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Geek Culture / I have never finished a game!

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TEST OF WILL
17
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Joined: 23rd May 2007
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Posted: 18th Aug 2007 04:05
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Well I have made models, textures and some small games, but never finished one what should I do?!
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GatorHex
19
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Joined: 5th Apr 2005
Location: Gunchester, UK
Posted: 18th Aug 2007 04:34
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Make model packs and sell them if you're any good at it

DinoHunter (still no nVidia compo voucher!), CPU/GPU Benchmark, DarkFish Encryption DLL, War MMOG (WIP), 3D Model Viewer
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Robert F
User Banned
Posted: 18th Aug 2007 04:40
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just keep working at it and you will get better and better

Robert F
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CattleRustler
Retired Moderator
21
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Joined: 8th Aug 2003
Location: case modding at overclock.net
Posted: 18th Aug 2007 04:42
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Quote: "Well I have made models, textures and some small games, but never finished one what should I do?! "

finish a game or change your name

My DBP plugins page is now hosted [href]here[/href]
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Shadow heart
17
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Joined: 2nd Dec 2006
Location: US
Posted: 18th Aug 2007 07:35
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dude keep making small ones. keep building, building and building, and then you'll hit your big spot.

Your signature has been erased by a mod
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Junkrock
18
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Joined: 5th Sep 2006
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Posted: 18th Aug 2007 08:53
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Be realistic with your abilities, see what you can and cant do...then build a game design around your strengths, dont try anything AAA first, try some simple projects....maybe follow a game building tutorial from beginning to end. Once you make it through that you will have a better understanding of gaming structure. Then try a project of your own, like I said being simple and true to what you are good at.

Lol I had the same problem as you when I started...So I stuck to my strengths....now im a composer lol www.dazdicks.com

DaZ

[href]www.myspace.com/dazdicks[/href]
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Zombie 20
17
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Joined: 26th Nov 2006
Location: Etters, PA
Posted: 18th Aug 2007 09:05
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Junkrock is absolutely right there, stick to what you can do. Haha I'm still learning and I have found that I rather enjoy creating text adventures so in October I've set a dev schedule to create a D and D esque game, die rolls and everything. To be honest, graphics don't make a game a game, gameplay does. Older members on here will know what I mean, I'm sure you've all played text adv. and they were always fun to me, can remember playing a rather naughty one called PimpQuest for the TI-83 calcs in math class. Take it slow, its hard sometimes becasue DB is an amazing program but you'll get it, one day it'll just click and you'll be like whoooo IT'S CODING TIME! But hey, thats just my two p.

Zombie

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Manic
22
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Joined: 27th Aug 2002
Location: Completely off my face...
Posted: 18th Aug 2007 12:42
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me neither, I used to drink to help me ignore the gaping hole in my life, but then I found heroin. I'm happy now.

I don't have a sig, live with it.
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Seppuku Arts
Moderator
20
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Joined: 18th Aug 2004
Location: Cambridgeshire, England
Posted: 18th Aug 2007 13:03
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haha at Manic.

Well I've never finished a project myself, all it takes is patience, experience and realism. Don't go for something you can't do, if you're in experienced, do a simple game, don't be like me and aim for this one goal - because it takes years of not completing anything until you know enough how to do it right. A 3D Pacman clone is probably a good beginner project - the modelling is simple and so is the programming.

Hakuna Matata
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Chily Dog
20
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Joined: 6th Nov 2004
Location: U.S.A.
Posted: 18th Aug 2007 16:15
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I just started my first major project after 4 years of using DB Pro, and I'm still learning as I go...This stuff just takes time
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Kenjar
19
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Joined: 17th Jun 2005
Location: TGC
Posted: 18th Aug 2007 18:00
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Finish a game.
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Libervurto
18
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Joined: 30th Jun 2006
Location: On Toast
Posted: 19th Aug 2007 04:03 Edited at: 19th Aug 2007 04:04
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The first game I made was pong! yeah!
Make some arcade classics first
I have made an eat em up called square fest but apart from that I haven't finished anything.
I was on a major quest to make the best game ever, a Mafia simulator MMORPG, yep you know
Now I have been enlightened I'm not so unrealistic, I have begun work on a game not too dissimilar though: The Godfather, a text-based strategy game. I'm taking it slow and will probably make many other small games before it is finished.

Another idea: my cousin is awesome at programming and what he does is sets himself a time limit of say 1hr to complete a full game!
he made a space shooter with a shop you can upgrade weapons and stuff, was really cool

Your signature has been erased by a mod because it was rubbish.
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tha_rami
18
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Joined: 25th Mar 2006
Location: Netherlands
Posted: 19th Aug 2007 04:10
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Quote: "Finish a game."


Agreed.


Little Bright Dots
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H4ck1d
18
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Joined: 27th Dec 2005
Location: Yes
Posted: 19th Aug 2007 04:32
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Quote: "one day it'll just click and you'll be like whoooo IT'S CODING TIME!"


That one made me lol. But anyways, like everyone else is saying, start simple, but add something cool and original. One of my first real games was pong, but it was sweet because the ball was a spinning cheezit . But anyways, adding something cool and unique will actually make it a lot more fun to make, and then you'll be ready to move on to harder stuff.

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Zombie 20
17
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Joined: 26th Nov 2006
Location: Etters, PA
Posted: 20th Aug 2007 01:31
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Quote: "But anyways, adding something cool and unique will actually make it a lot more fun to make, and then you'll be ready to move on to harder stuff."


