721
Entertainment / Re: Favorite Game Series'!
« on: April 05, 2006, 05:12:14 pm »
There was a third vectorman? o.o I thought there were only two. I've beaten the first two, but I never even heard of the third!
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722
Discussion / Re: Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)
« on: April 05, 2006, 05:11:37 pm »
I know what you mean MaJoRa, back when I was new, I thought that all of this stuff didn't apply to me, because I thoguht I was more determined than others or something 
723
Entertainment / Re: Favorite Game Series'!
« on: April 05, 2006, 05:04:36 pm »
I love Genesis, I was playing VectorMan on it the other week 
.
I don't own an actual copy of Shining Force though. Until I find one, I have to stick with ROM's
btw, Isaac, did you ever play Dynamite Headdy?
.I don't own an actual copy of Shining Force though. Until I find one, I have to stick with ROM's
btw, Isaac, did you ever play Dynamite Headdy?
724
Discussion / Re: Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)
« on: April 05, 2006, 05:03:31 pm »
Hehe, thanks for the backing MaJoRa.
Like most of us, I had to learn all/most of these the hard way, so hopefully this guide will save some people the trouble.
Like most of us, I had to learn all/most of these the hard way, so hopefully this guide will save some people the trouble.
725
Entertainment / Re: Favorite Game Series'!
« on: April 05, 2006, 04:36:29 pm »
What you need to do is beat him over the head and take it from him, then play through it.
(erm, I mean, politely ask him to borrow it)
you'll see a few quick resemblances to Shining Force in the menu system too. But other than that, they're not the same.
(erm, I mean, politely ask him to borrow it
)you'll see a few quick resemblances to Shining Force in the menu system too. But other than that, they're not the same.
726
Discussion / Re: Isometrics
« on: April 05, 2006, 04:26:02 pm »Quote
In the fields of video games and pixel art, the isometric projection used may deviate slightly due to the limitations of raster graphics; without anti-aliasing, lines in the x and y axes would not follow a neat pattern when drawn 30?? to the horizontal, and earlier computer graphics were also less capable of supporting more colors to effectively utilize anti-aliasing. Typically, a 2:1 pixel pattern ratio is used to simulate x and y axes lines, resulting in these axes following a 26.565?? (arctan 0.5) angle to the horizontal instead
(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isometric_projection)
727
Entertainment / Re: What was the last game you played and/or what are you playing right now/next?
« on: April 05, 2006, 04:12:13 pm »
As of this particular moment, the last game I played was Tetris 
728
Entertainment / Recommend a band
« on: April 05, 2006, 04:11:44 pm »
Here's how this topic works: Each person recomends a single band that they really like, as well as two or three songs by that band that they think would help people 'convert' to fans of that band. A short history of the band (or long if you're really obsessed ) wouldn't help either.
I'll start with Tears for Fears. Tears for Fears was originally known as Graduation, although in the '80s they changed their name to Tears for Fears and released their frist album, the Hurting, in 1983. It was popular, but not too popular, it's biggest singles being "Change", "Mad World", and "Pale Shelter". It wasn't until 85 that they struck paydirt, releasing the album Songs from the Big Chair, which had a whopping five of it's 8 tracks released as singles. Shout reached number 1 in both US and Europe, and other popular songs included Head Over Heels and Everybody Wants to Rule the World. In 1989, four years later, they released the album "Seeds of Love", which marked a drastic change in the direction of the band - they began to abandon their Synth-pop sound for one more beatlesque. Due to the pressure from the album, Curt, one of the two principle members of the band, left, althoguh Roland, the other principle member, continued to release albums during the '90s. None of these albums reached the acclaim that had been known when Curt was in the band, and Tears for Fears popularity dwindled. When Gary Jules did a remake of "Mad World" for Donnie Darko, and their song Head over Heels was used in the movie as well, popularity for the band increased again, so Curt and Roland went back to the studio and in 2004, released their newest CD to date, "Everybody loves a happy ending".
