Been putting down paper concepts.
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Well, I have been tinkering around with ideas, and was wondering what I should pursue with first. I have three main ideas floating around.
1. A skill based platform MMORPG. This being a character being able to dash, air dash, wall jump, double jump, guard, parry and so on as they level. The wall jump will be like metroid's where they have to jump in, press jump and away.
2. A standard RPG with a complicated magic system and huge storyline. Have a story written up. The main character can charge his sword with an element and use spells accordingly. Additional spells can be created through a "magic seal" system where you find a seal and equip it. I have it all down on paper and such, with magic levels and all.
3. A tactical Rpg. People are in specialized tanks and have their own abilities. They can attack as far as they want but it takes energy and there is physics and shot weight to think of. Like wind and such. You attack from a long distance and the shot could end up like 7 squares to the left.
Which would be the easiest to pursue? I havn't worked on any long term project yet, and my C++ is pretty weak. Thought I might just try to start up on one and try learning methods as they come up.
Honestly I'd recommend starting with something simpler if you're fairly new to C++. Some people think doing one gigantic project is better but I reckon you'll learn more if you start with things like Pong, Space Invaders etc. first. It'll get you thinking about code AND game design before you're a quarter of the way into your massive project and realize you've coded yourself into a corner. :)
MMORPG in my opinion is a very bad idea - how much do you know about networking? - but I'm a chump for tactical RPGs.
MMORPG in my opinion is a very bad idea - how much do you know about networking? - but I'm a chump for tactical RPGs.
If you do decide to stick with an RPG, my advice is to still do what others say, start small and then move on to something else, but have everything you start small with as a prototype for your larger RPG.
An RPG really isn't that hard, and isn't really any more complex than Pong, it is simply bigger.
Want to do 3D? start with small prototypes of a 3D renderer. Make sure you know how to render a cube, and apply textures, then move onto adding lighting and another object to it. Read up on the graphics more, and make sure you are keeping things tight and fast.
From there, move on to adding things that actually start to make up a game. Moving your camera, loading new areas, etc.
Just doing 2D? things are similar, start with a system to display your graphics and move items around. Take your time. The content is about the biggest part of an RPG, so if you do want to go the RPG route, start with the plan of doing the first part of your script only, and maybe finish the rest.
An RPG really isn't that hard, and isn't really any more complex than Pong, it is simply bigger.
Want to do 3D? start with small prototypes of a 3D renderer. Make sure you know how to render a cube, and apply textures, then move onto adding lighting and another object to it. Read up on the graphics more, and make sure you are keeping things tight and fast.
From there, move on to adding things that actually start to make up a game. Moving your camera, loading new areas, etc.
Just doing 2D? things are similar, start with a system to display your graphics and move items around. Take your time. The content is about the biggest part of an RPG, so if you do want to go the RPG route, start with the plan of doing the first part of your script only, and maybe finish the rest.
Quote:Original post by Talroth
An RPG really isn't that hard, and isn't really any more complex than Pong, it is simply bigger.
That's a little bit like saying climbing Mount Everest isn't really much harder than climbing the large hill down the road, as it is simply bigger [grin]. Although I do agree with the rest of your comment: even with a simple RPG, like climbing a tall mountain, it helps if you've practiced on simpler things before tackling a large project.
If you haven't made any games already, I'd also recommend the commonly suggested approach of starting with something really simple, such as Pong or Tetris, and making sure it's complete. Then move on to something a bit more advanced, like Space Invaders, Breakout or Pac-Man. Then move on to a 2D scrolling game. As each project gets bigger, you'll get a better feel of how to engineer large projects, which you'll need for something as large as an RPG.
An alternative which might work better for RPGs is to consider making an old-fashined adventure game. That will give you an idea how to write and program the story scripts which form the backbone of most RPGs without as much complexity.
However which type of game is best also depends a lot on the size and the skill-set of your team. RPGs usually need a fair amount of writing and a lot of artwork. The programming isn't as intense as many other genres (although it still isn't that easy), but testing something as long as an RPG can be an issue.
To directly answer your question though, in my view the MMORPG is the hardest to do, as an action-based MMO game will need very good network programming, and in my view MMO anything is to be avoided unless you are experienced in coding networks (or are prepared for a lot of hard work!). The standard RPG is probably the next hardest, as you'll need a lot of artwork and story writing. The tactical RPG is probably the easiest given your description, provided there isn't a huge amount of art required, however that's because I can see this game working even if it is very simple (i.e. more tactical than RPG).
Best of luck!
