64D Com-Unity Game

Posted by Moikle on April 6, 2015, 12:13 p.m.

What do you guys think about doing a community Unity game?

Remember when we did that 64d community RPG? I really enjoyed that, and want to do something similar.

Our community games tend to revolve around game maker, which we are all pretty much fluent in, I was thinking that we could all work together on something we are slightly less familiar with. People who already know unity can point the rest in the right direction and offer support as well as stabilize the probably messy buggy code we produce.

Everyone, no matter your experience can take part, as long as you have some idea of how C# works, and have some idea that you can contribute. Even if you doubt you can even make a hello world program using tutorials, you could submit some art for the game, 3d, 2d, textures, sound, level design, writing, anything that comes to mind. Just get yourself the free version of unity, and do the basic tutorials to familiarise yourself with the navigation and the very basics of the program.

We could take turns to add to the game, like we did with the community rpg, we would share the files with everyone using git, so others can see how it is progressing/offer suggestions/support. That or we could take a less structured "add stuff whenever, as long as you don't delete other people's stuff without asking, and document all your additions." approach.

I am well aware of how interest in these community projects often tapers off and it gets abandoned, but if we don't restrict ourselves to a specific order, and are allowed to come back later and add stuff, then I suspect a few people will be left adding to it for quite a while.

I propose we write up a very basic GDD together at the start to keep ourselves focused on a common goal for the core aspects of the game, and to decide things like genre/setting/important mechanics and things like that.

yes, this blog is very rambly, but it is just a brainstormy type thing, and if anyone is actually interested then I will write up a clearer blog and plan for the project.

So?

Comments

Alert Games 9 years, 7 months ago

I think it would be pretty ambitious to make a sapphire tears clone, with a little more reasonable and fair block placing for bases…

… but damn would it be fun to do.

Moikle 9 years, 7 months ago

is everyone happy about meeting up on TS tomorrow(sat 11th) some time after 6pm-11PM GMT? I'll be on waiting for people so we can talk about stuff for reals.

I'd be happy to take an organisational lead role, but like I have said before, I am really not very experienced with unity yet, so don't expect me to be helping out with others' code specific problems too much.

In terms of the type of game we should create, I want to go with something fairly small but polished that has the POTENTIAL for growth if we chose to keep going with it once it is functionally complete.

Quote:
Maybe everybody should start pitching ideas of games they've always wanted to make.
I didn't really play sapphire tears much, but it does seem like a good idea.

A turn based tactics game, similar to fallout 1-2 (but this is unlikely to be a small project due to complex AI and large ammount of content)

An arena-y hack and slash game with a diverse combat/combo system and loot (certainly possible, just needs lots of animation and filling arrays with stat variables)

A cartoonish platformer (3d or 2.5d) adventure such as were popular in ps2 era (ratchet and clank, Jak series, rayman, etc) Functionally fairly simple, but needs a lot of content and level design unless going for a small scale one.

an infiltration type game where you are given a whole load of useful tools, but have to choose a limited number to carry, and have to work together in multiplayer to break in to/do something without being caught.

A multiplayer airplane combat game "I AM THE RED BARRON" with some customization of planes

I propose we stay away from anything with a story, since it will take a long time to write and design many levels for. Also no (excessively) complicated procedural generation.

Stick to arcadey/ match based multiplayer games

Castypher 9 years, 7 months ago

Quote:
I think we should actually look into asking Toast for spriting (or emulate his style, since it looks pretty damn easy to animate).
I would prefer using anything but Unity for pixel art games.

Castypher 9 years, 7 months ago

I think we've been over this at some point in the past but Unity's workflow for 2D is somewhat strange and more suited toward mobile graphics than pixel art. If you haven't messed around with Unity, then just take my word for it.

Jani_Nykanen 9 years, 7 months ago

I'm glad I'm not the only one who dislike Unity's 2D capabilities (or actually, lack of them)…

Castypher 9 years, 7 months ago

Quote:
I didn't really play sapphire tears much, but it does seem like a good idea.
ST was a pretty simple game that was run entirely by the players, and I think that's why people like the idea. It was simple and replayable, and had a solid core mechanic. Plus, who doesn't like building bases?

Quote:
Stick to arcadey/ match based multiplayer games
This is probably a better idea than making a full-blown super platform shooter RPG. Match-based games might be more appealing to some people because there's room for innovation, and there's tons of potential for replayability.

I'd honestly like to see a multiplayer game revolving around a single concept that allows players to customize their playstyle to a little more effect than just choosing equipment. There's loads of potential in that, and it's not too difficult to create. Build the engine and multiplayer framework and the rest is up to the players. Since this is a community game, that's the approach I think would be best, more so than a singleplayer platformer or 200-hour RPG.

Moikle 9 years, 7 months ago

like I said, something small but with the potential for a lot of growth. Remember how our older mionecraft marathons went? there was a boom of activity then a dip where just a few dedicated people were working on stuff, then when people noticed what they made, there was an even bigger boom, and things like founton's empire started showing up. We didn't expect that to happen at all.

That way, it is easy to start, not a disaster if we fail, but if we do well, we have a chance to build it into something better

Iasper 9 years, 7 months ago

I can help out if there's anything I can help out with.

Alert Games 9 years, 7 months ago

The reason I would choose Unity is because it has some more quality features to it, whereas GM may need extensions or external tools in order to get the same effect. Also, it is a more professional tool for actual game development, plus I think it would be cool and beneficial to learn.

Also, if we want to stick to a 2D style game, could we just use a fixed 3D perspective to have a pseudo-3D looking game with 2D mechanics? Kinda like the new pokemon and animal crossing games, you know?

.. Everyone's computers should easily handle it by now

Moikle 9 years, 7 months ago

yeah, not GM

Quote:
Also, if we want to stick to a 2D style game, could we just use a fixed 3D perspective to have a pseudo-3D looking game with 2D mechanics? Kinda like the new pokemon and animal crossing games, you know?

.. Everyone's computers should easily handle it by now

Plus I want an excuse to have my 3d models actually do something useful for once