I want to make a video game. It'll be a mixed linear story/open

File: images (1).jpg (10KB, 259x194px) Image search: [Google]

10KB, 259x194px

Go to /vg/ and look for the amateur game dev thread.

>>377058237
Sounds like it, yeah.
But I'm gonna warn you right off the bat: no matter how "easy" Unity and many others are advertized to be, there is going to be a learning curve. Especially if you've never made any kind of game.

Unity differs from the other "big engines" in a sense that you're not making MODS for existing games, but instead making GAMES from a scratch. This means that you got the full control, with the engine only providing a decent kick-start and a pen in which to work in. You can speed up and cheat quite a bit by utilizing the numerous community-maid Assets you can find on the Unity store, which is what I'm actually planning to do with my game idea soon.

First things first though: create a VERY detail game-design document of your game!
List and describe every element and detail in your game in black and white text: What's the genre, target audience and platform, visual style, summary of plot, and finally list all the main and secondary gameplay features + cut each one of them into smaller and smaller tasks. This way, you have a "script" of sorts what to follow, and you can start by focusing on the ESSENTIAL gameplay elements you NEED to have finished before you can even consider your project to be a game. All the secondary stuff can be sacrificed if needed.

After that... practice. Preferably make a smaller and simpler game first, something super basic.

>artwork and characters to reflect the books/shows as much as possible
there's actually a very nice cartoon shader package on the store that could come handy in that.

>>377058898
you're so nice man you made me feel good

What's the best engine for 2D games? Is it still Unity?

File: RPGM 2003 english.jpg (704KB, 1617x1066px) Image search: [Google]

704KB, 1617x1066px

>>377059602
Unity has 2D mode, which has improved in past couple years, but I doubt it's the go-to engine for that.

Good ol' Gamemaker would fit the 2D tasks way better. If you want something even simpler yet surprisingly flexible, the Games Factory 2 / Multimedia Fusion 2 are great picks too.

And finally, there's genre-limited yet super-easy programs, like the RPG Makers.

>>377060116
Thanks. What do you think of Construct? I have some experience with 2 and I know 3 is on the horizon and looks pretty good to me.

>>377060272
never actually heard of it. Seems like there's lots of new options for rookie amateurs.

>>377060272
Why depend on proprietary suites with functions added arbitrarily? Just learn a decent library like SDL or SFML and do whatever you want with shaders.

>>377060775
>SDL
jesus, people STILL use that crap?
And yeah, no offense to the code-gurus out there, but learning an entire language and its spinoff libraries just to get started with a game idea is becoming obsolete, very fast. Not to mention it really ain't everyone's cup of tea.

File: tumblr_onsrg6SWaw1w5ho41o1_540.gif (2MB, 540x405px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 540x405px

>>377058898
Op here, what this anon said
>>377059060


And I don't expect any of it to be easy, but just knowing that there are learning resources enough for both platforms will help loads. Plus, like you said about the community made assets - while I'm betting I'm going to have to start brushing up on my programming/scripting, that I can read the code to get an idea of where I'm heading will be a lot of help.

I've got a good idea of what I want the final game to look like, but you're right - I'll go stick it down on paper and flesh it out. At any rate, that'll help me decide on where to begin first, and then not get bogged down in too many details.

My first goal is to get just basic walking and running animations going, and to make sure it feels like how I want it to feel. That's really it for the moment. Next step after that would be to get some sort of vertical movement system in - jumping, ledge grabbing, probably a crouch-roll when jumping off a high ledge. Basic steps first, got it.

Is there? If you have a link to it, I'd like to see it.

So basically a Ranma 1/2 esque video game with crazy martial arts and cute girls? I'm down.

Would there be character creation and RPG elements like training skills or stats?

>>377061790
>Is there? If you have a link to it, I'd like to see it.
The toon shader? There's actually quite many solution, free and paid, but this one's the one I actually purchased because of its seemingly high quality + customization choices:

https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/8105

While at it, there's a number of pre-made movement assets, technically finished "engines" to be utilized within Unity, such as the UFPS for easy and fast First- and third-person mechanics. I've seen quite plenty of 3rd person movement assets on the library as well, with quite many literally incorporating varying levels of Parkour in the mix as well.

File: 72dc6ed7e399a32fb0514f985669ce68.jpg (97KB, 900x664px) Image search: [Google]

97KB, 900x664px

>>377062403
Sorta. I might stick a character creator in there if I get advanced enough to be able to get that going.

