharp zinc]

The condition must all be optional (It lacks abstraction of what I would expect from a game) - Section, Grid Size, Min Room Size, Max Room Size - Number of Rooms - Gap - etc are all information that as an user I might not want. From what I see, it cannot be infinite.

[north jetty]

if you check all those ded end nodes dont have more connections only

[sharp zinc]

As it stands, it is made for a specific use case and you would need to build your game around it.

Instead of having the tool works around your game.

[north jetty]

all of those settings you mentioned, are settings for the user, dont you think the creator of the dungeon wants to define for example the size of the rooms? or number of rooms? or if there are gaps betewn rooms?

[sharp zinc]

No, they might not want to define a size. They might want to use prefabs and anchor points.

[north jetty]

ahh yeah I am thinking in adding that too

[sharp zinc]

They might not even want to have constraint by grid

Can your tool do ?

[north jetty]

yeah I am planning on adding the feature as well that the player might want to use already premade rooms, or even huge blocks and the program will fit them right into it as possiblie

right now no, it can only do retangular shape rooms, but I want to implement as well other random shapes yes, and user defined shapes

guess I have to make all of those before I ship the product thanks

[sharp zinc]

I mean, as I said earlier, your product can be use, but you would need to define the game around it. I am also concern that you never actually made a game with it. As how it stands, it is at best a prototype. Not really something I would buy or recommand to buy.

[north jetty]

hum ok sure I take your point, but I think you are being a bit closed when you say that I need to "make a game with it" sure I can do it, and the ideia even started because I needed a dungeon generator for a game and since it is comming out good I decided to change the focus into developing this tool, but regardless, I guess you recomend not to but because its a "prototipe" ofc it is thats why I am asking for opinions and try to find help, but if you just use the logic that it never was used for a game you are wrong here, if it works and generates what you intend, its good, it does not need case examples of work I think

[mighty geyser]

whatdo need to do/learn if you wanna start out from zero on game design?

[north jetty]

pen and paper

writing ideias, test de ideias with phisical stuff

for example you want to make a card game, make the card game with pen an paper

make boards

right ideas down on books

copy others and learn with others ideias

another thing is cool is when you play games, write down what you played, describe it in your own prespective, when you write or talk aloud you can observe better, then write down what you liked/disliked and how yould you improve it

and make your own version of a game ideia

basicly you have to train your mind to become more creative

the limitation technique is cool to, pick few short elements and with only those try to define an action, for example, pick a flower pot a broom and a mouse, and with those 3 objects try to make a history, activity or build cenario,

[sharp robin]

Good detailed documentation, and a reliable and robust system are both very important. The first few reviews can make a massive difference.

[north jetty]

yes, that is an aswome ideia, I am having a HUGE impostor sindrome, I think a good documentation that tells the user everything well detailed and how it might work can be a great help to make me know that this is not gona flop at the start

[sharp robin]

I'd also start with a lot of YouTube videos. Start with quicker ones, and ones about general game dev theory. I'd recommend a fee udemy classes. I'd strongly urge learning music, 3D, colour theory, animation, art, general game theory (understanding the reason for level layouts, ui/ux, game loops). And also try your hand at a few engines to see what inspires you the most.

[sharp robin]

My partner goes through that 🙂 I wouldn't let it stop you. The worst you'd have to deal with is handling a bad review, so a thick skin can help a bit. And usually those could be turned around with good customer service.

It's less about coding quality and more about ease of use.

The more you create, you'll realize you really are an expert in your own right, and gain confidence from that.

The hardest part is 95% of the time you work so hard, and worry so much, and end up with 4 or 5 units sold:D

[north jetty]

awsome stuff man, thanks

[sharp zinc]

I'm speaking from a "expert" customer perspective. I want reliable, customizable, performant and polished tool. I would be ready to pay considerable amount of money for such tool. (100-500$).

So, having plenty of test case is a most for me. A game is one of the easiest one to provides. I am able to trust tools like Rewired, Photon, Odin, etc. due to the fact that considerable amount of people use them, thus they must be reliable to some extends. In the event that a tool is not popular, I need the tool to prove itself. Unit Case or/and Test Case. Imagine how much time I lose if I integrate a tool that is unreliable, rigid, hard to use and non performant ?

At the moment, I believe that I could not trust your tool due to the lack reliability but also in how it lacks abstraction and would require me to design the game around the tool. If I were alone, in a small project it would not be an issue. However, this is not my reality.

[sharp robin]

Also, rule #1 is you can't make everyone happy, but it's very beneficial to have a user story in mind. Who you are building it for, why, and what it does. It'll help formulate the store page. Its perfectly fine not to target everyone. I personally wouldn't make a decision on it without seeing the video and store page.

[north jetty]

fair points and I agree with you, you are giving the hard costumer view point and I agree you, and rest assured that what I want to release is ought to be the most polished product I can ship, at the beggining stages it might lack abtraction on the type of rooms but for a starting product, but in future iteratins will have that, is that I want to develop a main base which I can work on progresively, If I wait for all feature to be done I will take more time

[north jetty]

noted, I believe I can fit that well... I can try to make a video for the store page using diferent tilesets and showing various results within the limitations of the product, I am thinking in making some sort of montage were the camera is rotating arround the generation with diferent setups being showed up, with diferent tilesets and diferent backgrounds, a fast demonstration of the node graph menu being built and noting much more, I know that for starters the end user are going to be tileset based, it the future when I add more functionalities I will try to expand on the "story" that you are talking about

[sharp robin]

I'm also a different type of customer. I have a busy team, and some assets (like Odin) I don't want the team using because of its licensing. But I generally agree, there are top tier assets, and one off assets.

