but usually fan made as long as its not earning popularity AND money, its fine.
#archived-game-design
cold onyx
crystal linden
I generally will make sure to avoid making them look too similar
parody characters are what I am calling them
Like an enemy that is basically a guy in a crappy looking mascot costume that vaguely resembles Crash Bandicoot
Like I remember in Crash 2 in one level there were basically enemies with mallets that resembled Mario
north cosmos
In that sense i think it just gave them direct publicity at the time if used in a positive way did more good than harm i would imagine.
green vortex
Hey! A simple poll. Square Grids like XCom or Navmesh like Divnity Original Sin for Turn based strategy. ๐ค
cold onyx
both has perks @green vortex , study both games, Xcom square grids is good because attacks are not limited to 4 sides..
divinity on the other hand has AoE skills (poison tiles etc. etc.) and its not your typical 'scene' battles, battles takes place wherever enemies sees you.
Xcom is mission based, so everything is planted.
green vortex
๐
crystal linden
Mario + Rabbids is more or less Xcom based but it has pretty free movement
crystal linden
I went to the Iowa State Fair a few days ago and now I can't help but imagine my theme park level as basically state fair but with 100% more bootleg feel
winged rock
Im making clicker game and idk if i should make infinite upgrades (buy workers for increasing price) or a lot of them (each gives incresing number of workers)
1st option would make game infinite so more beneficial but more boring in my opinion
boreal jetty
there are ways to play around the infinite version and make it interesting
have you played Adventure Capitalist or Realm Grinders or Cookie Clicker?
anyway you don't want your game to be truly infinite, you want to have some "meta" cycles for it, some kind of "ascension" option to restart the game with some special bonus
winged rock
played all
but all get bored fast coz its either reset to get bonus, change items you buy "new planet" etc
but its same thing
boreal jetty
yeah in the end it's just upgrades to boost your income, only with different names and prices
winged rock
I guess i wont invent anything game breaking anyway so lets just stay with those
with one should i choose
remake items or restart with bonus
hmm
have idea
boreal jetty
I don't think there are many ways to reinvent this part of the incremental games, but you have a lot of room to innovate in parallel to that
winged rock
Game will have an change theme element as main part of it
I can make some upgrades for each theme
boreal jetty
have you played Soda Dungeon?
winged rock
you get those, unlock new etc etc
Inctead of keeping theme changing and upgrades separate
that sounds good
boreal jetty
anyway, one advice I can give you with incremental games, while growing your code might easily get messy, grow in ways you didn't predict, don't be afraid to take time to refactor and even rewrite most of it
winged rock
was working on a discord bot once
quickly grew to 12k lines
then i discovered i can cut half of it with eval() instead of if's etc
so yep, i know that
boreal jetty
If you want to try the game I made (with a colleague), I would be interested by your feedback, it's named CodeInc (on Android and iOS). It's far from having all of the features we planned for it, but I think it's still fun.
winged rock
dont see it on googleplay
boreal jetty
weird, try to search for "codeinc idle startup simulator"
winged rock
nope
boreal jetty
maybe your phone is too old??
winged rock
didnt you set realase to specific countries
boreal jetty
no
winged rock
ok got it
strong storm
https://i.gyazo.com/2b9b101bda5d84e8e26eaadf0a416348.mp4 here's my gamejams entry game mechanics, now it's high time to start replacing placeholder art. whatcha guys think?! main goal of the game is to keep atleast 1 statue as long as u can ( but each statue will work as score multiplier so it's better to keep all 4 of them) while island falling speed increases as you go, if u let atleast one island or all 4 of statues to fall, game is over. all feedback is welcome.
prisma dragon
So I have some questions, how much of the design is based on reward schedules . Lets say in a system, what is the driving factor for decision making? Do designers go, "So we need more of fixed ratio mechanics" And then think of mechanics which would serve that porous or do they make a mechanic in the system and then contort it to fit these reward schedules.
stuck glade
How do you mean reward schedules.
Reward for what
@strong storm that's an interesting start but there is no real challenge there except that it would speed up evemtually.
What if you have random things falling from the sky that increase the falling speed and your job is to shake off the useless things to keep the statues on top?
cold onyx
hi
strong storm
@stuck glade i finished this project for game jam and yes i thought about adding extra spices like falling objects and wind but there wasn't any time left for that sadly. if i'll decide to work on it further in the future, i'm definitely adding more mechanics, but right now it's just naked core desing built around stress management.
stuck glade
Ahh I could have thought so. Still cool stuff
๐
fringe ginkgo
strange onyx
cold onyx
@strange onyx If I would want to play a mobile game I would want something that
A) Almost Never Ends
B) Has advancing levels
C) Good Detail
like a tycoon or endless runner
but use upgrades to help the gameplay
ripe jetty
@fringe ginkgo if crucial to the game, mouse2
@strange onyx when i play mobile, i want quick burst of game, easy on , easy off. Something that tells me, 'ok that's where we were last time', start, 2 subway stops, off
sonic tide
I want to make something I've never seen before.
An open world RTS.
I'm learning slowly but I've learned that many people already have procedural world generators.
Once I have a way to generate the world I can then focus on the fun bits, making the game it'self.
However if there's anthing I've learned from reading Dilbert it's that the most important part is the name. So who wants to help with that? (chicken men need not apply.)
I want to do a lot of complicated stuff but for now it's all about that basic map generator.
weary thicket
@fringe ginkgo double tap movement direction
sonic tide
I'v seen that done in Cod Advanced warfare and it was annoying. even better is to just add a contextual key like how you already press shift to run.
weary thicket
all a matter of taste
ionic skiff
Double tap is good. In a third person game, spacebar.
charred gust
Hello guys Im trying to achieve this look, at first it looks like a 2D Isometric project but the ojects and how they interact look 3D during gameplay, can I make an isometric design in a 3D project
stone bolt
@charred gust you should probably check with the fine people from #๐โart-asset-workflow too
hard fog
Best game ideas is allowing you to work on something you would like to play yourself.
pine pewter
^ This.
sonic tide
Ok hear me out on this.
you have a large flat topped vehicle in an RTS.
you can walk infantry and vehicles onto it and move them around on there as the larger vehicle moves.
weary thicket
@sonic tide isn't that how troop transport vehicles work in most RTSes mechanically?
sonic tide
those just de-spawn them and add DPS to the vehicle.
I'm talking about a sub plane for them to move around on.
Imagine how the walls in Stronghold Crusaders work. your units stand at the top and shoot around at enemies and you can micro them for better effect.
now just make the wall move.
weary thicket
Never played that.
sonic tide
A RTS with no hud.
instead everything is bound to units. Wanna research? right click a research unit and select from the drop down menu.
wanna make a unit? Drop down menu from a production thingy.
Check your recourses? right click anywhere and look at the drop down menu.
this is an interesting Idea but I need more people to help refine it.
robust cairn
So uh I wanted to make a window like this and I managed to kind of recreate it in photoshop but when I drop it in unity and Rescale it it looks bad asf like look at the upper bar
robust cairn
Original width is like 1018 in the psd
But for this particular object I need it to be 360 ish
But it looks really shit
robust cairn
Anyone?
ionic skiff
@robust cairn how is the Sprite set up in unity?
It should be sliced with the border area including the top/bottom/side bars
robust cairn
Shit i think i might have forgot to slice it I'll update you on it
robust cairn
@ionic skiff i have it sliced up like this
dont really know why it's being a bitch
hard fog
@robust cairn Please don't bring dogs into this.
robust cairn
Cmon man not even allowed to swear?
weary thicket
There might be kids here.
tropic crest
If anyone can design a DJ Studio PM Me. 2D in unity
robust cairn
@ionic skiff any ideas
ionic skiff
@robust cairn what's the problem exactly?
also is the entire window one object or a collection of image objhects?
sonic tide
An RTS with a randomly generated map. any part not revealed by players or AI is randomly shifting.
your minimap only shows your general blobs and you can't move the camera past where any of your units see.
robust cairn
Its a collection of image objects @ionic skiff
ionic skiff
@robust cairn idk, other than ticking "maintain aspect" and making sure your photoshop file is high res (you're wasting a lot of space, you could have a smaller file and higher res pieces if you squished everything together)
lunar granite
anyone know of a really good OFFLINE whiteboard or mindmap app / program ? i know of OpenBoard(almost amazing), Freeplane (could be better), SpaceDeck (not so great and dead)
its for personal project so dont need collaboration... and id prefer to have it myself instead of relying on a website to stay up like 10 years from now lol if i wanna look back at my works
i recently found PureRef but its really for reference images for 3d modeling and artwork
ionic skiff
I know some people that use OneNote and love it
I want a good one too so let us know if you find one :)
lunar granite
I just seen Leonardo might be good haven't totally checked it out
flat atlas
@lunar granite I've used XMind Zen for a few months for work. It's pretty clean and useful for a freebie, but I don't know if it'll do everything you want it to since it is the "free version" of another app.
https://www.xmind.net/zen/
ionic skiff
Whoa, definitely giving that a download @flat atlas. Thanks.
flat atlas
No problemo!
lunar granite
i guess MyPaint kinda works for what i wanted, basically, a "infinite canvas" space where i can drag pictures onto, and draw lines / arrows connecting them and put text ... ugh it doesnt have text >,> well on my laptop i can just handwrite i guess lol
(and its free) ... i guess Leonardo is kinda better in a way, but its not free lol
and its on my PC, not on a cloud on the web
ripe jetty
So far the best for me is adobe illustrator, you could check affinity designer if you are allergic to monthly fees
cold onyx
Wondering if there is someone who can make a HQ original Fighting game UI, kind of like UMvC3/DBFZ/SFIV.
long anchor
cold onyx
I mean like healthbars, super meter, etc.
deft patio
Im thinking of a rpg skills but the skills are generic at the same time can be adjustable with a slider.
Extreme left: big explosion radius
Extreme right: highest dmg```
My question is, whats a good way to control that?
Adjust in skill window then drag that "instance" to the hotkey?And in the case of
Left - burn duration
Right - burn damage```
The DOT status effect stacking rule will be complicated eh...Not to be a hassle but does anyone know how to change a gameObject's transform position?
A classmate and myself have been fighting with this for the last three hours.. we've looked at tutorials and any official documentation on the version we're using (2019.2.0f1) but even with that and trying what we can from the asset store it doesn't work..
wanton wasp
If you mean in a script, then ask in #๐ปโcode-beginner . If you mean in the editor ask in #๐ปโunity-talk
abstract drum
@cold onyx What do you mean? You can simply assign a Vector3 to the position if you want to update it to a new point. csharp gameObject.transform.position = new Vector3(0, 0, 0);
cold onyx
Right. Sorry I'll ask again there instead but I'll try this out tomorrow morning too.
dapper ether
sorry for the double question in two different subs, not sure which one is the right one; Hey everyone, simple question; how do I make it so when I instantiate a new prefab at a given coordinate (say 0,0,0 in V3), that the center of that prefab is at the desired coordinate and NOT the bottom corner? Still getting used to the engine, thanks
In other words, I want to change the "origin location" of my prefab; I tried moving the prefab's center point to 0,0,0 in the editor then saving, but when I place a new one and transform it, it defaults to the bottom corner
ionic skiff
@dapper ether try making the prefab a child of an empty. The empty should become the pivot.
inner ice
I'm having abit of trouble I can't seem to find timeline in the window tab, I want to be able to create a timeline window.
nevermind just opened the animation tab silly me
I assume thats the same thing
inner ice
please disregard I had the wrong version of unity installed
gray rune
how can i change the order of objects during runtime?
i need to generate UI Elements underneath eachother
weary thicket
hasty turret
Would anyone know how to help me with an error importing a model into unity from blender ?
stone bolt
@hasty turret you should probably ask on #๐โart-asset-workflow
hexed void
hey how do you guys create ur own textures? I've modeled up some things, learned to UV map but I wanna create my own textures for 3D models, I have no idea where to start. My designs would be SUPER simple as Im working on recreating games from the N64 days like Space Station Silicon Valley, Bomberman 64 etc
hexed void
dang, u draw up a character texture from scratch?
robust cairn
Anyone know how can I make these lines fill the whole screen
See the difference between the actual background color and the lines that are close to transparent
I dont know how to fill the whole screen with those
vital sequoia
I have no idea how I came up with this idea. But I have a game idea for making a 2d platformer style game based on the events of the Chernobyl explosion in 1986.
Good idea or nah
pulsar aurora
sounds like a very complicated concept
but if you know how you'd do it, then why not
vague bough
Chernobyl is a popular topic, i say go for it
@vital sequoia is it just a theme for a Metroid style platformer?
vital sequoia
Yes, but with non arcade style graphics
vague bough
i meant metroid as an adventure platformer example
but yeah, go for it
I think the tone would be really cool
and a level where it's dark and the flashlight is flickering due to the rad
gleaming jungle
Is there any game designer who would like to collab in making a small game
night gust
Hey, how would any of you guys go about creating a spawner for enemies in Unity?
vague bough
@night gust I think you would have better luck getting answers in #๐ปโunity-talk or #๐ปโcode-beginner
latent notch
@gleaming jungle Try participating in Ludum Dare https://ldjam.com/ this weekend ๐
sand pelican
Hey guys, my team is looking for someone post-jam for top down 2d level design. We have the game prototype, but are expanding it for full release, 5 level mini story game.
