I just finished re-reading Ursula Le Guin's "The Dispossessed" at the weekend and the parallels between the book and "The Game" (are we going to come up with a title, or is is just going to be called "Pacifist"?) are striking, especially the riot at the end of the book. Anyway, now that we've had Joe's design document, maybe it's time to start looking at game engines. I'll start a wiki page, then others can add any engines that they have heard or know about. One caveat has to be that the engine should at least be free - opensource or not is another discussion.
Never read that book. May do though. Currently reading Fredrik Pohls Gateway - good stuff. Title-wise I think Pacifist works as a codename for now - we can think up something better later unless someone has a great idea now. How does Hand-drawn Indie Game Which Will Probably Be Banned In China sound?
It all depends on what language people want to use. If we use C# we can use XNA which means easy-peasy tech and the possibility to publish on XCG. If we use C++ we can use any one of a number of engines. SDL, Irrlicht, PhoenixGL (2D only) etc. Also, what does the game need to support? From the design doc it's clear that we're going with a hand-drawn feel and from the team I'd say it's going to be exclusively 2D art. We can add some fancy parallaxing to make it stand out though. Either that or we can use a 3D engine to billboard all the artwork and give it some real layers. This is why I think it'd be good to see some mock screens.
Yea, I'll do something tonight. I had a manic weekend (little brothers were visiting) so didn't get a chance to play around with anything. Took my graphics tablet home and everything!
SVN repos is set up: http://wiki.willblackmore.co.uk/doku.php?id=info:svn Wiki link only Username/password access ONLY so add me on MSN, PM me, Facebook me (sorry, no Pidgeons, they're too unreliable) with your username/password request and I'll add you
Request sent. I'll try my hand at mock-ups soonish, but I think it'd be good if others had a go too. Not only can we compare and discuss ideas that way, but it also means I won't be so embarrassed by my shitty art skills.
In stores soon, next to Duke Nukem Forever I loved the parallax "stage set" look of the game someone posted a few pages back - which should be fairly easy to achieve with a 3D engine - but with a more serious, line drawing look.
What? I'm a suit? I can be a bit of a hippy too though, right? Can I be a Suit With Nn Untucked Shirt And A Slightly Skew-if Tie? It'd look great on a business card!
We could do with a bit on the team page which specifies what everyone actually does. The categories are good but if people start adding themselves randomly, we're not going to know much about them. Jamie, Glider, what are you interested in doing? What can you help us with?
I'm interesting in doing some programming but I have very little game programming experience which is the reason I would like to help... or at least try not to hinder.
I think this is a perfect example for us all to (a) expand our skillsets (to use the management-speak); and (b) feel the pain the games developers go through. I'd say even if you have limited skills, but are keen to learn more in the presence of some of this lunchtime's greatest minds, then join in. I'd almost say the more, the merrier, but that would make it too difficult to manage. Maybe the keener, the merrier?
I'm anxious we don't get too many people jumping on solely as 'writers' and 'designers' on the basis they think they have a good idea which may or may not be linked to the game though. Now that we have a design document I think we should stay fairly close to it if all are in agreement. Naturally, if you've got technical skill then that's totally different and you should feel free to pitch in. I just don't want CK, for example (and no offense meant) to stumble in and re-write the design and story on a whim is all. Imagine the horror. Who all is going to try and produce a mock-up based on the design doc? I know it's lengthy, but you probably only need to read the largest sections.
Got a rough bit of concept art up on the wiki: http://wiki.willblackmore.co.uk/doku.php?id=art:pacifist It's just a sketch right now. I'm going to clean up the lines a bit (still hand drawn, but not quite so messy ) and then add fills to everything. I'm going to do two versions. One with the black and white and then another with colour. Just to see how it looks.
I like it. A lot. The only thing I'd say is that, in order for that screen to work as a potential level, it'd need to be zoomed out some more to give the player some room for chases. As concept art though, that roxxors my soxxors. Will have a bash at some character concepts and mock-ups when I get time.
I imagined having a zoom similar to how GTA (top down) used to work. The faster you move, the more screen you can see. My thoughts for that level by the way were you had to get yourself to the drainpipe in order to scale it up to a balcony/window without being seen by the security camera. A cool mechanic would be that if you'd been a good little protester and avoided knocking all the guards out you'd find that part of the level a lot easier. Just had another thought that would be pretty cool I think... At the moment you mention that if you knock people out the crowd will become less supportive, but perhaps we could have the crowd themselves getting more violent. It's quite common at protests that once one person gets violent, others will see that as an excuse to be violent as well. This would be another moral compass kind of situation. If you complete the level using violence are you really any better than the people your trying to protest to.