We have about 1500 or so assets from the store - but mostly art and media assets. As it speeds up delivery of client projects.

In a more relatable sense, I have to get a demo game out soon. And for it I'm using my own maze generator. I also don't want to assume mine is the best so I bought another 2 or 3 we can test out to see which one is ideal for the game.

I don't like third party coded things very much, so I look for something lightweight I can adapt. Something that fits 80% and I'd coded in a usable way. If I spend an hour and am not happy, I'll move to the next pack.

I usually buy one top tier and a few lower tier to try. I don't care much on who's used or reviewed the lower tier. I would usually make the decision entirely based on price, the video, and the description.

Most asset I get, I expect either our artists will need to optimize down, or our devs will need to overhaul it a bit. Exceptions being all in one frameworks such as playfab or photon

[north jetty]

man thanks allot for your comment, some how you ended up giving me more confidence of my project, now I would love to offer to your one copy of it once its done for you to try it out and tell me what you think about it

[heady terrace]

I see... so instant block is more preferable
Thanks @

[sharp robin]

I'd love to!

[gusty edge]

Can someone tell me why these random pixels appear between my wall tiles at a certain angle?

The models are anchored on a grid and there are no floating point errors.

[sharp robin]

My best guess would be tiling of the wall texture or gaps in the mesh

[sacred folio]

u could try

enabling or increasing ANTI aliasing

to see if it would fix it

[keen egret]

im considering the idea of making a first-person roguelike where you move around in the dark after i finish my vampire survivors clone, the latter of which will be my third game. would it be plausible to make said game at that level of experience?

[knotty meadow]

Hello, I was wondering if anybody could help me with making a repair tool for my game. It's kind of like a small lazer, that when you put it against a piece of broken metal, it'll repair the metal. Thank you

-True_Boner

[jaunty garden]

I'm making an automation game (think factorio or shapez) and I want to add this launcher block as a fun way of transporting items, I currently have it so that it checks all blocks in a plane 6 away and 4 vertical, and then bounces the item to the next launcher (priority) or belt, what I'm wondering is, should it prioritize going up or down in a situation like this?

Should the item be bounced along path A or B?

[sudden pendant]

Player should be able to decide

And have it set to be round robin, or locked to one

[quartz osprey]

if every other criteria is equal, I would prefer shorter distance -> first, since total items waiting would be reduced. But if you implement shorter distance to the criteria, I think you shouldn't even decide on this particular situation anyways... (edit: Or, I think shorter time required to transfer would be nicer, and If time was equal, I guess in whatever order they'd entered, they should exist)

[silent hull]

Anything can be a good idea if you somehow make the gameplay enjoyable

Just look at "Euro Truck Simulator", it's basically about driving a truck from one place to another to deliver stuff, but it's done really well and the gameplay is relaxing

[quartz osprey]

Come up with some discrete core mechanics (actual short-term and long-term challenges, goals and rules), and we can discuss whether they would be fun to play. What you said could go anywhere as far as core mechanics go. For example, should the challenges be the management of boxes, delivery times, or the physic bases driving, where you should deliver them as intact as possible? sky is the limit

yea that sounds great! a nice combination of those could be entertaining.

[silent hull]

Or you can make it fun and make it into a FedEx Delivery Simulator where you launch the boxes towards people

Anyways, just as proxyjan said, you'd have to list some concrete core mechanics so people could actually start a discussion as to whether it sounds fun or not. A vague idea leaves a wide range of possibilities as to what the game would actually be like

(that bit about launching the boxes was a joke, but would be fun to see anyways)

Now, that's something concrete, sounds fun, you could even implement some sort of delivery rating rankings

Sabotaging other delivery drivers would automatically boost your own ratings

[astral knot]

Some feedback on how can i put the buttons to look good ?

[sharp robin]

Depends a lot on the style of the game but plain white text on gray backgrounds is hard to read

[sharp zinc]

You either add a background or add an outline to increase readability.

[manic wind]

make a wheel

[astral knot]

i settled on this

[manic wind]

maybe highlight whichever is moused over?

[sharp robin]

I'd go with the wheel myself, but yeah, as long as it highlights (I'd also grow the one you hover over) it is OK

[manic wind]

from white to a light red maybe

[balmy pumice]

I prefer the current over a wheel. What you have now has more style to it. But I'm also biased against wheels.

Slap some nice animations of the text appearing/being hovered over, some nice sounds, and I can see it being appealing.

[sharp robin]

For me, I'm a bit the other way, I don't like stretched text or angular text shadows.

[heavy kraken]

About:
The game will be looking like Portal 2 and Human Fall Flat. It will have a nice and kind of simple look like Scrap Mechanic. You need to go through the levels and the point in them is based on different things, such as going in some building to reach some finish or just go through the map to finish (like in Karlson (3d)). The player character will be like in one armed robber, but hands will be different. The gameplay will be tricky and sometimes the player may get a feeling of speedrunning. The player in some levels will need to find some items on the map.