Songs recommended: Shout, Sowing the Seeds of Love, Call Me Mellow
) wouldn't help either.I'll start with Tears for Fears. Tears for Fears was originally known as Graduation, although in the '80s they changed their name to Tears for Fears and released their frist album, the Hurting, in 1983. It was popular, but not too popular, it's biggest singles being "Change", "Mad World", and "Pale Shelter". It wasn't until 85 that they struck paydirt, releasing the album Songs from the Big Chair, which had a whopping five of it's 8 tracks released as singles. Shout reached number 1 in both US and Europe, and other popular songs included Head Over Heels and Everybody Wants to Rule the World. In 1989, four years later, they released the album "Seeds of Love", which marked a drastic change in the direction of the band - they began to abandon their Synth-pop sound for one more beatlesque. Due to the pressure from the album, Curt, one of the two principle members of the band, left, althoguh Roland, the other principle member, continued to release albums during the '90s. None of these albums reached the acclaim that had been known when Curt was in the band, and Tears for Fears popularity dwindled. When Gary Jules did a remake of "Mad World" for Donnie Darko, and their song Head over Heels was used in the movie as well, popularity for the band increased again, so Curt and Roland went back to the studio and in 2004, released their newest CD to date, "Everybody loves a happy ending".
Songs recommended: Shout, Sowing the Seeds of Love, Call Me Mellow
729
Discussion / Developing a Game: How not to fail (10 tips)
« on: April 05, 2006, 04:03:39 pm »
This is copied over from ZFGC-X, I thoguht it would be useful to have it here as well.
This topicis inspired by this forum ~_~. That's right, it's inspired by all of the Zelda Fan Games that are abounding in this forum. Not that it's exceptionally bad now. But I remember when there would be dozens of new demos going up eveyr week...and for the most part, with a slight exception here and there, most didn't get past a first dungeon, if they even reached that far. (For most of the demos here, I can say the same thing). Most games here do not advance past the 'engine in design' phase. Plus, everyone here is making oot2d, it seems. So here are some tips to help those of you who intend to finish a Zelda game.
1) Don't plan too big.
Let's face it, it's awesome to imagine making a zelda game so awesome that even Nintendo will be shocked. And we think that we'll be able to do it, that our game will have 40 different items to use, and 12 different dungeons, each with interactive boss fights and innovative new dungeons, with a day/night system that effects gameplay and even a weather system, animals to ride, and time travel! (Hey, that's what I was trying to make two years ago basically, so I know, I've been there). A lot of these will never get past the engine stage. A lot of these will never PASS the engine stage. Be rationale with what you decide to make. There's a reason that Nintendo takes months or years to design their games and has teams with dozens and dozens of team members to make their games. Because it is a lot of work, and it requires a lot of playtesting, revising, editting, optimising, graphics, code, sound, new material, reseach, and time to make a game.
2) Know your limits.
This does not just apply to you per se, but know the limits of what you are capable of doing. This includes the limit of the software you are using, the limits of what graphics will be available to you, the limits of what sound will be available to you, and the limits of what time you have. Do not take on more than you can handle. If you do, you will quickly become discouraged with your project, and you will be unable to finish it. When you design your game, be sure that you design it to be something that you know you could make. Yes, it is okay to leave some breathing room - after all, if we try nothing new, we'll never learn - but make sure that it's something you have at least some understanding of how it will work.
3) Don't go it alone
This one is not necessarily always the case, but I strongly stress that if you plan on making a game, do not go it alone! There are few of us here that can claim that we are great at graphics, code, sound, level design, story, and game design! There is a lot of stuff that is going on in a game at once, and in addition to the fact that none of us has all the knowledge to do every step of the game, none of us have the TIME. If we need a sprite for our game, and we're busy programming complicated physics, we don't want to have to stop programming to get the spirte, we won't to keep programming and know that the sprite is on the way. Additionally, having a team is a good way of making sure that someone should be working on the game every day.
4) If you have a team, make sure that you're a team!
I've seen it too many times where one person's idea of a team was one person in charge, and he told everyone else what to do, when they were supposed to do it. For the most part, they did not know what was going on. This is NOT a good way to design a game! Everyone should know where the game is going, where the game has been, and where the game is at that pariticular point in time. If someone is going to be involved in the game, they have to know how the game is going to work. They have to know their place in the team. They have to know what they can be working on, and where the game is going next, where it hopes to end. Basically, the entire team should know the game very well. Obviously, it's impossible for everyone to know everythign, and to be frank, they don't need to know EVERYTHING...the artists don't need to know what form of data storage the coders are using, and the composers don't need to know what pallette the artists are using. But they need to know the feel of the game, what the gameplay is going to be like, and the general conflict. They need to know what is expected of them at all times.
