I''m trying to write an RPG. It''s my first big project, but I think I can do it. Besides, it''s the only genre (besides fighting) that I really enjoy playing, so why should I try to write anything I don''t want to play. I''m doing all the programming myself (at least for the time being) and I''m going to try to get a friend to do the art. The trouble is, I''m having problems getting started. I''m not very good with graphics, and although I''m not doing anything fancy, I need some sort of graphics engine to get started. I started with a short graphics demo but I''m having trouble getting any further.
More on this story when it exists
Failed Projects - A Discussion
I think a common difficulty is that team members who don''t see each other in real life don''t have opportunities to nag each other and give each other pep talks, two of the major things that motivate people to work at a task.
I think that one of the major reasons why projects fail is because of disunity -- I don''t know if that''s the correct spelling or an actual word, but you get the point.
A team usually forms only on the premises that they want to make a game. They don''t really know what type of game exactly (maybe only a genre description, if that), and fail to agree on what their focus will be. A focus has to be decided upon as early as possible even if it means somebody won''t like it. It''s better to have everyone on the team agree and just lose a couple of members in the beginning rather than drag on jumping from one direction to another. Any type of focus/direction planning that takes longer than a week will probably inevitably spell out the doom for the team, since a lack of indecision will lower the moral of the team and eventually people will just stop being interested and not do anything anymore.
Just my 2.314159 cents.
RCode
A team usually forms only on the premises that they want to make a game. They don''t really know what type of game exactly (maybe only a genre description, if that), and fail to agree on what their focus will be. A focus has to be decided upon as early as possible even if it means somebody won''t like it. It''s better to have everyone on the team agree and just lose a couple of members in the beginning rather than drag on jumping from one direction to another. Any type of focus/direction planning that takes longer than a week will probably inevitably spell out the doom for the team, since a lack of indecision will lower the moral of the team and eventually people will just stop being interested and not do anything anymore.
Just my 2.314159 cents.
RCode
I''m not in as much of a position to say anything about this since I have next to no experience working with teams (my current project has one other person, a composer -- all my other games were basic, solo efforts), but I think sunandshadow is right about people working over the Internet. It goes a little further than that too, because Internet teams are usually made up of people who didn''t know each other at all before the project started. And how well can you really get to know someone without meeting in person? You can, but it takes much longer. You can only read into a person''s written words so much, you know? I have met a lot of people online, but there are only a couple that I would be willing to undertake a large project with -- and all of those people I have ''known'' for years.
When you find someone for your team over the Internet, it''s hard to judge what kind of person he/she is. And especially around here where most of us have yet to complete a big project, you can''t really go by a person''s track record. So where does that leave you? I''m not sure. After my current project is finished, I have a great idea that I''d like to try to implement, but it will take considerably more effort than my current project, and I know I can''t handle it alone. I''m not sure where I will try to find a team. Ideally I''d like to find some people I can actually meet in person to work with, but I don''t know a single person IRL who shares my passion for game development. What to do?...
-Ironblayde
Aeon Software
The following sentence is true.
The preceding sentence is false.
When you find someone for your team over the Internet, it''s hard to judge what kind of person he/she is. And especially around here where most of us have yet to complete a big project, you can''t really go by a person''s track record. So where does that leave you? I''m not sure. After my current project is finished, I have a great idea that I''d like to try to implement, but it will take considerably more effort than my current project, and I know I can''t handle it alone. I''m not sure where I will try to find a team. Ideally I''d like to find some people I can actually meet in person to work with, but I don''t know a single person IRL who shares my passion for game development. What to do?...
-Ironblayde
Aeon Software
The following sentence is true.
The preceding sentence is false.
Ironblayde: im in the same position as you
im working on a solo project, but i want to start something bigger after i''ve done this, and i''d like to be involved in a team project
its hard when you cant find anyone IRL to work with.
i think if you want to work on large projects, you do need a team.
there are already heaps of teams out there, but you never know what you''ll get if you just join a team. it might be a group of dedicated game developers, or it could be a couple of people who dont know anything and are just trying to make games
the other option is to start your own team, but finding people is so hard these days.
anyway, either way, theres nothing really to lose, just experience to gain
im working on a solo project, but i want to start something bigger after i''ve done this, and i''d like to be involved in a team project
its hard when you cant find anyone IRL to work with.
i think if you want to work on large projects, you do need a team.
there are already heaps of teams out there, but you never know what you''ll get if you just join a team. it might be a group of dedicated game developers, or it could be a couple of people who dont know anything and are just trying to make games
the other option is to start your own team, but finding people is so hard these days.
anyway, either way, theres nothing really to lose, just experience to gain
I am in a strange situation...but possibly familure to some of you...