If someone would like to help us out on designing the levels, it would be much appreciated. I've designed how the levels connect for the story, just need help filling them in ๐
let me know through dm.
kind wren
Hi , I want to design the maze game but the maze will generate dynamic from image, the problem I'm facing now is i cannot get the sprite pixel coordinates according to worldspace, I want to draw line on black border using line renderer
copper forge
@kind wren I think that is a better question for #๐ปโcode-beginner
But to answer your question, with a sprite you get do mySprite.texture.GetPixel(x, y); to get the color of a pixel at a point. If you have any questions you can @ me in general code. ๐
left hatch
What do people feel about games that requires you to do a lot for even small things? Like simulation and building games, but taking it a step further requiring you to do more to build even something simple
for example building a house, and you have to place and cut all the planks yourself
and place each plank individually
Would that be TOO tedious, even though it would open up for as much customization as possible?
proud sluice
@left hatch I usually like that kind of stuff as long as the actual game is fun. The upcoming game Starbase is sort of like that. But, if the whole game is just the tedious part, then it wouldn't be that fun. However, if you have some nice gameplay loop where you are, for example, scavenging for parts in a hostile area, and then coming back to build up your base or whatever, that could be fun.
left hatch
Yeah that was kinda the plan
The initial idea came up when i was replaying a game that i really like (graveyard keeper)
now my idea was not the same theme as that, but the building components i really liked. Take down a tree to get a log, you can only carry one log at a time (unless you get NPC's later). The tree log can be taken to 3 different buildings to be split into different wood pieces (like sawmill for planks and beams etc, and someplace to cut it up into firewood)
I always loved those type of games, they are tedious as hell, but the reward feels great
The building would ofc not be the only component of the game, it would just be a part
But it would be 3d, and in a more toony/non-realistic artstyle
proud sluice
That would be especially fun if you could get NPCs to help you. That kind of thing really makes the player feel like they are progressing. Going from the worker to the overseer of your own town/base/etc. is very satisfying.
left hatch
Some fun mechanics would be things like, being able to drive a car, and throw all your materials back in it, so you didnt need to bring back one item at a time
proud sluice
Just getting the car would accomplish that too, anything that makes the work easier is satisfying
left hatch
Hmm NPC action would be much further into the prototype though, would need the player to be able to create a house with just "blueprint" parts then. And the NPC would then pick up and place those
proud sluice
One of my favorite games of all time that uses this sort of idea is Factorio
And yeah, just the car would suffice for a prototype
left hatch
Iwe been playing around with prototypes for years: I just enjoy making them. But finding that major piece of your MVP is so hard
But great to get some feedback on it, and see its not only me that kinda liked the idea. I just need to find the point of playing it, and a fun way to progress
lilac shoal
@left hatch with VR I think simulation genre will go deep into such details, and yes I find them interesting too :)
left hatch
I do not think i would personally do it in VR though, but good to hear!
modern leaf
I need a little help doing something can anyone help me
gentle oak
@modern leaf what is it?
cold onyx
Guys
I downloaded a 3d model sword
and it came in winrar
How i can put it in unity?
ANy1 can help plesae <3?
tepid ivy
Extract the winrar file
shrewd mulch
Double-click the winrar file to view its contents in Winrar.
Extract them to a location outside of the Winrar file.
Go into Unity, right-click where your assets are, click import new asset, find it
azure lantern
In the spirit of Blocktober, I interviewed professional level designer Max Pears as he shares some level design tips during pre-production phase. This is a snippet from the interview - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGr49P0_BWI&list=PLs_yJ-RML1Ye4bvAIXrjQTQ6u_fFfE2FI&index=0
cold onyx
Why are game design and level design mixed together?
They are two completely different disciplines
weary thicket
@cold onyx Because you can only split the server into so many niche channels before there is no conversation going on at all.
This channel goes days with nobody saying anything so it isn't like Adam interrupted anything.
(Also, when you are making a game solo level design and game design can be pretty closely linked I think- I find myself going back and forth on both my game mechanics and map to try to make them work together)
cold onyx
also, on platformers level desing and gamedesing are `retty much the same
cold onyx
Do you create your game levels in Microsoft Word? ๐ค
night gust
XD yeah I do mine on Docs XD
eternal silo
Any ideas for a cooler transition between levels? The current one kinda blinds the player
proud sluice
Make it fade to black? Maybe the whole level slides left, and the new one slides in from the right? Maybe everything besides the level background opacity fades out, and the level colors lerp to the new ones? @eternal silo
It's really just whatever you want
eternal silo
I know, just looking for some interesting ideas
wintry brook
Sup dudes
I have some ideas for an action RPG (SNES era secret of Mana or Legend of Zelda link to the past), based around a "mushy class" system like you find in elder scrolls
But the main thing revolves around what I'm calling Specializations, which you'll have a few slots for and can freely change around out of combat
So to build some different types of classes you'll use specializations to make certain weapon, armor, and skill combinations possible
For example, to make a battle mage, you'll have to train into the warcasting specialization to allow spells to be cast while wearing heavy armor.
But what limits you from just equipping spells and heavy armor? There's a couple choices that would come to mind first like having them just be disallowed to be equipped together, but then how do you easily convey that to the player? Red tinted items with a tooltip? Let them equip it but force it to unequip the incompatible items? Maybe that would work out but I have a different idea
Instead of an Equip load (like dark souls) that represents how heavy the gear is that you're wearing, I want to expand the idea to a Stamina load, which represents how physically taxing gear is while you're using it
Maybe it sounds like a minor difference, but it means that casting spells can be a very physically involved process. Spells may not have any physical weight if you're just casting them from your hands or from a wand, right? But there would still be physical exertion
spice wedge
Hey, is there a possibility to create Small Text for a 2D Scene? If I scale it down normally, it begins to blur and becomes unreadable
eternal silo
Use textmesh pro, its way better than the normal unity text and doesnt blur @spice wedge
eternal silo
OK, thx for the suggestions, this is what I came up with for a new transition!
proud sluice
Looks amazing @eternal silo !!!
I like how you combined both of my ideas in ways with your own, it looks very good
eternal silo
Now I just have to get it actually change scenes now, rn its just changing the color of the current scene
silk quest
@eternal silo Best of luck, looks great so far!
eternal silo
I might have to redo the animation in script. All my levels are different colors and I am not going to make a new animation for each level lol. Unless theres a way to set the color for it to fade too?
celest pewter
Hey Dudes
I am look at making an MMO/Sandbox/Base building/PVP game. Got a question about getting started and the right things to use if you dont mind helping me out.
What is a good multiplayer game platform I can use and should I worry about this now or should I work on the project a little first then deal with this later?
proud sluice
If you are asking about networking libraries, Mirror is a good choice. They have a helpful discord too. Photon is another popular choice though. It's generally better to design the project around multiplayer from square one, or else it's a pain to go back and change all your systems to work with multiplayer. If you have no networking experience though, I wouldn't get your hopes up, I've been trying to learn it for a while and still have trouble trying to do simple networking things quite often. (not sure how advanced you are) @celest pewter
It would probably be good to make some small scale tests with multiplayer and see if it works with your friends, and to pick the library you like more
Mirror is completely free, but I think Photon has some premium upgrades, not sure. Photon has extra things like voice chat integration and stuff if you wanted to go for a Rust style game.
celest pewter
someone has told me about photon but I want to see what others where out there, not really my field so I am happy to get any help I can and thank you sir for your comment this helps me out.
I will check out mirror also
weak aurora
Forge, SpatialOS, Bolt
the supposedly imminent new 3rd Person Shooter sample has new Unity DOTS-based stuff
full socket
How feasible would it be to have a NPC AI that links to an SQL database of world knowledge (Locations, shops, items, events, ect) and switching per NPC with access or knowledge of full or partial memory of such things? Creating a deeper immersive NPC AI
cold onyx
im thinking i wanna make a game that takes place in a gas station store at night. I think it would be cool if lot's of different NPCs come in, all with different personalities and silly dialogue, but i can't decide what sort of game play compliments this
i thought maybe a hectic game where you're going around cleaning spills, restocking slushee machines, checking people out, watching CCTV for shop lifters, etc
but that doesnt leave any room for getting to know NPCs or nice dialogue
do you have any other ideas for gameplay that suites dialogue like this?
upbeat musk
maybe somehow incorporate the dialogue into the tasks the player has to complete? You could make it so they can't do certain tasks before talking to someone. @cold onyx
or somehow give an incentive to the player for talking to them, but they have to finish all their tasks before they can, causing them to rush through it and possibly make mistakes
ionic skiff
@full socket sounds ez enough. Was just considering a very similar concept yesterday
ionic skiff
I'm not currently looking for any sort of team commitment but I'd love to experiment over the weekend and share results @full socket
full socket
that would be awesome!
i have some concept ideas i would be glad to chat about conceptually mind if i DM you?
fiery mantle
@cold onyx you could allow players to leave the store to go to events or things, but the bulk of the game is in the store, like Stardew Valley farm
cold onyx
looks early 2000s
woven fossil
nice
cold onyx
I got this efftect that happens
when i hit the ground
Instantiate(GroundSlamEffect, transform.position, Quaternion.identity);
but when i do this
it comes in the middle of my body
any idea how i can lower it down>
steady onyx
This is my player what do you think?
hot axle
cold onyx
Smaller curwing pointy is scawy, fluffy
ionic skiff
@steady onyx your players pivot is in his chest. That's his position. Make an empty GO to instantiate the effect at the position of, or just put the effect at the feet and tell it to play a burst when you need it instead of instantiating.
steady onyx
@cold onyx thanks i see what you mean
@ionic skiff ok ill try it when i get home
(Its a 2d platform not, up down 2d game)
wary pebble
Hey Hey heyyyyy! I have a little... Problem
I am a noob which wants to plan out a game, ya kno, to have a dream so something
But there is this decision that troubles my sould
I can do stories, I can do characters, sprites etc
(and learning to actually code and make the damn thing is just a matter of time)
Buuut I can't decide on a style of gameplay
Im looking for some advice that's... General, not for a specific case
I have a concept that doesn't have that problem, but that's just one which will be a stereotypical platformer.
Theeere's always the way of deciding that before the other stuff
But that's not realy ny style ":>
delicate rose
Are you referring to the gameplay loop?
wary pebble
It's like
What gameplay would fit the story, the theme, just the Rest I've already planned?
A decision like that normally is made on the very start, but I still want to use the ideas I have right now
You know, I can't, or at least I won't, make something about cowboys a stereotypical platformer
cold onyx
Ok so you have a storyyou want to tell but are missing the medium?
vague pivot
uncut yoke
@celest pewter i would always pick MLAPi > Mirror
wary pebble
@cold onyx yeah, something along those lines
....actually I have this problem not only with Games, but that's a topic not for this server
(now Excuse me, sleep)
wary pebble
Back from sleep! @cold onyx
I realised what I'm missing
I, simply put, suck at making adventures that involve... Moving from A to B
And I need that for a game
That's what I didn't realise
Stereotypical Platformers are for somewhat Pacifist Journeys, Rpgs rather where a Hero has to grow, etc etc
You know what mine qualify for? Visual novels.
Basically I need to fix that
cold onyx
Guys I am trying to make a randomized map for my game, Will it work if I make my house spawn randomly but if it will be intersecting with a tree for example will i be able to type Destroy(GameObject) and then it will not be spawned inside the scene?
pulsar aurora
Depends on how your map generation system works
You could spawn the houses first and then the trees - and if the tree is inside a range from the house, it won't spawn there
cold onyx
Thanks @pulsar aurora
wary pebble
Hello, me again
I wanna plan out a map
Do i go about it like start-end or everything then everything but more details
(it's an RPG)
cold onyx
That would depend on the type of RPG. Is world building important or are different areas there to explain new background art and enemy design?
wary pebble
It's a fangame, the Type of "They played that game, so now it's in the world!"
So I guess the second one
I already have a route, it's just the matter of deciding how long it will be, what rooms etc
torpid crow
Hello, so I'm reading on how to create isometric projection for my game and i found that the game logic is done in 2d, then i should convert the position my objects to isometric, all good and dandy until the conversion comes.
When I convert my character position from cartesian to isometric, the next conversion takes the character already converted iso pos and tries to convert again, causing a spin.
Should I convert back to cartesian at some point before i update any positions or how exactly it is done?
For reference I'm reading this tut
https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/tutorials/creating-isometric-worlds-primer-for-game-developers-updated--cms-28392
Any kind of help or follow up on what I should read is appreciated !
torpid crow
i dont understand if i need to convert back from iso to cartesian at the beginning of the position update, then fro mcartesian to iso at the end so it can be drawn in iso
i spend several hours researching, the despair is overwhelming
stray wyvern
hey! for my game, I have an animation for a character of mine reloading- but I want the player to be able to reload while walking.
so i wanted to ask, what is your guys insight on what would be the best solution of the two here?
they're both practically the same in effort (approach 1 would have one extra step of copypasting the upper body animations onto the walking animations), but i'm not sure if one or the other would be more problematic down the line
stark prairie
Not an animator here, but approach 2 seems like better. You can make better reuse of your work.
