The answer to every 'Can it be done?' and 'I've lost my way' post.

Before web games, I was making games for iOS. But it was just before everyone started to go free to play and also I was afraid of some infamous patent troll who was trying to get money from devs It turned out that iOS was too difficult for me or maybe I was not skilled enough at that time. But I enjoyed that so who cares about money

Also I think multiplayer games are easier to promote than singleplayer games. If some player like the game he will probably want to play it with his friends.

All my iOS games / apps are now free: http://appshopper.com/search/?search=unusualsoft
All the games and apps (with the exception of TRITRI/ATRITRIA made in Cocos 2D) have been made in Unity. When I will have more time I will probably put them for some small price or for free in the Asset Store. I have already gave the source code of my calculator app to a few people, so if you need a free calculator (with the equation parser) in Unity, let me know.

 

Maybe I can make smaller games out of my huge game while its in development, so I can build more feasible games while working toward the big one at the same time.

I will need to think about how I will do that. I might take the 12 week challenge.

 

Interesting thread, good to read.

 

Since I think many people may follow this thread, I would like to post this link: http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/188254-3DModels-Textures-SUMMER-MADNESS!-50-OFF

It's a very very nice promotion, you can buy nice assets and the price is 50% smaller From trees and buildings to characters with animations. It will probably help you with the challenge from this thread.
I am not associated in any way with this website, so I am advertising it here only because if think it's a very nice promotion to check.

 

Day 13 and my sidescroller is coming together very nicely! it's a story based single player experience. The story is all laid out, gameplay mechanics are in and baddies are becoming sentient and challenging. Level 1/tutorial....SOON

 

2 down, 10 to go. Keep on rocking!
Gigi

 

FYI - Feeling good about my chances of a September release! 3 weeks into this and my white board is showing the light at the end of the tunnel.... now if some of these bugs just didn't take so long to work out!

 

It took 3 weeks!

My wife challenged me to find a part of my app I could release as a by-product. So, when Apple announced the new Mac Pro, I knew what I had to do. See, on the right side of their website was my little chapter dots! The same exact look-feel I used in my most recent iOS app!

If it's good enough for Apple's million $$ marketing campaign, then it's good enough to be a Unity Asset. So, I cleaned up my code, bullet proofed it, and made it easy to use - 1 prefab, 1 draw call, and 1 line of code. And to make it more sexy, I developed a juicy demo to show it off! (Fun right!?) Of course, this was my first Unity asset, so after Unity rejected it for not having enough documentation, I wrote up this 11 page API guide. (Pats self on back).

Gigi's Juicy Level Dots is a minor addition to the Asset Store, and a major milestone for me! (PS - Forum Thread here).

Want to see pics? Here's a shot from my iOS app:


And here's a shot from the demo:


I'm walking the right path.
Gigi.

 

Love it! Unique!

 

I just think of the quote, "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars."

...and how little comfort it would offer to any astronaut in such a situation, in the interval between running out of fuel and running out of oxygen.


( here am I, sitting in a tin can...)

 

Cool

 

all right major tom

this post and gigi's challenge is becoming some sort of rehab place for troubled souls of game dev hehehehe

very healthy as game dev like everything in life, with a misguided focus, can become a very dark place

 

Since ditching long-term plans in favor of trying very short-term projects, partly fueled by frustration, I managed to finish two projects. The first is my Gradient Shader Pack which is now available for sale on the asset store and has sold a few copies so far, it took about 2-3 days of coding, then 2-3 days to do documentation, screenshots, asset store presentation etc. So after about a week's work I had a finished project, yay. I found that having such a short timespan made it much easier for me to stay on track and to keep the end goal in sight. That seemed to be very important, to be able to know that `it's almost done`. Keeping sight of the end goal and its near arrival allowed me to get through some of the tuffer parts of development and some of the parts I didn't want to do - it makes it more palatable when you can see that it's a very short-term project.

