Castle Paradox Forum Index Castle Paradox

 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 
 Gamelist   Review List   Song List   All Journals   Site Stats   Search Gamelist   IRC Chat Room

Where is everyone?
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Castle Paradox Forum Index -> The Soapbox
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
TMC
On the Verge of Insanity




Joined: 05 Apr 2003
Posts: 3240
Location: Matakana

PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 4:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ah, so RMN is the website I was trying to think of which listed some OHRRPCE games; with a name like that I assumed it for was RPG Maker games.

TIGsource is way too active for me as well. And I very quickly stopped going to the TIGsource IRC channel: it was too busy to hold a conversation. There was an alternative less frequented IRC channel just for development, where IIRC Rinku and Hawk could be found, but that one died.

Maybe have a look for communities dedicated to strategy games or strategy game development; they're likely to be smaller.

----

Graphcs and concept for Sunset Over Lievnos look really nice! I'm quite fond of province-management strategy games. I don't have an iPad however. Will it be iPad exclusive?
_________________
"It is so great it is insanely great."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Rya.Reisender
Snippy




Joined: 18 Jan 2008
Posts: 821

PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 3:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey that title totally reminds me of: http://rpgmaker.net/articles/727/

Okay, a lot to say here...

First of all TIGSource. The trick about TIGSource is to not try to get an overview on the forums at all. Get your game to a presentable level and once your first questions come up, make your own thread presenting the game and asking the questions that came up. Then only concentrate on the replies in your very own thread.

RMN isn't actually much smaller than TIGSource but the difference is that most of the discussions are inside the game projects and forums are only for general design discussions mostly. If you want feedback on your game you don't post about it on forums, you will create a game page and maybe a demo download and the feedback will come in automatically. If you want general ideas on game design check forums, it's much easier to find than on TIGSource.

But!

If you really just want some feedback without doing much publicity, you should rather get 1-2 game designers to help you. I've helped quite a few people beforehand already, just with advice and suggestions and it wasn't really too much work (except when I had to playtest stuff, playing through the same game a hundred times can get tedious). Answering questions and thinking of solutions to smaller problems isn't what makes me feel like I should demand money for it, it's something I enjoy doing. And unlike artists and composers where the demand is much higher than the offer, I think there are plenty of game designer that actually want to express their ideas but are too lazy to make a game themselves.

Honestly you could even just ask here. Even though the forums are inactive, you will still get feedback (at least from me).

Third option - since you already have a website, might as well just do it via your blog. Maybe just post on TIGSource about the game you're making with a link to your blog so you get a bunch of people actually interested and then proceed to present parts of the game via the blog and check the replies.

Quote:
So what are you guys working on anyway? Are you guys coders? Artists? Hobbyist?

I'd consider myself a game designer mostly. I'm constantly creating game designs of games. Try to improve existing concepts and so on.

It's actually all games I'd like to make, but I really can't because my motivation isn't high enough to do everything myself (I really hate doing graphics and writing dialogues), but I also don't trust that other people are good enough to make something that I'm satisfied with.
So in the end I have to admit that me doing finished games probably won't happen and I just create better and better game designs that will never be turned into games most likely.

But as stated before, I still found my fulfillment in helping out other with their games. I can't really just give someone a fully worked out concept of a game and tell him "do it!", but what I can do is finding game developers interested in advice, trying their games and reworking the game concept based on their game (this is really only the start, once you get connections you don't really have to try games anymore, developers will come to you and explain a concept and ask you if you think it'll work out).

Apart from game design there's another thing I really like and that is what you could call "balancing". On the one hand of course first thinking of a leveling and battle system, but further than that, also set the stats of the heroes for each level, setting the stats of the monsters, defining the skills and how much damage each skill does, etc.
I really like doing that. I even have some game concepts fully entered into the OHRRPGCE, all heroes, monsters, attacks done, but no graphics, maps or text boxes at all. =p
_________________
Snippy:
"curt or sharp, esp. in a condescending way" (Oxford American Dictionary)
"fault-finding, snappish, sharp" (Concise Oxford Dictionary, UK)
1. short-tempered, snappish, 2. unduly brief or curt (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message MSN Messenger
Crown




Joined: 30 Oct 2008
Posts: 30

PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 10:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have never heard of Sunset Over Imdahl! My partner and I struggled for hours to try to come up with a unique name! Doh! Lol Oh well! The art style in that game looks pretty cool though.

