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Need tips for creating a Strategy Game.

Discussion in 'Scripting' started by Abdou23, Aug 31, 2014.

  1. Abdou23

    Abdou23

    Joined:
    May 2, 2014
    Posts:
    77
    "I don't really know where to post this so if wrong section please move and inform me."

    i am a beginner programmer, i learned programming in order to create strategy games , the idea i have in mind is a game like "Democracy" or "Plague Inc.". I also would like to create it for mobile phones and tablets. I have worked with SpriteKit and very familiar with it, but was wondering if there is a better engine that can also deploy to both IOS & Android.

    But the main question here is what is the best approach in order to make a strategy game like that ? is there a guid here or something i can check ? or is anyone here have some experience that wouldn't mind to share ? Also is it possible to create this game using Playmaker ? you know to save time and effort writing tons of code.
     
  2. ardizzle

    ardizzle

    Joined:
    Mar 28, 2013
    Posts:
    86
    I have no idea about player maker or sprite kit. But I love using the 2D tool kit you can buy off the unity store.

    I have been programing for years and the best advice I can give is to break everything down into sections. And just take it a piece at a time. Also always comment your code because you will have to come back to it and you will have to change it. If you can give me more detail about your game I can give you a good idea where to start.
     
  3. frosted

    frosted

    Joined:
    Jan 17, 2014
    Posts:
    4,044
    yeah, i'd also throw in that just because a strategy game might seem simple, that doesn't mean it actually will be. A lot of the stuff that unity makes really easy isn't super helpful with strategy games. Mecanim is a good example - this is a pretty great animation system, and makes stuff like directly moving a character around very fluid and responsive. But in a turn based context, it might be a little unnatural since you really just want to fire off one shot animations most of the time.
     
  4. Abdou23

    Abdou23

    Joined:
    May 2, 2014
    Posts:
    77
    Let's say i want to create a dumbed down version of Democracy in order to appeal to touch screen users, what's your recommendations ? engine, approach method, ..etc. And how long could it take to accomplish something like that.
     
  5. ardizzle

    ardizzle

    Joined:
    Mar 28, 2013
    Posts:
    86
    Length of time would be a while if your new and by your self.

    Before writing any code I would get the basics of the game written down. And then start writing down the math, figure out most of your equations. Then start programing things one at a time. The rate your people make money and the rate they go hungry and spend that money. Starting there wouldn't be a bad idea.
     
  6. Kurt-Dekker

    Kurt-Dekker

    Joined:
    Mar 16, 2013
    Posts:
    38,520
    I would recommend breaking it down further and starting with another really small and trivial "game" to get the hang of how user input is captured for a board game.

    I suggest you make a tiny game that has a single sprite that you pick up by touching and then move it around to different areas of your board.

    When you have that working, see how it works with a few different player sprites that you pick up and touch.

    Once that is good, make only one of those sprites belong to you, and the others are the computer players. Disallow the human player to move the computer players. After the human makes his single move, make the other sprites all move randomly, simulating the computer player's moves.

    When you have that working, make a system that marks part of the board "good" and part of it "bad." Allow each player to move, and if they enter the bad area, make their sprite disappear, and allow the remaining players to continue.

    Definitely write your game idea down, but don't even TRY to actually do the original game idea you have until you can at least do the above steps and understand what is happening, otherwise you will simply be wasting your time.

    Kurt
     
    frosted likes this.
  7. Abdou23

    Abdou23

    Joined:
    May 2, 2014
    Posts:
    77
    Thank You guys.