I have been working solo on a 2D Final Fantasy style RPG...this is my first attempt at something this large, I have made about a dozen smaller games [pong, tetris, and even a space shooter like R-Type]...and even experimented with 3D...so I do have some "experience"...maybe just the bare minimum to accomplish my current project...but I feel up to the challange...
Anyhow I was disscussing this with another person at work some time ago, when I found out that he was part of a team developing a game...On his invitation I met up with the team during a meeting [physical, real world teams, seem rare anymore]...I showed them the stuff I had done, etc...and they asked me to join the team...so far so good [at that point I still just wanted to work on my game...but thought that the team experience would help, as I had never been a part of of such]...but these guys want to make a massivly multi-player RPG...gulp!...I tell them that I''m really just an old DOS C coder, who is still comeing to grips with Windows and DirectX, so networked games are more than a bit beyond my reach...
They then dropped the bomb...They laid out their "vision" for the game...full 3D world, charactor graphics change with equiped items, real time voice communication, day/night and seasonal changes done in real time [1 real hour = 1 game hour], combat basied off of the AD&D rules...and haveing me, being a C coder, handle the client side...while the team leader [whom I later found out was the only other coder in the group] handles the server side in Perl...Obviously the team is out of thier league [and they only seem to understand "user interface" not gameplay]...but these guys, together, run a web site development company...so they may have some worth while skills...anyhow I have been trying to get them to realize that, right now, thier game will be impossible to make, and they [we] should start out much smaller...but so far, they don''t seem to care as they feel they are hearing that from a guy who only made a couple of pong and tetris games
so should I stay? continue trying to get them to be more realistic? Or drop them?
I have been working solo on a 2D Final Fantasy style RPG...this is my first attempt at something this large, I have made about a dozen smaller games [pong, tetris, and even a space shooter like R-Type]...and even experimented with 3D...so I do have some "experience"...maybe just the bare minimum to accomplish my current project...but I feel up to the challange...
Anyhow I was disscussing this with another person at work some time ago, when I found out that he was part of a team developing a game...On his invitation I met up with the team during a meeting [physical, real world teams, seem rare anymore]...I showed them the stuff I had done, etc...and they asked me to join the team...so far so good [at that point I still just wanted to work on my game...but thought that the team experience would help, as I had never been a part of of such]...but these guys want to make a massivly multi-player RPG...gulp!...I tell them that I''m really just an old DOS C coder, who is still comeing to grips with Windows and DirectX, so networked games are more than a bit beyond my reach...
They then dropped the bomb...They laid out their "vision" for the game...full 3D world, charactor graphics change with equiped items, real time voice communication, day/night and seasonal changes done in real time [1 real hour = 1 game hour], combat basied off of the AD&D rules...and haveing me, being a C coder, handle the client side...while the team leader [whom I later found out was the only other coder in the group] handles the server side in Perl...Obviously the team is out of thier league [and they only seem to understand "user interface" not gameplay]...but these guys, together, run a web site development company...so they may have some worth while skills...anyhow I have been trying to get them to realize that, right now, thier game will be impossible to make, and they [we] should start out much smaller...but so far, they don''t seem to care as they feel they are hearing that from a guy who only made a couple of pong and tetris games
so should I stay? continue trying to get them to be more realistic? Or drop them?
The Wave 49 team was completely internet based. Our next game is also. I have an article coming out very soon that explains how we met so maybe some of you will be interested in reading it. There will probably be a news item posted here about it if you''re interested.
At first, I tried to meet people localy. I made up a flyer and posted it at local businesses (hobby shops, book stores, super markets), (this is about 4 years ago) and at the local college. I got 3 people to call me. I met them both. The first one was within a few weeks of my posting (I think - it''s been a while). We met and began game design. We worked together for about 2 months, meeting once per week. He lost interest.