Items:
Magnet (Lets you to attach to some walls and unattach, but you can't walk with it, or you can but only on specific walls like the walls that have some metal ball behind them. Those walls should be an armored glass) (Optional: while attached and you can't move you can push your character up by dragging the mouse down, so the magnet will be a bit below the player.)
Poles: Not those poles that are normally on the streets, but they will be on the wall or something. Maybe it will be a pull up. Your character will go up and down on those poles and each spin the character does it the character will have a bigger speed at spinning and when the character unattaches it will go to the direction it unattached to. And when the player flies, the camera changes to the 3rd person and the player is ragdolled (just like in Scrap Mechanic).

Levels:
You can already see what levels there will be from about and items section. In one of the levels I want the player to drive a car that has a nitro boost and can fly by that nitro boost. In one of the levels you will need to fly through the air to reach something, tho I haven't realized why and what's interesting in that if it's just a car flying and how to make it bigger without making it trash.

Current problems: Hard to do and it has really no connection between other levels, no lore, no logic between the progression and no hook for the player's attention, because well, it feels like it's some game on roblox that has no logic.
And yeah, maybe it's some kind of copy of Karlson (3d), but at least it's a bit like Human Fall Flat.

I just don't know, maybe I should make it some kind of a tricky game and make bunch of tricky items...

And yes, I'm very very new to Unity.

Karlson:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIX51oGrv0Y
Human Fall Flat:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRWgB2L3YqY
(2:51:30 may be good to watch to understand)
Scrap Mechanic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcRHf84bcSk
(1:48:40 may be good to watch to understand)

[sharp robin]

Never seen or used it

[mossy steeple]

All good

What do you mean, in what situations would you use it? how often?

[cinder hamlet]

like an average roblox game where you need to be able to click on objects around you

but I don't think that type of design is common outside of roblox

[azure lynx]

Im running into a problem where I need to enforce the following order of operations:

1. register "saveableObjects" (custom type) to the save/load backend (custom class)

2. call load(), which will load all the registered objects

3. init gameObjects with the loaded values.

4. happens on awake()
   \3. happens on start()

5. -> I have no clue where to put this to enforce the correct order.

I have some ideas for possible approaches - for example, using some callback like "onLoad" to trigger the updates when the value is eventually loaded

But im wondering if theres any way to add a third "sequencer" function, like Awake(), LateAwake() and Start()

I honestly can't think of a design that would work though. This seems like a common problem others might have, so anyone got ideas? or any links to reading materials?

[sharp zinc]

• On Awake, register to a manager.
• When everything has been registered (Start), handle the operation.

Also, is there any particular reason why you cannot do two operation 1 after the other ?

[azure lynx]

Thanks, might create some sort of manager to synchronize the timing

The reason I can’t do operation 2 after operation 1 is because operation 1 happens all throughout my code base.

Maybe this is bad design in hindsight, but I designed this “SaveableObject” so that it can be used anywhere. for example my player has a variable “SavableObject<int> cash”

And gameManager had “SaveableObject<int> round”

So where would I call load()? In player? Or in gameManager? See the problem I’m hitting?

I think I’d get the same issue with a manager. Like if I call load, how can I guarenteee everything is registered to the manager? How can I be sure there’s not one more obect that’s about to register

[azure lynx]

Reply

[sudden pendant]

This isn't a game design issue. You can talk about this in #💻┃code-beginner

[sudden pendant]

@hidden fiber #1180170818983051344

[hidden fiber]

oh sorry!

[azure lynx]

Sorry I thought this channel was for code design not like narrative and stuff

misread

[sudden pendant]

Yeah, gameplay mechanics, ideas and the like. 👍

[proper jolt]

ive been such at a loss for ideas for like a year now

i have like the full capability to make whatever, but i feel like the skill has come with a loss for creativity

[cold onyx]

make a better version of simple online games from like friv

[lost merlin]

just make game

[snow pagoda]

ccan anyone tell me a good planning software

[ebon compass]

hello everyone, im a student and im making a game. but i do need some help. im making use of the playground 2d asset from unity

there is a "create object" script which spawns in objects when the last one is destroyed. i also needs some help with the "User Interface" preset. and with the "Object shooter" script

[heady gale]

Is anyone familiar with Lua and Love2D?

[harsh granite]

thoughts on this game idea? you're stuck in a maze and your goal is to to collect 10 gems surnounded in the maze, once you collect them all, the escape of the maze is open and u have to find the way out, but the twist is that there is a mosnter in the maze chasing after you, the maze is bascially a cave that moves like a maze and the monster is a scary creature, there will be multiplayer and proximity voice chat, pretty similar to lethal company

I wrote this in 10 seconds so it's in terrible grammer 💀 🙏

[cinder hamlet]

All cool until the multiplayer part because it's something you should avoid as a beginner gamedev

and probably not a maze because those tend to be tedious and annoying

a typical map would be better probably

[cinder hamlet]

elaborate please

what does that mean

give an example

[harsh granite]

wait why not?