Then I tackled a second project which is heading to the asset store as we speak, which ended up taking about 2 and a half weeks, which is about a week longer than I was comfortable with. After the first week I started to get a bit bored and impatient and wanting to entertain other projects. I don't know if it's just that I've conditioned myself over time to be always changing plans/goals, but it was actually kind of tuff to finish this one even though it was only a 2.5-week project. The last week ended up taking about twice as long to finish due to avoidance and slight disillusionment, where it somewhat turned from enthusiasm and excitement to having to get the `work` done, such as extensive documentation and examples etc... I didn't anticipate up-front how much would need to be explained and demonstrated. So that was a good lesson to learn. The project entailed about a week of programming and then the rest of the time was putting together demo scenes, setting up example materials, polishing and writing documentation, and getting images/content ready for the asset store. So it certainly seems that if you're into making assets that involve some code, anticipate at least half of the project being taken up with non-programming tasks and presentation/support materials. At last though I got it finished, with some relief. I have to say that for me it felt like wearing a straight-jacket after a week-ish of work, staying focussed and keeping the end in sight was harder and the perception that `there is still a lot to do` is quite off-putting at times. But it's done, and just waiting eagerly now for its approval for sale.

Which brings me to my next project - am now working on a shootemup for Ouya. It's a project I've wanted to do for... years. I've made some good progress on it, got the scrolling and camera stuff working and the main player controls. But still, I'm starting to get that familiar old `there's so much left to do` feeling, which really is fear, which is very off-putting. As soon as you start to see aaaaall that remaining stuff you have got to do, which maybe you didn't anticipate when you were designing, it turns into a seeming mountain of work that looks like a big painful chore. However, one insight I had is to combat this with *enthusiasm*, since the perception of there being too much to do off into the future and it being difficult to get there is really a state of putting great distance between myself and the goal, rather than bringing the goal nearer... far off goals are bad for progress, or at least the perception of them. So to bring the goals nearer I am trying now to use enthusiasm for the immediacy of `getting some results now` to keep the focus. Moral of the story might be to always stay present, stay focussed closer to `now` and don't set your sights further than 3-5 days into the future, otherwise you'll just put yourself off.

This is turning into a bit of a confessional ;-) .... at the moment I'm having thoughts of putting this project aside and doing some other really short quick thing, I get thoughts of running away and shelving this project and making something tiny that I can get done in a week. Part of me wants to just stop right now, because the thought of possibly *months* of work to get this one project done to the standard I want seems like a really really really long time to stay focussed on one thing. I have to say though that while the short projects got *finished*, the projects that swell more in my heart and represent more of my passion than being just to get something finished and to make some money quickly, are the ones which seem like they're going to take a lot more time and effort. Perhaps there is a balance somewhere?

 

Your assets are coming along nicely. And I wonder if perhaps after a 1 week'er, and a 2.5 weeker, going all the way to a full shoot-em-up may be a tad far the other way, especially given the new platform. Maybe take a moment to savor what's gone well so far. You've got 3 assets on the store, which is a huge accomplishment, and as I've found - working the asset store isn't easier than working the App Store, it's just different.

Gigi

 

Have you listed out what's left to do?

I don't mean a design doc, I mean a list of tasks. Something that you can look at, do an item, and scrub the item off when it's done. I find that super helpful, as it gives a sense of progress and also something to focus on. If I sit down to work on my game I don't need to think about what bit I'll do, I look at the list and if nothing immediately takes my fancy I can start on either the topmost item or the item which will have the biggest impact. Then I can scrub it off, which feels good. It also makes me do a lot of pre-thinking, so that I don't get part way through a task and realise that there's actually a predicate that I hadn't thought of.

Also, don't list features. List tasks. A feature is probably made up of a bunch of tasks. Individual tasks shouldn't be more than a few hours each. If a task is more than 8 hours it's almost certainly too big, so break it down into smaller bits. Eg: "implement enemy X" is probably several tasks, such as "model enemy X", "animate enemy X", "create enemy X projectile sprite", "create enemy X AI", "test enemy X in a level". Each of those are things you should be able to cross off in a pretty manageable amount of time.