Think in terms of which is easier to edit if you have to make modifications in the future.
stray wyvern
good point. ๐ thanks!
weary thicket
I use approach 2, except I have three layers (legs/body, upper body/arms, face animations)
steady onyx
@weary thicket you using bone animation?
weary thicket
Yes
Though I actually have been considering adding a new layer specifically to animate particles and effects
glass flax
How do you guys suggest I keep the story saved? I'm talking about mostly story data, or even just tooltips that are 1 time guides to the game.
keeping a bool for every tooltip sounds a bit.. weird to me. Then again I never did saves before, so it might be fine and I'm just looking for reassurance ?
Also, how would I stop that tooltip from happening, even if I do have it in some "SaveData" class? I can use a tag to find that tooltip and check the data, but creating a tag for each tooltip (and that is just tooltips), doesn't feel right
stark prairie
@glass flax However you want to handle keeping track of things the player has seen, bools are the simplest way you can do this.
main lava
Hey peeps, so I was just wondering the viability of using scriptable objects for items, abilities and buffs etc within an mmorpg, anyone want to weigh in with their knowledge r experience with scriptable objects and their pros and cons?
zinc pier
hey anyone knows a good tutorial to learn low poly art for games?
void sluice
@zinc pier maybe try asking in #๐โart-asset-workflow
upper saffron
hello
mild shard
Not sure if I'm supposed to ask here, but
I'm making a multiplayer game, and I have a First Person Controller. How can I make it visible to other clients?
So that other clients can see where the other people are.
small lava
How do you come up with orginal ideas for your games? Or are you just copying existing games?
dense talon
I have played games for over 20 years and I buy at least 10 games a month....So I might steal game ideas from people, but when I sell it I try to do something unique that I have not seen yet or something similar to something popular, but with a twist maybe.
But to be honest, when making certain genres you don't need to be unique. If you have a platformer that is just another "super meatboy", as long as you do it well and make it feel good in the hands of a player, it can sell stupidly well.
But as far as game design goes it's much regarding if you are creative or not, my wife is hella smart, but she's so dense (plz don't smite me waffu) when it comes to new ideas and being creative as far as art and new game mechanics goes. Call it book smart if you will, but I think the difference there makes a huge impact on if you are creative vs booksmart. And not saying a person can't be both, but it's just more rare. :p
fallen rain
It's just like learning drawing or film making. At very beginning you need to watch a lot of existing works, build up a library in your mind, and try to imitate some parts of them as practices. After trying this more and more, you'll find your idea -- no matter it's a completely new concept (which is very rare) or something based on previous works with unique experience. Just keep one thing in your mind: our job is to provide players awesome experience.
civic trellis
I have a quick question regarding the mental process a RTS player prioritizes his decisions: Will he rather think:
- What units should I send / Where to / What order to execute?
- or What unit / What order / Where to?
- or What order / What unit / Where to?
- or What order / Where to / What unit?
I want a very fast and intuitive user interaction and this would help me finding what would be the actual UX when a player clicks on a target or a location in the environment.
Thanks by advance for any insight ๐
stone bolt
"I want X to do Y on Z" sounds right to me, but if you're in doubt playtest it against your audience and see which they seem to enjoy best for your particular game loop
civic trellis
@stone bolt Obviously, I'll playtest this approach anyway with a prototype but I wondered if anyone would actually have an opinion so that I can pick one that would be based on some external knowledge, experience or litterature ๐
I like to design based on convictions first and test them afterwards ๐
cunning flame
aren't all of the 4 thought processes listed interchangeable though?
and does the "what order" question refer to
what is the order required to achieve the objective?
if you're making a standard RTS won't that just be "right click X"
civic trellis
Yes, it is the actual "command" such as attack/defend
It's not a standard RTS: that would be too easy :p
cunning flame
I see.
the game objectives will likely be what guides the player's mind
these questions I presume are meant to be asked in the context "How to achieve Z"
civic trellis
Let's put some context then:
cunning flame
please.
civic trellis
Imagine the player has identified a potential backdoor in his controlled space but he actually doesn't know necessarily what kind of units might attack him there.
Imagine now that the UI is really minimalist (by design and based on art direction intentions) so that you actually start by clicking on a position to give an order to a set of units available in, say, some sort of inventory or barracks.
Would you expect the UI to show you first the type of units you want to send and then decide then of the order you want to give (attack/defend/patrol/whatever) or the other way around?
cunning flame
understandable
I at least personally, would like to know what missile I'm throwing at my enemy rather than
the path it will have
BUT
if you want orders to be more like rally points
with additional units being assigned at the player convenience.
it could be better to have the orders be "placed" first.
or otherwise initialized
civic trellis
You got it right
cunning flame
oh.
yeah you'll want the orders first then
since if the order is something that quote on quote "loiters" around the map you'll want to treat it like an active thing
civic trellis
So, you'd basically instinctively go for "Pick a location or a region" => "Select order between Attack/Defend/Support/Whatever" => "Pick units type and number you wanna send"
civic trellis
thanks, I see your point when you mentioned that I should consider the "order" or "command" as an active thing
Big thanks! Helped a lot ๐
cunning flame
given you distinctly mention regions as something you select, I assume the map is divided in individual cells
in a "traditional" (I.E. In Starcraft's shadow) RTS units the map doesn't have such divisions. Even capture point oriented gameplay from Dawn of War and COH2 don't "restrict" unit movement to regions
in such a game I would've made the order be some sort of flag point or such
but if you're using regions you can just have them be connected to the region ...icon?
civic trellis
No, I was thinking having the player holding the left mouse button down to define a zone instead of a position
cunning flame
tile based or circular?
civic trellis
circular
civic trellis
Say for instance you want to select friendly units to escort or defend them, you could do so combining the zone selection and command process
*yes radial
Same could be done to attack multiple enemy units or simply define a zone where anyone passing by would be attacked
cunning flame
hmm I mean
I would make the radial zone have some sort of graphic in the middle of it
something that could be interpreted as flag or beacon
selecting units from the inventory or from the map and then right clicking this flag assigning the units to the order
civic trellis
oh! I see the same way you'd produce new units in a RTS and indicate a rally point
civic trellis
I see
cunning flame
like setting a move order to a building
civic trellis
Makes sense
cunning flame
OR OR
civic trellis
It might actually disrupt less my target audience if I go down that way... I'll give it a shot and have some playtest
Here goes the game designer creaping :p
cunning flame
Have the deploy structure (barracks or whatever point on the map reinforcements spawn from) set orders as rally points
although that could interfere a little-
now I'm just wasting time
just try out whatever you've come up with for the moment and come back to tells us if it worked out or not
civic trellis
๐ I'll do with a quick video too ๐
I'm in the process of prototyping the battle system... I'll share my results then
Thanks again
hybrid light
In a classic RTS my order is build a combat unit - move them into general enemy position - give them explicit orders (focus priority targets, fall back, set up defence, ect.)
You can't do orders first because of fog of war and locations change more than unit composition
In flow-based economy you may have a general location, where you set up orders (usually patrol) and set up reinforcements, choosing unit types from factory
Then you move rally points
cunning flame
This wasn't described as a classic RTS
kind edge
Heyo
I'm going to be making a game with 2 of my friends and we decided that we want to do a puzzle/rage inducing movement game
like i am fish, who's your daddy, and getting over it
I was wondering, what is a good idea for a main character?
We also decided that we want the main character to be small
I was thinking about the main character being a frog and having him move using his tongue as a sort of grapple
but i'm not sure how much I like that
cold onyx
`does anyone know how to put someone face like any famous person in game
for this i have to use blender or what
?
proven path
@cold onyx not the right place
proven path
I already replied to you in #๐ปโunity-talk
glass flax
hi guys, regarding the scope of my project in terms of content - how do you define and measure it? That is, I'm making a platformer but I want it to be "enough" content. Then again, I want to define the scope so I'll be able to define milestones, dates, and not keep on creating content forever
cunning flame
what does enough content mean for the platformer? @glass flax
amber gyro
@glass flax I think that depends on a lot of different things. Starting from deadlines and budget... Also the variety of the content
a game can be 5 or 10 hours long
but if the majority of the content is repetitive, there's no much point to it
glass flax
@cunning flame I don't know, that's exactly what I'm asking? "Run time" perhaps? (the amount of time it takes an average player to finish the game)
cunning flame
I feel like defining what the game's content is should be the first thing you do?
glass flax
@amber gyro There's no real budget here, it's mostly made from free stuff. And deadline is exactly what I want to set in mind now. The variety of the content is depending on the required variety and my imagination , I guess
cunning flame
you should think what the gameplay loop is
amber gyro
@cunning flame not really. Some people like to figure out what the mechanics are going to be, the game loop, and things like that
glass flax
@cunning flame It's mostly a platformer with a puzzle. Like mario, ori and the blind forest.. there's a bit of story to it, but not that deep
amber gyro
and after knowing what the game will be, they start scoping the length and contents of the game
cunning flame
what the hell did I say then
amber gyro
I was writing my message as you posted yours ๐
but yeah, game loop is not the same as content
cunning flame
I guess
glass flax
@amber gyro you said a game can be 5 or 10 hours long. How can I measure mine? any good method to measure it except starting from zero and playing it every time I make a change?
cunning flame
it's the main thing the game needs to get right and offer to the player though
then there's the stuff you do during the loop
glass flax
I'm a bit lost. What is the "game loop" you're talking about?
can you give an example in a game like mario/ori and the blind forest?
cunning flame
what the player is trying to achieve second to second
or during general play
in mario you worry about dodging projectiles and making jumps for instance
glass flax
well it's move on, finish the game I guess. Play it. I don't think there's much goal in here
cunning flame
because it's a platformer
n-
no.
that's not a loop. That's barely a design document
amber gyro
@glass flax designing games is a really iterative process and takes a lot of experience to get the measurements right. I suggest you don't design around getting X amounts of hours for your game, rather try to implement all your gameplay mechanics, new ideas, etc and then play test it a lot.
See if some part of the game feels specially long, repetitive or boring... and cut down on that.
Also try to feel if there are mechanics that you could expand on and apply more variation for the gameplay
things like that
glass flax
I don't think dodging projectiles is a goal. It's just a means to a goal
cunning flame
the loop is not the goal
amber gyro
don't get stuck on the numbers. Implement, test, adjust and repeat
cunning flame
the loop is what you do in general
typically between goals
to achieve the next goal
if you insist
glass flax
@amber gyro currently it's the other way around; everything is extremely short. I have around 2 abilities (implemented, out of 6), and you can finish the game in around 10m.
@cunning flame ok, well it depends on the room. In some of my rooms it's only puzzles, other got lasers, blades, and other things you'll need to avoid.
amber gyro
the "game loop" is a loose term generally used to describe a certain pattern of things that you do in a game "for example in Mario the gameplay loop could be "Start a level, avoid/kill enemies, die or get to the end of the level"
or you could describe it even more simply by "Walking, running and jumping"
glass flax
ok, so let's assume I defined what my game loop is. What then?
amber gyro
then a next step could be trying to design mechanics around that core game loop
if your game is about running and jumping, try to design mechanics that are centered around those actions that are fun and add variety to the game
cunning flame
games, not unlike books or movies are better when all their components serve some kind of core
glass flax
ok, let's assume now I do have mechanics like that. like a moving platform, a spring, etc. How many mechanics is enough though? how can I even know?
cunning flame
but unlike other media, Games can have gameplay mechanics as that core
how many is enough?
well is the game fun?
amber gyro
ok, let's assume now I do have mechanics like that. like a moving platform, a spring, etc. How many mechanics is enough though? how can I even know?
That is impossible to know, only by playtesting and getting a feel for the game you will know if there are too many similar mechanics of one type, or to few
but it never hurts to design a lot more stuff than you are gonna need
better safe than sorry. But don't forget to remove what feels repetitive and boring
glass flax
I would disagree on that last statement btw; it hurts in terms of times, of deadlines. But that's a different story, I understand your point.
amber gyro
adding more mechanics for the sake of just having more is not really something you want to do. You want those mechanics to add something to your game, that something is usually fun and variety. But that also depends on a lot of other factors
@glass flax designing is not something that is going to consume a huge chunk of your production time
implementing, testing and polishing is what takes the time
design and quick prototyping rarely hurts a project, on the contrary, it let's you explore possible design avenues for your game
glass flax
I'm not sure what you mean by design, but I was talking about the graphics aspect of it too. And for me, implementing and testing takes a LOT less time than designing things graphically.
Either way I think we're getting off the point. As I said, I understand that part.
