Making a Game: Workflow
Making a Game: Workflow
Hey everyone. As someone who has been interested in making games for a long time, but has never actually done it fully, I thought I would try to ask the community here what their process is for making games. I have always been a perfectionist, so I have a hard time finishing things if I feel they aren't going well. But now that I've finished my introductory C# course in college and I've messed around a good amount in Unity (just the 2D part), I want to really commit to making a game and I want to do it right. So I suppose I have a few questions about game making.
1. What order should I do things in? Should I get all my art together first, then program? Or should I program everything using filler art then work on getting the final art later? Which is more time-efficient in your experience?
2. Is it better to remake games that have simple mechanics (like Asteroids) for learning purposes, or should I just follow an idea I have and try to learn as I go?
3. Do you have any tips for keeping organized and on task?
4. Any other general advice for a beginner?
Thanks!
Start with the Unity tutorials. They will have you make simple games.
Then you will need to set a budget and a timeframe. How much money will you spend on the game and how long do you have to complete it. I gave myself $200 and a month and a half. (I will not finish in time)
Then you can move onto the prototype, where you build a quick working model of the gameplay elements and check for 2 things: is it doable and is it fun. It must be both of these things, otherwise scrap the idea and come up with a new idea. When prototyping you can just use shapes or Kenny's assets for the art.
Then comes expanding the protoype into a game. I don't really have a plan for this part as my game is small. I just get assets as needed with my level design flowing around what I can find. Keep in mind that being flexible with your assets will save you a lot of money. It is also worth learning how to use an image editing program. I use inkscape and most of my art as svg so I can edit it.
Don't spend money until you are sure of what you need. Until then you should just use stand in art or music. Professional artists prefer it when you can give them an exact list of what you need and the style you need it in. Although with my budget, I won't be hiring any.
> 2. Is it better to remake games that have simple mechanics (like Asteroids) for learning purposes
> or should I just follow an idea I have and try to learn as I go?
I would absolutely recommend starting with a simple re-make or two. Pong is the classic 'first' game to code, as it's extrmely simply and it's the one that started it all, but any simple game you chose should be fine. Just make it one you actually like to play, that always helps!
The reason for this is two fold:
1) Like so many things, it's easier to start small and then move on to bigger things later. There's a lot of basic challenges (design, controls, art, sound, feedback, UI, code structure, etc. etc.) that present themselves in even the simpliest games. And it's alot easier to master these basics with small projects first than it is to try and learn them in the middle of a larger project.
2) Everything is easier when you know where you're going. With a remake, you have a set target that you're trying to hit. Before you start you can play the original to get an idea of what pieces you'll need and how they'll fit together. And as you work, you can compare your remake to the original to easily see what you've got right and needs more love. When working on an original or larger idea, it can be much harder to know what's working and what's not.
> 1. What order should I do things in? Should I get all my art together first, then program? Or should I program everything using filler art then work on getting the final art later? Which is more time-efficient in your experience?
I always recommend starting with prototype art first, if for no other reason then it'll get you started quicker. It'll also help you define and scope what art you need before you start creating it. If you're just creating art in a vacuum with no game structure to go with it, it's extremely easy to over do it or do it wrong, creating things that you don't need or aren't in the right format. The only caveat to this approach is that, contrary to the conventional wisdom that 'gameplay is king', art is an intergrel part of any game and key to it's success. It can often be difficult to tell what's working and what's not when working strictly with prototype art. An example, consider an Asteroids clone, one key is for shooting the asteroids to feel powerful and satisfying. If all you've got is some placeholder text that says 'Bang!' for when an asteroid explodes, the game is never going to feel right. Sometimes (as in this example) it's obvious when prototype art is holding things back, but not always, and there's a real danger of getting stuck chasing phantom gameplay 'issues' when all you really need is some better art.
> 3. Do you have any tips for keeping organized and on task?
One nice part about starting small is that you can probably just get by with a simple task list, and then just keep chugging away at them and adding new tasks as they pop up. One thing not to do is get lost in trying to map out your whole project in advance. It' nice to have a general roadmap, but it's also important to be flexible and not waste too much time trying to pre-plan every little detail.
> 4. Any other general advice for a beginner?