Sunset Over Lievnos is inspired by games like Gemfire and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. I love those games and KOEI hasn't released one in a very long time so I thought I would create my take on it. If you haven't played any of those games its basically a turn-based strategy game where you assign characters to tasks in order to improve the stats of that current province. Each province you own has different characters stationed there and you have a turn for each province. As you improve the economy and agriculture etc, you gain more money and food which allow you to fight and take over other provinces. My game differs from the above in its focus on characters and story. While Gemfire and ROTTK basically gave no information about the characters, my characters all have backstories and needs. You can learn about the characters and then you try to win over their favour by making them specific offers in hopes that they join your side. Then you have more officers to assign to tasks. Gemfire and Romance also have tactical combat, which my current version forgoes. Battles are simulated based on how many soldiers you attack with, the war abilities of the officers you send in, the army training level, and the level of fortification of the province being attacked. A battle system would basicaly double the effort the game would take to create so I'm keeping it simple for now. Furthermore, there is a segment of gamers who like managing but don't want tactical combat. Perhaps a sequel could have a battle system, but we'll see. That's the long and short of it.

Do you guys have a blog or screens/designs for projects you're working on?

Do any of you have iPads? Its not quite at that stage yet, but it would be great to get some feedback on my game. Right now it is iPad exclusive only because I can only do one thing at a time. I have had lots of people request the game on other platforms though, so I may port it over once the game is done for iPad. If anyone is up for it, I would love some feedback on other elements like graphics, layout, design choices and even story if anyone wants to hear it as it comes up in the creation process.

That's a good strategy, just housing your own thread on the bigger sites and only paying attention to that. I'll have to do that once my game is a little further along.

I have done some rudimentary searches on google and haven't been able to find any strategy game dev forums anywhere. I'll have to dig a bit deeper.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Bob the Hamster
OHRRPGCE Developer




Joined: 22 Feb 2003
Posts: 2526
Location: Hamster Republic (Southern California Enclave)

PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 10:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Crown wrote:
I have never heard of Sunset Over Imdahl! My partner and I struggled for hours to try to come up with a unique name! Doh! Lol Oh well! The art style in that game looks pretty cool though.


The "Sunset Over" prefix seems too generic to be a trademark problem, so you are probably okay. "Lievnos" is clearly the important part.

Crown wrote:
...if you haven't played any of those games its basically a turn-based strategy game where you assign characters to tasks in order to improve the stats of that current province. Each province you own has different characters stationed there and you have a turn for each province. As you improve the economy and agriculture etc, you gain more money and food which allow you to fight and take over other provinces. My game differs from the above in its focus on characters and story. ...


Sounds cool! I have never played either of the two inspiration-games, but it sounds interesting, especially the emphasis on story and character. Do you have any writing experience, like short stories, or any such thing?

Crown wrote:

Do you guys have a blog or screens/designs for projects you're working on?


I have this: http://hamsterrepublic.com/bobdirt/ unfortunately my Windows and Mac playtesting builds are both rather broken. I have been focusing on Android and iOS mainly.

Crown wrote:

Do any of you have iPads? Its not quite at that stage yet, but it would be great to get some feedback on my game. Right now it is iPad exclusive only because I can only do one thing at a time. I have had lots of people request the game on other platforms though, so I may port it over once the game is done for iPad. If anyone is up for it, I would love some feedback on other elements like graphics, layout, design choices and even story if anyone wants to hear it as it comes up in the creation process.


I do have an iPad. I am pretty busy right now, but maybe when you are ready for playtesters I will be able to give it a try?

Did you say you were working on ObjectC? That will make portability more challenging later, unfortunately.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Crown




Joined: 30 Oct 2008
Posts: 30

PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 12:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't have a lot of writing experience in terms of published works but I am a competent writer. The best thing is though, I used to work in a library and I have a whole slew of friends who have English degrees and who do lots of writing and editing. I'm working on the story right now still but we hope to be able to release a PDF short-story that acts as a prequel and sets up the context of the game. Of course, it's entirely an optional read but I think some players will find it interesting to explore the world a bit more.

