Let's Make A Game 2013

Hello everyone! About 5 months ago the GiantBomb community set out to create a game. The project unfortunately died. However I am determined to bring it back and see it to the end!

Let's Make A Game 2013

Our goal is to create a game as a community. I'll post blogs so duders not in the project can follow our progress. So far nothing is set in stone yet. We most likely be going down the path of an RPG game.

We're not taking anymore sign ups for the Story or the Design Team.

After signing up, request access to our Google Drive over here.

An overview of the design document can be found here.

Voting for the story is currently going on here.

Can I sign up as Special Thanks?

Can I sign up as a smug, jaded, nonbeliever?

Hello

Sounds great, I'm pumped.

I want to so badly, but I really can't.

Do you want to do some kind of blog to let us follow the project? That could be fun.

Maybe if I weren't already committed to a project. Good luck, folks.

Gonna try helping out with the story. Heck, maybe going to help with the art too.

EDIT: Oops, I dunno if I have to give my gmail mail, or any mail. I sent both.

I think this might be another futile endeavour for as long as we don't rectify what made it die the last time.

People can't realistically commit to specific departments or the project as a whole until some of the finer details have been worked out. Until that point you run the risk of over-saturating the project with people who only have a mild interest, which in turn dilutes the commitment coming from people who genuinely want to create something.

Just keep in mind that in this environment, asset creators are more valuable to you than designers, so if you're going for a similar design-by-committee system like the last project had, I would recommend making it entirely inclusive of the people who will actually be making the various parts of the game.

I'm in with sexy code!

Though you know, it needs lots of planning -> what kind of game, platforms, etc! :-)

I think this might be another futile endeavour for as long as we don't rectify what made it die the last time.

People can't realistically commit to specific departments or the project as a whole until some of the finer details have been worked out. Until that point you run the risk of over-saturating the project with people who only have a mild interest, which in turn dilutes the commitment coming from people who genuinely want to create something.

Just keep in mind that in this environment, asset creators are more valuable to you than designers, so if you're going for a similar design-by-committee system like the last project had, I would recommend making it entirely inclusive of the people who will actually be making the various parts of the game.

@mandude said:

I think this might be another futile endeavour for as long as we don't rectify what made it die the last time.

People can't realistically commit to specific departments or the project as a whole until some of the finer details have been worked out. Until that point you run the risk of over-saturating the project with people who only have a mild interest, which in turn dilutes the commitment coming from people who genuinely want to create something.

Just keep in mind that in this environment, asset creators are more valuable to you than designers, so if you're going for a similar design-by-committee system like the last project had, I would recommend making it entirely inclusive of the people who will actually be making the various parts of the game.

I think this is rather spot on. While being aware of people's strengths is important, having being sectioned off early on threatens the longterm feasibility of it.

@mandude said:

I think this might be another futile endeavour for as long as we don't rectify what made it die the last time.

People can't realistically commit to specific departments or the project as a whole until some of the finer details have been worked out. Until that point you run the risk of over-saturating the project with people who only have a mild interest, which in turn dilutes the commitment coming from people who genuinely want to create something.

Just keep in mind that in this environment, asset creators are more valuable to you than designers, so if you're going for a similar design-by-committee system like the last project had, I would recommend making it entirely inclusive of the people who will actually be making the various parts of the game.

As the previous projects "Lead Level Designer," I whole-heartedly agree. We couldn't agree on a gameplay structure, so it was impossible to design levels. Get the creative team together first, then decide if you want further design leads. Asset creation is still useful, though, grab them early.

@Winternet: @mandude: @Little_Socrates: @TruthTellah: For those of you involved last time, what do you think about picking up where we left off? We had a pretty solid base and we were at a point where assets were ready to be created.

@TheHumanDove: Certainly! After the last one I'm with you, but I still think it's worth a shot.

@DrFlapjack: I never even got started. My portion of the game is just not viable at this point in production. Also, I'm swamped with other stuff right now, so I won't be available until mid-May or June.

Some strong ground rules is what this project needs.

@DrFlapjack said:

@Winternet: @mandude: @Little_Socrates: @TruthTellah: For those of you involved last time, what do you think about picking up where we left off? We had a pretty solid base and we were at a point where assets were ready to be created.

@TheHumanDove: Certainly! After the last one I'm with you, but I still think it's worth a shot.

I wouldn't mind trying to pick off where we left off. I felt like the story idea we came up with was pretty decent. If there is still interest in the last project I can find where we left off at and continue.

Wouldn't it be easier for you guys to do this in one of the programs already out there? Stuff like AGS, Game maker, rpg maker, unity?

@9cupsoftea said:

Wouldn't it be easier for you guys to do this in one of the programs already out there? Stuff like AGS, Game maker, rpg maker, unity?

We were going with Unity last time I checked and I think that's still the plan.

Hey! This looks awesome! I produce electronic music, and I submitted my form! I really hope this project doesn't die out because people lose interest. Hope to hear more about this project in the near future. Good Luck!

I'd be up for giving it another go. I was on the writing team last time and that seemed like kinda of a mess. Lots of ideas and not much direction. I think coming up with one or two people to set the plot with all the main story beats then dividing that up amongst the writers to work on their set tasks would have helped probably. That being said the writing probably can wait until the mechanics/art are farther along.

We need some more members to help out with the project. So far we have 3 coders, 3 designers, 3 musicians, 4 artists, and 6 storyline members.

Where is this project at anyway?

