The Daily Click ::. Forums ::. Daily Click ::. TDC Community Project Survey
 

Post Reply  Post Oekaki 
 

Posted By Message

Jon Lambert

Administrator
Vaporware Master

Registered
  19/12/2004
Points
  8235

VIP MemberWii OwnerTDC Chat Super UserI am an April FoolSSBB 3265-4741-0937ACCF 3051-1173-8012360 Owner
21st July, 2010 at 01:25:00 -

In terms of skill and such, I'm no good at anything besides coding, so that is likely where I will stay. I can code both platforming engines and online things, as well as menus and such. I guess. The last engine I coded looked like this:



arrows to move, shift to jump, r to restart

That particular engine wouldn't be used for the project, as I'd prefer a) to code from scratch specifically for the project, and b) to not have that engine as open-source.

 
Sandwich Time!Whoo!

JoyCheck & KeyCheck Widgets
For easy implementation of customizable joystick and keyboard controls.
http://www.create-games.com/download.asp?id=8364

OMC

What a goofball

Registered
  21/05/2007
Points
  3516

KlikCast Musician! Guy with a HatSomewhat CrazyARGH SignLikes TDCHas Donated, Thank You!Retired Admin
21st July, 2010 at 01:30:04 -

Discussing specifics is good in a chat, but there's no guarantee everyone will be present since the team setup isn't even rough yet. We're still in the generals. Also, though I don't want to spam the forums, keeping this in a place where people will see it regularly and it won't get shunted aside is a good thing.

Take charge if you want, Lembi! But there will still probably be a vote.

Let's select a leader, so he can communicate with everyone interested. That will be easier than having everyone post their interested field in the thread.

Candidates so far (If I miss someone, speak up!):

Smirnoff
Jon Lambert
Lembi2001
Watermelon

Think you can do a better job? Put your name in the ring.


EDIT: Once we do get going, we do need a centralized place for condensed summaries of current tasks and the outline of the game. Aphant wanted to be head of bug and feature reporting/control. If he's willing, I bet that would be a fantastic post for him. Whether this is through that wiki or a simple project page description doesn't matter. I think it's important because the last attempt at a community project pushed me away from joining with all its myriad threads full of discussion and ideas (as this is already turning into). Having a centralized place will not only be a good reference for the team, but also people wanting to jump in.

Edited by OMC

 

  		
  		

Watermelon876



Registered
  16/04/2009
Points
  27

I am an April FoolVIP Member
21st July, 2010 at 01:36:36 -

Yeah, a unique idea is good, but it isn't neccessary. It is more important for the game to be polished and long than unique.
Moving on...
I think that if it's a contra clone then you need a melee attack that works like the sword in Sin&Punishment. With that weapon, you can dish out major damage at close range, but more importantly, you can reflect projectiles. That also makes it a bit different than most other games I've played on the internet. Graphics-wise, I'd prefer 16-bit or 32-bit graphics to Cave Story's 8-bit. Just no 3D models or Flash type graphics as they look ugly IMHO.
However, a Contra-type game doesn't really strike me as too much of a community project. Someone could just make it easily on their own. Which is why I suggested an RPG, a classic throwback to the 16-bit RPGs of old: Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy VI and... the other ones. Also it would be cool if the contra-game had RPG elements

Also, Rikus, if there isn't a chat, what's the chat link in the TDC toolbar?

 
Awesomeness is Watermelon.
*/l、
゙(゚、 。 7
l、゙ ~ヽ
じしf_, )ノ
This is Koji. Copy and paste Koji to your sig so he can acheive world domination.

OMC

What a goofball

Registered
  21/05/2007
Points
  3516

KlikCast Musician! Guy with a HatSomewhat CrazyARGH SignLikes TDCHas Donated, Thank You!Retired Admin
21st July, 2010 at 01:39:40 -

Your first sentence might cause a bit of an argument. Whether it's a unique mechanic or a unique art style or a unique interpretation of an old genre or whatever, it probably needs to be unique in some way to be good. That may just mean a good story or a good art direction and a lot of polish! But we don't want just polish.

The goal is fun and quality. Not one without the other.