[cinder hamlet]

multiplayer is very complex and having to deal with it will greatly complicate your learning process. Singleplayer is already very hard to nail down

I recommend you stick to singleplayer until you have at least one successful project

I don't think I like the idea, mainly because it's a rng mechanic but also because skipping entire fights kinda goes against the point of designing a fun combat. When it comes to making "get out of jail free card" mechanics, I'd stick with something consistent that doesnt auto-win fights but instead helps the player get back into them and maybe boost them a little

Well, gotta ask the big question: what purpose does this mechanic serve?

Well that sounds like your typical "last chance" mechanic except it with a rng thing on top of it. If players are guaranteed to lose without it, they will practically always use it anyway. So in the end you're left with a last chance mechanic that just randomly determines how hard the rest of the fight will be

[harsh granite]

gotchu

[cinder hamlet]

So like choose beween dying now and living on but risking of getting a permanent debuff?

[queen plover]

So I just want tips on a game I am making with some friends called VMod it’s like garrys mod but I want to possibly make it multiplayer and unlock guns by watching ads just need ideas and stuff to enhance the game more im doing fps and tps , jumping sprinting crouching and stuff ofc

[cinder hamlet]

That sounds interesting but it still has a problem. People tend to pick the "slow but safe options". A quote I like "Player will optimize the fun out of the game, given the chance". So in your case I'm afraid most players would just choose to retry the whole fight rather than risk weakening themselves

[cinder hamlet]

It's a sandbox game so I think a good way to enhance it is just giving the players more options to be creative

[queen plover]

Sounds good thanks for the idea ill add that to the list 😭

[cinder hamlet]

ah so its like a team fight game

[queen plover]

I’m just really stupid when it comes to game development

[cinder hamlet]

Theres plenty of great videos on youtube about various aspects of game design

I think in a pvp game you should avoid rng mechanics

[queen plover]

Ah yes that’s all im looking at right now

I’m looking at ideas from fuck … games (idk the devs name) and garrys mod

[cinder hamlet]

The general rule is to make a very simple but fully playable prototype of your game first and make sure its fun by having many people test it

[queen plover]

I have a few servers with over 100 members so they should be able to review it

[cinder hamlet]

its much more important to actually observe how your players play the game naturally. Reviews are best left to skilled game designers, but in case of average players, you'll learn much more by just watching them play

I think in a well-designed pvp game this kind of moments come naturally, no need to artificially make them

Give the players tools that allow high risk high reward gameplay

I guess it could work, just dont make it a rng mechanics

Players dont like dying because of someone's dice roll

[keen egret]

would a game where your abilities are tied to your movement keys as well sound like a good game idea?

[sharp zinc]

It depends, does the ability have a notion of direction ?

[keen egret]

some of em could?? my idea is that the abilities are random

and change after each wave of enemies

[primal stone]

Not sure if this is the right channel to discuss this but I'm in a bit of a limbo. I have a project going at the moment, and got as far to having a scene completed but now I need to code to put things together. I have no knowledge of C# and while I have been actively reading articles, watching vids and browsing forums I feel as if I am out of my depth and not ready to take on this project due to my non-existent knowledge of C#. At what point can you say you have enough experience to start designing a game? I have so many ideas but I can't find my way to put it all into code. I'm I simply wasting my time? Or...? Stumped atm 😅

[sleek phoenix]

You probably should start on smaller projects first, your dream game should generally never be your first project. Gotta learn how to crawl before you run

[primal stone]

I don't have a dream game yet :(. I chose this project because I believed it'd be easily tackled and so I thought why not give it a go. The game is based off Hotel Dusk and it's a simple game in terms of gameplay.

[sleek phoenix]

Okay but with 0 coding experience any significant game is a big project

You're attempting to write a novel without knowing the letters of the alphabet

Think way smaller, like pong or flappy bird. Also go through some basic tutorials first

!learn

[desert marten]

:teacher: Unity Learn ↗

Over 750 hours of free live and on-demand learning content for all levels of experience!

[primal stone]

Exactly. This brings me back to the question "At what point can you say you have enough experience to starting creating a game?". I ask this because I have little time due to personal matters

Thanks for the link.

[sleek phoenix]

There isn't a specific point, you ultimately have to decide yourself after you've gotten a grasp of how to do some basic stuff in engine

Learning how to Google issues and read documentation are probably the most important skills to learn as a beginner

[sharp robin]

I'll weigh in with if you can follow-through with the tutorials, you could probably make your first very basic game in a day - its usually a byproduct of the tutorials

[primal stone]

Defo, I'm currently doing them now. Hopefully when I'm through with them I can come back with a positive outlook on my project and not feel so down.

[sharp robin]

You can do it. One step at a time, but you can do it as long as you keep at it.

It helps to keep track of your ideas somewhere that you can keep flushing them out while you are learning.

[sharp robin]

Sounds like something to try out at a game jam

[plush citrus]

Hi guys, i want to ask about how to improve a Top-down movement to make it feel more juicy.

[sudden pendant]

Identify what is lacking first?

[plush citrus]

Currently feel the movement speed is matching with what i like, and the game is requiring some accurate control so WASD respond instancely to it. But i feel somehow it still lack some weight.
I don't have any art asset yet so i can't tell exactly if art can fix the weight problem.