The thing now is - I have content, I have mechanism, but it's too short
amber gyro
design is not doing graphics. Design is thinking, and developing ideas of what things your game can have
glass flax
I can try and add more stuff - but I don't want it to feel repetitive. Then again, too much unique stuff will make the game more "complex"
amber gyro
The thing now is - I have content, I have mechanism, but it's too short
Then you need to do some designing
cunning flame
that's not remotely how you add complexity
amber gyro
design ways of using the mechanics you have, design levels, etc
if you are lost and don't really know how to think as a designer and need some guidance, GDC has a lot of talks about the topic of designing different aspects of a game
just search on their youtube channel or the GDC vault "design" or "gameplay design" and there's probably a bunch of talks about it
Gamasutra is a good source of information too
glass flax
I'm aware of Gamasutra, I use it sometimes. I'll look up GDC though, that sounds like a good place for me to look at.
I'll do that an some thinking. And thank you both for the help! @amber gyro @cunning flame
void sluice
@glass flax for platformers, one way to "add more content" would be to add more enemy types or puzzle types later on, like say the first level has an enemy that just walks left, maybe the second level has an enemy that can change direction, but then on say level 6 you have an enemy that can fly around.
Or for puzzles, you start with simple push a button open door puzzles but by level 10 or something you need to maneuver blocks to reach new areas and flip multiple switches in certain orders to open the next level
The player has to adapt to these changes and it keeps them engaged
cold onyx
Iโm working on a turnbased, tilebased game and I would like to know what kind of AI systems I should look into. For this game, each unit will have different stats, such as how many tiles they can move in a turn, as well as a varying amount of abilities that they can activate, like attacking, healing, inflicting status effects, and so on and so forth. So an AI would have to take those things into account when making a decision.
cold onyx
I was taking a look at Utility Theory.
void sluice
@cold onyx I'd say start really simple and only add if the behaviour you get isn't good enough, for example, start by just having the ai loop over all its units and move them towards the nearest hostile unit until they are in attack range and if they are in attack range attack
For a healer the behavior would be move to the closest damaged friendly unit and then heal them etc
cold onyx
I'll take that into consideration.
dense talon
Anyone know of any good endgame game mechanics that have been good in MMORPG's to keep them fun to play for you?
It's different for many people what they prefer, just thought I should see what people here like too.
weary thicket
@dense talon by endgame you mean raiding stuff, or social activities, or...?
I think the #1 biggest thing is 'achievements you can't buy, that people can see.' The more that you can just buy all the best stuff in the game, the less anyone gives a fuck about it.
dense talon
Oh, I'm not gonna do any pay to win elements, it's all skins.
what I'm thinking about is gameplay when max level is reached
mechanics that kept people playing
amber gyro
Path of Exile is a good example of post-game content
they add new "events" and activities and whatnot
in the end it's pretty much the same core gameplay, but they add small changes to it, different visuals, minigames, more rewards, etc
signal widget
I have a question
What is the best program to draw sprites on it
dense talon
@signal widget There are no such thing as the overall best program since everyone got a different taste, I use Aseprite myself, but you can literally draw it in paint and it will be just as good. But you could potentially use any program for it, there are some like Aseprite that specialize in it though. Also has the animation looping and such in it so you can test sprites inside the editor instead of in unity.
hybrid light
How would you gamify of remembering complex 2d images, like chemicals? The simplest one is to show the image and several potential answers (is it fructose or glucose?)
Another idea (with a bit more compex realisation) is to obcure the relevant part and allow to choose how to properly complete the image (is it NH2 or CH3?)
obscure*
dense talon
@hybrid light well, do you wish the player to need to know the chemical terms for it or do you wish for it to be aimed towards everyone? :p
dense talon
Well, I have never studied chemestry on any sort of level that we needed to know the table at all...And it's hardly ever fun to study the subject...but let's see...
So remembering the combination of letters and at the same time the complex combination of atoms or whatever it is? :p
Basically, I'm good with gameification, I am not good with chemicals, so what do I have to deal with, what are my clues? :p
hybrid light
Almost. You never really remember the whole combination. Basically, there is common skeleton, which is usually abstracted. And then it has small, but important modifications like an extra atom sticking out. In non-chemistry terms... Imagine trying to distinquish similar flowers. They've all got leaves and stuff, but one got violet 3rd petal, and another has red.
dense talon
so you want the player to remember the difference between h2o vs h2oo? :p
as an example
hybrid light
Or another common scenario - two flowers. One has 3 leaves on the right and last one on the left, and another first two on the left and last two on the right.
Simplified - yes.
dense talon
This sounds like a duolingo kinda educational system that is needed.
hybrid light
Can you explain for one who never used duolingo?
dense talon
basically you need the player to remember the relation between h2o and how it's built up in atoms, as an example, so what you need to do is first show the atom image which each molecule and then the student answers "h2o" for example or just an image of water. What happens later when the difficulty ramps up is lets say the user gets a picture of water and it should either draw up using a nice system you create the different substances that creates the molecule in the right order and position.
I suggest you try duolingo and just jump into any language and try to see what different methods they use to teach language, since it's very similar to what you are trying to do. You are just trying to use it for a very specific subject, and you may find some good clues to what you need to use to teach these students about the different substances
They are good at using memory tricks to make you remember things you don't even need to know, like how to make my wife remember "the dog eats the cats" in Swedish.....
hybrid light
Thanks for the advice! I'll check out duolingo.
dense talon
You should of course put your own twist to it, like make it more visually pleasing for chemistry students. Those molecule drawings can get hella complex.
hybrid light
Making computer to parse complex structures is not easy, but probably is done by someone else. Or i can offer a set of images to choose from.
dense talon
exactly, probably way easier on you
hybrid light
And sprinkle some Skinner boxes like archievements and scores.
dense talon
yeah, duolingo uses like "steps" starting from beginner to advanced that you can repeat as needed
different subjects too, you could technically have acids in one area, but they are probably quite many...might have to narrow it down a bit :p
hybrid light
Hm, there are about 20 different relevant aminoacids, for example. Probably "choose 4 variants" of names for structure or vice-versa.
But i fear that "choose right answer" quizzes would become stale too fast.
dense talon
Well, that's a little why you should check out duolingo, they mix it up quite a lot. But to gameify it you could make a lot of minigames, like "shoot the right ones", build one, reassemble this one to the correct one and so on.
duolingo is played by hundreds of thousands on a daily basis, so I think it is working x) If the students really want to learn, they will, basically.
You would have a hard time with me though, have never found a use for remembering chemical compounds or the likes, so probably never will ^^;
hybrid light
Hey, looks nice!
Well, it's a pretty specific skill. Like working with Quartenions in Unity - 99% of people never really need it.
dense talon
indeed
Aiming to advertise it in schools or what is the plan?`
what the heck is a quartenion...
hybrid light
Basically, i want to make a quick-to-build app that wasn't done hundreds of time already. And maybe get some downloads from students who struggle with biochem.
It's a magic box where you put some vectors and it rotates. Works for me ๐
Because i value my sanity and do not mess with irrational numbers more than necessary.
dense talon
I mainly work with 2D or apps, so I keep it low level. Cyber security is far to annoying and takes up way too much of space in my brain as it is.
hybrid light
Luckily, 2d rotation is much less complex. So i try to stick to that. Ciphering and deciphering, on the other hand... Well, thanks for the advice!
dense talon
np, good luck making something unique!
cold onyx
How i can make a starting menu user interface with a moving back ground screen
any thoughts? โค๏ธ
dense talon
This is just like making any game scene @cold onyx
You have static ui interfaces with buttons but the rest of the scene is alive and you can spawn objects and whatever needed in the background and make them move however you wish.
Look at borderlands 3 for example, their game menu is literally only a look inside the game where they spawn random events happening in the background but you can't interact with any of it other than the UI. So it's more like a movie rolling in the background with a lot of animated objects.
cold onyx
@dense talon
I have made a vidoe inside the canves
but it keep showing some weird stuff up and down
Like its not inside the canves the video it self am confused
Look โค๏ธ
See these st uff up and down?
dense talon
oooh...You probably have to lock the aspect ratio and such for the video then since not everyone have the same screen as what you record in.
yeah, it seems like you are stretching it out to the sides filling the screen but not stretching it out to the top
dense talon
Never played a video inside the canvas myself tbh, so I might not be the best to ask about this...I'll do some research
cold onyx
@dense talon with diff res yea i looks like the old way
Humm
but on free aspect
looks good xd
dense talon
yeah, I thought so, you should look into that later when you need to optimize it. don't get hung up on that part when making the entire game though if you are in early development :p
it's not uncommon for people to add black borders to keep the same aspect ratio on movies.
cold onyx
am fked hehe
dense talon
hope they got the same resolution you do on the screens!
cold onyx
Hopefully hehe
tribal elk
Does anyone know of a good description of what lowpoly landscape is built of? I've been looking at a lot of lowpoly pictures, and deducted some principles, but I wonder if there is a more or less complete description? E.g. how forest is built, what about grass and low height vegetation, transitions between biomes, etc. I understand that it depends on the game goals and design, but may be there are some things that are more or less universal? Like, "trees are there only to denote the forest area, and not fill the space as in a real wood, so place trees sparsely according to biomes", or "grass is represented by the flat green color of the terrain, with some 3D grass elements around trees".
dense talon
"Low poly" just means you are using low polygon models though...There is nothing more complex than that.
You can make an entire game of low poly, which is getting very popular nowadays. So I wouldn't say it has specific uses, It can be used to render far away objects easier, but I think it's wrong to generalize low poly as a thing only used when in need of cheaper rendering. It's very hard to summarize all the usages in just a few sentences too ^^;
thorn scroll
Hi. Are there any 3D level designers willing to help out with a game jam (Github Game Off)?
cold onyx
@thorn scroll hi
yes
sry incomplete message, meant o say animation help
then i saw #๐โanimation lmao
cold onyx
I want to make the leftmost side fence segments offset to the right, how do I do that?
dense talon
....you place it to the right?
It looks like you are using tiles, so you would have to have a tile that has a rightmost placed fence.
cold onyx
yeah @dense talon thats what I did, on the tilemap itself its set off to teh right
but it automatically centers itself for some reason
tribal elk
@dense talon well, I understand low poly has several meanings, but if I were to discuss LOD or something for cheaper rendering, I'd probably not choose #archived-game-design channel ๐ There is an aesthetic meaning, I believe. E.g. you can have lowpoly models with baked normals for details, and it looks pretty detailed. I'm talking more about how it looks and feels. Or if you look at https://lonelymountains.com, it's specific aesthetics, but not everything has low polygon count. Not sure if I made myself more clear ๐
dense talon
@tribal elk Yeah, that's not how it sounds when you read the examples you mentioned:
"trees are there only to denote the forest area, and not fill the space as in a real wood, so place trees sparsely according to biomes", or "grass is represented by the flat green color of the terrain, with some 3D grass elements around trees"
It sounds like you are trying to make a rule book for the low poly community. That's what I reacted on. Everyone has their personal feelings towards a graphical art style, personally I think low poly gives the game a feel of being a bit "soft", and for my wife it's an art style that makes everything look very "boy-ish" and "not cute".
Everything graphical is up to the eye of the beholder and that is why I mentioned I thought it would be difficult to summarize it easily.
Since the question you asked was:
Does anyone know of a good description of what lowpoly landscape is built of?
The answer would be so very direct since you asked specifically about low poly landscapes, "Models that contain a low polygon count". The models can be anything, placed however people like and there are no rules other than the fact that there are a low polygon count used in the landscape.
tribal elk
I'm still exploring, so I might be oversimplifying or overcomplicating ๐
I'm not trying to write a rulebook, not at all. I'm trying to understand some patterns that are common
I dunno, if you take roguelike there are some rules, some patterns, and some recommendations, but also quite a bit of freedom.
Of course people can argue to death for what is "platformer" and such, but still, there is quite a bit of common in all platformers
dense talon
Roguelike and platformer are game mechanics, not art styles.
tribal elk
Of course. Is there any conceptual difference?
I mean, on the higher level of abstraction, if we take "hyperrealism", "cartoon", "lowpoly", etc as art styles, aren't there some patterns by which we can recognize and name them?
dense talon
I mean, a game mechanic is functional but a art style is aesthetic. It's a big difference to me.
You can use any art style in a roguelike game you want, it's just easier to use certain graphical styles since it's about creating randomized maps and not everyone has the resources to create a full on 3D roguelike game since it's much more difficult than making something in pixel art. There are for sure things that make art style distinct. But should not have anything to do with how you place the objects. What you are after seems to be how people most often find the specific art style the most pleasing to the eye, but then again, it's in the eye of the beholder.
latent notch
Lol, we're making a full on 3D roguelike game ๐ (and no, it's not exactly easy)
dense talon
the one that comes to mind is like diablo 3 for now ๐
manic rampart
Is there a way to use moveDir and new Vector3 in a way so that it moves according to local space, rather than global?
Right now I have a movement/jump script that is working really well. A bit over complicated im sure, as I am somewhat new. The movement is smooth, jumping is functional the way I want it to be, and the character rotates with the mouse as I want. The ONLY issue is that as the character rotates, the player does not change direction accordingly.
For example, holding 'W' will make you move say North when the camera and player are rotated at their default positions. However, when the player rotates and then you push 'W' again, you moonwalk sideways in the north direction. I don't have this issue when using transforms instead of moveDir, but when having transforms I just cant seem to get the player to jump properly.
