Let me just say - you are 100% correct - you don't have to credit at all for CC0 - and some people releasing CC0 will not care at ALL if you credit or not, these are just opinions and you of course are free to do what you want.
BTW - When giving credit - you don't need to force it down the users throat - most people have it as a small link on a splash screen and/or a menu button link etc, or in your example it might be a seperate credits.txt file.
When I grab image resources - I add a line to a credits file each time(even when it is CC0) - (which takes only a few seconds) - that way I do it when I am finding resources and it is not a nightmare at the end of the project.
At the end of the project all I then need to do is grab my credits txt file for that project and dump it into the project somewhere, normally as a menu item button.
Where did capbros say that? I didn't find anywhere that said it was the law to credit CC0 or that you HAVE to?
capbros was only saying it is polite to given them credit even when it is listed as CC0.
i.e. You don't have to, but you should to be nice.
Some people list CC0 because they don't want to keep answering queries about how it can be used - e.g. DRM etc. It is easier for them to list it as CC0 to avoid all that mess, even though they would still prefer it if you have them credit.
Saturday, April 4, 2015 - 02:10
For the start page:
Perhaps a really simple start option - where all those options you current have are defaulted to simple/quick settings (e.g. small map) and hidden.
Then have an advanted button - clicking advanced will take you to your current start page - which also has a toggle/checkbox allowing the user to start with this screen.
This will allow newbies to start your game without being overwhelmed with options - but a more experienced player will likely want to always start with these options to tweak before starting.
Main Game GUI:
This doesn't look like you could simplify it much - your suggestions above about reducing text information etc is probably the right idea.
Hopefully someone with a better GUI brain than me can help you though.
From the initial small preview it looks kinda cool.
When you enlarge it I get mixed messages.
I kind of like the ascii mix to the design, but not sure what you are aiming for or if you actually intended to have an ascii look or just didn't know how else to do it.
Anyway - I am not an artist, but for those who are - perhaps you should explain what look/style you are trying for so the artists can help you achieve it.
At the moment all you get is your image and it is hard to make suggestions as you are not sure if some of your design is intentionally styled a certain way or not.
Because you mentioned godot and Unity - I was thinking you were after a cross-platform engine.
Torque3D for instance cannot compile for Android.
If you only want to target particular platforms - perhaps research your game engines using a list like this (that shows targetted platforms and engine type for the open source ones):
Why not try godot? You already tried unity and it is a large download.
Godot is only a 23mb standalone file - i.e. No install required. I REALLY love this kind of program, totally self contained and you can try the thing knowing that nothing is being installed on the system to clean up later if you need.
Also - the examples file with a good selection of examples is only 8.6mb.
So quick to download - just click on the file to run it with a small examples download to extract to try the examples.
You only need the export pack if you actually decide you like it and want to package your creation (you can play/debug the game via IDE without this pack). So don't get the export download (113mb) until you try out the program.
I really do like Godot in that it's layout is simple to understand, the script is very easy to understand and comes in a nice small package with lots of export options.
I really recommend trying godot and playing with it - even if you decide to go with a different engine for your game - I think there is a very good chance Godot will go onto much bigger things - why not be part of that?
I only heard about godot yesterday - read up on it and got excited.
Today I downloaded and tried it, although it successfully downloaded and ran it had problems (windows 7).
e.g. textures all showing green in the 3d examples and other scene glitches.
I also downloaded Unity5 today and tried their examples. The full samples worked and look far more polished (the 3d objects are grey but this is intentional - to show that it is an example I guess).
I love what godot is and is trying to be. I will monitor it closely.
As a hobbiest I would be happy to dump time into Godot - but if I was trying to produce commericial products - I would go with Unity.
------------------
As far as honey trap goes - I may not have read into it as much as you, but my understanding is this:
Unity is free - you get to distribute on all devices that it supports until you earn more than 100k a year.
If you earn more than 100k a year, you either need to pay a monthly fee (based on modules) or a fixed price (based on modules).
I am going to interpret this like this:
For an individual developer - a decent amount of the 100k should be earnings from Unity related creations (not your normal day job).
The maximum price for Unity is $4500 (1500 base + Android + IOS) - but you get to use the $4500 software free until you earn a certain amount.
I think this sounds fair. If I make a substantial amount from Unity product(s) I sell (e.g. > 20k) - I will pay the once off $4500 and be done with it.
Disclaimer: Other than downloading and testing their examples - I have not used either godot* or Unity5.
I also do not intend to at the moment as I am enjoying the much more light weight Tululoo Game Maker (HTML5/Canvas/Javascript).
*Ok, I edited the 3d vehicles example in godot so that they could reverse (not just stop) when you use the down arrow - just commented out the existing line and copied the up arrow code line and put a - in front of the power variable). lol
UPDATE: honey trap - You may be referring to the Unity Store items. There are certainly a lot of things for sale on the Store - but I am pretty sure these are items that you won't find equivilant replacements in godot. i.e. They are pre-written libraries/games or sprite/texture packs etc that save you time - i.e you don't have to do it all yourself.
I still think that Unity has a fair pricing model - in that you can use it until making decent money from Unity products - at which point you really shouldn't be shy about parting some money on the thing that allowed you to make that money.
I really also like open source engines/products. Both have there place. I use both paid and open source software for different things/reasons.
As for the backgrounds - you can always flip the images and they will then join to each other seamlessly.
I have uploaded an example here, but I would take the original image and flip it in code.
This might be a little 2 repetitive for you, but it works as a continuous picture at least.
After all - the player should be concentrating on the action in the foreground after all :D
If you want 3d characters - have a look on www.blendswap.com for 3d creations people have created using Blender.