It also helps a lot with the goals thing, because it gives you a lot of nearer goals in the middle. Your goal isn't "finish game" which is 11 weeks away, it's "implement feature X" which is hopefully a few days away, followed by Y and then Z which are hopefully also each days away. And every time you reach one of them you're a significant step closer to finishing your larger goal of finishing a game.

Also also... milestones! But I'll shut up for now.

 

Why shut up? It was really intresting and true what you have said. I guess you were out of time or characters.

The list of tasks method has kept me going for a long time now, since I've started working on bigger projects. I always have a bunch of post-its, on which several tasks are written, and it's a nice feeling to rumple or put away a post-it. It's like leveling up in a game. It keeps you going and makes you say "One more level before I stop for today".

Also, I haven't worked on my project for 4 days, because it started feeling like I was pushing myself to work, but today I feel like I've missed working on it and I'm fresh and good to go again. Breaks are as important as sleeping to humans, you need them in order to clear and rest your mind so you can start again with energy and refreshed mind.

 

Or perhaps I just like to leave people wanting for more.

I just didn't want to put too much of a wall of text up at once.

 

Hey thanks for the useful reminders and encouragement!

Yes you might be right Gigi, my shootemup may take many weeks or months to finish. At the moment though it's going well. After my confessional and looking at the sense of intimidation about what's left to do, I got past that and made some more progress. I've now got the Ouya controller working and all buttons mapped which is pretty cool and removes one of the fears that I had (that it would not work, too difficult etc). I'm going to stick with it and just decide spontaneously which part to work on next, knowing that I don't have to do everything in a fixed order. If it gets to where I need a big break/distraction then I'll work on a small asset store project. I have a few in the works actually.

As far as the list of tasks goes... I do that sometimes as it helps organize my thoughts, but I've kind of been breaking away from a lot of the over-thinking over-planning kind of approaches and trying to move more towards a free-flowing creative expression, which so far is mostly working for me. But I know I need to get down to a to-do list soon.

 

This is a really fantastic thread.
I have made the mistake numerous times with taking the left path...and fallen.
I have created some cool stuff though...but only to a certain point...

I am working hard now on doing things that are achievable and have potential. As my skills grow so with the saleability of my products.

I am not a coder, I am an artist, and so much of the battle is learning to program....sure I can copy-paste but you don't learn anything that way.

I have come across some great books that might help some people:

http://www.pretotyping.org/pretotype-it---the-book

There is a also a good book:
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/files/thelinchpinmanifesto.pdf

 

Why do you feel that it's over-thinking?

I also enjoy spontaneity on hobby projects, but I still like it to be directed. Or I do it on prototypes that are essentially just a jam session trying out ideas. For a game that I want to "finish" I always want to know at least what direction I'm heading in, otherwise the spontaneous things I do have a risk of taking me away from my goal rather than towards it.

To be fair, though, my coding buddy in Universal Chicken does a fair bit of stuff with relative spontaneity and it works really well - a great example being the fake volumetric effect he recently added to our flashlight beams. Things like this have no predicates and don't impact the direction of the game, but they're really nice polish and add a lot to the game in the long run. It was also a relatively small task, so it wasn't really taking anything away from where we're going in terms of resources.

 

Hey, i was wondering, is it possible to make a Cube World like game using Unity.
I have just downloaded it and i am totally new to it. After summer vacation i am going to a 3D college to start my education as a 3D artist,
so i wanted to take a look at Unity since i know we are going to work with it after the first semester is over.

Ok so what exactly i want to know: Can i create characters that have this pixel/voxel design to them, and the world to of course.
Since i love the design of games like Cube World and Minecraft, it would be fun to see what i could make my self and what i could make with friends once i start College.
Like this:

 

Absolutely.

There are various discussions around as to how to do it efficiently, I'd suggest taking a look at those.

 

I will do that! Thx for the reply.

 

Hmmm, the problem is i don't really know what i should search for and where, since i'm totally new to this forum.
Should i search for how to do Minecraft like art or?

 

Most of the threads I recall seeing had "Minecraft" in their title, so I'd search for that. There's a pretty active one in the Gossip section that I think would be in the first few pages if you just start skimming the titles, too. (Edit: Actually, first page at the moment: http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/63149-After-playing-minecraft)

This isn't really an appropriate thread to get too in depth in particular game types, though.