[sudden pendant]

Probably lack of vision of what it's going to look like is bothering you, if the movement is actually how you want.

Do some level blockout and camera angles

[plush citrus]

Thanks you! I tried a few... but i guess i have to wait for a few more mechanic to really tell if i got something right. xxD

[sharp robin]

How is that related to #archived-game-design ?

If you have a mobile ads problem, I'd think #📱┃mobile is a better place to ask.

[trim stone]

I'm sorry, excuse me

[sharp robin]

Definitely blocking out and experimenting is fun and interesting - and it does depend a lot on the game. I've been very interested in the 300 film approach as of late, especially with 2Dish action games. Having 3 camera depths that you zoom into and slow down more as you go. With a bit of camera shake, it's a really impactful technique. But all of that depends so much on the game itself

[quick ruin]

Ok so from my basic understanding an open world map is generally made manageable fps-wise by subdividing it in different chunks or partitions, and only the ones next to the player are loaded. I'm wondering, if this method is used, then how are far large objects (like mountains or skyscrapers) rendered? Or, let's imagine a urban setting, how are all the houses, even those far away, rendered if you can actually see them (like for example if you're standing very high on the ground like on top of a tall building or a mountain)?

[lost merlin]

different levels of detail on the meshes

[quick ruin]

But if the distant object is outside of the loaded chunks, how can it appear?

[lost merlin]

you render the chunk

but you don't render the hundred thousand of verts the mesh has

chunking static meshes like this is more for culling, so viewing the terrain in front of you doesn't render the terrain behind you

[sharp zinc]

In open world, you use Dynamic Loading and LOD which use the distance. The distance is set given multiple factor, but most likely the height of the object. What you describe would be more of a "Stick and Bubble" approach where you only ever see a particular section with their transition at a time (Using L shape level by example). Different needs require different strategy. Stick and Bubble is more constraining, however it really does helps in optimization while Dynamic Loading and LOD (LOD is still used in Stick and Bubble), reduce the constraint but increase the complexity of the performance budget. You can consider the Stick and Bubble strategy a way to pre-emptively constraint the environment such that you never get in a situation where there is too much stuff to be shown at a time.

Then, you have game like minecraft where you do not care if a chunk is not loaded/visible.

[quick ruin]

very exhaustive, thank you

[sharp robin]

We have a few very large open world projects. I usually have a simple base mesh for each chunk, and then more detailed parts.

You can create a very basic type by using additive scene loading

[manic rune]

im working on this 90s prerendered style point and click horror game set in an abandonded theme park attraction. the idea with the first bit of the game is that you have to press these big glowing buttons to progress through the rooms, but that just doesnt sound like any fun does it? ive considered stuff like needing to press them in a specific order for it to work, and that order being indicated by audio queues, and each room having more buttons so it gets harder. im really not sure if its fun enough though, even though you only have to do this like 3 times. really just open to suggestions on how to make something as simple as pressing some buttons to open a door actually enjoyable gameplay.

[lapis shell]

Do you have to press them in a certain time limit?

[sand parrot]

I am wanting to make my first game, what kind of horror game should I make? Psychological, analog, paranormal, survival?

[sharp robin]

Fwiw, I have a personal distaste for puzzle games. But it's pretty common to have some kind of puzzle mechanic to continue.

I have a talk I do about making experiences fun. But the important part is rewarding good player behavior. So just clicking to move on isn't as enticing to me.

It depends on the player, and I recommend touching on each demographic. As an example: emotion (new storylines, positive results, helping the world, etc), value of their character (how the character looks or evolves, rpg elements, points to unlock), value of their items (hoarders such as skyrim, but giving items more of a value and purpose), etc.

Not the best slide but you know what I mean I think

And of course this would be widely debated and argued, but it might help all the same.

[sharp robin]

Something easy:)

[sharp zinc]

Survival would be the easiest to make in my opinion.

[sharp robin]

I agree on the survival

[manic rune]

I think you misinterpreted my game as JUST being these buttons lol. I already have a lot of what you mean going on, it's just this one hyper specific aspect and part of the game I wanted to improve on.

[quick ruin]

Since I have to deal with a big world, when I go over some thousands units meshes start to jitter due to floating point error. In my game I also use physics and rigidbodies. I tried a simple hack which is childing all the objects in a single parent object, and then when I reach a certain units threshold I save the transform.localPosition of all physics rigidbodies objects, I move the Parent of all object back to 0,0,0 and set the localPosition of all the rigidbodies back to their place. So far this simple hack seems to be working (I have few rigidbodies), I was wondering how feasible it is?

[lost merlin]

yeah, that seems pretty standard for what you'd do in Unity for these type of games

similar to endless runner type games

[harsh granite]

Does adding driving mechanics to a game makes it unique?

Like cars for example

[atomic anvil]

Just adding cars/driving doesn't make it unique. There are many games that have driving. It might make it unique if you add driving to a genre that doesn't typically has it. Although then the question of wether it's even needed arises.

[harsh granite]

Then what can I do to make a game unique and stand out

And give a 5 star experience

[tiny marsh]

Any game can be unique if mechanics are handled in a new and interesting way
Adding random new mechanics like a driving mechanic to a game that dosnt need driving doesnt

[atomic anvil]

A good idea and an even better implementation. Then a lot of luck

[harsh granite]

Are mechanics that take skill considered unique?