Then a year later I got another call. Worked on more game design and programming with him. He lost interest.
A year later I got yet another call. Met him once, he lost interest. Surprisingly he actually called me a couple of weeks ago to see what was going on.
The point is, I don''t think local people are going to help my situation one ounce. It took a LOT of time, but I''ve eventually brought together a very small team of deticated people who put together Wave 49, and our next game which is currently under development.
You might get lucky and run in to someone who is as deticated as you though, but the fact is, the number of people you have to choose from localy is very small when compared to the number of people on the internet. So you have a much higher chance of finding someone online. And even of those people, very few are really deticated enough.
It really is nice to know someone in person, but it may not be entirely necessary for a smaller scale game project. You don''t have to be best friends with the people.
MSW -
I guess it depends on if you feel like learning anything even though the project may not be finished. It still could be a valuable situation. I have a fealing that your opinions on making a smaller project won''t change anything though
At first, I tried to meet people localy. I made up a flyer and posted it at local businesses (hobby shops, book stores, super markets), (this is about 4 years ago) and at the local college. I got 3 people to call me. I met them both. The first one was within a few weeks of my posting (I think - it''s been a while). We met and began game design. We worked together for about 2 months, meeting once per week. He lost interest.
Then a year later I got another call. Worked on more game design and programming with him. He lost interest.
A year later I got yet another call. Met him once, he lost interest. Surprisingly he actually called me a couple of weeks ago to see what was going on.
The point is, I don''t think local people are going to help my situation one ounce. It took a LOT of time, but I''ve eventually brought together a very small team of deticated people who put together Wave 49, and our next game which is currently under development.
You might get lucky and run in to someone who is as deticated as you though, but the fact is, the number of people you have to choose from localy is very small when compared to the number of people on the internet. So you have a much higher chance of finding someone online. And even of those people, very few are really deticated enough.
It really is nice to know someone in person, but it may not be entirely necessary for a smaller scale game project. You don''t have to be best friends with the people.
MSW -
I guess it depends on if you feel like learning anything even though the project may not be finished. It still could be a valuable situation. I have a fealing that your opinions on making a smaller project won''t change anything though
Failed projects are not always a waste. Its always good to learn from own or others mistakes. Of course every project has its own structure and needs. But i thought it would be nice to make a list of "should-be-avoided-mistakes" for starting projects.
I think in this thread we have got lot of input about possible mistakes. More ppl could post here and someone could collect all the input and make a list, which culd be very usefull :-)
What do you think about this ? Could such a list be useful ?
Let me know!
I think in this thread we have got lot of input about possible mistakes. More ppl could post here and someone could collect all the input and make a list, which culd be very usefull :-)
What do you think about this ? Could such a list be useful ?
Let me know!
Author
AticAtac,
I like the idea of a list, that''s kind of the idea I was going for when I started this thread.
Here''s what I picked up so far:
Things to do:
Have a good team leader who is in charge of the project.
Start with a small project (maybe even below your abilities), so your team can get used to each other, and build up confidence.
Have diversity in your team. A diverse team allows for each member to fill in for the knowledge that another member might not have.
Make sure you have focus. Lack of focus is doom. I think a team project definately needs written docs (design doc or other) that describes the game so that everyone is working on the same thing.
Make sure you have check points in the project (even if it''s small). These give members a goal to work towards, and a sense of acomplishment when reached.
What else should be added or changed?
Micah
I like the idea of a list, that''s kind of the idea I was going for when I started this thread.
Here''s what I picked up so far:
Things to do:
Have a good team leader who is in charge of the project.
Start with a small project (maybe even below your abilities), so your team can get used to each other, and build up confidence.
Have diversity in your team. A diverse team allows for each member to fill in for the knowledge that another member might not have.
Make sure you have focus. Lack of focus is doom. I think a team project definately needs written docs (design doc or other) that describes the game so that everyone is working on the same thing.
Make sure you have check points in the project (even if it''s small). These give members a goal to work towards, and a sense of acomplishment when reached.
What else should be added or changed?
Micah
This topic is closed to new replies.
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