Since you mention you are in school, I'll just add, as someone whose been in the position of hiring recent grads before, if you hope to land a gig making games professionally, I'd advise you to ABC, Always Be Coding! Work on (and finish!) as many personal projects outside of your school work as you can before you graduate. Game development takes passion and experience, if all you're only doing classroom assignments, you're not showing much passion or gaining meaningful eperience. By contrast, complete projects on your own and you'll have shown you love development enough to do it on your own without anyone telling you to, and you'll have proven you know what it takes to take a complete a game from start to finish.
Good luck!
https://withthelove.itch.io/
For your first question, it depends on how much work you are willing to put in to find/make the assets when everything else is done. For example, the game I'm currently working on has almost all of the art assets gathered for it already, so I can just work on functionality. Whereas if you just use placeholders until everything else is done, you might realise that you can't find the assets that you need, or the things you do find won't work nicely with what you already have.
I would say to make games that will help you get more skilled with the tools that you are going to be using, rather than to recreate specific game mechanics. If you think you can already make Asteroids, then you aren't going to learn as much from the process as if you were to try and make a unique idea.
Game programming isn't about memorising how to recreate certain mechanics, it is about figuring out how to implement unique ideas from scratch. If you were to recreate Asteroids, try changing it up a bit and messing with the existing formula to give yourself some chance to explore.
Get good at drawing. I now do sketches of anything that I plan on doing further work on as it is so easy to quickly blast down ideas in rough than it is to try make something without something to work to. Just get some blank A4 paper (or ideally a paper size closest to the screen ratio that you intend to support, i.e. 16:9).
Staying organised depends on the scope of your project and what tools you like using. I have a ring binder folder and some plastic wallets that I use for keeping all my notes and sketches together. I also like using Padlet for laying things out easily in a sticky-note fasion, and it is great for group collaboration.
Keep your mobile phone or a pen & paper handy at all times so you can make notes, as you never know when inspiration might strike. You might be walking the dog, or on the bus, or lying in bed or whatever when you think of something super awesome, but by the time you get back to your desk you might have forgotten it.
Keep a log and plenty of screenshots of each stage of development, as going back and looking at your previous work with a more informed prespective as you progess really helps to keep focus and motivation. I often look back at the stuff I first made and compare it to what I'm doing now and am surprised at how far I've come. This will also be very useful in the future if you intend on getting a job in the industy, as you can show employers your progression, what you have tried and what you have learnt along the way and that you are able to reflect on previous work and use that experience to improve.
Don't expect your first few games to be fun, or even finished. You should learn something new from each failed attempt, so try and fail as much as possible to get better faster.
Stay a while and listen.
This. You're not a major corporation or an indy production house, you're a beginner. Don't try to take on an epic task that will leave you frustrated because it's way over your head...start with tutorials and go from there.
I prefer to outline my projects before I do anything else, but mine are probably a bit more detaile than others have suggested, as I summarize the concept and put together a rough player flow chart (i.e. game start --> selection/options --> complete mission --> fail mission -->game over). It's not a lot of specific details, just gives me an idea of what game rooms/maps/UI I'll need.
I also keep a spreadsheet of standard variables I use in all my projects -- gives me fewer things to think about
Being a beginner myself, I just started with familiarising myself with the software functions first.
using basic square objects,, setting small tasks like make the object move left and right, etc, then jump, then just added smaller tasks like collisions and trying out new functions to get more confident.
once I was more confident I then took the time to think of a small game with with a very simple plot.
jump up 2 platforms, collect key, move to door, jump enemy object, open door.level end.
then depending on your abilities you can build on that, try your new ideas out.
try And plan a game with what your limitations are to begin with, if you go too big it can be the most frustrating thing when it doesn't go the way you want to or you feel it's taking to long.
take your time, be patient, start small and the big games will come eventually.
Ive been learning for 4 years now and I haven't released anything worthy.....yet :).
Goodluck!
Chasersgaming | Support | Monstropolis |
Thanks for all the awesome advice everyone! I feel like I have a good amount of ideas and concepts to work with in order to find my process for making games and for moving out of the beginner stages. I've actually made pong already in Unity, but that isn't much of an accomplishment in my mind. I have a few ideas for games right now, but I think I will try to tackle the easiest ones first. Since I can do art but I don't enjoy doing it, I think I'll try using generic assets to begin with and if I think the game is fun, I'll invest my time into creating some art. While doing remakes is all good and well, after thinking about it for a while, I think I'd rather challenge myself to do something new, because for me motivation can be a major roadblock and I'd rather be excited about the things I'm working on than knowing what to expect. Thanks again for all the input everybody!