HFBB Design, Part 2

July 16, 2006
40-Hour GamesGame DesignPlanitia
1 Comment

When you know more about what it is you like about these games specifically, then a design will start to form.
– Dave Shramek, in a previous comment

Actually, what I liked about those games were the little coherent computerized worlds that they presented. Just about all of these games had wonderful little touches that made them feel more real. Powermonger had the birds that would fly around – useless from a game perspective, but a wonderful little detail. In Syndicate Wars, you can have your agents jump in a car, which you can then drive around the street. You can even have them take the monorail if the city you’re in has one. And of course, there’s the fact that you can blow up every building in the city if you try hard enough.

And now that I’m thinking about this, I remember a short story I wrote in high school about a king who rules a fantasy world where everthing anyone ever roleplays in this world actually happens. The king has a magical miniature diorama of the entire world that he can use to watch as the various adventures unfold, and doing so is his favorite pastime. I think I might identify with the king just a bit 🙂

But that sounds more like a tech demo than a game, so I’m still thinking.

One thing I have come up with, though, is a title for…whatever it is. I’m calling it Planitia, which is the Latin word for “plain” (as in”grassland”, not “unattractive”).

HFBB Design, Part 1

July 14, 2006
40-Hour GamesPlanitia
4 Comments

So I need a game design based around a heightfield/billboard engine.

First, let’s be explicit. What do I mean by a heightfield/billboard engine?

I mean a base world defined by terrain, and that terrain defined by a heightfield. Other models may sit on top of this heightfield, but the heightfield is the “ground” of the world.

Units in this world will be done with billboarded sprites. A “billboarded” sprite is one that is actually rendered as a 3D object, but is always rotated so that it faces the player.

Lots and lots and lots of games have been made with this system, and some of them have been truly great, like…

Populous (It counts, although you couldn’t rotate the map):

Populous

Powermonger

Powermonger

Dungeon Keeper

Dungeon Keeper

Syndicate Wars

Syndicate Wars

Myth: The Fallen Lords and Myth II: Soulblighter

Myth: The Fallen Lords

You can see that this engine style lends itself to real-time games with strategic elements (although none of the above are “real-time strategy” games as that phrase is defined today).

I definitely want my game to be real-time. I want the player to have buildings and units. I want the game to be fantasy-themed or mythology-themed. I also want the player to be able to raise and lower terrain, and I want that to be an actual game mechanic. But I’m not sure if I want the player to be able to directly control units. And I’m not sure if I want resource gathering.

Standard real-time-strategy: The player has direct control over resource gathering, building creation, unit creation and unit direction.

Populous: There are no resources. The player has indirect control over building creation and unit creation, and unit direction.

Powermonger: Some resources can be gathered directly. Others simply control what you can build in each city. The player has indirect control over building and unit creation, direct control over special item creation, and direct control over his army (but not villagers).

Dungeon Keeper: The player has direct control over buildings, resource gathering and resource collecting units, but only indirect control over fighting unit creation and direction.

Syndicate: Syndicate is more of an action game than a real-time strategy game.

Myth: There are no resources. There are no buildings. The player has direct control over his units.

Notice that Powermonger and Dungeon Keeper are practically mirrors – in Powermonger, the player indirectly controls the creation of his army, but directly controls the army itself. In Dungeon Keeper, the player has more direct control over the creation of his army (though not total control) but has little control over the army itself (he can drop his monsters directly over the enemy, but if they don’t want to fight they’ll just walk away).

Hmmm…this is going to take some pondering.

The Dragon’s Lair

July 13, 2006
Cool PeopleGame DesignGame ProgrammingGames
2 Comments

This post on the Rampant Coyote’s blog got me thinking about the Bluth/Dyer games in general, all of which I loved despite their frustrating gameplay. So I typed “Dragon’s Lair” into YouTube.

Boy was I surprised.

All of that footage was cut from Dragon’s Lair (except the dragon fight at the end). The most intriguing to me were the scenes where there were several different possible exits from certain rooms. This footage got all the way through the animation process before being cut.

I think with that footage, a very good case can be made that Rick Dyer originally had a very different design in mind for Dragon’s Lair.

The Dragon’s Lair we got is a tightly linear game, where rooms are thrown at the player in random sequence and the player must memorize the moves necessary to beat them by rote. But the animated sequences that show Dirk leaving some scenes through alternate exits strongly suggest that the castle was originally designed to be coherent, not random. Which would have given the game an aspect of exploration and required the player to not only figure out the correct sequence of moves to get through each room, but also to figure out the best path through the castle to the dragon.

This, frankly, would have been fantastic and would have given the game much-needed depth. It also would have paved the way for future games to do the same. It’s a shame that the feature had to be cut.

Subversion

July 13, 2006
Game Programming
0 Comment

MainState.cpp: What the hell? I’m versioned! And properly backed up! And the backup is even off-site! It’s like he…he cares!