 

Thx man really appreciate it!

 

sorry guys but i can't buy this do small projects thing, why waste time when you CAN do your real project ?
your avoiding facing your fears. your words are great but at the end you still didn't do what you want and you have small projects that will go no where.
i am not saying do the impossible but a good long game is very possible these days, asset are all over the place, so at the end your not alone
and you can learn as you go, master stuff while doing your dream.
otherwise you will be stuck in your 8 weeks projects...

 

If you REALLY CAN do a big project, then it's fine. Nobody said it's impossible to do it, people here just shared their experience and opinions on how starting small and then going to bigger projects can help you gain the experience of passing through all the stages of the development process and keep your motivation for moving on. After all, we've seen a lot of big projects get completed, but I believe their developers also worked on smaller projects beforehand. Why do programming classes start with the "Hello World" program instead of a big professional software?

 

Great advice Angry! And nice work on your first App Store release - Master Thief.
Gigi.

 

20 Years of IT work and I was so excited about this 12 week challenge that I forgot to put the game dev directories in my back up routines. I will spare you the sad tears and wining but will advise that anyone and everyone, remember your backups!!!!! I am still pushing for my 12 week goal on Sept. 16th. But I started over this past Saturday. Still Positive!

As for not facing your fears.... remember that in today's internet enabled world, you can rethink your game in a way that allows you to launch the simple version and release regular updates with new levels, etc. with extreme ease. So my thought process has been to simplify the game concept, stick to what works in the concept and leave the advanced features for a later update. Of course I am doing a sandbox builder game so it is easy to leave some of the advanced features out. Nope it's not like Minecraft. I know too many block heads as it is, why create more! haha

 

should make people graduate up through the generations of consoles for their first few games.

Start with atari: real simple, basic shapes, beepy sounds, one screen up to a few at most, only a few colours, straight forward controls and gameplay
Then move up from there
nes
snes
n64

 

If you can do your dream project then sure, go for it. Nobody's saying not to do it if you can. What we're saying is that if you don't have the experience then you're better off building it up first.

Oh, but I'm not. I've been doing this professionally for years. Gigi congratulated me on my first App Store release, but in actual fact that's just my first hobby App Store release. I've already got multiple professional works published, and plenty of stuff distributed outside of the App Store.

I've no reason to fear this stuff, I've been living it successfully for years.

What do you mean "go nowhere", though?

Lets ignore the many small projects I've done for clients over the years and look solely at my hobby project:
- I got a game that I made in my spare time while hanging out with friends commercially published - this was a personal goal and I feel great for having achieved it.
- I'm sharing a video game I created with the world. This has been a dream of mine since I was a kid and fell in love with games made by others. I wanted to do that, too, and now I do.
- Each year I take one or more games to a local Anime and Video Games Convention where I have a rockin' time showing it off to thousands of people, getting feedback and learning how to improve my craft.

The last two are things that people can do with "small" projects, the ones that you're saying can only ever go "nowhere". I don't think that's "nowhere". I actually feel pretty darn good about what I've achieved, and I had fun while doing it.

I've had to deal with this kind of project both professionally and in my hobby in the past. Have you?

 

My understanding is that this challenge isn't about "small projects" but more along the lines of what we can develop and bring to market in 12 weeks. For some developers this will mean a small project, for others it will mean a rather large project based on their abilities and what they can complete in 12 weeks. I still think this is a great exercise for anyone wanting to get a game to market. Of course I have no issues with those that enjoy making games for the fun of it with no interest in publishing and I have no issues with those that want to spend a year or two developing a large game. To each his own. But I do find myself in the category of spending too much time wanting to get my project to market only to find myself spending years working on extra features and never completing my project before technologies change. This time I am following through thanks to Gigi and his challenge!