The idea would be to have your base set of main characters from the show, and each would have their own fighting styles, along with strengths and weaknesses. The next half of that would be, for all characters stuck with the Cursed Springs curse, they'd be susceptible to a water mechanic in the game - clear water for cold, white water with a blue tint for hot. They would change according to their various curses, and then the stats of their
strengths/weaknesses would change accordingly. I know it's one fucking hell of a shot in the dark, but if I can get a license to get this game going legally from VIZ and/or Takahashi herself, I'd try to get some sort of funding going for it, and see if I could hire the voice actors from the animes.

Of course, that last bit is a total long shot, but hey, dream big, start small.

>>377062824
Yeah, this is pretty solid! It's pretty spot on to what I'm looking for actually. I think I asked the question on /3/ a ways back, about modeling a character to replicate the manga style as closely as possible. What I hate in game adaptations of animes, is where there are particular angles of a characters face that just look distorted, since there was no intent of creating a 3d model of it at the time of drawing. Though there was a recent recreation of Goku that is pretty fucking spot on, and the level of recreation I'd be satisfied with.

Of course, at first, all I want to make is a person that can walk in a 3d plane, hopefully with a physics-rigged pigtail.

>>377062824
And those pre-made assets are exactly what I'm looking for for learning to create my own, or adapting those to my needs.

File: anime technology.webm (459KB, 1024x576px) Image search: [Google]

459KB, 1024x576px

>>377063689
There's tons of ways to approach the "anime style", but IMO the most successful ways tend to be the most simplified ones. Like, look at the Mega Man Legends on PS1; it's mostly flat colors with 2D texture eyes and mouths (that can have fake depth and perspectives drawn on 'em, just for specific cutscenes), but it works and looks still good 20 years later.

With full-3D modeling, you either gotta get them into "good enough" state, or use some fancy tricks, like in this video.

File: 1489355880167.png (495KB, 1277x676px) Image search: [Google]

495KB, 1277x676px

>>377063924
an example from the MML games, and the devs using flat textures with fake perspective to create impression of anime-style depth in faces.

>>377063924
I'd actually had an idea about how to get the face to work like your photo, and I'm surprised I wasn't terribly off - though that mouth on the right is the shit of nightmares.

How do the shadows not cut through the non-existent facial features, is that part of the design to not do that? Or are all the shadows baked and not dynamic? I don't really have any inclination to set in a day/night cycle into the game, but I wouldn't be against it.

>>377064250
And so that's just a flat surface, the face?

>>377058237
learn some basic stuff. make a pong clone and then as you contiune to dev, gave a slightly bigger project then the last

and finish your projects

File: MGS-PW MSF Olive.png (234KB, 1005x1029px) Image search: [Google]

234KB, 1005x1029px

>>377064364
>How do the shadows not cut through the non-existent facial features
Static lighting. Or rather, NO lighting whatsoever.
If utilized properly, it can result very impressive visuals. MGS: Peace Walker is one of the more recent games to use no lighting whatsoever, everything's hand-drawn and/or baked to textures.

>>377064441
Yes, the head is an all flat, simple block of polygon. The illusion of depth and perspective is just a flat texture.

File: sailors.jpg (48KB, 640x480px) Image search: [Google]

48KB, 640x480px

>>377058237

>Wants to make Shenmue

File: MGS PW HD Collection.png (2MB, 1271x720px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 1271x720px

>>377064674
MGS PW really is a brilliant study material for low-poly & res modelers. Like said, everything is static, most of the shading is drawn to textures, and there's a simple, fake-bloom effect utilized in some scenes.

>>377064790
Shenmue and Ranma 1/2 are really similar if you think about it.

>>377058237
>Open world

Please no

>>377058898
>>377058237
>First things first though: create a VERY detail game-design document of your game!
As someone who works for almost 8 month now on a game I feel like this is a bad advice for an amateur dev. Without any experience there is no way for you to know how much time and effort certain features and elements are going to take, so your DD will eventually end up useless.
My suggestion:
1. Make a simple prototype
I doesn't have to look good, it doesn't have to have all the feature, it doesn't even have to be well made, it is just there to help you understand how to work with the engine and the general scope of your game
2. Now make a design doc
With the experience from making the prototype you can now make a proper design document. Was the prototype fun? What wasn't fun? What feature took the most time? etc etc
3. Abandon the prototype and start new
Don't try to turn your shitty prototype into a full game. Clean start, learn to structure your project etc etc.

>>377063746
Careful though people are quick to call a game "asset flip" if it has any popular assets.

>>377065121
but i wouldnt play such a game if it wasn't mgs