Community Project?
Author
I don''t know if this has ever been done before but i would like to ask anyway, is anyone interested in a community project? Like where everyone gives ideas then we go on a final decision and get coding and actually create a game for the community by the community?
I was part of a community project that died. It began with high hopes, but faded into obscurity after a few months.
It started out with >30 people on board. Everyone was enthusiatic to make a game. But the question was, what kind of game? Some wanted action, some adventure, others an RPG. There were numerous votes on what kind of game to make, but some didn''t feel there voice was being herd. Others became upset because of too many votes while others wanted more votes. It was finally agreed to do a zelda/secret of mana-like rpg, but those who wanted something else quit right there.
Then came the assignments. When people didnt get the part of the project they wanted, they either traded, or quit, but there were more people doing the latter. Others joined but soon realized that they were too busy, and quit.
Eventually, the base code was done for things like sound, graphics, and input, but nobody was working on an actual game. By the time that actually game code was being written, the project had gone through 3 lead designers and all the artists had quit.
The people who were left lost enthusiasm and many (myself included) switched gears to work on their 4e3 entry.
If you do decide on doing a community project, have a game idea in mind before you go public. Have the rules of the game down for people to read before they commit to the project.
Make sure there is someone actually working on game code. With nothing to see, people lose interest.
And most importantly, have a strong leader (most likely YOU) that can put their foot down when a decision needs to be made. Things get done quicker in a dictatorship than a democracy.
University is a fountain of knowledge, and students go there to drink.
It started out with >30 people on board. Everyone was enthusiatic to make a game. But the question was, what kind of game? Some wanted action, some adventure, others an RPG. There were numerous votes on what kind of game to make, but some didn''t feel there voice was being herd. Others became upset because of too many votes while others wanted more votes. It was finally agreed to do a zelda/secret of mana-like rpg, but those who wanted something else quit right there.
Then came the assignments. When people didnt get the part of the project they wanted, they either traded, or quit, but there were more people doing the latter. Others joined but soon realized that they were too busy, and quit.
Eventually, the base code was done for things like sound, graphics, and input, but nobody was working on an actual game. By the time that actually game code was being written, the project had gone through 3 lead designers and all the artists had quit.
The people who were left lost enthusiasm and many (myself included) switched gears to work on their 4e3 entry.
If you do decide on doing a community project, have a game idea in mind before you go public. Have the rules of the game down for people to read before they commit to the project.
Make sure there is someone actually working on game code. With nothing to see, people lose interest.
And most importantly, have a strong leader (most likely YOU) that can put their foot down when a decision needs to be made. Things get done quicker in a dictatorship than a democracy.
University is a fountain of knowledge, and students go there to drink.
I agree with Big B, except, democracy works only if everyone is educated and there are few enough people to agree.
That''s why you need strong leadership. Probably the (very general) game design would be decided on by the person that initiated the project and then everyone else would pitch in with suggestions based on that design. IE the ''initiator'' would say
"An RTS game with strong RPG elements set around 500AD. Includes hero units with improving abilities, unit upgrades, and a dynamic campaign system."
And then everyone would pitch in their ideas from there, and the full game design would be fleshed out. THEN the Strong Leader comes into play, which would also likely be the person that started the project. He/she assigns different sections to different people participating, with no if or buts about it.
People participating would have to show a demo and some source code for it to prove that they''re good enough to participate and have clean enough code to be incorporated in later.
Also a unified variable naming system and that sort of thing would probably have to be decided on, so the code is easy to put together later...
Just my thoughts
"An RTS game with strong RPG elements set around 500AD. Includes hero units with improving abilities, unit upgrades, and a dynamic campaign system."
And then everyone would pitch in their ideas from there, and the full game design would be fleshed out. THEN the Strong Leader comes into play, which would also likely be the person that started the project. He/she assigns different sections to different people participating, with no if or buts about it.
People participating would have to show a demo and some source code for it to prove that they''re good enough to participate and have clean enough code to be incorporated in later.
Also a unified variable naming system and that sort of thing would probably have to be decided on, so the code is easy to put together later...
Just my thoughts
I''d like to do a big community project, this is how i''d do it however. You''d first need a basic program put together, 3d engine to work from, sound, etc. if someone wants to do a major revision to a big section they contact the project leader and the leader puts word out on the website or whatever, then when the revision is done, the person who did the revision sends the updated version to the project leader who posts it on the site. When you get most of the big stuff done like 3d engine etc. you release that version and give specifics on the game to be made, you could actually have many different community projects being made at once with the 3d engine just different specs, as long as it''s general enough, i don''t know, this may have been tried before but just my suggestions. BTW, you would need to set deadlines on certain parts of the game so it doesn''t get revised over and over.
People are too caught up in their own self-interests to work on some kind of "community project". Heh, I didn''t get anyone who was interested in a student project. Only people who "wanted to see how it turns out". Heck, I wanted at least one person to design the whole thing and that is all they would do! No takers! So, Im creating the design, game engine, tools, sounds, 3d rendered graphics, and music myself. Luckily I have the software and the musical, artistic, and programming skills needed. Unlike some people on this board, at least I will have a portfolio of completed games when I try to apply in the industry; not to mention a degree. Soo... 
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