Advice?
grand musk
transform.forward = where the object is facing at (the blue arrow when you use move tool with local setting)
dense talon
@manic rampart I think it's easier to understand from a little gif or video clip. Having a hard time to imagine what the problem is from the description. But do hold in mind that this is more of an creative/concept channel in the future. Not code help.
dense talon
Have a question to people.
What do you guys think about the two options in MMORPG's class system.
To have one character but the person can learn all classes, like Final Fantasy 14.
VS
To have alt characters with one class each.
What do you prefer and why?
flat atlas
I prefer distinct classes, similar to World of Warcraft. It allows a player to become intimately familiar with their class while leveling it, forcing them to learn it. I haven't played FF14, but I have played other rpgs where you can swap between classes on a single character and you have a lot more of the people at level cap playing a class they just swapped to and have no idea how to play, just jumping into high level content where you should at least be familiar with how your character functions to be a benefit rather than a burden.
It also allows me to get really attached to a class, knowing that I had to level it up and learn it and that everyone else playing it had to do that too. It adds something personal to it, imo, unlike swapping between classes where you just have your character and no class really feels like home. For instance, I play Subtlety Rogue and Blood Death Knight in WoW. Those are my classes and specs and I've grown really attached to both. When they get buffed, it feels like a victory for me because hell yeah I get to be op for a patch. If they get nerfed, it hits me hard and I get the underdog feeling and can really feel like I'm good when I still do well with them (if that makes sense?).
What I really would love to see in an mmo are some "base" classes that are kinda generic, and then allow you to spec into a combination of various abilities and perks to really make the class feel like yours. Like have a generic "Warrior" class that you can spec out to deal holy damage and rain down light from your god, or build for flat physical power to just berserk on your enemies, or any number of various ways that you can mix and match to build a really cool, unique character.
^^ That being what I'm working toward being able to create, or help create with a team ๐
dense talon
I mean, that is technically what I am aiming towards, in my game you are able to spec into a magic damage focused warrior but what I meant with class changing you do have to level it from scratch and learn the class, you can't go into the endgame content with a class of priest in lvl 1 from being a warrior at max level ^^;
flat atlas
Ohh gotcha gotcha
Like I said, idk what ff14 is like, only played some games where you can go from a warrior to a mage and go into content you were already doing as a warrior
Which is cancer
Even still, I think I like breaking it down for different toons rather than packing them all into one character. You can customize and create that character and tailor everything about it to your chosen class
Sorry for going back to wow for an example, but my rogue is Undead and I've tailored just about everything about the character to being a sneaky stabby rogue. I wouldn't enjoy the class fantasy quite as much if I were, say, a troll rogue or orc rogue
I know it's all in the mind and doesn't really involve game mechanics, but I think enjoying that aspect of the game is also very important
particularly if your game will have different races with distinct characteristics for each
Like, again, in WoW where the undead are perfectly suited for warlocks and rogues and roll that class fantasy very well, while things like Orcs or Tauren fit the warrior and death knight fantasies
Just my thing, hopefully that's the explanation you were after ๐
primal marsh
Hey guys can you explain how to fix these errors
merry tendon
i need help with unity , i know is not code related but maybe ... the thing is
i had a proyect to be made and , its multipalyer and there are some kind of maps and the first map of the CEO want to put in he send me the unity version we using git and well i succefull integrated with the simple server i made and all works but
i know this game soon or later would be huge if the maps come at this high , i was thinking on use assetsbundles.loadfromfile ...
but last year i made an alpha version to him and the memory requirements for play the game was too high, how can i just load files like this but from disk and not memory? or avoid spikes of memory of this kind any one can guide me ? thanks
i forgot to mention that i read the docs and its seems like the loadfrom file cant be profiled in editor or something like that so well i dont test this on the alpha ... i cant remember what was the function but was something with assets bundles too... i think to use this assetsbundles.loadfromfile and see whats happend
the map size i think is 1.7gb something like that
sorry for the spam but i think here is more nice to post this then in general code
dense talon
@primal marsh
#1 Never take a photo on the screen with a phone when you have print screen tools available.
#2 It's difficult to assess all the errors just knowing the error code, we need to see some concrete code.
#3 this is a game design channel, it's focus is mostly about theory and opinion.
tribal elk
#3 use #๐ปโcode-beginner
dense talon
yeah, edited that part ^^;
@merry tendon Well, this is currently in the art channel, but the issue you have is to load an entire level all at once? shouldn't it be easier to load parts of it when needed?
merry tendon
im using additive scene
but with mirror , the thing is i know there is a bug with unity and a 4gb limit textures
or something like that but i dont know if this still a problem , the thing is too that my customer want to update assets in some way so i was wonder coz the memory speaks we had on alpha coz i did some test using assets bundles and i reach to the conclussion myself was the way i was using assets bundles for load them was the problem but well, i just wonder how the AAA games that have more then 20 GB on game size to load the game and no have memory problems
i just wonder if there is a way to have a game that dont require more then 1 gb of ram to play or 2, maby 4 minimum
but that can load our game assets that are kind heavy for be loaded from memory or to memory ...
even if its load parts when it needed, the thing is the last time i tested the way i used , an assets bundle size like a scene map loaded from it was causing a spike of the size of the file to be on memory so like 1.7 GB of memory
for just load the map
i just want to know if this function AssetBundle.LoadFromFile
did consume memory and how much if i had a map scene that its 1.7 gb on an asset bundle
sorry for the big post ๐
tacit crane
Yeeeeeeeet
tough junco
I need help: I want to make a game character in blender
but Im stuck rn
I want to extrude the head out of the neck, but idk how (character is blocky)
like extrude the neck top face in all directions at the same time(x and z)
Could anyone help me please? =3
onyx tartan
What should I do if I hit designer's block? In my 3D platformer, I've got all these level ideas written down (beach level with rising and falling tide, cave level with winding tunnels, city level with tall skyscrapers you can run up and down) but when I sit down at my computer and start to block out level designs, I struggle to come up with fun ideas.
I'm primarily a programmer. I've been focusing a lot more on making sure the character controller is solid. That it's got good game feel and the controls are responsive. But now it's time to actually design levels and give players fun environments to run around in.
dense talon
@onyx tartan My tip would be to just have some fun, play other games and do something completely different. The best game ideas I've gotten revealed itself when I was just hiking. It's nice to get the blood pumping so the brain gets some fresh blood up there so it can work properly. Highly recommend this.
For me it also helps to ask friends who are not into gaming, like creative artists or something since they have a fun way of thinking, which might not be possible to easily implement but it might give you an idea of what potentially could be useful to you.
onyx tartan
@dense talon Awesome thanks for the advice. I know I shouldn't be trying to design when I'm not inspired, and I know you can't just get inspired on command. But yeah I'll try to take a break from designing to go do other things. It's important to keep in mind that I gotta get up and do other things if I'm hitting a brick wall sitting at my desk.
dusty iron
eyo quick/stupid/beginner question how can i change the color of an object in my game? the material editing seems to be locked
onyx tartan
Do you mean how to change the color dynamically while the game is running? (Player does something to change the color of something) Or just how to make a material a different color in editor?
dusty iron
2th one
onyx tartan
Right click in the content browser and create a new material, in the inspector when you have the new material selected there should be a color option
You can drag the material from the content browser into the scene in editor and drop it on to the thing you want to change the color of
Not at computer now so I can't give you exact names of these options right now
dusty iron
Thanks bro
How do you make different shapes for instance a helmet?
Like whatโs the process from a normal sphere into a normal looking helmet
onyx tartan
Well for something like a helmet you'd need to model the shape in something like blender or maya, export it to an fbx file and import it into unity. There aren't options for complex shapes in unity. Unless you use pro builder maybe? But with pro builder your still need to edit the models the way you would in blender or maya
Unity let's you make simple shapes like spheres, capsules, cubes, and cylinders
onyx tartan
Yeah for models that aren't simple shapes, you'll need to get those assets elsewhere. You could find them on the asset store or model them in Blender
Or Maya. Whatever 3D modeling software. I just use Blender myself
cold onyx
https://youtu.be/Js0ts1csSVs
Good analysis of Ow the Edge.
balmy wedge
Heres a game idea: you play as a cloud. God game style. You have a "evolution tree" that goes in different directions, essentially a class. Your mission: depends on your evo tree but basically plague inc and elements of destruction combined. You can try and destroy human civilization with a cat 5 hurricane etc or evolve into a dust storm, etc. @light dirge
Yes
Gain points via destruction/objectives
Honestly this is a good idea and can be iterated on. Have fun it's all yours
dense talon
@light dirge I mainly just read and find an interest in different type of games, so I try a lot of them. With that knowledge it's not difficult to mix and match game mechanics until you find something fun. Then after that you add whatever story fits if needed.
I have 700+ games in my steam library of years of owning a humble bundle subscription and epic games give you games for free just by having an account with the launcher. Amazon prime also gives you games four having a prime TV/twitch account.
I enjoy game development for the game mechanics and story telling. If anyone go into game development for money, they are aiming at the wrong target.
unborn crane
hello i need help, ฤฑm using unity latest version but in scene window my 3d models are in low resoulition, some unity icons are in low resolution, models edges are radged. how can ฤฑ fix it?
dusty iron
hello can I have some advide for my first map which im making (work still in progress)
flat atlas
@light dirge My workflow goes Story > Game Mechanics/Genre > Art Style > Finer details and systems therein
I love writing a good story so naturally I start there and then figure out how I can transfer that story from paper to 3d playable world and what game genre it would really fit into, then what art style really compliments the story and mechanics, and then any smaller systems that I'd like to include in the game like side missions/objectives/things to do, etc.
@unborn crane #๐โart-asset-workflow might hold the answer you seek.
kindred wadi
Hey everyone,
I am currently working on a sci fi horror logic puzzle game, and I put together 2 demo puzzle rooms to get some feedback on puzzle design. they are ment to be challenging but rewarding.
If anyone here enjoys puzzle games or sci fi horror, i would love to get a bit of feedback on my puzzle design and the general feel and machanics of the game.
dense talon
Love puzzles but hate horror, my heart jumps just by walking up to me when I sit by the computer and is focused on something. So can't help you sadly 
kindred wadi
Haha I totaly know the feeling xD I like the concept of horror as an artist but I scare the crap out of myself every day working on this game.
dense talon
The difference is that you clearly enjoy it, I would never even go close to anything that could potentially give me a jump scare :p
winged iron
Hi everyone I have a very general question there is a game named Domino Smash, I need to make my game graphics just like that game I know the general coding stuffs etc. But i dont know camera setup,shaders,lightning settings ,shadows etc..
How can i make that graphics in my game can anyone advise to me any lesson or video or book for that . Thanks
dense talon
I think you should go a bit step by step in the process first, since It's hard to advice on all of those points. There are channels here for #archived-lighting and #๐โart-asset-workflow that could help you out on specifics. The camera just seem to be placed at an angle from the images I see, but if you need the camera to follow the character and such you can use Cinemachine.
halcyon olive
@winged iron buildbox
halcyon olive
Itโs like an engine made for making those types of games
Like ketchapp games basically
winged iron
@halcyon olive ty buddy I will check that
deft copper
hey guys, i dont know if this topic is the right place for my little problem but i have a basic problem with the unity editor
Its only there sometimes and i dont know why its there and also not found any solve.
My problems are the edges in time zoom in. They disappear in the moment I zoom close in the object
That problem cost me a lot of time for accuracy placements. I hope u can help me
cold onyx
Cameras can have some kind of clipping plane that can be adjusted. It does just that
However, im not sure if you can adjust the clipping plane of ''that'' editor camera
@deft copper
From what Im currently testing in my scene, you can solve it by selecting the mesh and pressing F to re-center View in Unity
deft copper
@cold onyx yeah thanks that works
cold onyx
@deft copper
Also...
junior field
From a design perspective, how does dynamic climbing work? Such as walls and ledges
cold onyx
karmic ridge
can I ask for level design tips here?
deft copper
hey is there anywhere a little tutorial for placing/cutting planes? I did not get my ground with a clipping working. one way my ground texture is way to large (oversized) or the 2. the texture is to small and not matching the normal ground texture
grand musk
probuilder can solve that issue easily. also, wrong channel
cold onyx
I watched a video that said to give names to your levels. I'm all about Half Life, and even those individual levels had names to them. So it was easier to come up with memorable experiences if you gave a name to it
dense talon
@cold onyx was this just a random statement or did you want to start some discussion? ^^;
Personally I don't think it makes any sense in naming randomly generated maps like brick breaker maps other than giving them a number, but if it is a fully designed platforming level, sure.
placid zealot
Hi i dont know if anyone is on to help me but im working on designing a game tech demo thing for my class
im currently getting a object reference not set to an instance of an object error with my firstpersoncontroller asset im using
and i have no clue what that means
or the means to fix it
elfin siren
NullReferenceException means that you either never assigned an object to variable, or set it to null.