I mentioned in my Inaria postmortem that I was going to stop using my PDA for code storage/transport and set up a real Subversion server. I’d put it off because I figured I’d have to see if my web host supported it, learn how to telnet into the server, install the software, create the repository, install TortoiseSVN on my machine, and then see if it all worked.

But with me starting another new project, I figured it was time, so I went to the web configuration panel for my server space that DreamHost provides me to see if DreamHost supported Subversion servers.

Not only do they support them, but there was a button there to automatically set up an Subversion server in my web space. I clicked it, and now I have a Subversion server and all my files are properly source controlled now. I’m sure they sleep much better because of it.

MainState.cpp: Damn straight!

It has occured to me that I haven’t said enough good things about DreamHost on this site. DreamHost is fantastic. The number of problems I’ve had with them is zero. Every time I look to see if a particular feature is supported, the answer is yes. And nine times out of ten, they’ve already done the work of setting up that feature for me. I will definitely be renewing my service when it expires next year. (For the record, I have the Code Monster package.)

Good Lord…

July 12, 2006
40-Hour GamesStar Revolution
7 Comments

I posted a link to my last blogpost on the Gibbage Forums.

I have since learned not to ask Brit gamers if they want someone to make a Dungeon Keeper clone. Just assume that the answer is ‘yes’.

I think a Dungeon Keeper-style game will be a good way to break into 3D, and once its done the engine will be easily adaptable to more complex 3D games like Inaria 3D, so Dungeon Keeper in 40 hours is the winner!

Next Step

July 11, 2006
40-Hour GamesGame DesignGame ProgrammingGamesStar Revolution
5 Comments

Okay, time to figure out exactly what I’m going to do next. I feel that I’ve got three options:

1. Star Revolution Redux. Finish Star Revolution, but with fewer features. The ground combat will be cut because it will require the most resources. Trade and alien interaction would be abstracted to menus. Players would land on planets solely to mine them or capture lifeforms. The game would then feature space combat (based on the combat prototype I’ve already written), contact with alien races, mining and trading. The game probably won’t be 3D. This isn’t too bad, but it’s only about 50% of the game I wanted to make…

2. Inaria 3D. Ryan really wants this, and honestly, so do I. But Inaria 3D would have pretty much all the problems of my original design for Star Revolution. However, it might be possible to work something up using sprites from another 3D game like Final Fantasy Tactics. A possibility, but it’ll be hard.

3. I’ve had this irrational desire to make a game in the style of Dungeon Keeper. This could very well make a very good first 3D project because of the simplicity of the 3D involved – Dungeon Keeper was actually a 2D game that was simply presented in a 3D manner.

4. One of the other projects I was considering after Inaria got finished. From these I’d probably pick either the simple real-time strategy game or the simple Master of Orion-style game. These probably wouldn’t be 3D.

In any event, no matter what I pick, I am going to be limiting myself to 40 hours again. Why? Because that actually worked. By embracing that limitation, I actually made a game (a pretty crappy game, but a game).

So, thoughts?

Subconscious Weirdness

July 9, 2006
Game DesignGamesUncategorized
1 Comment

I just woke up from a nap.

Sometimes when I sleep I dream stuff very vividly. Sometimes I get really good ideas from those dreams. Heck, sometimes dreaming for me is like watching a movie – the dreams are that clear and that complete. I’ve gotten more than one story idea from my dreams.

While I napped, I dreamt about making a console game (specificially, a PS2 game). I was showing it to someone and we go to a boss fight. This was where I revealed my cleverness…the button pattern to beat the boss was:

X, Square, Circle (Pause) X, Square, Triangle, Circle. The final Triangle and Circle presses had to be done faster than the others.

I explained to whoever I was showing the game to that this was a subtle homage to Guitar Hero, as the timing and button presses were the same as in the song “Smoke on the Water” for that game, even going to far as to hum the classic baseline for that song while I pressed the buttons.

Now I’m awake and I can’t tell if this is a good idea or not!

Cliffski’s Podcast

July 9, 2006
Cool PeopleGame DesignGame ProgrammingGames
1 Comment

This is the best podcast I’ve heard in a while. It’s basically Cliff Harris talking about his work in the game development business and how he went indie.

As I listened to the podcast I took some notes, which I am posting below. These are kind of stream-of-consciousness and may not make much sense unless you listen to the podcast (which you should!) I’m basically just posting them because…well, I wrote them and I don’t want to lose them.

Yes, we got the ZX-81 here in the States; it was sold as the Timex Sinclair 1000.

Yes, we had Astrosmash here in the States! It was created here, for crying out loud, for the Intellivision!

Interesting that Cliffski calls Asteroids “the default game” that most people write first…I remember reading an article from Andre Lamothe where he says that whenever he has to learn a new game development API the first thing he does is write Asteroids in it.

I firmly believe that all the best game developers are completely self-taught. I believe this because it means that one day, I might be one of the best game developers!