That's right..while pong may seem boring and it can be with the advent of what you can accomplsh with db..make it your own badass game. Myself personally..I feel that lightning and hard rock should be in every single project I make in some parts so yea pong to the max!!!!!

Seriously dude, you can do it, you'd be surprised at how satisfying it is to jus add those original features to a game..then you can say haha I did that! If you're doing pong here's a suggestion..mess witih the whole playing field, put bombs in there so if you're the last one to touch the ball it will take a point away from you and make powerups like multiball..the only limit is your imagination mate. Good luck to you.

Zombie

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Digital Awakening
AGK Developer
22
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Joined: 27th Aug 2002
Location: Sweden
Posted: 20th Aug 2007 02:07
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I find it best to start simple and then stick to it, but then it is in my personality to complete things.

[center]
CREATE games with ease! NO programming required!
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Pincho Paxton
21
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Joined: 8th Dec 2002
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Posted: 20th Aug 2007 02:15
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I have finished about 20 full projects, and have about 20 more half finished projects.. I work best by starting lots of things all at once. It is more interesting to keep swapping projects, you don't get so bored with the repetition.

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Digital Awakening
AGK Developer
22
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Joined: 27th Aug 2002
Location: Sweden
Posted: 20th Aug 2007 03:13
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But it's much easier to code when you can keep an entire project in your heaad, you remember functions you've written and where to look when something goes wrong.

[center]
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Code Dragon
18
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Joined: 21st Aug 2006
Location: Everywhere
Posted: 20th Aug 2007 03:52
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I had this problem for about a year when I first got DBPro, I fell into the "I'm gonna make a HUGE RPG" trap and got discouraged for many months. Then I started at the beginning: Pong. Now I've been working my way up ever since, my current project is 3600 lines and will be a 3D platformer engine, something that would've been impossible a year ago for me. So now I'm lightyears ahead of where I was, and have been adding new features to the engine every day. I make very little or no visible progress from each day to the next, but persistance is what finishes games.

Quote: "Quote: "he probably thought you meant you thought"
NOO!! MY BRAIN IT EXPL"
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BearCDPOLD
21
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Joined: 16th Oct 2003
Location: AZ,USA
Posted: 20th Aug 2007 06:53
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The only game I can truly say I finished was a project for extra credit in chemistry that we had a week to do. The deadline really motivated the three of us that were working on it. The game sucked the big one, but it was finished and we got tons of points for it. I even posted it in program announcements. Start with really short, like one week (it worked for Jonathan Coulton), deadlines and then as your projects get more complex you can increase your deadlines and will learn to gauge your work pace.


I'm going to eat you!
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Chily Dog
20
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Joined: 6th Nov 2004
Location: U.S.A.
Posted: 20th Aug 2007 11:27 Edited at: 20th Aug 2007 11:28
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BearCDP, I had a similar thing with a java project in AP Comp Sci B. After the AP test, my teacher basically said you have the rest of the year to make something awesome in java and turn it in for a final grade Anyway, deadlines are a huge part in finishing a game, perhaps consider entering a compo, or work with a team...

I think there was a newsletter entry about setting deadlines and planning, I'll go dig it up...
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Van B
Moderator
22
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Joined: 8th Oct 2002
Location: Sunnyvale
Posted: 20th Aug 2007 11:50
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The only way to learn how to complete projects is to complete a project!

It's not a catch 22 situation, you just need to go through the trials of completing a game project, then it gets much easier. It's like when you loose code and your new code is twice as good as the old code. Try and keep focussed on 1 game idea, something that won't turn into a dredge - and something that you'll want to finish.

If all else fails, make a puzzle game! - something that doesn't really need an ending, or too much artwork, or level design. My first DB game was a snowboarding thing, randomly generated levels save a lot of work.

We're going down... in a spiral to the ground...
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Digital Awakening
AGK Developer
22
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Joined: 27th Aug 2002
Location: Sweden
Posted: 20th Aug 2007 12:25
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The big problem with finishing a game is that usually more then half of it is boring work. A prototype is usually the most fun because you start on what you are interested in and you see a lot of results fast. Then comes the work of "packaging" that core into all the other stuff a game requires and that you don't really have an interest in.

[center]
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Code Dragon
18
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Joined: 21st Aug 2006
Location: Everywhere
Posted: 20th Aug 2007 18:52
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I think making games gets more fun the closer they are to being finished. When you first start out the things you work on are just plain geometry and trigonometry and some File IO code, which is not very fun. But when you get to write the code for the game itself, you start seeing graphic results right away.

I have a tip for finishing 3D projects - program the sky as soon as you can. No feature can make a project look less like a program and more like a game faster than adding a sky.

Quote: "Quote: "he probably thought you meant you thought"
NOO!! MY BRAIN IT EXPL"
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Libervurto
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Joined: 30th Jun 2006
Location: On Toast
Posted: 20th Aug 2007 20:59
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I agree with DA that the start of the programming process is the most enjoyable. Whether it is still fun down the line relies heavily on how well you structure your code and how rounded and well-planned your ideas are.

I edited Pong to make Pongo! I made it because I had no sound effects to use in pong so I recorded myself making all the noises and even background music, sounds pretty dumb but it was actually hilarious

Your signature has been erased by a mod because it was rubbish.
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