well not really.
So like so many others, I’ve dreamt of putting my game out there. I started playing with Unity and the Unreal engine. Watching tutorials on youtube and Udemy. Yes, I thought, I’m a games developer now. Time to put my vision into action.
Where to start, as many other blogs and videos have told me. I should produce a design document and that’s just what I did. I started with a broad overview of what my game should look and feel like once it’s finished*. Then I flushed out the details of would and how this could be accomplished. As I did this new ideas surfaced. Lots of what-ifs and can I incorporate this part of that game and would this be cool if. Before I knew it my humble game was a full-on MMORPG, Fortnite, GTA clone or should I say monster.
It became clear this game would be unmanageable and undevelopable for this one man and his humble computer.
Lesson learned
It’s back to a blank sheet of paper (going old school) and rethinking my approach. Start by asking what kind of game would I really like to play. Not what game do I ultimately want to make? Let’s be honest with our selves, we’d all love to make the next EvE or WoW and retire. The complexity of MMORPGs requires a team of people or two. As a small studio of one (me), what can I achieve, as the sole contributor to the development pipeline. The realisation is I can do a lot, with time and patience. Indeed I will need to do it all. So the key thing here is, start small.
My next big project will be small!
Thinking back to my early days as a gamer (long before that was a thing). The games that really got me loading.
- Point and click 3d puzzle/mystery game
- Operation Stealth
- Future wars
- Indiana Jones
- Loom
- The Secret of Monkey Island
- Realtime strategy games
- Command and conquer
- Settlers
- Rise of Nations
- WarCraft III
more recently games such as Frostpunk and Banished have taken more time from me than I’d care to admit. So that’s where I’ll start. I want to not only make a fun game. I want to also make the making of the game to be fun**.
What now! and what advice can I offer you!
I have a new game design document to write. Focusing this time on one game with achievable goals. You’re not going to make an MMORPG in 6 months so be realistic.
Game Design
A simple game with simple goals
– Moving your people across a map/defend your spot on the map.
– Go there do this (I knew there was a reason these tedious quests existed)
– Gather resources.
– Upgrade technology.
– Kill some kind of enemy.
What Engine
As I’ve stated I’ve played with the usual suspects, Unreal and Unity. I’ve also had a toy with 001 Game Designer and the CryEngine. there are pros and cons for each engine.
Unreal: I think if I had no experience or knowhow. The Unreal engine would win this debate they have some nice free tools and resources.
001 Game Designer: This engine seems geared more to the 2d adventure type games. Maybe a simple point and click adventure could be a possible future game. For the time being, I’ll stick with my RTS game.
CryEngine: This seems like its a little confusing and specialist for my needs and experience right now. We can put this in the OTT bin.
Unity: I couldn’t imaging putting out a game and asking for money using the free version of Unity. Lucky me, I have a pro account so this works out nicely. I have got a moderate amount of experience with the engine and C#. So this engine just pulls ahead for me.
But you have the choice to make, I’m sure there are other engines out there you can try too.
The advice I’d give myself!
Firstly, as already stated start small. If you burry your self in too many side quests you’ll never finish* the game.
Secondly, you can have ideas for other games while you’re making this one. Just write them down, stick to your game design for this one.
Thirdly, invest in your own business. If you’re serious about making a viable business out of this by a mid-range PC. Dedicate it to your games company. My gaming rig is currently bogged down with game engines, assets, git repositories and more (all soon to be removed). I say buy a mid-range PC as I’m personally not going to be building any AAA games on my own. I reality, neither are you. It goes back to keeping it small for now.
Lastly, keep some faith in your self. Your first game out of your stable probably won’t make you rich. but it will be rich inexperience.
*Get to the point I feel I can let it loose on the public (patches and updates pending)
**Does that make sense!
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