[Henke]

The education I am currently attending will soon reach its last semester (well sort of anyway). So things are getting really heavy. I have made a 20 seconds long 3D-movie. I am rather pleased although I tried to get to much in that short period of time. I always go over my head with these projects we get. This time it left me with almost no time what so ever for the animation. So the animation and the lightning isn't perfect and it goes to fast (plus I realised after I had rendered the whole bloody thing that three bakground characters had lost their textures) but other then that it's pretty cool. 8-)

I am currently programming two games. It is unbelivably complicated. As always when it's me we're talking about they are too big and complicated. One is actually an adventuregame. I have some rather revolutionary ideas for that one. I will try and make it as I have imagined it (the deadline is in a couple of weeks) but with no graphics what so ever only primitives. I will later with the next project work with it again and this time around add graphics. Stay tuned and cross your fingers.

[Starflux]

I know exactly what you mean. In my study of Animation I've started now, I'll have to watch my steps to ensure that I don't go in over my head. So far, every immensely pretentious project I've immersed myself in on school (Moloch the adventuregame, my portfolio...) I managed to complete with a lot of free time and discipline, so I now know my limits to some extent. I am a cautious man now

[Fum]

Programming games from scratch definitely is hard as hell. I was going down that route for awhile, but I eventually gave up and went for the much quicker, easier, and far more gratifying Modification way of life. I've had allot of fun with the latest Unreal Engine and I can't wait for Valve's Source Engine, that'll be heaven for me.

[Henke]

Flux

Have you done an adventuregame? If you haven't done so already then put it on the net so we can try it.

Fum

One of the games I'm making is programmed in C and the other one is made in Director using Lingo. In C you program from scratch and because of that you have no limits what so ever to what you can do. But it is alot harder and the game I am making in Lingo is the adventuregame and it will be much bigger and complex then the one I am making in C.

[jannar85]

Why don't go with an engine instead?
That way it's much easier to program it all.

There's a lot of great engines out there, such as AGS, AGAST and Sludge, just to name a few

[Starflux]

Flux
Have you done an adventuregame? If you haven't done so already then put it on the net so we can try it.

You know, I didn't even realize I had this opportunity now until you mentioned it! It's 20 mb in size, made in Director, please don't expect too much of it since it's almost four years old and the first thing I created, but I'll put it online! Someday. School gave me plenty of serverspace, so I could do it... now to figure out HOW to do it...
I'll get back to you ^_~

[Ginny]

Just upload it at Geocities if you want to do it quiclky (though generally I hate geocities, heh). Or maybe they don't provide enough space. You might want to zip it if you havn't already. I reccomend http://www.freewebs.com, though I know there are other services that provide more space. I'll get back to you

I'd be very interested in seeing your game Flux .

Henke: Good luck! I hope to someday make games in C/C++/other Programming language.
Here's an expansion to jannar's idea: You could sometime later try to program an engine for your needs, and then use it. However I do not doubt for a second that is extremely super-difficult.

[Marek]

Regarding the subject line: Agreed!
I write a lot of design docs in my free time. Though for actually making a game I highly prefer working on a small team of about 5 people, because it's too darn hard production-wise to do on your own. Most (nearly all) my team project experiences come from college, where I'm usually project leader or involved in some other strong capacity. I love throwing ideas into a group and getting lost into the flow of a brainstorm!

[Henke]

Originally Posted by Flux

You know, I didn't even realize I had this opportunity now until you mentioned it! It's 20 mb in size, made in Director, please don't expect too much of it since it's almost four years old and the first thing I created, but I'll put it online! Someday. School gave me plenty of serverspace, so I could do it... now to figure out HOW to do it...
I'll get back to you ^_~

I'm waiting with great anticipation. I bet it's better then the first game I made in Director. If it is the first game you made I take it it's made in 2D then? The adventure game I'm making now is also made using the very same program. It's somewhat limited but it's complicated enough for me (I'm NOT a programmer).

jannar85

Well if you use a program like Director you don't have to program it from scratch and that makes it much easier (for one thing you get graphical feedback much faster) but then you do have limitations. But you can still make a unique game that doesn't have to look exactly like another game made with the same program.

Ginny

To program a game engine from scratch is alot harder then extremely super-difficult.

[remixor]

I have a huge amount of respect for people who develop games (hats off to Henke and Marek, and whoever else applies). It's something that just seems so far removed from anything I'd be capable of (AGS games obviously don't count). I'll just have to stick to my goal of being a game composer

[Mattsius]

I also respect game makers highly, because it seems extremely hard to program a nice game. I don't think that I could make a game, firstly because I have a too short temper to work with stuff like that, and secondly because I probably would get disappointed with the result, being a perfectionist and all, and simply give up.
I think that I'll just stick to making websites. It's for the best I think.

[Erwin_Br]

Oh, I remember fiddling with Lingo... The nightmares... I suck at programming and everything that has to do with it. (Such as algebra) It surprised me I didn't fail my JAVA exams. It was a close call, though.

Lucky for me, Sludge is so much easier to understand

--Erwin

[Zygomaticus]

I too harbor great respect for game developers, because I realize (although do not know) that it is hard work.

One day, I hope to respect myself in this way

[Starflux]

I'll attempt to upload Moloch tomorrow.

[Marek]

Originally Posted by remixor

(AGS games obviously don't count)

Why not? It all depends on what you do with the tools you're given. I don't even think AGS is a bad tool.

[Jake]

Ripping on AGS is silly. You've gotta start somewhere, and it's got a pretty big community. Albeit a slightly scary one.


Marek, I'd love to play some of your suspect designed-at-school games sometime. I'll find a PC to do so if necessary.

[remixor]

I think I was misunderstood. I myself use AGS I just meant it's not the same as actually developing a game from scratch. Believe me, I think AGS is excellent and the community is awesome. I just meant it's in a different league than what I was referring to as "game developing". Sorry to have been unclear!

[twifkak]

Man, what's wrong with you, remix? You some kind of AGS-hating, ageist Myst-whore?

[remixor]

Originally Posted by twifkak

Man, what's wrong with you, remix? You some kind of AGS-hating, ageist Myst-whore?

Yep, you pegged me! Myst is my absolute number one infinity favorite game of all time and AGS is poopy!

[Henke]

Today at 17:00 was the deadline for my first game and the biggest of the two I'm currently making (the adventuregame). Although I have said in my project plan that I wouldn't make the entire game to this deadline but it should be more or less completed without real graphics. You should be able to play it from start to finish.

Yesterday I was totally out of my mind because the game wasn't anyway near as finished as it should be. So I have been programming like hell for two days and two nights.

All the code was there when I was going to hand it in today. But when I tested it for bugs I found some fatal ones.

I sat the whole day and when there where 20 minutes left I finally got the game going as I wanted. Then I realised that there was one place at the game where you couldn't get to a house (and talk to a character) beacause there was an invisible wall in the middle of the road. I almost freaked out. But I understod after a while that I had to inverse the environmets bounding boxes. I changed it and it worked. I handed in the whole bloody thing at 16:58.

It doesn't have everything I wanted it to have to this deadline but it has six different endings and it's playable from beginning to end. I will work with some more later. Now I'm going to celebrate tonight. I off to the pub!