I checked your blog out and it looks like you have done quite a bit of work already! I enjoyed the WIP videos, it's always interesting to see other people's workflow. It looks like a pretty interesting puzzle game you're working on too! Do you have a time frame for release?

Yeah, porting could be a bit tricky. I'm kind of thinking ahead a bit though and I'm not using some of the Objective C design philosophies or tricks. For example, even though I could, I don't send messages to objects that could be nil, I'll do a check for nil and branch. These kinds of things should make porting a bit easier. How are you handling working on two platforms at once? [/i]
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Bob the Hamster
OHRRPGCE Developer




Joined: 22 Feb 2003
Posts: 2526
Location: Hamster Republic (Southern California Enclave)

PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 1:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Crown wrote:
I don't have a lot of writing experience in terms of published works but I am a competent writer. The best thing is though, I used to work in a library and I have a whole slew of friends who have English degrees and who do lots of writing and editing. I'm working on the story right now still but we hope to be able to release a PDF short-story that acts as a prequel and sets up the context of the game. Of course, it's entirely an optional read but I think some players will find it interesting to explore the world a bit more.


This is a good idea.

Crown wrote:
I checked your blog out and it looks like you have done quite a bit of work already! I enjoyed the WIP videos, it's always interesting to see other people's workflow. It looks like a pretty interesting puzzle game you're working on too! Do you have a time frame for release?


When I first started, over 9 months ago, I figured I could finish in a few weeks. Hahaha! But I am creeping closer to completion. Hopefully I will release before the end of the year.

Crown wrote:
Yeah, porting could be a bit tricky. I'm kind of thinking ahead a bit though and I'm not using some of the Objective C design philosophies or tricks. For example, even though I could, I don't send messages to objects that could be nil, I'll do a check for nil and branch. These kinds of things should make porting a bit easier. How are you handling working on two platforms at once? [/i]


Interesting.

I am working in Python using the Kivy framework. It is designed to be cross-platform, so the exact same codebase can run on both Android and iOS without any changes.

The downside to this approach is that I do have to be careful about performance. If I am careless about how I write my code, sometimes things are too slow, and then I have to spend time profiling and optimizing.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Rya.Reisender
Snippy




Joined: 18 Jan 2008
Posts: 821

PostPosted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 3:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

People here either don't have blogs or never update them.

Harlock for example has a blog: http://www.crithit.org/satori99/

First post: Febuary 25th 2012
Second post: April 30th 2012 (he promises that from now on there will be weekly blog entries)
Third post: August 8th 2012 (months later, he apologizes that there weren't any weekly updates)
No post after that. ;-)

(Not to mention that he said he wants me to help out with another game he is working on, but is completely ignoring my mails and ICQ messages. Oookay...)


There are plenty of good indie developers that actually have blogs and update them frequently, though.

For example Vision Riders: http://www.visionriders.com/blog/

Or that girl/guy that did one of my favorite RPG Maker games of all times Star Stealing Prince: http://ronoveofthestars.wordpress.com/

The guy who did Eden Eternal even has three blogs:
http://www.blossomsoft.com/gamedevs/
http://www.blossomsoft.com/elderprince/
http://www.blossomsoft.com/gamezopher/

But the best blog is the one from the group that works on Secret of Grindea: http://www.secretsofgrindea.com/index.php/dev-blog
That blog is awesome! He already did 86 weekly recaps and never forgot it! And it always has so much interesting information and nice screenshots of new art.


Plus then there is the dark side of development: The completely lunatic game developers that are not only completely crazy, but also make the best games ever, their blogs are dark, unreadable, confusing and don't help anyone, yet you know they will make great games.

