Project tips for an old timer!

[$t3v0]

Hi guys,

I've been meaning to ask a few questions on here for a while now, but never got round to doing so. So, here it goes ...

Basically, I've always wanted to make my own walk and shoot, zombie style game based around my local area just for a bit of fun. My cousin managed to create an entire sound library back in 2008 to which I was meant to build on graphically but I never managed to find the time. We're always talking about it when we do see each other on the odd occassion, and I feel I have my life settled enough to dedicate the time into making our ideas a reality.

The idea I've always had for the game was using complete custom tiles but in a different sense. Instead of the tiles being repeated objects like you find so often in the RTP, I'd like them to be panoramic and drawn (by myself) to which I then create passabilities and do it that way. I guess a little similar to how Monkey Island did it (except mine will be more like how your standard RTP game functions with a lot more space to move around), but I'm not sure if that's the case:

With this style, I have a sort of ABS Shooting system which I downloaded a long, long time ago and it seems fine. But I should also ask if there's a more up-to-date system going around now as I've not really been on the scene for a while and I've lost touch with what's what.

I guess this is enough to read through and give you an idea of the route I'd like to take. I didn't want to overload you with info and make you click the back button too early.

Any advice on the best methods for everything above would be much appreciated!

Cheers! :cheers:

 

[Brewmeister]

$t3v0, nice to see you around.

I love the art!

If that's representative of a typical map, my first suggestion would be to look at another system besides RMXP/VX.
Unless you'd really rather not learn a new system. It's do-able in XP, but you'll spend a bunch of time fine tuning your tilesets & layers.

I haven't seen anything new as far as ABS' go. The most popular are still Gubids (GTBS) and Mog's (XAS). Have to dig around elsewhere, or make due with the one you have.
IF the one you have is close to what you want, and you want some tweaks to it, I'd happily take a stab at it.

It's a great idea. Like many of the other great ideas, it's only a great game if you can finish it!

Best of luck with it.

Be Well

 

[BlueScope]

Haven't thought we'd see you again over here, Stevo... but it's a good thing we do IMO :p (especially on the "finishing a game" aspect, which strangely I think the returners are more capeable of... I dunno).

I'm with Brew on switching to another platform, mainly for the reason that there's NO feature from RMVXP you actually need to use apparently... from personal experience, I can recommend Gosu, which would make the thing both fun (for a scripter ^^ dunno if you're into that) and a bunch more professional in several matters (personally, RMVXP's all-around-ness always bugged me... with Gosu, you have just the files you want, and you have them any way you want, without stupid unnecessary stuff laying around noone needs... nevermind an appearance you decide on when you ship it. (plus Julian would probably be happy about another user :p )

As for your tile system, it's quite interesting IMO, and I wonder why I never thought of it :p The question is if for a graphic adventure, you wouldn't be better off with drawn backgrounds, as you'd want to avoid too many equal tiles to enhance recognizeability of the areas (of course you don't need that for a shooter, however those always seemed more awesome to me than the "repeating levels" kind, if you get me). However that doesn't mean you can't do it this way and use the system smartly. However as Brew said, you'll have some problems doing this properly on RMVXP, because even if you manage to script it (which wouldn't be too complicated actually, but mostly inefficient), you'd have to work with a 32x32 grid, aka limiting your possibilities big time.

I guess we'd talk about a battle system once all that is sorted out ^^ I'd suggest you making one from scratch anyway, as you'll never find a system that suits you, and adjusting often means living with trade-offs, unless you spend so much time on it where you could just as well do it yourself from the begin with.

I hope you'll be finding any use in these informations, and you'll be able to make an awesome project ^^ I'm looking forward to it.

 

[bacon]

Im going to jump on the band-wagon here and say to definately shoot for a different maker. If you aren't making an RPG, dont use RPG Maker. While you are capable of doing it, there are far better programs that are easier. It would be more a hassle than anything else.

