T2D Risk Done (Now what?)
by Pauliver · 07/05/2006 (10:16 am) · 7 comments
I have been a part of numerous projects involving Torque tech. I own TGE,TSE, & TGB lisences. Having had all of those lisences except TGB for over a year and not finished a single game i was beginning to wonder if i would EVER complete a game. Then i decided to write Risk in TGB, i purchased my TGB lisence on Jun 05, 2006 and now 1 day before 1 month later i have a complete game (Freaking sweet, and i did it all by myself, and in script only so it will run on Mac,Linux,Win).
So Paul why didn't you post a download?
I'm not an artist, its not polished. I'm also not a GUI person so all of my gui's are the most basic that they could be. Also if you don't know the flow pattern of a turn you could be lost, i didn't want to put in prompts for each phase of a turn as i imagine after the first 5 turns they would be VERY annoying.
Also my risk map has 92 territories, it tested everything with a trimmed down version using 7 territories and it worked fine (I had to use both my MacbookPro and my Windows Laptop to test it because its a network game) but there may be small bugs in the full version, that would only be detected by playing a full game using Torsion to debug, i dont have the time for that currently but i assure you any bugs are simply territories name mispellings when i compare a territories name against the territories in a country to see if the player gets a risk bonus for having that whole country.
So my question to the GG community is "Now What?". I wrote the game to show myself i could finish a project, after this i intend to go back fulltime to working on my other projects but it would be a shame to see the month worth of work i put into this die.
The problem with releasing it myself is then:
I would have to support it
I would have to perfect a way for people to find games (this game is going to take hours to play).
Write in a way to save games/load games (not difficult at all based on the way i do things, its just another step. all you would really have to do is run Country.Save(%filename); but loading it will require skipping several steps of the game, also finding a way to make sure that the original group who played is available for this new game, ect..)
and mainly figure out if i'm violating anyones copyrights (does anyone own the name Risk?)
its not really something i'm interested in..
Is there any interest in taking this and turning it into a Torque 2D community project like realm wars?
Would Garage Games be willing to touch it up, fix anything i may have F*ed up and turn it into another Torque 2D demo project (Local mode is the only thing that flat out doesn't work, and that will require an additional gui that allows you to set your $pref::Player::name so that one client can take every turn as i do turn checking [if %client.name !$= $currentplayerturn ]
Is there a group of Dev's that would be interested in making it a production product [if your selling it i get 25%].
Until i have figured out what my next step is i'm not going to release too much. But what are you guys doing? I wrote it because i wanted to show myself i could do it. If i had unlimited free time for this and my other projects, i would try and find myself an artist to change all my bitmaps to 3d images, and actually make little soldiers march across the map/animate them to shoot and kill eachother.. I would also re-do the whole gui system to be more intuative. However i don't have unlimited free time and i would much rather be working on www.ascension-game.com so that project will get my free time.
It was a pleasure to work in TGB/T2D, thank you GG for such a great product.
So Paul why didn't you post a download?
I'm not an artist, its not polished. I'm also not a GUI person so all of my gui's are the most basic that they could be. Also if you don't know the flow pattern of a turn you could be lost, i didn't want to put in prompts for each phase of a turn as i imagine after the first 5 turns they would be VERY annoying.
Also my risk map has 92 territories, it tested everything with a trimmed down version using 7 territories and it worked fine (I had to use both my MacbookPro and my Windows Laptop to test it because its a network game) but there may be small bugs in the full version, that would only be detected by playing a full game using Torsion to debug, i dont have the time for that currently but i assure you any bugs are simply territories name mispellings when i compare a territories name against the territories in a country to see if the player gets a risk bonus for having that whole country.
So my question to the GG community is "Now What?". I wrote the game to show myself i could finish a project, after this i intend to go back fulltime to working on my other projects but it would be a shame to see the month worth of work i put into this die.
The problem with releasing it myself is then:
I would have to support it
I would have to perfect a way for people to find games (this game is going to take hours to play).
Write in a way to save games/load games (not difficult at all based on the way i do things, its just another step. all you would really have to do is run Country.Save(%filename); but loading it will require skipping several steps of the game, also finding a way to make sure that the original group who played is available for this new game, ect..)
and mainly figure out if i'm violating anyones copyrights (does anyone own the name Risk?)
its not really something i'm interested in..
