Hey folks,
Thanks to "Oh hey, Chloe!" and her game "Homesick" it got me back into The Daily Click - I haven't been here since I quit TGF after making my one single game back in 2005! Can't believe it's been 8 years, I'm now really old
Since then I've made music (Which I was dabbling with, afterall I mostly made soundtrack for above game - Granted, it was done in Ejay, which isn't rocket science) and my own CastleVania flash [also quite old, Dec-2008]
But this has been a recurring thing for me all my life - I 'wanted to do something' so I did it... And as much as I loved it, I just stopped.
I WANTED to make a game, so I did. Then never again. I WANTED to make my own Flash Animation, so I did. I WANTED to make and listen to MY OWN MUSIC, so I did. Then never again etc etc
I have an absolute massive love for games, gaming and game making / modding but I find it hard to stick to them. Started when I was 7yrs old on the C64 writing text adventures, to my last attempt by using TGF to make an attempt at a styling customizable Breakout game, to making two characters from a game I loved on the PSX, kicking eachother in the teeth using "SwIsH". Music in Ejay, modding RE4 and a lot of past games like old CS1.6 back when it was the main FPS, designing maps for it etc I love all this stuff - But I've never stuck to it long enough once I've said "I've done that!"
Seeing Chloe's "Homesick" project (And seeing a LOT of indie horror games lately) got me back into wanting to make games again - It's clear I'm meant to be spending my time creatively (YouTube movies of gaming is basically what I've stuck with for a few years now, just as a hobby) but I can't seem to get my foot in the door and get that 'spark' back.
First problem is programs - I'm not a coder - I may have writted some C:Basic as a child but I'm no coder, so that leaves game making programs. Thats the second problem, I don't have any right now - I did have a little look at Unity but it went way over my head and I gave up, I should probably re-look at it but I feel what I want or should be doing is 2D work seeing as I do use Photoshop a hell of a lot, even if not for Sprite work.
Third issue is cost - I'd love to give MultiMedia Fusion 2 a try but I'm currently out of work so unlike my younger days when I was high earning (For my age) and had money to throw around I'm just not in that position anymore.
Fourth issue is resources. For my own game I used Terragen to design backgrounds (With some PShop tweaking), designed the Bat/Ball and Blocks myself in Photoshop as well as their animations plus I used a portion of TGF's own resources.
The CV Flash, well, that speaks for itself, was just making PSX SOTN Sprites move around - I'd have no problem designing more sprites if I was to make another 2D game but I'm not an artist and to make it worse I wouldn't know where to look for useable resources.
Next month I may be starting a Game Design course (I've no details on what this entails as of yet) so it's time to re-evaluate my life and get back on my feet.
I really want my life to include game-design but if I keep 'wishing' and don't 'do' then I may not get there - There's a lot of inspiring work out there from other people which always make me think about getting back into it - But I just never do.
Yeah, I'm feeling kind of unmotivated at the moment too. I think I just have too many projects that I could be working on - not just games, but all different kinds of stuff (I like to think I'm a bit of a renaissance man) - and consequently I end up doing none of them...
Anyway, I'd suggest you take a look at Construct ( www.scirra.com ) - it's free, and it's the most blatant ripoff of Clickteam products imaginable, so you shouldn't have any trouble getting started with it.
You have photoshop, so you can make all your own graphics - there's no need to rely on resources from anywhere else (it's much better than using ripped sprites to make some lame fangame).
First things first, though - you need a simple and creative game concept...
Thanks for the reply - I'll give this program a look.
As for ideas they come as quick as wink, mostly just from watching other works - For example, this whole fascination of 'stalker' horror that started with Slenderman has gotten me wrapped up on the idea of making a nice 2D Horror, probably why I took a shine to Chloe's "Homesick" as it shows it can be done.
I've several ideas for takes on this genre that would seperate it from being "Just another slender copy" but no drive to really take an 'idea' and actually put it into the grinder, mostly because I have no grinder to work with.
As for resources I don't really mean for the core of the game - I mean the likes of free workable backgrounds, weather or sounds to work with - I'd have no beef conjuring up my own characters and other things but as a 30 year old I don't like the idea of having to spend a year or three also having to forge EVERY aspect of the game from my own hands - It was different for my game, MehPong, which is just a breakout clone - It takes 2-5mins to create an animate a simple block of which are duplicated for the entire level, but designing characters, then backgrounds, sounds, music and all the little touches and details would probably wear me down before I even get started - Maybe not, I don't know.
I feel I just need a platform to launch off to get me into the swing of things - Maybe this course will help, maybe it won't, I'll have to wait and see.
Thanks for the suggestion though and wouldn't say no to any more suggestions that may be floating around.
I can totally empathize with your stop-start creative drive. I also find myself in the situation Sketchy described: I dip my toes in so many ponds that oftentimes I can't decide into which one I want to take a dive. The result is sitting on my butt, not accomplishing anything...and as a result the creative urge wanes and I feel like I've failed.
To keep myself from feeling totally out of sorts, here are two things I've tried that seem to work well.
- keep a small wire-bound notepad in your pocket, along with something to write with (my personal choice would be gel ink pens). If an idea comes to you, even if in a conversation with others, just write down a short note to remind yourself of it. Later, when you have some alone time for thinking, elaborate on those ideas until something comes to the surface and you have an idea of how to make it work.