Tetris or Pong are good starting games. Even Mario Bros, despite looking simple, is already quite complex.
Games like Tetris are simple in that way that it's 'only' the display, input and game-rules you'll have to worry about and for those games, they can be kept relatively simple.
Games like Mario are more content-based so you'll have to design a level filetype, write a loader for it and an editor wouldn't be a bad thing either. Then some form of (simple) scripting for the enemy and item placement, and there you go - it's getting pretty complex pretty fast. A manager system for your resources (two enemies of the same type in a level shouldn't cause the game to load these sprites twice, for example), a game logic system that doesn't get too cluttered after a few different enemy and item types, linking this part with the rendering and sound modules...
I'm now working on a 2D platform game now, and even with the help of several game programming books, it's amazing how complex writing a game is. A fairly sized game quickly spans thousands of code lines and involves things you never even thought about before you got started. There's a lot of underwater code you simply don't know about without having written a game yourself. And that even while I have about 4 years of experience with C++ (and 6 years of level-design experience, which helps a lot for the design issues).
It's a fun thing to do and a great challenge, but I would advise you to start simpler, just to familiarize yourself with the basic concepts.
Games like Tetris are simple in that way that it's 'only' the display, input and game-rules you'll have to worry about and for those games, they can be kept relatively simple.
Games like Mario are more content-based so you'll have to design a level filetype, write a loader for it and an editor wouldn't be a bad thing either. Then some form of (simple) scripting for the enemy and item placement, and there you go - it's getting pretty complex pretty fast. A manager system for your resources (two enemies of the same type in a level shouldn't cause the game to load these sprites twice, for example), a game logic system that doesn't get too cluttered after a few different enemy and item types, linking this part with the rendering and sound modules...
I'm now working on a 2D platform game now, and even with the help of several game programming books, it's amazing how complex writing a game is. A fairly sized game quickly spans thousands of code lines and involves things you never even thought about before you got started. There's a lot of underwater code you simply don't know about without having written a game yourself. And that even while I have about 4 years of experience with C++ (and 6 years of level-design experience, which helps a lot for the design issues).
It's a fun thing to do and a great challenge, but I would advise you to start simpler, just to familiarize yourself with the basic concepts.
I would definitely not suggest #1, because it would probably be most difficult, would have the MMO stigma, and looks the least enjoyable IMO. For #2, an RPG with a "huge storyline" sounds like it might be too big a project, but if you've already written some of it, it might be quite doable. #3, the tactical game, sounds like it might be a manageable size and still a good game that's somewhat different from what most people are doing. So of those three, I'd suggest #2 or #3.
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Haha, as with the first one, I want to start it offline then convert it to online. Of course I won't jump into this one without knowing how to make a proper 2d platformer.
Actually, I think I can make an RPG span about at least 5 hours with the story I've written now. It's about halfway finished but I need to grab my original papers to finish it up. Doesn't feel right when I don't have the rest of the story to keep me in check while writing it.
The tactical one seems fairly complex the way I've written it up, with each shot having it's own weight and all. It has a large chunk of RPG in it.
I programmed at best Tic tac toe, which is like way down there. I know I won't see any results till I code like 10k lines or so. I also programmed a strange MUD Rpg that had a super simple battle system. I was going to fiddle with it but didn't have a compiler at my house at the time.
I want to stick with 2d.
edit: Oh and the MMORPG will have an extensive PVP inside it. I want to include ways to stun, cancel into other moves, and over all give people a chance to outskill their opponents. Them level grinding monkeys won't learn how to fight properly if they stick to the MMO ways.
[Edited by - moogle87 on April 24, 2006 2:33:37 PM]
Actually, I think I can make an RPG span about at least 5 hours with the story I've written now. It's about halfway finished but I need to grab my original papers to finish it up. Doesn't feel right when I don't have the rest of the story to keep me in check while writing it.
The tactical one seems fairly complex the way I've written it up, with each shot having it's own weight and all. It has a large chunk of RPG in it.
I programmed at best Tic tac toe, which is like way down there. I know I won't see any results till I code like 10k lines or so. I also programmed a strange MUD Rpg that had a super simple battle system. I was going to fiddle with it but didn't have a compiler at my house at the time.
I want to stick with 2d.
edit: Oh and the MMORPG will have an extensive PVP inside it. I want to include ways to stun, cancel into other moves, and over all give people a chance to outskill their opponents. Them level grinding monkeys won't learn how to fight properly if they stick to the MMO ways.
[Edited by - moogle87 on April 24, 2006 2:33:37 PM]
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