The Ten Steps in Designing a Game!!!
by Skye Reaver
1.) Decide on the game you'd want to make. The most common/popular genres are: Strategy, RPG, Action, Arcade, Adventure.
2.)Fire up DM and take a minute (or couple days) to think about how your game should initially look. You will probably redesign the interface many times.
3.) Start to build the shell of your game (or most of it.) Do not put in code yet. You just want to place controls and name them, maybe set captions or something. Also, keep a notebook handy to write about all the cool stuff you want to put in your game.
4.) Start basic coding. This is all the stuff like button clicks and other simple code.
5.) Once most of the initial basic code is done, start on advanced code.
6.) Now that you have worked on the game for a little bit (hopefully a couple days of good, long programming) Set up a basic website telling about your game. Be sure to eventually include a FAQ, About the game, and a forum. You can work on the website whenever you want, just be sure to update it frequently.
7.) Now that people are/will know about your game, continue with the hardcoding like stats, car speed, how many bullets the '214-Marauder' can carry. All that stuff that has to do with stats, saving and other stuff SPECIFIC to your game.
8.) If you are going to use Graphics, start on the them now.
9.) Test out the game by yourself. Are there any bugs? If so, go back and fix them. Test again. Fix Bugs, Wash rinse & repeat until you think you have a good piece of software.
10.) Listen to reports of bugs and other stuff that other people have found. You should go back and fix them. Also, try to publisicise your game, and get noticed.
(Extra) 11.) Make a sequel!
If you think otherwise of any of the above, please let me know.
ID:268972
 Jan 7 2005, 6:46 pm (Edited on Jan 7 2005, 6:52 pm)
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Puzzle games are kinda popular...
Imo, something worth adding to that list would be to think of what your ideal game would be, and check to see if such a game already exists, or even if someone is working on such a game and would welcome another coder to co-create the game. Having a few trusted friends to help with bug testing is, imo, a must. Speaking as more of a tester than a coder, it is more effective for the coding staff to have several people testing various things because you can not only cover everything quicker, but odds are some people will notice bugs that others did not. *Important* Avoid making promises to the players that X will be in by this date or that, or that the next version will be out 'in a month'. ;) Otherwise you could end up losing interest due to fans bugging you about something not being 'on time', or other such problems. | |
10.) Listen to reports of bugs and other stuff that other people have found. You should go back and fix them. Also, try to publisicise your game, and get noticed.
And I did not give the popular/common genres telling people that they MUST choose those genres. -_- These are just a *few* 'guidelines'. | |
Nice Steps, but could you tell us on how to come up with a good foolproof idea? I can never come up with an idea for a game so if you could give us steps for that, I would be greatful!
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I think you consider interface a little too early in the design phase. It's definitely important, but it's nothing next to foundation. Usually an interface is subject to change; it should not be the first thing you design. Likewise, button clicks should not be the first thing you handle in code.
Much much more important is foundation. Consider the type of game you're writing, and how all the information within it would group together. For example, if you're writing a simple RPG, you should design some basic types and simple verbs for general-purpose items, then move on to an equipment system, then add procs to level up and die, and so on. Some parts of your battle system would also be considered foundation, while others are more closely related to interface. I think a lot of people start adding their character types and special items stuff way too early in the process. But if you have a game where you can wander around and handle simple battles in a way somewhat close to the way you want the finished product to be (in function, not in graphics and such), then you have a solid skeleton you can build muscle and skin over. Don't start skin-first. I also think that stylistically, the underlining all through your post was a horrible choice. Underlining is supposed to be used for emphasis (among other things) on just a few words, not for entire sentences and paragraphs. Lummox JR | |
What other genres are there? ^_^