Edited by OMC

 

  		
  		

Matthew Wiese

The Fencer

Registered
  01/02/2009
Points
  149

VIP Member360 Owner
21st July, 2010 at 02:08:51 -

Lembi, I have to disagree with your placing of the jobs, Level Design and Story all fit under the category of Game Design. Meaning that the designers would work out the gameplay mechanics, and how those mechanics are fueled by the story. And how the story influecnes level design and the setting, and with the level design and setting fueling gameplay.

It all works hand in hand, if they're separated it would be tough making both work.

And to conclude this I put my hand into the "Game Design" pool of work.

 
n/a

Smirnoff



Registered
  14/05/2009
Points
  356

VIP MemberI am an April Fool
21st July, 2010 at 02:23:36 -

If anything, there needs to be tiers of game designers. Lead, mechanics, levels, etc. Designers of mechanics need to be in constant contact with the leads of coding. But it doesn't really have to be that way.
I do think there needs to be leads for each aspect, though. I suppose the project lead could be any one of those things.

 
Image

Jon Lambert

Administrator
Vaporware Master

Registered
  19/12/2004
Points
  8235

VIP MemberWii OwnerTDC Chat Super UserI am an April FoolSSBB 3265-4741-0937ACCF 3051-1173-8012360 Owner
21st July, 2010 at 02:38:33 -

The way I imagine it, you would have one project lead, who leads the entire thing. His or her responsibilities would consist mainly of organizing production, keeping up-to-date with each other leader in the different categories, briefing other leaders on the progress other categories have made, and keeping all project members up-to-date and organized on/in everything. The project leader would also have to moderate member activity and make sure things aren't being done to sabotage or otherwise impede project progress, such as quelling arguments.

Other than that, you'd probably have the rest of the thing split into categories, like Graphics, Music, Sound (music and sound could be together), Design, and Coding. With these 4 or 5 categories, each one would have a leader who would be selected based on talent, that is, if they can't code they shouldn't be Coding Leader, as well as on leadership abilities. As leader of any of these categories, you would lead discussion about those aspects of the project's development. To start you would have to establish what would be done and then who would do it. From there, you would guide members on how to do what they need to do, provide help, and make decisions on what needs to be done and when.

For example, if you are the Music Leader, you would have to be good at composing music. Then you might lead a discussion on what kind of musical style the game should employ, what instruments the music should use, and how the music will play (looping forever like Mario or changing over time like Spyro 1). Once these decisions are made, you would collect instruments and set up a guide for the musical pieces (tempo, pitches, what instruments can and can't be used, style, how to use the instruments, etc.) and then for each level and for menus and other necessary music, people could compose based on the guide and others as well as yourself would critique. Once a piece is deemed appropriate (that is, it is something you think will be locked in) it can move into deeper development, where others could work on it as well in improving it.

The Graphics leader is in charge of in-game, movie (if pre-rendered cutscenes or video are used,) and menu/UI graphics, deciding what styles to use for each, palette, size, things like that. Music is in charge of all music, and Sound is in charge of sound effects. Coding would be in charge of programming, including the game engine, menus, online, and the like (this person would have to be multi-talented). Design is in charge of making sure graphics, music, and sound work together, so he or she will have to be working a bit in all three of those fields. Essentially the hierarchy works like this:

Image

Maybe.

Edited by an Administrator

 
Sandwich Time!Whoo!

JoyCheck & KeyCheck Widgets
For easy implementation of customizable joystick and keyboard controls.
http://www.create-games.com/download.asp?id=8364

Rikus

Administrator
Crazy for News

Registered
  02/12/2001
Points
  980502
21st July, 2010 at 03:01:01 -

From what I remember with the klik teams of old, you had one person working on the main game, who would show it to the team members, then the team members would offer help and suggestions aka graphics, music, sound effects or coding. The other team members would work on their main project and show it to everyone else, so you would end up helping others inside the team with their projects while you got help on your project from other members.