 

The thing is, it's quite likely that you can't. For example, the guy who made Cave Story learned programming and started his game, but realized he did not have the experience necessary to actually do it. So he made a small game project (Little Squid) to get experience first, then went back to Cave Story after finishing that. Under no circumstances is getting more experience a "waste of time". It's either completely necessary, or at the very least it will make your "real" project better.

--Eric

 

I accept Gigi's Challenge. 2013/07/04
Gigi

 

But the experience not even comparable. small project will not have anything more than (Almost)10% of the real game your trying to make, no matter how many you make. (if you keep on building small houses you will never get experience in building skyscraper)
How about reading and learning from previous experiences ? be more realistic for your project. join a company or a team making a game on the same scale as yours.
Everyday i work on my project even for an hour, i know it's a bringing my project closer to release. and that's what makes me happy and i feel i have accomplished something.
Anyhow i guess to each his way And we are not here to compare achievements or to brag.

 

If you've never built anything then you have zero experience on which to lay your skyscraper. If you've at least built a few small houses first then you at least know the basics.

To run with your analogy, if you learn as you go and you're building a few houses then the first one or two might be dodgy but you'll learn from it and the later ones will be fine. If you learn as you go on a skyscraper and make a couple of dodgy floors then you've got serious structural issues going forward, and most likely you're just outright stuffed.

Finally, I agree that starting with a Space Invaders and jumping to GTA is unrealistic. But it's still way better than starting with GTA, and hopefully people will build their way up over a number of projects instead of jumping up the complexity by orders of magnitude.

 

You will get experience in building structures in general, which is extremely important. The experience in small projects is directly transferable to large projects, as my real-world example above demonstrated.

--Eric

 

Gigi
Your wife deserves the credit here for throwing down the challenge. She is a wise woman. I like many others have found myself on the path with all the shiny objects. Thanks for starting the thread and passing on the information.

 

I accept Gigi's Challenge. August 4th 2013

lanDog

 

Look forward to a release in Nov .
Gigi.

 

Gigi, I love you!

Starting a new game today, Give me 6 weeks. Downhill Sledding, YES! I'll reply here when I'm done.

 

Funniest thing I have read all day, thank "(INSERT YOUR ENLIGHTENED DEITY HERE)" I have found this forum thread.

 

I also will throw my toupee into the ring....now I have Playmaker...my dev is WAY faster!
See you in 6 weeks or in rehab.

 

i bought playmaker. Absolutely USELESS.

 

Yeah horrible reviews....nobody likes it or uses it successfully...

 

I accepted the challenge, and here i am after 4 weeks of hard coding.

Like everyone here i also had big dreams, but i knew that i needed to just do those 10% and leave the other 90 to rest.

The big dream: A MMORPG with costume character look, costume spells (yes, player made spells), and all alse an mmorpg has.

So, what was the 10%? the costumizable spells ofcourse (remember Morrowind or Oblivion? but better) or A Spell Making feature, so i set myself to make a small app/mini-game just to prove myself that i could make it. A small library, a UI and a few targets would be enough to do so.

I'm a fresh programmer out of University and so all the objects\meshes\models i would use was the ones that came with unity, I would just care about the programing part, if someday an actual RPG comes ill needs a modder guy anyway.

Here's what i did in this 4 weeks: http://webx.ubi.pt/~a23002/SpellCustomizer/build.html

It's not yet supposed to be balanced from the damage\mana cost point of view, this is only for functionality now, so there's no mana or mana costs showing up, which will obviously be automatically calculated upon spell creation.

Plz anyone tell me what you think of my spell making feature. (as you can tell some things are not working yet, namely, spell effects over time, projectiles, phisical attacks(yes i plan to include them) but then only when and if i have phisical attack animations[maybe in the actual RPG project if ever comes])

So, ye, much work to do xD and so full of bugs lololol

 

Here is my thread on the project:

http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/195400-Gigi-s-Challenge-Crazy-Gods

 

@Aria - Want some feedback? I enjoyed the cute wrench wielding character in your demo. And, from what I saw, it appears your app is only just begun. To finish in 12 weeks, consider being even more drastic - cut an additional 90%! Find the tiniest, trivial little nugget to form the basis of your game.

Gigi.