5) Be original
If there is a Zelda game in the forum that is simply link running around and chopping up bushes, and you decide to make a Zelda game, and your first demo is link running around chopping up bushes, then it's not going to grab anyones attention. There has to be something about your game to make it stand out from other games. If your game is turning out to be very similar to someone elses, then instead of creating a complete game yourself, perhaps join up with the, or change your game to be different.
6) Know your game
Don't just decide that your game is going ot be eight dungeons long, have 12 items, and a horse. It is too easy to simplify your game to that point, but quite simply, it leaves you directionless. You need to understand how your game is going to play out. What are the eight dungeons? What distinguishes one from the rest? What items will you get in them? What order will you get the items in? What will the items do for the player? What will the items do for the game? What items does the player need, and when? What is the horse for?
Also be sure not to have stuff in your game that is not necessary. Yes, it's cool to have a day/night system where the NPC's say and do different things at different times in the game. But it also takes a lot of programming. Do you need it for your game? Does it effect any other area of gameplay? For example, in OOT, you couldn't go someplaces at night, you encountered different items, and some places were only available during night or during day. In that case, the day night system actually effected gameplay. Is your day night system actually effecting gameplay? Or is it just pretty?
It is important that you know all of the verbs and all of the nouns of your game before you sit down and place your first pixel or your first character of code, or even your first note in your music. You need to know what objects you need to animate, and how you need to design your sprites to be able to animate that way. You need to know what all your code needs to do, and be able to accomodate everything from the very beggining, intead of going back and making millions of revisions. (trust me, it's not pleasant). You need to know what themes are going to follow through with your music, and how to manipulate those themes for different moods. It is imperative that you know exactly what your game is about before you even start.
7) Keep it fun
We're not getting piad for this at this point. So if you're no longer enjoying making your game, it's a sign that perhaps you shouldn't continue, or that you need to look back at what you're doing and make sure that it's what you want to do.
Be dedicated
If you're going to make a game, then by all means, make it! Take an hour out of every day and work on it. Or set aside x hours every week, and dedicate it to game making. Game making should be no different than a sport or other organised hobby - the point is to learn and enjoy yourself, but you have to put the time in. There's no one breathing down your neck, other than yourself, so only you are responsible to make sure that your game is completed.
9) Dont' release demos every day
Just because your demo has a cool walking animation doesn't mean that everyone wants to see it. When you do finally release your demo, it had better be interesting. It had better showcase what it is about your game that is supposed to draw the players in. And it should definitely have something worth playing in it. Yes, engine tests are nice, but we've all seen Link walking around hyrule field and throw bushes at enemies. If you're releasing an engine demo, it had better have linking flying his broom through circles of lava while being chased by rabid wombats.
10) Take criticism to heart
If people have taken the time to play your game, and they take te time to tell you what they thought if it, do not immediately get offended if they don't shower you with praise and tell you that it's the greatest thing since OOT. Any game that's released is going to have flaws, errors, bugs, or quite simply, gaping holes that need to be worked out. If someone gives you feedback that's positive, then perhaps work to maintain that feature. If someone tells you that something needs work, then look at how you could improve it. (However, if someone flames you, feel free to ignore them and report them to a mod).
I hope that the two of you who bothered to read this topic create awesome games. I hope to see a demo of them in a month or two. Good luck, and I hope this helps.
This topicis inspired by this forum ~_~. That's right, it's inspired by all of the Zelda Fan Games that are abounding in this forum. Not that it's exceptionally bad now. But I remember when there would be dozens of new demos going up eveyr week...and for the most part, with a slight exception here and there, most didn't get past a first dungeon, if they even reached that far. (For most of the demos here, I can say the same thing). Most games here do not advance past the 'engine in design' phase. Plus, everyone here is making oot2d, it seems. So here are some tips to help those of you who intend to finish a Zelda game.
1) Don't plan too big.