Like mechanics that are hard to learn

[sudden pendant]

What kind of question is that? 🤔

[harsh granite]

Like airplanes that you control from your mouse and stuff

Let me show you an example

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdrAVzDMz14&list=LL&index=1

Here

[sudden pendant]

Have you ever played a game where you controlled an airplane with your "mouse and stuff" or a game where mechanics were hard to learn?

If the answer is yes (and it is), then no it's not unique.

[harsh granite]

I see

[tiny marsh]

Start by deciding on a base mechanic for the game and then you can go for there

You can make any idea unique

[sudden pendant]

Your definition of "unique" is incorrect here. You're asking if the game would be fun.

[atomic anvil]

Also, just having a unique mechanic doesn't mean you're gonna succeed. There are many games out there with cool mechanics that go unnoticed for one reason or another.

[sharp robin]

To be fair, that is how you presented it.

[harsh granite]

Gotchu

[manic rune]

I said "the idea with the first bit of the game is" which does show what I meant but maybe I could've made it more obvious

It's like this is just the first puzzle

Or second actually

[sharp robin]

The important thing is you have a path forward 🙂

[manic rune]

The hell does that mean

[sharp robin]

Don't worry about it

[manic rune]

Just sounds passive aggressive tbh

Like that soulless smile emoji does it

[sharp robin]

Something that can help, when you need ideas that are more unique, is to find two very different concepts and picture how they would merge together. For example, one of the last experiments i did last year was to mix RPG and coloring books to come up with something new and interesting.

[sharp robin]

Sorry for the delay, I had a lot of convos going on at once. What I meant by it, was to not worry about it, as what matters is you finding some ideas and a path forward and not me weighing in on how I read it.

Basically, my convo was just taking you down an unproductive path

[pliant burrow]

are paid courses worth it?

[quartz osprey]

for what? I mean there is no shortage of free learning materials

[pliant burrow]

ill assume free stuff is fine then

[quartz osprey]

In my opinion, if you know the course or the teacher to be good and worthwhile, of course it is worth it. But, going with the mindset as if paid courses might be better just because they are paid, now that's debatable. I've noticed for entry and intermediate levels in any knowledge, resources are abundant, (I'm complete noob in shaders for example, and I've started learning from bing Copilet, asking AI every question I have, and it's been helping me a lot and I'm learning slowly), but as you get more advanced, resources subside in quantity, and not even AI can help, because there has been not enough knowledge from which the can learn (unless AI improves and they can self learn and conduct self thought processes and have their own opinions etc.).
So for that, where you won't be able to find resources, there are some paid courses available, and worth every penny of it. But don't get paid courses for like unity 1o1 or entry level programming and stuff like that... 😄 Sorry I was bored just picked the topic up and went with it

[pliant burrow]

im super new so i guess i should wait till I need help with more advanced things like complexities of 3D platforming or games that are more advanced than the basic things I am doing now, I appreciate the remark

[cold onyx]

Modelling with ProBuilder is so much easier than learning blender

I love it

[tawdry beacon]

Ahem totally not 7 days late but

The stylization of it looks fucking awesome imo

[cinder hamlet]

usually not, free resources are more than enough

[sharp zinc]

I believe that formal education is better than using self taught materials. At least, from what I have seen.

[pliant burrow]

Thanks

[lost merlin]

Courses specific to concepts like computer graphics and shaders probably worth it since there's a lot of math in all of that

LearnOpenGL is a pretty great free resource if you wanted to dip your feet into it all, though for more modern features I've been interested in some paid courses

[cinder hamlet]

I don't think that applies to learning basics of programming though

beginners tend to overrely on guidance while writing good code requires the ability to think on your own

which you can really only learn... on your own

[sharp zinc]

My point is more that self taught require tremendous amount of discipline that only small amount of people can actually keep up with.

[lost merlin]

so true

having deadlines motivates you

[cinder hamlet]

making games requires tremendous amount of discipline

you won't finish a personal project without it

[sharp zinc]

If you are doing it alone, maybe. But if your aim is to get in the industry, not really.

[cinder hamlet]

right, so it depends on what elaybro's goals are

[sharp zinc]

True

[cinder hamlet]

@pliant burrow mind clarifying? Are you trying to make a personal project or get into the industry?

[sharp wagon]

Hi guys,

I am on to developing a turn and grid based tactical game and fell upon irregular grid building such as this that allows more natural looking scenes and less... Rigid cuboic worlds :

as you can guess, irregular grids can make some quite troublesome range problems for, lets say, an archer who can hit 6 celles away from his starting point, see the following :

yellow being the archer

red being the cardinal directions from the first cell

green bein the regular range cells available on a basic square grid

and purple being cells I shouldn't have range on based on this irregular grid system

I was wondering if it really is a problem on a competitive tactical aspect

should I consider range based on number of cells the arrow travels, or more like a metric sphere around the user that englobes all the cells within said sphere

houw troublesome can it be in a competitive context

what are your thoughts

[lost merlin]

if you wanted it to be competitive I think keeping grids consistent would be better, otherwise I'd just do a range within a radius targeting.