I cannot stress just how helpful the use of a notepad has been for me. I take one with me everywhere; at the day job, when out on my bicycle, or even when my partner and I go out to dinner. You never know when inspiration may strike.
Long story short: once a month, do your best to come up with a playable game. You're "forced" to make a game in an incredibly short time. SDKs like Construct, Klik n' Play (the signature dev tool of GT), and MMF2 are all accepted and encouraged.
You can put some of those ideas from your notebook into a playable game sketch for something like this, and it allows you to scratch that creative itch without feeling bad because it's not perfect.
There was a time when I would work on numerous game projects at the same time. At the moment I am working on only one game, although I have ideas for a few more, and I've actually started on a separate sprite sheet just to draw out some of the more tempting ideas I've had.
I've found that allowing myself to work on only one game is really helping me stay focused. I think I'm managing it this time because of numerous reasons:
1. It's a concept that really interests me. (Parts inspired by ideas from a couple of my favourite games)
2. It has the best art/animation I've put into a project so far.
3. It features very different level locations.
4. I managed to create main characters for it that I adore. (I'm usually not too great at this)
5. It has an original soundtrack.
I originally started it as a fairly small project, but because I loved the character so much, I ended up adding to it more and more. Now I have an ambitious project on my hands. It's frustrating not being able to work on anything else, but this way I'm getting something I really like done.
The main thing that has helped me stay focused, is that I'm paying for an original soundtrack. When I hear new samples it REALLY helps boost my creativity. Although I've always found that I love working with music to find little cues in the track where things can happen.
Just thought I'd share one of the other non-klik related projects that I mentioned...
I design the graphics on some badminton racquets - this is the brand new model, made from 100% woven carbon fibre instead of just regular graphite - bear in mind that the pic is a bit over-exposed, so the parts that look white are actually goldish-silver:
Sorry for the late reply, had to take a slight break away from the computer over the week - Really appreciate the in-depth responses.
My core issue is settling on a GameMaker. First game I made was on TGF, which didn't take me long to grasp because it worked similar to Starcrafts old Campaign Editor (slightly), something which I had dabbled with a lot to create my own SC2 RPG of sorts, so TGF took a week and I was flying through it, the rest was just a matter of visiting the forums here, or a google search.
However, while I do feel what I'd like to create COULD be made on TGF I've my doubts about it being the program for me.
It's given me a few ideas so that can be a possible foundation as I'd really like to get the time together and just try out a batch of game makers and see which one appeals - Then maybe draw a few sprites just to get me in the mood - Unfortunately I lose focus when I have to create EVERYTHING myself, which is a bit of an issue considering what I'd like to make would favour 2D, so Unity is out of the question.
Chloe's "Homesick" was a kick in the ass - I'm a massive horror fan both game and movie wise, so this whole Slender fanbase leading to a throng of indie horror thus leading me to a nice 2D Horror game like Homesick is screaming at me to make my own horror game just I spend most of the time thinking of it but no time doing anything with the idea.
I'm not a great pixel artist but I do dabble with Photoshop a lot but I don't think me drawing a character would be the inspiration I need to get going. What I'd need is some resources to look at, an editor / game maker to get familiar with and, like my first game (Which was made after I messed about making 4-5 projects before I finally settled on one) I'd probably have enough to get into the swing of things again.
The type of game I would love to make would be the bastard child of "Lone Survivor" & "Slender" - A game that has replay value through exploration and character 'caring' to stay healthy, massive pool of endings, most likely based around a sole protagonist being hunted by a sole antagonist in a remote dangerous setting where the object is to survive through a timeline while exploring for a means of staying nourished and tools for escape each day. I'm not keen on deserts but for some reason a desert sandstorm setting keeps sticking in mind and a unique mechanic to make the game different from "Just run away" where you have to restrict your senses to bypass random encounters with the enemy (Random encounters for scare factor + guarantee'd variation on playthroughs). I'd also rather NOT have a save-system where progress is saved, more a case of certain collected achievements and items would just be rolled over into the next playthrough (Think 'Binding of Isaac').
It all sounds a bit complex bit it isn't, really. Either way I know what I want to make but getting started is the main barrier.
A not that fun or glamorous way to get stuff done is to itemise the different tasks in as much details as you can (a bit like you did in that previous post) - break it down into eg graphics, the platform you want to use, plots, etc - and then work through the list.
Creative ideas will come into after grunt-working through part of the original plan - but hopefully by this time, you'll have got off the ground anyway and can carry on with more fluency.
I totally relate to that and I think everyone goes through the stages of on and off creative drives and its easy to spread yourself to thin across so many different projects you loose direction the diluted your attention so you don't get any of the completed >< . I guess its just finding the balance that works for you everyone is really different as to how they like to work but if you ever get bored with what your doing it never hurts to push yourself to do something completely different
The best advice I can give hear is "do everything with authenticity". What I mean is, don't work on something if your not feeling the same creative energy that you had at the time to make that particular game engine, work of art, composition or what not. Believe me, it will come back and when it does, you've gotta pounce on it. Always pay attention to your moods and you will get something out of it I guartee it.
Some work of arts take a couple of weeks, others take years in the process. Why? Because your paritcular art has to be created out of that same unique energy that I just mentioned above. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.
Anyways, don't give up on your old projects. That same creative consciousness is circulating around the Earth so every can use it to make their art and it will reach you once again, I promise. Just be ready and cease the moment.
Advertisement
Post Reply
Edited by RopeDrink