@SexyToad: And how many people are working on this? Do you guys have able programmers and graphic artists? I'm just curious how steady the project is right now. I remember there were a bunch of people involved back when this started.

@SexyToad said:

We need some more members to help out with the project. So far we have 3 coders, 3 designers, 3 musicians, 4 artists, and 6 storyline members.

Speaking with my full authority as a man with a Useless Bachelor's of Arts in Creative Writing, I think having so many writers this early in the process is a really bad idea. You really need to start with 1-2 people, 3 at the very most, to nail down the big picture of what the story is about, and then you can bring more writers in once the broad strokes have been locked down and you have actual scenes/sequences to write. That many writers that early is going to create a too-many-cooks situation. Committees make for terrible authors, no matter how talented the individuals may be, and much as I'd love to be involved in some way, honestly being the 7th member of that committee doesn't sound too compelling.

@SexyToad: I would like to think I am fairly decent with story stuff, and I am hopeless when it comes to dreams like this. But the only reason I have not signed up is what is the story about? And is this a serious or funny game? What type of game is it? 2-D or 3-D? These things I must know.

@SexyToad: Maybe you should post specifics about this project to motivate people to become part of it. Here's a few things I personally think would help

• Name which users are involved in the project;
• List each user's role(s) in the development of the project;
• Indicate in which timezone each user resides.

With this information people will be able to know if the project is lacking participants in their area of expertise, and with whom, if anyone, they'd be able to work together in real-time (via a Skype call or something like that) if they were to enlist. Also, perhaps you should be candid about the experience and level of skill of each user involved, like saying how many years of coding experience each person has, and other information like that.

I think people are more likely to be interested in a project if it's a concrete, planned-out and organized endeavor. A way to convey this notion is by showing that the organizers are aware of where the project is at and what type of help is most needed. It also gives people a certainty that their contributions won't be redundant (i.e. if you don't list the amount of artists involved, people might think you already have 10, and maybe don't need anymore help in that department).

I think these are just some (probably) easily-obtainable details you could add to your first post that might really help you get people interested in this project.

Open-world platformer RPG. I've always wanted one.

http://www.freeindiegam.es/2012/08/the-adventure-for-the-two-herbs-deadheat/

@SexyToad: As far as the story goes what were you guys thinking? (As that is the area I am most interested in and experienced.)

I'd love to but I'm a talentless teenager.

@SexyToad: Ok! I am always up for optimism! I will fill out the form tommorow I am going to make a separate GMail just for Giant Bomb stuff and I do not want to do that tonight.

GO TEAM!

@SexyToad said:

@Kevin_Cogneto It isn't as much as 6 people trying to write a story together but as much as each person comes up with a basic plot. We'll put the stories up to a vote later on build on it.
@BillyTheKid I think we're going to the RPG direction. The world will most likely have 2d characters with a 3d background. Example: Paper mario

Ah, that's good then. In that case I'll throw my writer's hat in the ring, why not?

If we continue with our previous design, the base battle mechanics and world traversal are already laid out so it would be quite easy to get programmers working right away. I can post the WIP design doc if anyone is interested along with my proposed prototype art/animation style.

@SexyToad said:

@Snail Sadly only 12 members strong. We have 4 members willing to help on art, and 3 on code.

"Only 12" isn't too bad, it's much better to have a few dedicated people than a bunch that lose interest after a week.

If we continue with our previous design, the base battle mechanics and world traversal are already laid out so it would be quite easy to get programmers working right away. I can post the WIP design doc if anyone is interested along with my proposed prototype art/animation style.

@SexyToad said:

@Snail Sadly only 12 members strong. We have 4 members willing to help on art, and 3 on code.

"Only 12" isn't too bad, it's much better to have a few dedicated people than a bunch that lose interest after a week.

I signed up. I'm a fairly experienced programmer and a hobby game designer. This is my new account for GB, older one is SparkEngineer.

I would love to help but I am a horrible writer and don't know anything about computers, I struggled to get my Wii U online. Is there anything else I can help with? I can make cookies!

@wheresdiderot: Excellent! Good to have you.

@SexyToad: I submitted my form thing. I'll get the design doc posted tomorrow and then we can post a quick description of our current direction/progress in the op.

@DarthOrange: I really like cake-cookies if you can make those.

Can I sign up as Special Thanks?

http://www.y8wii.com

Here are the prototype 2d characters I was working on. This is not what we have to do this time. We were going for a 2d character in a 3d world because most of our artists were 3d, but rigging 3d characters can be a pain. This is a quick test of animating/rigging a 2d character in Maya-

This is a test with a rig that is a bit more complex and involves a "flipbook" style animation of switching the texture for the hands over one frame. This is for more complicated parts of a character (like the hand) so we don't have to animate the fingers individually, but instead have key poses that we switch between.

I'm working on a design doc summary to get people caught up, which I will post later today.

I started a Google Drive. Only some of the members are in I think.... If you didnt get an email, please tell me.

@SexyToad: I got mine, looks good. Also I added myself to the design team if that's alright, the doc said we were looking to fill that team out a little more. I'm primarily looking to contribute as a writer, but I feel like gameplay and the story need to inform each other, so I might as well be on both teams.

I'm more of a conceptual thinker, poor drawer, lousy composer and wouldn't be able to help. I can tell you what a game should have if it's to my liking, other than that I'm useless.

In other words, I just only have ideas that I cannot implement. =-/

Don't add me.

To the Team: I've invited everyone to the Google Drive I made. You can start adding stuff in there.