[sharp zinc]

You can do a breath search and use the number of cells (depth) to stop the search.

This way, it will be easy to predict your range instead of expecting that you can touch a specific target but being a shy to far.

[quartz osprey]

You are making your own game, you set the rules, I believe people learn it as long as it's 'clear' and understandable. If the inconsistency is deterministic, there wont be a problem for competitiveness. People will know purple areas are not targetable and even will use it as an exploit and even interesting stuff immerges. Based on what I've seen, if you go with radius from the archer or distance the bow traverse, I think that would be more counter intuitive since everything else is based on this irregular grid system. But still it is something new to me, and I would play around with it and see how it feels.

[sharp wagon]

Thanks for your replies @quartz osprey @sharp zinc @lost merlin

[cold onyx]

Anyone else have the imbalances of creativity compared to skill

When i started, i was brimming with ideas, motivation, cool projects with amazing things im proud of thinking of even now

But it was coded poorly off the back of some asset, my understanding was so bad i didn't even know how to add health to an enemy, everything was if soup and ran at 12 fps

But those ideas were so vibrant and encapsulating

Now I know how to make things, I forgot how to imagine. I can only think of generic tropes and things that are too close to other IPs for me to be comfortable writing / designing

Is this fog a thing exclusive to me or is this a common thing

[quartz osprey]

You should also consider that our evaluation of things change over time/skill. Maybe if same ideas popped up in your mind right now, they wouldn't sound so amazing compared to how you evaluated them to be amazing back then. And maybe your brain is filtering ideas more because now you know more, and if an idea is amazing by your evaluation right now, that might be actually a wonderful idea and worth the time to carry out. But I don't know what to say about motivation part. That might be something only you could answer

[sharp zinc]

[Subjective]
Most likely because with experience you realize the complexity and the required effort needed to pursuit your ideas. Making a game is work and hard. When you realize that, you see that making a game that a lot of people would enjoy is almost impossible which is what most people are motivated by.

There is also the more you know, the more you realize that you do not know. When you see that at best you are average, it really kills your motivation fast. All the good idea you though you had are not that bright finally.

At that point, you have two choice:

• Force yourself through it and enjoy when ever you can.
• Stop forcing you and wait for the motivation to come to you.

One is noble but hard, the other is easy and dull.

[sharp robin]

[Also highly subjective opinion]

One of the first slides in most of my presentations is that we are limited by our creativity, not the technology. And to encourage people to do things to think outside the box.

• For example, spend 15mins every morning working on a new song. You'll end up with a lot of short weird songs. Do this consistently for a length of time.
• Or, spend 15mins every morning only using blender sculpting for a 3 or 4 months. You'll be surprised how fast consistency generates techniques.
• Or do the same and force yourself to think of ideas etc. Keep a document. Try and write a game idea every day.

Almost anything can be developed and learned with practice, and the limits allow you to incrementally develop skill and speed together. The goal from this is to condition your brain to put art first before technology and rewire that engineering brain process.

It all applies together. When you work on a game it becomes your legacy - the sound needs to be perfect to you. The art. The design and story. The code. The structure. Once you master coding, it's really helpful to work your way through the rest...

There are tricks I use for games and making them fun, but also how to come up with game ideas and all of that. Not sure how much you'd be interested in that.

[harsh granite]

I'm developing a realistic horror game set underwater; are there any ideas or tips I could use to avoid making it look too similar to Subnautica? how do I make it stand out?

[sudden pendant]

Story is going to be the main thing. What makes underwater scary is something you won't be able to avoid sharing with Subnautica: the unknown dark and large creatures.

[cinder hamlet]

change the formula, instead of a large explorable world you can make it tighter

like being stuck in a deep underwater cave maze

[sudden pendant]

Subnautica isn't that large

[cinder hamlet]

well it feels large and thats what counts

[sudden pendant]

It feels like that at the start, but it's actually quite small

[harsh granite]

I mean, my game has almost the same acpects

rip grammer

[cinder hamlet]

ultimately I think the scaryness of deep oceans will mainly come from fear of the unknown. You hear a scary sound and have no idea what kind of creature could have produced it

[harsh granite]

but what Im thinking about doing is adding a really scary creature that is REALLY REALLY HUGE

that will roam around

which can attack you if you get in its range

[sudden pendant]

Make something that hunts you as well

[harsh granite]

any examples from other games?

[sudden pendant]

Subnautica would have the voice contact you, but never really capitalized on something just showing up from time to time.

Whenever you were on the surface or near the starting area, you were always just safe.

[harsh granite]

maybe like doors?

Doors roblox

how a monster shows up

at random times

[cinder hamlet]

simple, make surface the goal

[harsh granite]

not really my type

[cinder hamlet]

what's your type

[harsh granite]

open world

[cinder hamlet]

y know, the kind of games you love playing don't have to (and sometimes even shouldn't) be the type of games you make

[harsh granite]

how does a huge whale that look for you in the map all the time, there's signs that its coming and when it comes - the only way to avoid it is by being in your submarine

or a huge scary monster

[harsh granite]

I guess so?