Do Debug.Log(yourVariable == null) before the line with the error to test if that's true. @placid zealot
so for example it might mean on a script you have GameObject player; and then having dragged the player object onto that slot in the inspector
leaden moss
@honest flare I think Mr. Cactus simply decided to be Red now! Hehe... It looks a bit like you used a Mask Map as Base Texture.
leaden moss
@xcoder what is the RimColor doing in the shader?
flat atlas
So I had an idea for a game that I haven't seen a whole lot of representation for. BUT, I kind of see why we don't have any, once I got past the surface level idea.
Idea: A mmorpg "style" game, similar to WoW, FF14, Runescape3, Guild Wars, etc etc, with all of the abilities, complexities, and subtleties. But we rip out all of the open world and questing aspects and drop it into a faster paced CoD style (Fast matches, small maps) pvp game.
It would be class based with a plethora of abilities and talent/spec customization and a gearing system that changes how the game is played. I've got all that mapped out pretty well.
The big wall in the way is an introduction and leveling system. I COULD just drop the players in, like in CoD, and tell them to have fun good luck. This would probably end in most players quitting because the game would have the depth and complexity of an MMO's combat system and just throwing a brand new player into the deep end will drive many away. That leaves a leveling system, so players have to level up to get access to new abilities/talents and whatnot, slowly warming them to the game and introducing all the different aspects of a class. BUT, another big but, that would be incredibly hard to balance out so that new players won't just be flattened by higher level players with access to more gear/abilities. In CoD, sure the higher level player might have a better gun, but you can still kill them 40% of the time if you're on the same skill level with your noob gun.
That brings me to the question, how would you guys go about balancing this type of game to allow for progression and a "warm up" period of leveling without killing the game or alienating players?
dense talon
@flat atlas These type of games usually fail since all the new players gets stomped by the ones who have played the game for a long time. But then again, this is basically how Battlefield and CoD works nowadays, you spend time grinding and losing until you unlock some nasty helicopters basically...BUT, there is a difference in a FPS VS MMORPG arena fighting style, in an FPS (as you mentioned) you can still headshot the player with skill, you can't do that in MMORPG style fighting since it's all about stats usually.
The problem usually sits in with the matchmaking, since this would end up being some quick matches and low amount of players, then the matchmaking has to be your key point, a lvl 3 don't want to get teamed up against a lvl 10 with 5 more skills available for example. Since even with his skill in dodging and pressing the right buttons, some of those skills could counter him hard. It all depends on how it's designed. If you only let lvl 3's fight against other lvl 3's, then at one point there may be a player shortage or "I can't play with my friends because of level difference" arriving to your message boards.
I don't think I've seen one arena fighter with levels unlocking more skills that actually succeeded (where the focus was on leveling that is). Usually I've seen some that has like 10 levels that are obtained quickly and it's more so you can get used to skills few at the time instead of all at once, you know. But that is nowhere like an MMORPG where the focus is on levling and obtaining absurd gear in the end.
graceful ginkgo
@flat atlas Well in Team Fortress 2 they have multiple classes, but in order to unlock classes to use you go through a tutorial match before it just drops you into the game
Which gets a little tedious if youโre experienced but itโs better for newer players
dense talon
IMO, the tutorial phase is the easy part, it's the skill and levling system that is gonna be a pain in the bum to balance....
It's hard enough for MMORPG's to balance classes and skills in the endgame even.
flat atlas
My immediate idea was to gate by level, so lvls 1-10 and lvl 11-20s and so on play together. But then when most people are at level cap, it'll be impossible to find games at the lower levels and new players will quit even if you have a community at the higher end.
graceful ginkgo
Maybe the level cap would encourage older players to try out different classes if you set each class level differently
dense talon
What about the idea of just having access to all skills in low level, but instead when you level up you get different version of said skills?
flat atlas
I also thought about doing an intro phase where you play with other lvl 1-10s for example and bots to get you accustomed to your class and unlock the basics. But I don't know if that would be a good solution if we have, say, an average of 20 abilities per class. It might take a little longer than 10 levels to get invested and accustomed to it
dense talon
would be less of a level difference problem but you need a more action oriented combat system to show that skill matters.
flat atlas
So for the skill progression system, I was thinking have the player unlock various skills and abilities and such from lvl 1-25 and then 25-50 or whatever cap is, they can put points into the abilities they like to modify how they work and create different builds with their class
dense talon
yeah, but how quick would the progression be and what would the difference between winning a game and losing be?
flat atlas
It would make balancing difficult, but it's difficult in any game.
THAT is where I'm having a lot of problems. Like you want them to strive for the upgrades and skill points, but you don't want them to totally overshadow the other players with lower levels
It's balancing the progression while staying friendly to all players
graceful ginkgo
Balancing when you have player customization adds a whole other layer of complexity, but it would be important to make sure there was a way to undo their choices in case they made a significantly weaker build
flat atlas
It's not like a regular mmo where you can just go fight npcs for better gear and xp and then come back to fight players
Yeah, you'd have to be able to reskill and experiment. Maybe after you reach a certain level there's a small credit fee or something to reskill.
But before that you're free to experiment
dense talon
I think that as long as you design the game so that the beginner skills are actually good and not useless compared to end game skills. What could help making it more balanced is to have the low level skills be functional while the endgame offers more utility like cleanse and such
flat atlas
That's kinda what I was thinking. Like in WoW (My primary mmo), where you unlock your basic abilities early on and get more utility/options later
Then it comes more down to balancing all the later skills while still making them useful
So that you don't hit lvl 30 and suddenly you can just 1shot anyone not lvl 30 lol
dense talon
As long as it is a teambased aspect of it I think it could end up being fine so it's not all chumps and like 3 elites in a round of battle
flat atlas
Probably do game modes like tdm, ffa, ctf, etc
dense talon
just make sure you log data so you learn from the game modes too, why people not end up playing it and such.
flat atlas
I'm gonna think on it a little more while I work and come back with any more ideas to see what you guys think
dense talon
I think it's honestly just to go ahead with the idea and see what beta testers say tbh, since it's hard to guess what people will like. Path of Exile is an unbalanced mess of a game, but people still love the shit out of it.
just make sure it's fun to play and I think it will end up being fun for a group of people
flat atlas
Good point. I may start working on setting up the basics and see if I can make something fun
At the very least a few people from this discord might have fun lol
dense talon
yep, you can always add "pay to level up" option for them rich kids who will fund your burgers 
You'll be hated for it, but damn it boosts your funds for the next game.
flat atlas
lmao
graceful ginkgo
Or you could do different outfits for monies like LoL
If youโre more graphics inclined
dense talon
No, be evil...
flat atlas
Cosmetics are lovely, for sure.
I tend to lean more toward earnable cosmetics in games though. Prestige > cash
kinda like gun camos in cod
(the not dlc ones obviously)
dense talon
You could always have both, some exclusive to prestige that are insanely sexy and fun ๐
graceful ginkgo
Speaking of dlc and such, how does unity work with updates? Like how would you update your game while still preserving playerโs older save files?
dense talon
I always love to farm the burger dagger I think it is, in diablo 3.
not difficult, but looks hella funny.
graceful ginkgo
I just know my game is going to go through a LOT of updates before itโs done so I want to make sure I donโt fudge the saving system
flat atlas
That might be a question for the programming sections ๐ค
graceful ginkgo
Not the spooky programmers
dense talon
Yeah, the unity updates works differently depending on what operating system it is
Hey...rude
graceful ginkgo
Theyโre gonna throw code at me
flat atlas
I haven't even messed with save files and such yet.
dense talon
A save file should always be very limited in what it actually contains though, it's not hard as long as you don't remake the entire structure of the save file for example.
But then again, I prefer saving it in a database on my servers online so users don't fuck with it ๐
graceful ginkgo
Is your game multiplayer?
dense talon
MMORPG, yeah
graceful ginkgo
Ohhh okay, that would make sense to keep player saves in an online server
Iโm making more of a casual single player game so I was a little confused at first
I want it to be similar in structure to Harvest Moon, but I want it to be its own, if that makes sense
flat atlas
@graceful ginkgo Have you tried out Stardew Valley? Very Harvest Moon feeling with its own definite style. Could be another good one to take some inspiration from.
graceful ginkgo
I love that game, but Iโve been aiming to make one in a fantasy setting instead of modern and Iโm trying to figure out all the logistics. Thank you for the suggestion though ๐
flat atlas
๐ฎ that sounds awesome!
flat atlas
Alright, new idea: For this hypothetical the player level cap is 50, players get new abilities and such from level 1-25 and it's a fast leveling process, something like 1lvl per match as long as the player is active. More if the player is a good player and plays well. They will be at a disadvantage during this time, but with the right balancing I don't think it would be gamebreaking or totally discouraging. Kinda like in CoD where you're stuck with the default classes until lvl 4, just slightly more extended. With a little guidance, you could also keep players from getting discouraged. Say, if they try to go into FFA, give them a message saying that because of their level they will be at a noticeable disadvantage and that a team game is recommended until they are used to the game. It would just be important to give them some strong abilities out of the gate so they feel like they are contributing. Then from level 25-50 they get skill points that can be applied to the abilities to change the way they function and tweak them to playstyle. These would be the hardest thing to balance to keep it rewarding but not terribly OP.
From lvl 50 onwards, gearing would be the focus. Earning/crafting/getting drops of the gear they want to influence their playstyle with different stats. Like if they want to build a glass cannon, they can focus on getting damage boosting gear. If they want to take some hits, focus on health or armor boosting gear. This combined with the skill points system would give players a lot of flexibility to find something they enjoy and be creative with builds. It would also foster some attachment to their character after they spend a lot of time gearing it the way they want it.
Also cosmetics, so many cosmetics.
After a player caps out one character, but wants to try another class, I'm sure an expedited leveling system would work out well. Either letting them buy % xp boosters (with ingame currency) on their main to speed up leveling on an alt or just giving them a flat bonus percent on new characters for having hit max on one toon.
Plus I'd absolutely love to see some gm abuse in the early stages of balancing.
Another big aspect I'd like to nail down early is whether to have a bunch of classes, or limit it to a few with diverging paths. So like in WoW where you can play a Mage, but you choose from three different specs of mage. OR should I have any different specs as their own independent class?
Or, again, mix and match spec abilities based on player choice so you can create some amalgamation of different specs. I know that would be a total bitch to balance, but Id like to give players as much choice in building their character as possible.
Kind of like Borderlands where yuo can swap between specializations inside of a class to create a mix of them, but since you have a limited number of points, you can't max them all
cold onyx
game studios have trouble balancing simple games like Quake, UT, Counter Strike or else. Go for it if you want complicated.
dense talon
Games don't need to be balanced to be fun and successful though. ๐
graceful ginkgo
@flat atlas I think it's a good idea for "branching classes" (or specs, as you call them) to be kept as options for the same class. For example, keep mage as a single class while having different options like dark mage, light mage, elemental mage, etc, so that people aren't bombarded with 20+ classes from the get-go
In psychology there's a concept where the more options people have, the less satisfied they will be with their choice. So it's good to keep class options limited but have layers of customization for each level
flat atlas
Pretty much what I was thinking. Thanks Asher!
graceful ginkgo
Also, if you want a specific number, the maximum number of different categories the mind can juggle at once is seven plus or minus two, so the best number of classes in the beginning would be from 5-9
And no problemo
flat atlas
I was thinking to try to start with three (The classic Warrior, Mage, Ranger trio) each with three diverging specializations to change how they play and what abilities they have.
graceful ginkgo
that would be good too, since they're classes that most people would easily recognize and be able to fit themselves into
flat atlas
Pretty much.
If I do start seriously on the project, I would want people to kind of slide easily into the game by making it similar to other popular games without being so close that it looks like a clone.
It's easy to go, Oh, I know what warriors and mages and hunters are
Less so if you come up with super creative names and mechanics right off the bat lol
graceful ginkgo
that's true
and the simplicity vs originality debacle is something I struggle with regarding my game as well
flat atlas
I think if you can have enough simple/recognizable mechanics or themes right at the start, it would be far easier to introduce the more creative or original stuff a little later
Like start off with Warrior, Mages, and Hunters with the tried and true class mechanics to start, then start introducing some interesting mechanics into the specializations and how it is played as the game progresses.
Rather than going basic all the way through or dumping the originality all over the player right off the bat
elder hound
Speaking of balancing, do you know any tutorials presenting the art of balancing a game like an RPG, where XP, level up and stats have to match the enemy stats in order not to get boring ? What I need is not the general idea, but the formulas for the curves. And I can't seem to find them.
