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

colseed 9 years, 7 months ago

moikle can model, kilin can model, and i can model - that makes at least three here

assuming we keep the graphical style simple ala sapphire tears (or at least what i remember of its graphical style from screenshots, since i never had the opportunity to play it), it shouldn't be bad at all; we'd probably need more 2d content in the form of textures and UI shiz, honestly

also, from what i remember kilin saying, the 2d stuff in vespere was bitch to get working correctly and precisely why he's advising against it

but yeah, some kind of multiplayer game with a simple gameplay concept but customizable seems like a decent idea

Astryl 9 years, 7 months ago

Well, if anybody wants to work on ST-HD…

*cough*

Quote:
2D would be a lot easier for people to make content for
I'll have to politely disagree with that. On the previous collaborations I've worked on, the 3D ones were easier from a stylistic sense (Easier to make assets that 'fit'), whereas in 2D it's hard to get the artists to produce similar work; so you end up having one or two artists taking on a huge portion of the work. Not to mention the fact that 2D art is less reusable. Basically, once we make one wall prefab in Unity, we just retexture it like crazy to get new walls :P

Moikle 9 years, 7 months ago

That and you can share multiple animations with multiple models. So one model per character, and one rig for all (or most) characters, and then just make a few animation sets that can be used for any of them

Castypher 9 years, 7 months ago

Quote:
also, from what i remember kilin saying, the 2d stuff in vespere was bitch to get working correctly and precisely why he's advising against it
It's not a common graphical style to have a 2D sprite moving around a 3D world, especially one that's only 32x64 pixels. To be honest, I could pull that code if this ended up being the preferred style, but as colseed said, we do have a few people who can model, and after the modeling and rigging process, it is dozens of times easier to fluidly animate a 3D model than it is to fluidly animate a sprite, due to keyframing. And if I remember, we're not exactly high in terms of pixel artist count (though I've done a lot of stylized pixel animations lately and could be of service there).

To be honest, I'd rather go with a simple, stylized 3D game. It's so much easier to work with than sprite sheets, believe it or not. At least, in Unity. Look at Sapphire Tears. Nothing about it is remotely complex.

So basically, what Mega and Moikle said.

s 9 years, 7 months ago

The issue this is going to hit is that conceptual design should not be done by committee. There should only be at most 4 people who really lead design. Perhaps elect them, whatever. Then make sure your environment is git friendly. That was my main precaution about Unity, if you need to have people taking turns to work on the project, you've failed

The github project should be setup asap. Get some basic work done, then invite 64d members to contribute

Castypher 9 years, 7 months ago

Considering your long hiatus and current lurking status, I have no idea why you're so interested in this, serprex.

s 9 years, 7 months ago

I'm only trying to advise on how to not make this flop. I believe I've necessary knowledge of how to maintain progress. I do not believe my activity & lurkerism is relevant to this discussion

Moikle 9 years, 7 months ago

I have even made semi good run/walkcycles and other animations anyway, we could use the exact same ross and animations from them, at least as placeholder. 3d certainly has its advantages.

Nopykon 9 years, 7 months ago

If the 3D world is limited to an arena, island or a couple of rooms, I think 3D it's doable with two guys. I'm up for making 3D-environments if that's the case. :)

Moikle 9 years, 7 months ago

I am mostly focussed on asset design rather than levels, so we could do like a modular kit type thing