Let's face it, it's awesome to imagine making a zelda game so awesome that even Nintendo will be shocked. And we think that we'll be able to do it, that our game will have 40 different items to use, and 12 different dungeons, each with interactive boss fights and innovative new dungeons, with a day/night system that effects gameplay and even a weather system, animals to ride, and time travel! (Hey, that's what I was trying to make two years ago basically, so I know, I've been there
). A lot of these will never get past the engine stage. A lot of these will never PASS the engine stage. Be rationale with what you decide to make. There's a reason that Nintendo takes months or years to design their games and has teams with dozens and dozens of team members to make their games. Because it is a lot of work, and it requires a lot of playtesting, revising, editting, optimising, graphics, code, sound, new material, reseach, and time to make a game.2) Know your limits.
This does not just apply to you per se, but know the limits of what you are capable of doing. This includes the limit of the software you are using, the limits of what graphics will be available to you, the limits of what sound will be available to you, and the limits of what time you have. Do not take on more than you can handle. If you do, you will quickly become discouraged with your project, and you will be unable to finish it. When you design your game, be sure that you design it to be something that you know you could make. Yes, it is okay to leave some breathing room - after all, if we try nothing new, we'll never learn - but make sure that it's something you have at least some understanding of how it will work.
3) Don't go it alone
This one is not necessarily always the case, but I strongly stress that if you plan on making a game, do not go it alone! There are few of us here that can claim that we are great at graphics, code, sound, level design, story, and game design! There is a lot of stuff that is going on in a game at once, and in addition to the fact that none of us has all the knowledge to do every step of the game, none of us have the TIME. If we need a sprite for our game, and we're busy programming complicated physics, we don't want to have to stop programming to get the spirte, we won't to keep programming and know that the sprite is on the way. Additionally, having a team is a good way of making sure that someone should be working on the game every day.
4) If you have a team, make sure that you're a team!
I've seen it too many times where one person's idea of a team was one person in charge, and he told everyone else what to do, when they were supposed to do it. For the most part, they did not know what was going on. This is NOT a good way to design a game! Everyone should know where the game is going, where the game has been, and where the game is at that pariticular point in time. If someone is going to be involved in the game, they have to know how the game is going to work. They have to know their place in the team. They have to know what they can be working on, and where the game is going next, where it hopes to end. Basically, the entire team should know the game very well. Obviously, it's impossible for everyone to know everythign, and to be frank, they don't need to know EVERYTHING...the artists don't need to know what form of data storage the coders are using, and the composers don't need to know what pallette the artists are using. But they need to know the feel of the game, what the gameplay is going to be like, and the general conflict. They need to know what is expected of them at all times.
5) Be original
If there is a Zelda game in the forum that is simply link running around and chopping up bushes, and you decide to make a Zelda game, and your first demo is link running around chopping up bushes, then it's not going to grab anyones attention. There has to be something about your game to make it stand out from other games. If your game is turning out to be very similar to someone elses, then instead of creating a complete game yourself, perhaps join up with the, or change your game to be different.
6) Know your game
Don't just decide that your game is going ot be eight dungeons long, have 12 items, and a horse. It is too easy to simplify your game to that point, but quite simply, it leaves you directionless. You need to understand how your game is going to play out. What are the eight dungeons? What distinguishes one from the rest? What items will you get in them? What order will you get the items in? What will the items do for the player? What will the items do for the game? What items does the player need, and when? What is the horse for?
Also be sure not to have stuff in your game that is not necessary. Yes, it's cool to have a day/night system where the NPC's say and do different things at different times in the game. But it also takes a lot of programming. Do you need it for your game? Does it effect any other area of gameplay? For example, in OOT, you couldn't go someplaces at night, you encountered different items, and some places were only available during night or during day. In that case, the day night system actually effected gameplay. Is your day night system actually effecting gameplay? Or is it just pretty?
It is important that you know all of the verbs and all of the nouns of your game before you sit down and place your first pixel or your first character of code, or even your first note in your music. You need to know what objects you need to animate, and how you need to design your sprites to be able to animate that way. You need to know what all your code needs to do, and be able to accomodate everything from the very beggining, intead of going back and making millions of revisions. (trust me, it's not pleasant). You need to know what themes are going to follow through with your music, and how to manipulate those themes for different moods. It is imperative that you know exactly what your game is about before you even start.