(hello everyone, by the way, I hope you're doing fine)
graceful ginkgo
@elder hound There are no specific formulas for curves out there because it all depends on the length of your game and its pacing. It would be very difficult, if not impossible, to come up with a โuniversal formulaโ for rpgs because pacing and baseline stats are going to be slightly different for each game
Also, how damage is calculated is also going to be different for every game
And Iโm a little confused about your premise. Why would you want player stats to always match enemy stats? Some players prefer to be under-leveled, and some prefer to be over-leveled
elder hound
Well, matching on the long trend, with moments where one is above the other. In order to create harder or easier moments.
graceful ginkgo
Ohh okay, I understand now. Are you using random encounters? If so, you can calculate the average number of random encounters a player would face in a level (area) and how much EXP theyโd get, how many levels theyโd get, and tweak the enemies in the next area accordingly
As for baseline stats, start with anything, honestly, as long as itโs proportional to enemy stats. Iโd personally suggest starting with lower numbers so that itโs easier to think about
elder hound
Ok so I start by having the outline of the story, in which I make sure there are more or less regular "milestones" (a boss, a twist, a change in scenery). Then between these milestones, I decide of a pacing (an amount of random encounters, big enough not to make the game feel empty, small enough not to get boring or repetitive). Then I apply the formula for balancing.
This should work for a game that has an ending, but what about a game that could be played endlessly ?
For the record, I haven't started making an RPG, yet. It seems impossible for me to do specifically because of the balancing (that I simply don't know how to do). But I would like to make a mobile 2D game with a turn-based combat system in the style of earthbound. The game xould be endless, without having to "reboot" the game (it's a trend in mobile games with a progression).
So either I find out a formula for a balancing that could extend to infinity, or I have to drop the very idea of XP, which is a bit sad, since it's a reward after each combat, giving meaning to even a combat against an enemy that doesn't drop anything.
graceful ginkgo
are there any advantages to the game being endless? If you've never developed a regular RPG before, I'd highly suggest starting there, or even with easier game styles if you're new to development. That way, you'd have clearer milestones that you could reach sooner and learn more from. And once you've gained your footing it should be easier to consider this type of game
And the main key to balancing any type of game is to playtest it. A lot
elder hound
Oh, I know RPGs are very demanding, that's why I'd like to focus on a simple game where the combat mechanic is almost the only thing to do. Basically, I generate random levels. Once you beat the level, you own it. But you can lose it again to the enemy, and have to replay it to get it back. But the enemies are stronger. It's a much simpler loop, yet the balance is key.
Playtesting is possible, but wouldn't guarantee that the game wouldn't become impossible to play at some point.
So what I need is the maths behind balancing. But I just can't find it.
You're right, I should start with a simpler concept. Like 10 xp levels, maybe 20. Then, I'll know a bit more about balancing for turn-based combat.
graceful ginkgo
Well, if you need any help with the process, just let me know : )
elder hound
Thank you!
uneven edge
how do i get rid of the skybox and replace it with a solid color
elfin siren
MainCamera > Environment > BackgroundType > Solid Colour
uneven edge
oh thanks!
indigo harbor
Help ๐ I am utilizing the Ruby 2D tutorial as my first step into game dev/design. However I have run into a small problem. As I followed the steps, my Ruby character is now walking on water and not colliding with it. I went back to the steps on how to make sure that doesn't happen, but it still happens. I believe something in the recent steps that I have done have now undone the collision with the water and I cannot figure out where to start looking. Any suggestions?
pliant sparrow
How do you lot go about seeing if the idea you've come up with has been done already? I've just been randomly doing google searches with key terms which relate to my game concept . Do any of you have a a better method or more thorough way of searching?
cold onyx
Out of curiosity.
Why do you care?
Have you ever heard of the The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations?
Creativity doesn't come out from thin air
Most of the time it comes from past experiences that have also helped us shape our judgements
And on top of that... those experiences allowed us to build, internally, a wide library of ideas, patterns, concepts, etc
If you think you came up with something cool, go for it.
And sure.. you should totally study what is out there if someone did something similar... but maybe did it better
Take what is useful.
Discard the rest.
Keep moving forward.
And dont look back
pliant sparrow
Thanks Chris, You've made that sound rather inspirational.
flat atlas
@elder hound What I think you're looking for is an exponential curve formula f(x) = a^x where the higher a is, the steeper the curve. This is usually used with leveling formulas to increase the amount of xp as you go. I don't know the nitty gritty if implementing the formulas in development, but I imagine you can use a combination of curves to determine enemy difficulty, stat balances/progression, and level progression.
@pliant sparrow I don't really pay attention to what others have done unless I'm already involved in it. For instance, I wrote a book with a lot of concepts that I have since been informed are very similar to various other books, animes, and movies that I was unaware of. The only reason I would research is to find out if it looks too close to plagiarism OR if I hit a bump in the road and want to see if others have done something similar and how they got around it.
If you're doing something cool, even if it has been done before, keep doing that cool thing because others will think it's cool too.
Look at Fortnite, which capitalized on the BR craze, but still maintained its uniqueness.
elder hound
Who cares about the idea? What counts is its execution. The way it's conveyed. Once you'll develop your idea, you'll flesh it out differently, so it will turn out differently, or at least as a different riff on a similar theme.
It the good old "what to write about when everything has already been written?". Don't think about it. The core concept could be the same, the result will differ (unless you're actively copying the other one every step of the way).
@flat atlas thank you!
flat atlas
No problem my dude
And yeah, once you flesh out your idea, even if it has a similar theme, it'll can be totally different. The pit you don't want to fall into is copying/redoing a theme/mechanic AND the style in which it's done.
Even accidentally it can lead to bad press
Which is why I said you should find out if what you're doing is edging up to plagiarism
Look at the sheer number of mmos and all of the characteristics they share but still maintain their uniqueness based on art style or one or two mechanics that they handle differently.
pliant sparrow
Thanks Raccoon for your insight.
cold onyx
What you might want to be conscious of are more like punch lines.
The way Arya Stark killed the Night King in Game of Thrones is similar to a move performed by Rey in The Last Jedi.
But most people probably dont remember that Rey did it. It was a random event among many other during a fight.
flat atlas
SPOILED
proven path
Little question/poll for everyone:
What is the best approach to saving the game state that you've ever seen?
(I'm thinking of a generic RPG game without obvious levels or frequent cuts/rooms)
flat atlas
I played a game AGES ago, don't remember the name. Titan something, maybe? But to save, you'd leave a marker wherever you were in the open world and teleport back to your chosen hub where there was a station to save. Then when you load back in, you can teleport back to your marker, but the world would have respawned everything you'd killed before that point so you had to choose carefully where you wanted to pop out and save. I thought that was pretty cool.
Free saving is just too easy imo. There's no stakes if you save before you go into a cave. Looking at you Skyrim, since you can reload from save if it goes sour and try it again
proven path
I see, the marker is an interesting approach ๐ค
There was a game which saved whenever the character took a rest (like sitting down and drink some tea with some other traveller or having a bath)
flat atlas
That's a pretty fluid approach to it, but can be frustrating when you don't find one of those places for a long while and the game induces more of an anxiety than a fun, pressure feeling..
Depends on the kind of game you're making, in all honesty. What genre are you doing? I'll throw whatever comes to mind at you that could fit with lore as well as make for good mechanics.
Like you said RPG, but are we talking sci-fi, medieval/med-fantasy, modern, apocalyptic future/present, etc etc?
proven path
I'm not necessarily focusing on my own game, just wanted to hear what people have found an interesting approach.
I know the common ones but perhaps some less known game did something different ๐
novel sapphire
Design Question:
Does anyone have a good examples of design that is both highly accessible and has a high difficulty ending with high satisfaction to complete? Or is that an oxymoron? After working on highly accessible content I'm starting to think you can't really design of both and I should be picking my battles better.
The concept focuses on enabling access for people with disabilities, or special needs.```I'm assuming a high amount of satisfaction only comes from a highly difficult task - with a quick conclusion that highly accessible features are inherently not satisfying to complete.
I feel like this statement is wrong (I want it to be), but after closer inspection i'm feeling like this is right from a logical side and only emotional connections/feedback break this concept.
(Remove Juicy feedback from the satisfaction equation, because that seems to just touch our lizard brains and breaks a lot of rules in long form play sessions.)
There has to be a better term to separate the satisfaction you get from explosive dopamine in interaction feedback (clickers) and the satisfaction you get from finishing a game like getting over it (climbing a mountain).
Juice is how I've seen it mostly referred to and while juice is a important tool for a designer if you over juice your whole game then overall player satisfaction falls off because our brains prefer peaks and valleys of dopamine vs a consistent fire hydrant of it. (dopamine tolerance?)
dense talon
@novel sapphire I mean, highly difficult games are all satisfying to beat and lures in a lot of a specific type of people, but I think the only way to make them very accessible is like puzzle games. Escape room kinda games are all fun and challenging (well, some of them) and are very satisfying when you figure them out. I think the puzzle genre fits your needs the best since it does not necessarily need a high skill to play but reward is fairly high when you complete them.
Portal and CUBE are games I find highly enjoyable even though the difficulty level is not super high I would love them even without the narration because of the little brain tickle I get from playing them.
cold onyx
Depends.
You can make games that are accessible, playable and enjoyable for all skill levels.
Or you can make gameplay really lame and dumbed down.
Easier for everyone to get kills or else
but a big turn off for actual game lovers
who also are the ones who tend to invest the most
long term
As solo devs or small teams
Maybe it would just be wise to do what you do best
dense talon
Just pick a target group and make a game for them, don't try to make a game for "everyone" just to make money, almost never works. The gaming industry is so random anyways, so even if you make a fantastic game it can still end up never being noticed unless you do some serious marketing or get lucky with streamers/youtubers picking it up for fun.
tall steeple
I think it was Mortal Kombat (one of the more recent ones) that is really popular among visually impaired folks because they did some stuff with the sound design where environmental obstacles make subtle noise
and all the characters/moves have unique sounds
they didn't make the game any easier, but they just provided the information needed to play it in a way that didn't rely on sight or sound alone
I've also heard accessible used 2 ways: 1) making it so more folks with impairments of different sorts are able to play it (usually at all regardless of whether those options would make it easier for the able-bodied) and 2) making it so the most people can play and enjoy it, regardless or impairment, which just means being super clear and often easier. ie. not-niche
signal shuttle
god damn it pings me every time you guys say the word mortal
pliant sierra
@novel sapphire you can separate them in different types of immersion and emotional resonance. What you call interaction feedback is perhaps a type of tactile immersion - basically, you want to make the player solve similar, short challenges for them to feel immersed. Once the challenge stops or becomes too long or different, the immersion stops. Finishing a game would be a form of emotional resonance, probably a feeling of triumph, relief, wonderment or amusement, or really any other emotion - this isn't going to be universal, some players will feel different ways.
the game loop of Bennett Foddy's Getting Over It probably relies first on being immersed in the learning of movement, then on being immersed in performing the movement. The game loop of clickers perhaps relies on tactile immersion or on shielding yourself off from the outside world - something closer to spatial immersion.
dense talon
@signal shuttle You really should turn of that feature, having @ mentions is enough of a pain.
in the top left of the server you can set notification settings.
signal shuttle
๐
flat atlas
Depends on who you're catering to and what level of accessibility you're after. You can't make it accessible to everyone, but you can cater to the group(s) you want to attract. Some things like sound design or graphics can make it easier for the audibly/visually impaired without sacrificing gameplay/difficulty, but it becomes MUCH harder when moving into mental deficiencies.
Naturally, someone with some level of bradypsychia won't be able to play through a fast paced game like Souls or something simply because they aren't capable of reacting in time, so they would be better at a puzzle game or something that doesn't require split second decision making. In which case it just comes down to the genre of the game to make it accessible.
But if you want to make a souls game that is accessible to that kind of player, it would undoubtedly make it less of a challenge for others unaffected by a disorder.
ionic skiff
Not sure where to put this so it's going here:
I'm currently making a game where players will be able to build scenes in-game (using premade models, lights, vfx) and then host them online for other players. Some objects will be network-aware, but most of the props will be completely static. What's the best way to save and load these entire scenes?
dense talon
@ionic skiff Depends, if you are using a tilemap you could potentially just save the item that is placed and it's coordinates in the tilemap and then whenever anyone wants to play a map you just render it as the json tells you basically.
Otherwise the coordinates in the world and such should be enough for 3D. and you do the same, render them up in the spot where it was placed when loaded.
ionic skiff
Sounds easy enough, thanks!
cold onyx
I had an idea for a voice over in my game to be someone who gives both right and wrong hints. You would never know if you could trust the voice over so would avoid certain... crates, for example, because you didn't know if the crate would uncover damage to yourself, or a reward
I can't take this idea any further because my knowledge of Unity is limited, and only used for a test scene that I'll scrap, and move onto other projects
I didn't know if this idea was in other games
I know System Shock is an evil voice that wants to kill you
But this voice would be very confused... you don't know whether to trust it or not
My next game is a wild wild west game where you shoot silhouettes of bad guys
flat atlas
There was a game a few years ago that touted that as a selling feature but I cannot for the life of me remember what it was.
A neat concept, would probably work well in a psych horror or linear storyline game where even the voice in your head is working against you
A little harder if it's open world or something where it might get annoying having a voice in your ear giving you wrong directions.
dense talon
@cold onyx To me the voices become useless if I can't trust them so I would just turn them off or just enjoy them as a narrative and not care what they say. Since I mean, what is the point of listening to someone untrustworthy instead of just exploring the game yourself...is my mindset at least. It kinda becomes a useless game mechanic and in the end it's just a troll game. 