Evil Genius came so, so close. It was almost a great game, it just lacked…something.

“Take the mickey out”? Good grief, you Brits and your language constructions…

Ah, the parallels continue…I was terrified on my first day at Multimedia Games (my first real programming job). Heck, that lasted for the first few months. If it hadn’t been for my friend Brendan Segraves I would never have made it. I remember when I sent my first game to test, Brendan said “Congratulations! You’re a game programmer now.” That was really nice of him and I’ll never forget it.

And this is why finishing stuff looks so damn good on the resume. You can have a PhD in applied artificial intelligence, but that does not mean you know how to make a complete game. The only thing that proves that you know how to make a complete game is having made a complete game yourself. Cliffksi was probably a more competent overall game developer than any of those guys with their fancy college learnin’, and here he actually felt unworthy to work with them! (See “the best game developers are self-taught”, above.)

“I learned what the hell source control was and I learned what the hell a debugger was” == me collapsed in paroxysms of laughter. I didn’t learn what a debugger was until my first job either.

At Gizmondo, we played poker, darts, foosball, Heroclix and Magic as well as computer games. Cliffski’s right…the environment and attitude at a proper game company is just awesome. It’s almost like belonging to a club instead of working at a company.

Yep, failure hurts. But it makes you savvy, and it’s hard to become savvy without failure, so the best thing is to simply consider it part of the process.

Well, Star Revolution looks like it’s going to turn into a fantasy combat game, so I know all about games not turning out the way you plan at the start 🙂

The Dexterity forums! I miss them; yes, IndieGamer forums are the proper successor, but the tone seems different there…

“The whole of game development is full of code hackers who do everything their way” – true. This is a natural side effect of “the best game developers are self-taught”, and Cliffski’s right – you need to read Code Complete and Effective C++ and take what they say to heart, even though it will probably be completely different from how you taught yourself to program.

Cliffski’s dancing around what he really wants to say about Lionhead…it’s unfortunate to have a story to tell and not be able to tell it.

“Terribly badly paid”? What fool wouldn’t pay his game developers properly?

Ah. I guess Peter likes to have lots of low-paid, low-skill developers instead of a small team of highly-paid, highly-skilled experts. That’s…well, completely wrong.

Wow, the parallels between Lionhead and Origin are scary…both companies had initial success, grew too fast, got overextended and then had to be bought out (Origin by EA, Lionhead by Microsoft). All that is left to the Lionhead story is the inevitable dissolution of the company.

Recruited by Maxis. Wow. And it turns out they picked him because of one of his very early games, Starlines…which has been my experience as well. You honestly never know which thing you’ve done is going to get your next job 🙂

He’s definitely got his wheel spun up, which is fantastic. He’s making the games he wants to make, he’s already got companies courting him, so if he starts having trouble making ends meet as an indie he’ll have no trouble finding another industry job…perhaps with a company that isn’t going to fold next year.

“You have to be shameless and creative about promoting your game.” Absolutely true, and it’s why I’ll probably never be humongous because…well, I just don’t feel that my games are worthy of such self-promotion 🙂 This is something Dan “Gibbage” Marshall also obviously understands.

Ah, Guildford…birthplace of Bullfrog. God, I miss Bullfrog. We were supposed to get a third Dungeon Keeper. And a third Syndicate.

Yep, design is hard when you don’t have an existing design to copy. That’s why there are so few truly new game designs.

1. You must learn proper software development and stop hacking everything.
2. You must become a good self-promoter. You must be willing to spend as much time on supporting and marketing your current games as you do making new stuff.

Well, starting a company is a HELL of a lot easier in the US than the UK…

Dissolution of…Me, I Guess

July 6, 2006
GamesPTFSDStar RevolutionUncategorized
9 Comments

Sorry about the lack of posts. We’re crunching at Aspyr as we move towards our first playable.

And I’m back on caffeine. Which means my diet is kaput. My energy level was just too low without caffeine to survive a crunch. And that low energy level is also why I haven’t been posting, and why I haven’t touched Star Revolution since I posted the combat demo.

Star Revolution is supposed to be done by the end of July. That simply is no longer possible, if it ever was in the first place. Star Revolution was a mistake; it’s just too big for me to do by myself. I am abandoning it (temporarily; I do want to make this game eventually).

Which means I need a new project. Something I can do on my own while surrounded by screaming children, which means something closer to the original Inaria in scope.

Any suggestions?

PTFSD, July 3, 2006

July 3, 2006
PTFSDUncategorized
0 Comment

Weight: 349.5

Grade: B. I only exercised twice last week, but I did manage to get through the week drinking only water. I think I might be pushing it a bit…I’m still feeling the effects of the lack of caffeine (and sugar calories), and last time I was completely over that before I started exercising.

So I think I’ll actually back off for this week. If I push too hard, I’ll have a really bad week and then I’ll be tempted to just quit. So my goal this week is to drink only water.