If you instead want to learn HOW to make 3d characters - Blender is also a decent program with a large active community and is a good place to learn.
I am sure those others are good 2. :)
Let me just say - you are 100% correct - you don't have to credit at all for CC0 - and some people releasing CC0 will not care at ALL if you credit or not, these are just opinions and you of course are free to do what you want.
BTW - When giving credit - you don't need to force it down the users throat - most people have it as a small link on a splash screen and/or a menu button link etc, or in your example it might be a seperate credits.txt file.
When I grab image resources - I add a line to a credits file each time(even when it is CC0) - (which takes only a few seconds) - that way I do it when I am finding resources and it is not a nightmare at the end of the project.
At the end of the project all I then need to do is grab my credits txt file for that project and dump it into the project somewhere, normally as a menu item button.
Where did capbros say that? I didn't find anywhere that said it was the law to credit CC0 or that you HAVE to?
capbros was only saying it is polite to given them credit even when it is listed as CC0.
i.e. You don't have to, but you should to be nice.
Some people list CC0 because they don't want to keep answering queries about how it can be used - e.g. DRM etc. It is easier for them to list it as CC0 to avoid all that mess, even though they would still prefer it if you have them credit.
For the start page:
Perhaps a really simple start option - where all those options you current have are defaulted to simple/quick settings (e.g. small map) and hidden.
Then have an advanted button - clicking advanced will take you to your current start page - which also has a toggle/checkbox allowing the user to start with this screen.
This will allow newbies to start your game without being overwhelmed with options - but a more experienced player will likely want to always start with these options to tweak before starting.
Main Game GUI:
This doesn't look like you could simplify it much - your suggestions above about reducing text information etc is probably the right idea.
Hopefully someone with a better GUI brain than me can help you though.
From the initial small preview it looks kinda cool.
When you enlarge it I get mixed messages.
I kind of like the ascii mix to the design, but not sure what you are aiming for or if you actually intended to have an ascii look or just didn't know how else to do it.
Anyway - I am not an artist, but for those who are - perhaps you should explain what look/style you are trying for so the artists can help you achieve it.
At the moment all you get is your image and it is hard to make suggestions as you are not sure if some of your design is intentionally styled a certain way or not.
Yes - use that image you have above - it doesn't need to be animated yet, just move it around on the screen and get your game started.
Plus - you might want to fix up your info - Unless you actually intend to explain how a lonely Male polar bear got pregnant? (maybe scientists?)
Because you mentioned godot and Unity - I was thinking you were after a cross-platform engine.
Torque3D for instance cannot compile for Android.
If you only want to target particular platforms - perhaps research your game engines using a list like this (that shows targetted platforms and engine type for the open source ones):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_game_engines
Addition to my first comment.
Why not try godot? You already tried unity and it is a large download.
Godot is only a 23mb standalone file - i.e. No install required. I REALLY love this kind of program, totally self contained and you can try the thing knowing that nothing is being installed on the system to clean up later if you need.
Also - the examples file with a good selection of examples is only 8.6mb.
So quick to download - just click on the file to run it with a small examples download to extract to try the examples.
You only need the export pack if you actually decide you like it and want to package your creation (you can play/debug the game via IDE without this pack). So don't get the export download (113mb) until you try out the program.
I really do like Godot in that it's layout is simple to understand, the script is very easy to understand and comes in a nice small package with lots of export options.
I really recommend trying godot and playing with it - even if you decide to go with a different engine for your game - I think there is a very good chance Godot will go onto much bigger things - why not be part of that?
I only heard about godot yesterday - read up on it and got excited.
Today I downloaded and tried it, although it successfully downloaded and ran it had problems (windows 7).
e.g. textures all showing green in the 3d examples and other scene glitches.
I also downloaded Unity5 today and tried their examples. The full samples worked and look far more polished (the 3d objects are grey but this is intentional - to show that it is an example I guess).
I love what godot is and is trying to be. I will monitor it closely.
As a hobbiest I would be happy to dump time into Godot - but if I was trying to produce commericial products - I would go with Unity.
------------------
As far as honey trap goes - I may not have read into it as much as you, but my understanding is this:
Unity is free - you get to distribute on all devices that it supports until you earn more than 100k a year.
If you earn more than 100k a year, you either need to pay a monthly fee (based on modules) or a fixed price (based on modules).
I am going to interpret this like this:
For an individual developer - a decent amount of the 100k should be earnings from Unity related creations (not your normal day job).
The maximum price for Unity is $4500 (1500 base + Android + IOS) - but you get to use the $4500 software free until you earn a certain amount.
I think this sounds fair. If I make a substantial amount from Unity product(s) I sell (e.g. > 20k) - I will pay the once off $4500 and be done with it.
Disclaimer: Other than downloading and testing their examples - I have not used either godot* or Unity5.
I also do not intend to at the moment as I am enjoying the much more light weight Tululoo Game Maker (HTML5/Canvas/Javascript).
*Ok, I edited the 3d vehicles example in godot so that they could reverse (not just stop) when you use the down arrow - just commented out the existing line and copied the up arrow code line and put a - in front of the power variable). lol
UPDATE: honey trap - You may be referring to the Unity Store items. There are certainly a lot of things for sale on the Store - but I am pretty sure these are items that you won't find equivilant replacements in godot. i.e. They are pre-written libraries/games or sprite/texture packs etc that save you time - i.e you don't have to do it all yourself.
I still think that Unity has a fair pricing model - in that you can use it until making decent money from Unity products - at which point you really shouldn't be shy about parting some money on the thing that allowed you to make that money.
I really also like open source engines/products. Both have there place. I use both paid and open source software for different things/reasons.
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