Is there any interest in taking this and turning it into a Torque 2D community project like realm wars?
Would Garage Games be willing to touch it up, fix anything i may have F*ed up and turn it into another Torque 2D demo project (Local mode is the only thing that flat out doesn't work, and that will require an additional gui that allows you to set your $pref::Player::name so that one client can take every turn as i do turn checking [if %client.name !$= $currentplayerturn ]
Is there a group of Dev's that would be interested in making it a production product [if your selling it i get 25%].
Until i have figured out what my next step is i'm not going to release too much. But what are you guys doing? I wrote it because i wanted to show myself i could do it. If i had unlimited free time for this and my other projects, i would try and find myself an artist to change all my bitmaps to 3d images, and actually make little soldiers march across the map/animate them to shoot and kill eachother.. I would also re-do the whole gui system to be more intuative. However i don't have unlimited free time and i would much rather be working on www.ascension-game.com so that project will get my free time.
It was a pleasure to work in TGB/T2D, thank you GG for such a great product.
#2
Now what = Find some artests to create some nice assets and polish that puppy up, look at the functions and gtame play and improve on them, In looks, use, and flow.
07/05/2006 (12:21 pm)
Screen shot?Now what = Find some artests to create some nice assets and polish that puppy up, look at the functions and gtame play and improve on them, In looks, use, and flow.
#3
07/05/2006 (12:36 pm)
If you change up the looks and some of the gameplay elements, you could probably get away from the licensing part. There are a lot of Risk-esque games out there, even board games.
#4
07/05/2006 (12:40 pm)
Castle Risk.. now that's an untapped resource if my mind serves me.... ;)
#5
Then you can put it in your portfolio, where it will demonstrate that you can finish a project, make it look good, and that you understand how to make something fun. You can raid it for parts for other projects, and use it to attract people to future projects you want to do. Showing people you can finish something and have a basic understanding of all the parts of a project is very, very useful.
And you'll learn a ton of valuable lessons and gain a lot of experience in the process. :)
07/05/2006 (12:57 pm)
I'd say, sit on it and polish it up. Clean the code, put some basic (but clean) art in. Read some photoshop tutorials - it's incredibly easy to take a basic line drawing, toss some filters on it, and make it look professional. Go the extra mile so it's fun. Add helpful prompts for the player (and make sure the go away after a while if the player wants). Make it fun and playable.Then you can put it in your portfolio, where it will demonstrate that you can finish a project, make it look good, and that you understand how to make something fun. You can raid it for parts for other projects, and use it to attract people to future projects you want to do. Showing people you can finish something and have a basic understanding of all the parts of a project is very, very useful.
And you'll learn a ton of valuable lessons and gain a lot of experience in the process. :)
#6
07/05/2006 (4:30 pm)
Lux and American History Lux have been great sellers, and they are clones of Risk. Take a look at those titles, and make it your own. Risk is not a dying game, you just need to learn how to reach your market. 
#7
But seriously, showing that you have a fully playable game that just needs art is not a bad idea. You just need to pique the curiosity of an artist, and then it'll probably be some GUI work and such but you'll have a game done before you know it.
07/06/2006 (11:24 am)
I'd also suggest posting screen shots, and posting your current art. One thing that pisses off artists to no end is horrible placeholder art. You can't use photoshop and make an effort...you need to use, like MS paint, and have it blocky and horribly colored. Then artists say, "AGH MY DESIGN SENSIBILITIES!!!" and they make art for you.But seriously, showing that you have a fully playable game that just needs art is not a bad idea. You just need to pique the curiosity of an artist, and then it'll probably be some GUI work and such but you'll have a game done before you know it.
Torque 3D Owner Jonathon Stevens
I wouldn't plan on licensing it as you more than likely wouldn't get much money from a risk game. It's a great game, yes, but their are 3D versions out there which barely get used or sold as it is. Risk, unfortunately, is a dying name. IMHO
-dish
EDIT: Congrats on finishing something though. Even if you do nothing with it, it's still not a waste of a months worth of work. You've learned from it and now have the confidence in knowing that you are capable of finishing something. Good luck to you!