The difference between having a voice that tells me to jump on the platform and just me jumping on the platform myself and testing if it is fake or not would be basically the same experience in the end.
flat atlas
Could be cool if it's part of an overarching narrative. Like it doesn't just give bad advice, but a mix of good, bad, and exposition.
Like "Go around this corner, there's treasure!" and you go around and there's a trap and the voice laughs at you for falling for it
Or is disappointed if you disarm it
It would have to do more than just give directions/advice
It would have to be its own character
So here's a quick idea I came up with using that concept as a basis:
Character signs up for an experiment, augmented reality or something, where a chip is implanted into the brain and can access the internet and freely transfer information to you. The AI talks to you and gives you directions for a chunk of the game as you're running simple tests for the development company. Slowly, it becomes more insidious and the tests become less basic function and more militant. Like from "run on this treadmill" to "run this weapons training obstacle course with paint guns". Eventually, you come to the conclusion that the company isn't just testing a simple ai chip but something more devious and the voice supports that. As you go, its advice gets shadier and shadier and several times it actually leads you the wrong way or into traps. Eventually you escape the facility and make it out for it to be revealed that the whole thing has been a trick from the AI and it was altering your brain chemisty to make you do what it wanted and see what it wanted.
Vaguely horror depending on art and story direction, linear progression where the voice can be a character rather than just a chattering voice, and a reason for why the voice would be giving you bad advice as well as reasons for why you would trust it.
Even better, if the character follows the voice's instructions to a T, you won't know it's lying. For instance, it says this vent is the only way through to another room, but in reality there are two other paths. Or it marks someone as an enemy but if you don't instantly take them out, they just walk away from you or don't notice you.
cold onyx
Well ideas can be fleshed out and made to become clever... if I made the voice have a character, and a reason to trust it, and it complimented the game play.. I don't think it would be the same game if you turned it off
Aren't successful games down to how clever they are? (like how they attract the player)
So it tricks you so you can see what it wants, even though it might not be good for the player (mankind)
pliant sierra
it mostly sounds like the Stanley Parable
If you define a successful game as being clever, then I suppose all of the thousands of abandoned Ludum Dare entries are a raging success
lilac talon
if i want to be able to give my character new weapons would i be wise to stay away from sprites? and what would be a good approach for this?
dense talon
The easy choice is to add sprites to a skeleton, but you will be limited in the way you move the character.
cold onyx
Looking back at the beginning of Stanley Parable on YouTube... yeah.... it makes the player think what should I do
cold onyx
Nothing wrong with having clones of games. If you know something works, do a remake
graceful ginkgo
Thereโs another horror game called Knock Knock that uses a very similar mechanic
But it can add a lot of depth if done correctly
rustic copper
If i'm making multiple levels of a labyrinth-style maze game, do I throw everything into one scene and change platforms, players to control etc, or do i build a scene for each level? What is the more efficient route here? I was thinking of having at least 100 different mazes.
dense talon
@rustic copper Well, first of all you need to look up the definition of a labyrinth and a maze, they are very different things. And this is completely up to you, the most common way to build levels is to do them one per scene, I am using a method of spawning in the level in the existing scene as a prefab.
pliant sierra
If you do 100 mazes in separate scenes, make sure that when you change something that should affect all of the levels that it actually effects all of the levels. If it doesn't, you're stuck editing 100 levels by hand
cold onyx
Joe Manganiello's 'Gary Gygax Memorial Dungeon'
https://youtu.be/kAUfngq89cg
๐ Take notes. D&D played a major role in the education of countless game designers/entertainers.
cold onyx
And they found something that their minds truly understood. Makes me wonder if Unity will ever click with me
But what do I know... I'm just a generalist ๐
pliant sierra
So I'm working on a gun handling system which is intentionally overly complicated, think Receiver but with even more actions to reload and handle the gun.
Receiver works so well because it's challenging to handle the guns, and each level you're practically guaranteed to die so the progression is in your ability to handle the guns better each run.
My game could be like an open world type of deal (overworld map and travelling between places), but then perhaps the complex gun handling would be detrimental because the game loop might actively discourage people from failing an encounter -- which is very likely to happen if they screw up the gun handling (which they are practically guaranteed to do a few times)
I'm wondering if any other type of level structure would make it work. I was thinking simplify the enemies so they hardly move, making combat simple outside of the gun handling; simplify the death penalties so you could retry any level many times, encouraging trial and error with the gun handling; simplify the progression, so you don't need to travel on the overworld between levels. In a sense, most of those make the gun handling easier, which is perhaps not the point of the exercise
So: (How) should I counterbalance the novelty of my game
cold onyx
@cold onyx
Making games is unperfect and messy. Every developer is incomplete.
Being a generalist isn't a weak point
Everything is a form of specialization.
Precise, very wide... balanced
And everyone with a different level of density.
old olive
Anyone interested in teaming up and developing a game?
cold onyx
Dont you want to make your own games yourself?
fleet rivet
Where would I make a post to find people who could take interest in teaming for a Morrowind-like open-world mobile RPG based on an original fiction IP series? Thanks in advance for pointing me the right direction, I just joined.
cold onyx
how do I make "multiple worlds"?
for example when you go through a portal
are those just scenes?
bronze olive
@cold onyx You can def make new scenes. its easier to organize and each scene will only load the assets it needs for that level. that way you don't have a bunch of disabled gameobjects
cold onyx
Okay, thanks
cold onyx
Ok so I managed to make movement relative to camera but walk and idle animation is still relative to world axis
orchid frost
So I have a few questions this seems like the right place to post and I just read a few messages that might have already answered my question but here it goes anyways I'm developing a top down rpg's pixel art game and I am trying to figure out the best way to move through the levels and load in sprites/mobs in the most efficient way #1 was to do every "level/area" in it's own scene then when you walked through a door or whatever it would load the next scene and the enemy's and NPC's would spawn in on the scene change or #2 was to build one big map (all connected) then have a trigger point at the edge of the map to make the camera bounds and you transition into the next area but the issues with that for me at the moment is how to handle the items,mobs and stuff spawning in on the transition I don't want objects taking up hardware resources if your not at that area yet but I feel like the second option would have a quicker transition between areas rather then a whole scene change if anyone could give me some input or an idea of how to go about this it would be greatly appreciated thanks in advance!
cold onyx
I've heard about SceneManager.LoadScene("Scene2", LoadSceneMode.Additive) to bring up new terrain while your old scene is still being drawn
Then LoadScene("Scene3") again and you'll have 3 maps together
orchid frost
@cold onyx thank you man I will have to try that
bronze olive
@cold onyx you can try rotating the model itself based on where the camera is facing. i forgot how to do it in code, but i think that's what ur trying to do
yo was just looking at the SceneManager section in the manual and holy moly there is a MergeScene
can you imagine having two levels strategically created to blend well together, then having a trigger that merges them? Like, that would be such a mind-blow if you pull it off
cold onyx
I just put screen rotation script into my model and it kinda works, but now it's only relative to player's display
For example I look up the world's axis, and rotate screen 180ยฐ, the model is still showing his back
bronze olive
public void RotatePlayer(Vector3 direction)
{
direction.y = 0.0f;
if ((direction.x != 0.0f) || (direction.z != 0.0f))
{
transform.rotation = Quaternion.LookRotation(direction, Vector3.up);
}
}
@cold onyx this is the actual rotate function i use. i just pass in the camera forward
it should rotate the model to always face in the direction of the camera
cold onyx
is it the one axis rotation?
bronze olive
mm, yea i think so. it only rotates the Y axis
frozen yoke
anyone know how to place multiple objects down on a plane
cold onyx
Also does anyone know how I would be able to go about making an app where you can build terrain similar to this https://youtu.be/ZdxKLcGbwaA
(mention me)
edgy frigate
The land itself seems like a somewhat basic heightmap
only challenge seems to be mesh generation
flat atlas
(Damn, mods ON that spam. Nice job guys.)
Hey all, quick question. When you're playing an open ended game (Where there's no definite end and you can just play and develop "forever"), do you prefer a soft ending where once you reach a certain point it is clear you have the best stuff in the game and there's no more challenging content left (Like Slime Rancher where once you hit a certain point you've done everything but you can keep playing if you want), or do you prefer a game that kind of just stretches on infinitely with no real "You win!" moment? (Kind of like Minecraft before the End update, where you just explore and look for dungeons and build until you're done, not when the game is done).
shy umbra
My answer to that would be that I prefer no 'end' in these kind of games. Why is because I prefer as a player that I can create my own ending. If I was playing MineCraft as an example and had done all the objectives the game gives me and have also achieved all my own objectives then I could for example end the game with blowing up my whole world. Giving the game an ending which a developer made in these kind of games often doesn't feel right to me, simply because I'm not done yet with my play through. I want to do more than just beating some final boss, I want to explore the world further, want to finish this.. And that.. Etc.
TL;DR I prefer not having a soft ending, and instead can be able to choose what I think is the ending for my play through.
So that's my opinion / perspective on this, I hope it's a bit useful for you ๐
flat atlas
I see you've got a subnautica avatar @shy umbra, would you consider that to be a nice balance between the two types of survival/crafting games? Where there's a story to progress and an ending, but that you can continue to play and build afterwards?
shy umbra
In Subnautica I did not play a lot further after I had finished the game. I felt like I had really finished the game and seen everything it had. So for me it was a good time to stop.
dense talon
If a crafting/survival game should be fun enough to continue after the "game is over", just look at Minecraft tbh. Either you have a lot of crafting a progression in it so the story is a bit on the side and the prime goal of it is building your world or you add mod support to the game. I don't think people should focus too much on the balance and just focus on what is fun.
Subnautica is a very story driven game and the crafting is focused on brining you to the end game basically. Escaping the planet. Yes, you do a lot of crafting and build a base, but the story is very much focused on escaping all the way through the game.
Look at Fortnite PvE for example, it barely became noticed since it is behind a tiny paywall but has a lot of story. But at the same time the PvP focused game has a lot of tiny story bits thrown in to it but focuses on the PvP aspect mainly and a lot of people seem to enjoy that a lot.
One other game that does this really well is Skyrim though. You play the game in your own pace, and if you follow the main story or not is up to you, and even when you are done with the main story, it is segregated enough from the rest of the world that you can just continue to keep playing that game for days on, and this is without even considering the mod support. It's not too much crafting involved, but still keeps the crafting useful. BUT Skyrim is also a AAA studio made game, so it's a bit more resources that can go in to such a game.
Still infuriated at minecraft for not being smart enough to add more simple shapes to the building so you can make it more detailed....but hey, mods do that, so whatevers ๐
flat atlas
Thanks for the input guys!
bright roost
I have a game-design aspect I'm attempting to create, and I have a basis on which to build on, but I need a few people to converse about the proposed system.
And to be honest, I honestly did make an ass of myself last night...
If yall don't wanna do it, it's totally fine and I'm super sorry for being weird and confrontational.
subtle kite
Hey, Iโm making a game an need opinions. Iโm making a map comparable in size to League of Legends, Or Dota (so not that big). Would it work if I made the map a singular 3d file with layers or is that a bad idea?
fathom jetty
I imagine you'd want to use terrain and have objects you'd place around like rocks, or buildings, etc
subtle kite
whats the upside to using terrain??
fathom jetty
height based, you can paint it, I think it renders better overall, collision, etc
cold onyx
Hey fellas, hoping to seek some advice, what application do you guys use for designing your UI system? Whether it's Free or Paid subscription are welcome for opinion ๐ (P.S. unsure if I'm on the right channel so I apologize if I'm in the wrong channel).
elfin siren
unless I'm completely misunderstading your question, I use Milanote for all my design stuff. it's similar to trello so it isn't a specific UI tool
cold onyx
Oh what I meant is like for your inventory system design.
elfin siren
for the actual mechanics of the system?
cold onyx
I heard you can use Photoshop or even just unity itself, and yes to the question.
elfin siren
I don't see how you can design mechanics using photoshop so I feel we're talking at cross-purposes a bit
For button placement and layout and stuff I get a big sheet of paper and draw out different aspect ratios of screen sizes on it, then I cut out bits of paper for all the buttons and panels and tabs I need etc, and I lay them all out and try to find a way that works universally then I adjust down from there. You could do that by just moving things around in unity though probably, or with a drawing app
cold onyx
Oh I see. Thank you.
elfin siren
I like to do it with paper though because it's really quick to move them around
silver knot
guys i'm have a package manager error when open projects
kind folio
hello does anyone have a game design outline for platformers?
or any link for some guides
bright roost
Is copy pasting something in here against TOS or rules or whatever?
Like, text only.
Nevermind, lol it's not that active.
night gust
How would you go about making craters that stay in the world? Like, when you use TNT in Minecraft, the effect on the environment is felt and stays.
fathom jetty
@night gust not sure if you can do real time height map stuff in unity to alter the terrain, in Minecraft they actually build the mesh chunks when things change like editing blocks or explosions. It would depend if you want to do a voxel world like that with the same tech ideas, or if you want something visually different
night gust
Alright, thanks @fathom jetty roc, but could I do something with vertex displacement?
fathom jetty
you mean in a shader?