Quake like game, help please
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I've got together with a team of people. It'd be around 5-10 people. A fairly large amount. We've decided to get together to make a game. The problem is there's a few that want to make a quakish FPS, which isn't a very good idea for a first game. They virtually know nothing about 3D. I'm kinda lost on what to do, because I know the chances are that it'll fail, or am I being too much of a pesamist?
You're probably right. If you doubt their ability to do work of that level, ask them to provide a sample to prove that they can.
Getting enough people together to make a game (for me any way) is a task in itself, but if youve got 5-10 people that dont know anything about 3D and you want to make a quake like game, then im sorry, but all youve got is people. If you wanted to write a sofware renderer for a fps you need to know quite a bit of math and 3D concepts, If you wanted to use an API like Direct3D or OpenGL you still need to understand many 3D concepts in order to find your way around. Assuming you have someone that has some artistic skill and someone who can code in something, a better option to start would be to do a 2D game (still not a breeze if no one knows what they are doing). Basically you need skilled people, people who know what they are doing in various areas. If "They virtually know nothing about 3D" then i only assume they are not familiar with math concepts either. Tell these people to start researching their stuff, or find other people if you want to start with a quake shooter.
Well for my 2 cents worth.
5-10 people is a bit big for a starting team.
Particuly if this is your first game together and your not a game company.
What I've found to be a problem is getting content more than code.
What you might want to do, is get 2 amy be 3 of your coders who you think can work well together and have a bit of clue about what your trying to do.
Get them to start looking through things like the quake 2 source, or one of the free 3d engines for how they do things.
If you want to write your own engine then fine, but this will give you a place to start.
Get the rest to start modeling/desgining levels. so when you get an engine up, you have stuff to show in it and this will boost the moral of your crew.
5-10 people is a bit big for a starting team.
Particuly if this is your first game together and your not a game company.
What I've found to be a problem is getting content more than code.
What you might want to do, is get 2 amy be 3 of your coders who you think can work well together and have a bit of clue about what your trying to do.
Get them to start looking through things like the quake 2 source, or one of the free 3d engines for how they do things.
If you want to write your own engine then fine, but this will give you a place to start.
Get the rest to start modeling/desgining levels. so when you get an engine up, you have stuff to show in it and this will boost the moral of your crew.
If your team has it's heart set on working on an FPS, why not try developing a mod for an existing game first?
Even completing a mod is enough of a challenge for a new, relatively inexperienced team.
In any case, the days of developers rolling their own engines from scratch are fast becoming numbered. It's becoming more and more popular to base games on a licensed engine from someone like Id or Epic, so you'll still get some valuable experience from the project.
Also, what's the skill breakdown of your team? You'll probably need to cover the following skills at the very least:
Programming/Scripting
3D Art (Modelling)
3D Animation
2D Art (Textures)
2D Art (Concepts)
Sound Effects
Music Composition
Level Design
Game Design
If any of these aren't covered already, you'll have to either find someone in your existing team to learn the appropriate skills, or find a new member who has them already. You also need to make sure that your team has the correct balance of skills - it's no good having nine people programming and one person doing everything else, for example. The exact balance you need will depend on your project - for a mod project, I'd imagine you'll need a good number of artists and level designers, a couple of programmers, and maybe one person on sound and music. The game design could be shared out between everyone, although it's a good idea for one person to actually be in charge of it. That person should also be able to do at least one of the other jobs as well.
ARGH - That's the third time I've tried posting and forgotten to log in
Even completing a mod is enough of a challenge for a new, relatively inexperienced team.
In any case, the days of developers rolling their own engines from scratch are fast becoming numbered. It's becoming more and more popular to base games on a licensed engine from someone like Id or Epic, so you'll still get some valuable experience from the project.
Also, what's the skill breakdown of your team? You'll probably need to cover the following skills at the very least:
Programming/Scripting
3D Art (Modelling)
3D Animation
2D Art (Textures)
2D Art (Concepts)
Sound Effects
Music Composition
Level Design
Game Design
If any of these aren't covered already, you'll have to either find someone in your existing team to learn the appropriate skills, or find a new member who has them already. You also need to make sure that your team has the correct balance of skills - it's no good having nine people programming and one person doing everything else, for example. The exact balance you need will depend on your project - for a mod project, I'd imagine you'll need a good number of artists and level designers, a couple of programmers, and maybe one person on sound and music. The game design could be shared out between everyone, although it's a good idea for one person to actually be in charge of it. That person should also be able to do at least one of the other jobs as well.
ARGH - That's the third time I've tried posting and forgotten to log in
Don't start from scratch. You have other options - you could mod a retail game, but that means your players have to own your retail game. Or you could mod an opensource game, but that (usually) means your game must be opensource, and either way there are very few complete OS games.
Or you could use a retail engine like Torque. Or you could use a free engine like Irrlicht. That's the best option, but will require the most technical work. The easiest would be to make a mod or use a retail engine, but then you're constrained as to what to do with your product.
If you want a semi-complete and free opensource FPS to base your work on, there are plenty (Cube, Legacy Doom, various Quake 2 ports, etc.)
Honestly, you're not going to make a retail product this early on. Too many teams make that an ambition and then fall flat. But you can make something good and popular - and the way to that is through Opensource.
Or you could use a retail engine like Torque. Or you could use a free engine like Irrlicht. That's the best option, but will require the most technical work. The easiest would be to make a mod or use a retail engine, but then you're constrained as to what to do with your product.
If you want a semi-complete and free opensource FPS to base your work on, there are plenty (Cube, Legacy Doom, various Quake 2 ports, etc.)
Honestly, you're not going to make a retail product this early on. Too many teams make that an ambition and then fall flat. But you can make something good and popular - and the way to that is through Opensource.
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