[cinder hamlet]

I think you'll have a hard time making an open world scary ocean game that doesn't feel like a subnautica clone

maybe you can find a way though

[harsh granite]

that's my current issue

I mean the mechanics and stuff are gonna be different

and it will be ultra realisitc

my main objective was to make it multiplayer like lethal company

[cinder hamlet]

what's your budget and workforce?

[harsh granite]

but I feel like it'd be really really hard to set up

[harsh granite]

my current budget it $100

and I'd say I have a good knocldge of coding to fix bugs

holy grammer

[cinder hamlet]

yeah then I'd reconsider the "ultra realistic" part for now unless you're really experienced in graphics

indie games generally rely on other things than realism to be cool

[harsh granite]

ye kinda

I'd say i'm decent

[cinder hamlet]

and especially a deep ocean game should work just fine even with simple graphics. Let the players' imagination do rest of the work

[sudden pendant]

Sure. Maybe combine it with something like Raft where your base is moveable. But you have to do dives for resources (and pushing the story along)

[harsh granite]

uhh the thing is

the entire game

is underwater

the goal isnt to build a base pretty much

[cinder hamlet]

well then, instead of a raft you got a modular submarine

[harsh granite]

this is the submraine

[cinder hamlet]

is this from your game?

[harsh granite]

it's an asset im gonna be using

fully customizable

[cinder hamlet]

is it free?

[harsh granite]

no it's $50 I'm pretty sure

[cinder hamlet]

yeah, I wouldn't put cash in that at least until you've got a working prototype of your game

otherwise you're risking wasting money for a project you might not finish

[harsh granite]

that happened last time with me

so I won't make the same mistake again

[cinder hamlet]

nice

[harsh granite]

I'll use a random model

and try to make a movement and stuff

[cinder hamlet]

well I gtg, good luck

[harsh granite]

and if im satisfyied, I'll buy the asset

gotchu

cya and ty for the advice!

[thick minnow]

Hey! anyone have any tips on the most efficient way to get worn out surfaces? like decals on large areas. for example. a large wall or rooftop that has the same texture as a different wall or rooftop but different wear and scum on the corners and stuff.

i get i'd probably need to use separate UV maps for different masks, but wondering if there's a really good way to do the variation that i'm just not thinking of

[tiny marsh]

question-
are there any any recent 'defend the nexus' style games?
i dont mean mobas, its kind of its own genre,... like a tower defence where you are the main line of defence

theres this mod for minecraft long ago which was quite popular
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH4a1E3f1sc

but i cant think of any other recent examples of defend the nexus games. Any ideas why?
I asked chatgpt for a few and it couldnt name any, either

Summary of the game type is:
Here's a thing, you need to defend it
Spawns waves of increasingly strong enemies to attack it
you can buy weapons or spells or items or whatever to defend it for longer

[cinder hamlet]

I'd guess they'd be unpopular for same reason why escort missions are unpopular

[tiny marsh]

escort is bad mostly because it relies on ai movement which can be slow and shit
'defend the nexus' shouldnt(?) have that issue because it doesnt move

could also just remove the nexus element and make it wave survival/fighting instead

[cinder hamlet]

I'm not sure if it gets rid of the issue, it still forces you to babysit

you can go on a killing frenzy and get punished for it

I think this kind of game would work much better with some turrets

[tiny marsh]

yeah thats what i'm thinking

current plan(?) is something like this
i was just trying to do market research and i'm super surprised that theres nothing like it

idk how to flavour fantasy turrets though

since archer towers and such dont fit thematically

[cinder hamlet]

I think multiple directions for enemies to come from wouldn't work very well since player can only watch one place at a time

[cinder hamlet]

what's the game like?

[tiny marsh]

you're a paladin traveling the world with a demon companion, cleansing demon glyphs from an area
so u have to protect her while she concentrates or something

and her magic/mana will be the money you earn to summon towers or whatever

something like that, still planning

I was working on a different much bigger game in the same world but since its my first full project i should choose something with smaller scope so i shifted to this

[cinder hamlet]

demon companion? sounds like towers could be summonable monsters

you could even make the player choose whether to have her do the objective or like, summon a monster or something to add a new layer of tactical choice

[sharp zinc]

Pretty much Fornite PVE ?

Any Tower Defense game is also close to the what you are aiming for.

https://www.pcgamesn.com/best-tower-defense-games-pc

Tower defense (TD) is a subgenre of strategy games where the goal is to defend a player's territories or possessions by obstructing the enemy attackers or by stopping enemies from reaching the exits, usually achieved by placing defensive structures on or along their path of attack.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_defense

[cold onyx]

how do start a microgame, i have a LTS version of unity but microgame isnt a template

[final kiln]

Just redid the UI on my game

any tips?

brightness increased on the screenshot btw

[sharp robin]

Yeah, the brightness makes it hard to advise. But from what I can see the UI and game style seem to fit together pretty well to me

[final kiln]

every monitor intrprets brightness a different way

so is there a common practice solution for that?

[sharp robin]

I'm not sure? It's a good question! I'm on mobile if that helps.

On windows, I use the Snip tool I think it's called to get good screenshots...

[final kiln]

ah no i meant in the game

because on my monitor at night time it's see able but for other people it's like too dark to see

[sharp robin]

To me, this looks a lot clearer