I wont rant to about art or programming, Im going to rant about gameplay mechanics. Making a simple 2-D gun game will result in a bogged down game. Im not saying dont make an 2-d gun game, because I do believe it is possible to achieve this. But, do not treat this as a 3-D game. Many Indie developers think that by making a simple gun game with multiple diverse weapons and a decent zombie story will land them fame and fortune. Remember, with 2-D games, you cannot use things such as aim of different body parts, view switching, and other things only a 3-D can achieve. What you need is a gambit, something to freshen up the experience. I see a lot of 2-D gun games, but what makes your game different from theirs. You need the "oomph", if you dont already have it of course Im speaking ignorantly and hypothetical. But having a character trodding down the city shooting zombies wont make your game memorable. You need another element, something that makes your game significantly different and unique. What this may be, your call. You can maybe make the game more about stealth and instead of blowing off zombies heads with shot-guns, instead you have a few memorable kills through the crafting of traps and the use of a trusty hand-knife. You can maybe instead do something like dead rising only without the use of any machine-related items at all. Maybe instead of the objective of killing zombies, you have to carefully weaken and trap them to be used for experiments in order to figure out a cure. I dont know to be quite honest, these arent ery well-thought out examples. But I dont want you to fall under the tradition of making a 2-D gun game where the only features are more guns and killing loads of zombies. Be classy. Be original.

 

[BlueScope]

I'm going to disagree with bacon here... also: Yay game design discussion (haven't had that in a while on .org)

Making a game different from the generic bunch is important for most games definately, we don't need to argue about that. The part I'd like to correct is the one that says include stuff like crafting or the like. I've played so many games where I just wanted to skip all the mumbo-jumbo around and just play the game, which seems to be a primary feature for a fast-paced (or so I imagine) game.
That still leaves the what-to-do part open... I'm personally assuming stevo's got something of his own there already or at least doesn't need support at this point, so I'm not gonna go all out on ideas at this point. I do want to state that it's very well possible to create a distinct feature that's totally independent from number of dimensions, for example. Take Zombiegrinder 60000 as an example (play it before you read on if you haven't - it's a free flash game) - the gameplay is highly involved with the music in terms of pace and "feeling the action", while the core gameplay elements don't involve more than the generic 90's run-and-gun game of, well, running and gunning. Admittedly, there's the possibility of headshotting the zombies for more points, however it'd have the same effect without it (and also negates the 'not possible to aim for body parts' thesis :p ).

All in all, I think you're better off with 2D here, and knowing you, you'll make it somehow uniquely interesting anyway

 

[bacon]

Yeah I see where you are coming from, I agree with you part way but I also think this has to do with taste as well, on both of our parts. The examples I gave werent very good, I was just stating them to give an opinion. Plus anyways, like I said I was and am speaking ignorantly. I guess it is really what kind of game he is trying to create that matters, my examples were more slow-paced ideas but i am sure you could think of some fast-paced ideas as well. For all I know Stevo could be making a fast-paced street fighter like game. I wasnt trying to limit the idea of you have to make a slow-paced to make a good 2-D game, its just my thoughts on how I would approach it but we all approach it differently.

I never said that he wasnt better off with 2-D. I was just saying that you have to make up for the depth that 3-D games present such as ain (when i mean aim i mean i can shoot a leg off and an arm off). I just dont want this to turn into a typical project. It looks rather decent.

 

[BlueScope]

Don't get me wrong here, the last thing I meant to imply was that there's a right and a wrong attempt. All I wanted to point out is that there's lots of opportunity in all directions, and that falling in the "mass of features" trap is rarely the right way in terms of good game design (while it mostly is the most successful in economical terms, it seems).

As a side note on 'dispatching arms and legs' (which I'm commenting on because it is a distinct attribute of most zombie media): If it's planned to have health for zombies (aka not one-hit-kill based), falling-off body parts could symbolize the health amount of zombies, aka a health meter without an actual graphic element for itself. Very handy in terms of player guidance!
(While that doesn'T allow you for aiming and shooting at certain parts, it certainly leaves the impression)


And for making things clear - is the above image really meant to be footage of the game in question? It looks like Monkey Island to me, and right now, I can't really imagine a MI-themed Zombie shooter...

 

[Pokémaniac]

And for making things clear - is the above image really meant to be footage of the game in question? It looks like Monkey Island to me, and right now, I can't really imagine a MI-themed Zombie shooter...

He was using it as a reference for the style he's going for. That is definitely Monkey Island(although it didn't look that nice when I was playing it o_o)