Thats how I remember it anyway, correct me if I am wrong. were are all the acoder folk i am sure they can drop a hint or 2

 
Be sure to follow us on the twitters for the latest and greatest: @dailyclick

OMC

What a goofball

Registered
  21/05/2007
Points
  3516

KlikCast Musician! Guy with a HatSomewhat CrazyARGH SignLikes TDCHas Donated, Thank You!Retired Admin
21st July, 2010 at 03:07:47 -

This one's to be done a bit differently, methinks. We're trying a new way.

Though I would normally say this is overthinking the organization of the project, I think if it's done right a semi-rigid structure could be a good experiment, if nothing else.

Of course, it all goes down the pot if not everyone is dedicated. Which shouldn't be as hard since tasks will be smaller. E.g., all one person has to focus on is a particular sprite sheet. All another person has to focus on is sound effects. All this person has to do is design levels.

Nobody's voted or nominated on the project lead!

 

  		
  		

Jon Lambert

Administrator
Vaporware Master

Registered
  19/12/2004
Points
  8235

VIP MemberWii OwnerTDC Chat Super UserI am an April FoolSSBB 3265-4741-0937ACCF 3051-1173-8012360 Owner
21st July, 2010 at 03:11:10 -


Originally Posted by OldManClayton
Nobody's voted or nominated on the project lead!

This is the TDC Community Project. That means we can do more with it on the main site and front page than we could with other projects. That is to say, since it encompasses the entire site (or so we'd hope) you could make a general poll for it.

 
Sandwich Time!Whoo!

JoyCheck & KeyCheck Widgets
For easy implementation of customizable joystick and keyboard controls.
http://www.create-games.com/download.asp?id=8364

Matthew Wiese

The Fencer

Registered
  01/02/2009
Points
  149

VIP Member360 Owner
21st July, 2010 at 03:26:29 -

The only problem with me is I'm going to be visiting my Grandparents starting next week for 2 weeks, and so I'll only be able to get internet a few times, I just hope I wouldn't miss out on helping with the design aspect of the project.

 
n/a

Smirnoff



Registered
  14/05/2009
Points
  356

VIP MemberI am an April Fool
21st July, 2010 at 05:40:45 -

I am more interesting in being a design lead than a project lead. Though I'll do both if I can. Perhaps there is a better way to organize the voting process? Make people more aware?

 
Image

aphant



Registered
  18/05/2008
Points
  1242
21st July, 2010 at 07:54:16 -


Originally Posted by Rikus
You guys really need to start talking about this in a chat room or someplace, or setup a skype thing, talking specifics is really limited in a forum.



Actually, a forum is useful for a lot of things. Anything that doesn't require urgent attention, like a bug report or feature request, can be posted to a forum without a problem; A forum is pretty good for these things because then feedback can be left on those, like if something isn't a bug, a bug can't be reproduced, not enough information was given, or if the bug was fixed. A forum is also useful for things that need to last, like a design document (which is referenced to by testers and QA to determine if something is a bug or not), or notes from the days meeting for those who couldn't attend (hurray for multiple timezones).

If anyone wants to give a chat room a try, then I propose that a channel be made on the freenode IRC network: http://freenode.net/
Wikipedia article on IRC: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Relay_Chat

Edited by aphant

 

lembi2001



Registered
  01/04/2005
Points
  608

VIP MemberIt's-a me, Mario!Wii OwnerI like Aliens!Has Donated, Thank You!PS3 OwnerI am an April Fool
21st July, 2010 at 08:33:39 -

You make a good point there Jon Lambert. Setting out our stall like that will provide some structure and stability for the project. Matthew, i never thought of it like that and think it is a very good idea. So we now have the following areas of expertise:

Game Design (Story and Level Design)
Sprites
Engine Coding (or is this included in game design now??)
Music/Sound Effects

 
n/a

NE



Registered
  05/06/2010
Points
  61
21st July, 2010 at 08:44:55 -

I'm interested in chipping in with this project, but I'm afraid I won't be able do do any actual coding as I don't have MMF (I had TGF years ago, but misplaced the CD). Would it be okay if I provided concept arts, sprites (in an importable format) and cutscenes?

 
n/a
   

Post Reply



 



Advertisement

Worth A Click