16 replies to this topic

[Zido_Z]

So, I'm going to use the next three months to practice programming a few simple games. They're mostly for resume building and practice to keep my skills in check. I would like for you to guys to add some suggestions to what games I should try to remake. It'll be best if the game was simple, yet the list has different gameplay.

Natually, I would want to make a Pac Man, Tetris, and Space Invade clone, but those are a little too cliche. And I'm a bit experienced in c++ programming, so I don't mind a different type of game to try to make.

Thanks.

Edited by Zido_Z, 02 September 2012 - 03:20 PM.

[LennyLen]

You could add a Tanks type game to the list. Another good source of fairly simple games is early Arcade machines, eg Donkey Kong, Frogger, Pac Man.

edit: Oops, just noticed you already mentioned Pac Man

Edited by LennyLen, 02 September 2012 - 03:41 PM.

[polyfrag]

Make a Seizure Inducer game where the player has to do arithmetic as fast as he can while random colours flash on the screen.

[Zido_Z]

Make a Seizure Inducer game where the player has to do arithmetic as fast as he can while random colours flash on the screen.

lol that's hilarious.

[M6dEEp]

Try to make genre hybrids, something like pong and breakout or pac-man and frogger mixed. In my opinion, you're given room for creativity as well as some guides to fall back on. I did a pong breakout hybrid to learn XNA and it was pretty fun.

[EmployeeNumber8]

A maze generator - and a computer player versus a human player once generated.

- You can find maze generation algorithms online ranging from easy to complex
- You can find maze solving algorithms online ranging from easy to complex.

I remember doing this to get more familiar with JavaScript, and to see which browser could generate gigantic mazes the fastest. Opera was impressive.

[stitchs]

Sounds basic, but Tic-Tac-Toe. I am currently working on it, but using it as a test-bed for 1001 things that I want to learn; Sound, Pause, Networking, Save/Load, AI, Designing a twist that takes it away from the norm (this is especially good for helping you think outside the box). I'm even trying to incorporate learning MVC design pattern. So much can be said for doing simple games but pushing yourself to do more with it; making the game Complete.

[6677]

Sounds basic, but Tic-Tac-Toe

Ever played tic tac toe on a 4 by 4 by 4 grid (yes, 3d). Damn you have to think hard about each move, and you have enough room for 4 players easily (we did 7 in the year 13 study room, that didn't work so well). Probably a nice way to remove the cliche from it a bit. Introduces some nice problems aswell such as lines going diagonally through the layers corner to opposite corner.

[DujekC]

I've been doing the same thing. But I wasn't worried about making "cliche" games.

The first game I made in C++ was Snake. Which was pretty simple and really just a test to see if I could properly use C++ and SFML.
Then I made Tetris, which wasn't too difficult but it took me a while to get the program design right.
Next it was Asteroids. Which was really cool, I used vectors and matrices, it's probably the first real use I've had out of my high school maths course.
And currently, I'm making Breakout. Which has turned out to be a much bigger project than the previous games. I've almost finished it. But I'm about to start adding functionality to my level editor which could take a while.

In my opinion, if you're just starting out, you should stick to classic ideas because that way when you're testing you have references that can tell you exactly what the game should be doing. You can still be creative and make changes, but for programming the core game knowing exactly what you're trying to build (i.e having requirements) will make things go a lot smoother. And it's a lot easier to get feedback about your game when people know the general concept of the game.

If you do that, then quickly you'll get better and be able to start making more and more complicated games which can incorporate strange and cool ideas that you've had. I'm quite excited to start learning 3D programming for example.

To answer your question, games I'm considering making next are Pacman (Because I haven't ever implemented AI), Mario (Because making levels would be an interesting challenge), Bust-a-Move (Because I would want to play that game!) and a pool game (Because of the cool physics it would use). I was going to make Space Invaders but I already made a rough prototype in Python and I think I wouldn't be pushing myself enough if I spent time on Space Invaders since it wasn't too difficult, the only challenging part would be making a level editor, which would be very similar to my breakout editor.

For reference, if you're interested. The source code and .exe files for my first 3 projects are online here https://sourceforge.net/projects/dujekcgames/files/ they only work on Windows7 32. They're poorly done though. It feels like every time I learn something new everything I've done up to that point becomes terrible. For instance, I didn't understand how to use header files properly until I started making breakout so my first 3 C++ projects have few classes and header files with no accompanying .cpp files and functions coded inside the .h file.

[Álvaro]

Just adding one to the list: Snake. It's easy to program, it supports two players even on one keyboard, it can be extended and polished in many different ways, and it's really fun to play.

[Zido_Z]

Pretty much all good ideas.Thanks, guys.

[CC Ricers]

This may be a bit cliche but Breakout is a logical two-three steps forward in complexity and one step back (removing second paddle and AI). If Pong is virtual tennis, Breakout is like virtual squash, one where you try to break down a wall

For a game programming class I also made a small game similar to Asteroids but it became more like a simple clone of Geometry Wars. The controls for a twin-stick style shooter for a mobile platform was interesting to do, this was late 2000s before touch screen phones really came into their own.

[stitchs]

@DujekC:

I love you breakout, it inspires me and I cannot wait for myself to get past this TicTacToe project I'm currently on, and move up. One small critique on the breakout game, I'm not sure if you review games and go back. When I was playing, and the auto-pause is a cracking idea, it seems far too sudden from when the mouse leaves the screen. I.e.; the game just freezes and it takes a second to find the cursor and when bringing it back, the game automatically un-pauses. This seemed a bit 'too' sudden for me. Just a small critique, slightly off-topic.

On-topic:

Are there any small challenges that anyone could post, to add to the list, maybe as a way of giving people differing inspiration?

Regards,

Stitchs

[DujekC]

Thanks a lot stitch, I PMd you to not derail the topic.

[Catmull Dog]

An interactive fiction (word) game is a good short-term project.

Design a map and number each room and list the connections for R rooms.

Then support 10 directions (the 8 compass directions, up and down).

A 10 x R matrix then stores the connections between rooms. You could show a photo in each room (perhaps a panoramic one and let the user rotate 360 degrees).

Then, support simple noun/verb parsing and inventory (pick up the rock).

[EngineProgrammer]

My first game I re-wrote is Dragonball Z: supersonic warriors 2

Some games what are on my mind are:
- Tank games
- Bubble bobble
- Heli attack
- Mario

Have fun with programming!
~EngineProgrammer

[kd7tck]

Most games on this list of games at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Atari_2600_games.