Blog of "sevenee" who is working "Radio The Universe" one of the most successful crowdfunding games: http://sixesixesixe.tumblr.com/
But since his Kickstarter success he only posts updates on Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1548272412/radio-the-universe-0/comments

Though the most disturbing blog is probably moga's: http://moga.tumblr.com/ (NSFW! - also if you can't take gore better not click on that link either)
_________________
Snippy:
"curt or sharp, esp. in a condescending way" (Oxford American Dictionary)
"fault-finding, snappish, sharp" (Concise Oxford Dictionary, UK)
1. short-tempered, snappish, 2. unduly brief or curt (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message MSN Messenger
Rya.Reisender
Snippy




Joined: 18 Jan 2008
Posts: 821

PostPosted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 2:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Look what I found: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1773362365/sunset-over-lievnos-turn-based-grand-strategy-game
_________________
Snippy:
"curt or sharp, esp. in a condescending way" (Oxford American Dictionary)
"fault-finding, snappish, sharp" (Concise Oxford Dictionary, UK)
1. short-tempered, snappish, 2. unduly brief or curt (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message MSN Messenger
TMC
On the Verge of Insanity




Joined: 05 Apr 2003
Posts: 3240
Location: Matakana

PostPosted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 10:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ah, cool!

If Crown ever created a thread about the game on any forum aside from this one, I can't find it.
_________________
"It is so great it is insanely great."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Rya.Reisender
Snippy




Joined: 18 Jan 2008
Posts: 821

PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 1:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

He's pretty secretish about it. He would probably get a lot more pledges if he posted in more communities about it.
_________________
Snippy:
"curt or sharp, esp. in a condescending way" (Oxford American Dictionary)
"fault-finding, snappish, sharp" (Concise Oxford Dictionary, UK)
1. short-tempered, snappish, 2. unduly brief or curt (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message MSN Messenger
Crown




Joined: 30 Oct 2008
Posts: 30

PostPosted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 11:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for digging that up guys! Yes, the Kickstarter campaign is up! I have been spending a lot of time trying to promote it and I have been posting about it all over, but its pretty difficult to get people's attention. A lot of people frown on shameless plugs for help and a lot of forums have policies against posting about a project if you aren't a part of their community. I have a forum on my website to discuss it (www.crownnation.com) but I haven't got really many people showing up there. I have received quite a bit of positive feedback about the project in general though, I just need to get the word out there.

Do you guys have any ideas? I'm sure welcome hearing them!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Bob the Hamster
OHRRPGCE Developer




Joined: 22 Feb 2003
Posts: 2526
Location: Hamster Republic (Southern California Enclave)

PostPosted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 11:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

There was a tiny bit of the kickstarter video that had the camera over the table with the paints set out and the artists hands working on the character graphics.

I absolutely love that sort of thing, and would watch with interest if there was a video of the whole process of drawing/painting one or more faces. You don't even have to say anything, just play some music in the background.

Since the artwork is an important aspect of the game's appeal, I think it is a good thing to play up. You might attract some support for people who like what you are doing from an artistic perspective, even if they aren't gamers.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Crown




Joined: 30 Oct 2008
Posts: 30

PostPosted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 12:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Bob, that was a clip from a video we created of Erika doing a character portrait from beginning to end. Its on the website for the game, www.sunsetoverlievnos.com, I think its like the 3rd post down. Take a look and let me know what you think and if you have any ideas for what else you would like to see.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Bob the Hamster
OHRRPGCE Developer




Joined: 22 Feb 2003
Posts: 2526
Location: Hamster Republic (Southern California Enclave)

PostPosted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 1:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ah, yes! Just what I was hoping for! It looks like you are a step ahead of me.

Suggestions in case you do another of those (and I hope you do!)

1) Turn the camera up-side-down if you can. I turned my laptop screen upside-down, and it looked better that way.

2) Zoom in more on the work area. Obviously you can't zoom in all the way, because she has to move the paper occasionally, but the more you can zoom in the better. Being able to see the table and the working supplies was nice, but maybe just start zoomed out, then zoom in after a minute and stay close-in until the end and then zoom back out.

I love the idea of the support level where one can get their own likeness (or family member's) in the game. I totally wish I could afford that :) Unfortunately my game budget is pretty well frozen lately :P
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Crown




Joined: 30 Oct 2008
Posts: 30

PostPosted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 1:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Those are good ideas. I'll definitely try to see if we can do another video with those suggestions.

What do you think of the price points for the rewards? Do you think they are in line with what you have seen in other Kickstarter projects?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Castle Paradox Forum Index -> The Soapbox All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
Page 2 of 3

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group