7) Keep it fun
We're not getting piad for this at this point. So if you're no longer enjoying making your game, it's a sign that perhaps you shouldn't continue, or that you need to look back at what you're doing and make sure that it's what you want to do.
Be dedicated
If you're going to make a game, then by all means, make it! Take an hour out of every day and work on it. Or set aside x hours every week, and dedicate it to game making. Game making should be no different than a sport or other organised hobby - the point is to learn and enjoy yourself, but you have to put the time in. There's no one breathing down your neck, other than yourself, so only you are responsible to make sure that your game is completed.
9) Dont' release demos every day
Just because your demo has a cool walking animation doesn't mean that everyone wants to see it. When you do finally release your demo, it had better be interesting. It had better showcase what it is about your game that is supposed to draw the players in. And it should definitely have something worth playing in it. Yes, engine tests are nice, but we've all seen Link walking around hyrule field and throw bushes at enemies. If you're releasing an engine demo, it had better have linking flying his broom through circles of lava while being chased by rabid wombats.
10) Take criticism to heart
If people have taken the time to play your game, and they take te time to tell you what they thought if it, do not immediately get offended if they don't shower you with praise and tell you that it's the greatest thing since OOT. Any game that's released is going to have flaws, errors, bugs, or quite simply, gaping holes that need to be worked out. If someone gives you feedback that's positive, then perhaps work to maintain that feature. If someone tells you that something needs work, then look at how you could improve it. (However, if someone flames you, feel free to ignore them and report them to a mod).
I hope that the two of you who bothered to read this topic create awesome games. I hope to see a demo of them in a month or two. Good luck, and I hope this helps.
730
Discussion / Re: Languages?
« on: April 05, 2006, 04:02:11 pm »
you're right, assembly is a great language to know if you're going to do complex things (I don't know it myself either, but this is what I've heard from a guy in the game industry).
731
Feedback / Re: It says that I'm not logged in.
« on: April 05, 2006, 04:00:47 pm »
That's just a weird one. Try clearing your cookies and then logging back on.
732
Feedback / Re: 403 Forbidden
« on: April 05, 2006, 04:00:05 pm »
I've never got it. I wonder what the cause is.
733
Feedback / Re: Green Theme
« on: April 05, 2006, 05:31:47 am »Yah, I still think we should have a link back to the index from the Control Panel... I have re-type in the site name... >_>
can't you just click the banner?
734
Other Projects / Re: Text Invaders - ASCII Art Space Invaders-type game
« on: April 05, 2006, 04:30:29 am »Well what I mean is I made all the things out of text, except the buttons obviously. I decided to make explosions be a jumble of random letters, whenever I get the time.
Yeah I know. I just meant that the ships look cool for being just characters
. Also, the explosion jumble would rock.
735
Discussion / Re: Flash Programming Discussion
« on: April 05, 2006, 04:12:36 am »
I entered a link wrong up there, it's www.flashkit.com, not .org.
736
Feedback / Re: Green Theme
« on: April 05, 2006, 03:39:38 am »
I like the green one - honestly, ZFGC without green = not a place for me.
737
Entertainment / Re: Red Hot Chili Peppers
« on: April 05, 2006, 03:16:43 am »
I'm obviously not all that crazy about it, otherwise, I may know more of theirmusic
738
Feedback / Re: Green Theme
« on: April 05, 2006, 03:07:33 am »
I'm using the green theme, my only real complaint is that it says 'blah' above each post ^o)
739
Other Projects / Re: Text Invaders - ASCII Art Space Invaders-type game
« on: April 05, 2006, 02:30:48 am »
This looks really great for being ascii only o.o
740
Entertainment / Re: Red Hot Chili Peppers
« on: April 05, 2006, 01:52:02 am »
I definitely don't know them as well as you guys . I only really know Californication and the Other Side, which are both *awesome* songs. I bought a greatest hits by them at a pawn shop a while ago, but it doesn't work . So.
. I only really know Californication and the Other Side, which are both *awesome* songs. I bought a greatest hits by them at a pawn shop a while ago, but it doesn't work . So.