Blog for Jody Byrd at GarageGames.com

Moldy's Step 2: P.E.R.S.O.N.A.L.I.T.Y.

Jody Byrd — 2006-09-25T05:05:13+00:00

This step is always the hardest for me, because it asks so many questions at once. But it forced me to concentrate on what I'm seeing in my head. And I think I'm seeing a Spy Hunter clone. I know eventually I want roads that twist and turn. But my skill level with TGB is just below noob (well, thats how I feel, anyway).

Its a rough draft. But here it is..

Step 2: P.E.R.S.O.N.A.L.I.T.Y.

(P)artners: Does the player has friendly NPC's or other remote players?

Only Friendly NPC's:
Marduke
Garage Mechanic

No multiplayer plans for now. (Maybe in the arena's later on)

(E)nvironment: What type of physics are to be used? What is the world the game takes place in?

Simple 2d , Vertical scroller.
left right controlled movement.
Variable speed with Acceleration/deceleration.
Guns should shoot forward/aft/left/right

The action takes place on the roads.

(R)esources: What resources does the player use?

Credits (money) to buy/sell equipment.
Fuel to power the equipment.

(S)creens: What do the screens look like?

Action Screens: Highway down the left side. Vehicle Dashboard on the right side.

Narrative Screens: Character Pic. Conversation block. Possible response menu. RPG style.

Garage Screens: List of your vehicle's inventory. Repair options menu for damaged equipment. Install/Remove Equipment menu.

Store Screens: List of availible equipment for purchase. List of equipment capable of being sold.

Possible End of Mission Screens: To recap your score?

(O)bstacles: the player has obstacles the keep him from completing the goal.

Motor Gangs: Have vehicles with weapons. Trying to stop you.

Cops: Only try to stop you if you break the law

Other Cars on the highway: Obstacles to be avoided.

(N)otifications: What are the game events

Background sound of motor varying with speed.

The sound of the guns firing.

Your dashboard should reflect your current state.

Crash sounds.

Explosions from weapons/crashes.

(A)tmosphere: What type of ambiance, background sounds, mood does the game have?

Desert Highways scenery.

(L)ogic: define the hard rules you know you want in the game.

Left/Right side of highway is blocking. (no going onto the sand)

Side fired bullets travel at the same vertical speed as your car.

(I)nterface: How does the player interface with the game (example: mouse, keyboard, joystcick only)

Actions Screens: Keyboard only for now:

"z" move car left
"c" move car right
"s" Accelerate
"x" Decelerate

"up arrow" fire forward guns
"left arrow" fire left side guns
"right arrow" fire right side guns
"down arrow" fire aft guns

Menu Screens: mouse

(T)iming: What type of pace does the game have? (example: real time strategy, turn based, decision based, time limited)

Action Screens: real time Arcade style action

Menu Screens: wait until the player clicks an option.

(Y)ou: Who are YOU the player?(example: You are god, you are the shooter, you are the observer) This is a good place to describe the camera POV's.

The driver. Fred "The Screwdriver" Philips. You interact in the game by choosing Fred's next course of action.

While driving, you have a top down camera above the car.

In the Narratives, the conversations are directed at you the player outside the screen, because you are Fred.

In the menus, you the player choose the next option.

New Drawing Tablet, Check!

Jody Byrd — 2006-09-22T05:29:56+00:00

My new AIPTEK Hyper Pen 12000U Drawing Tablet arrive today. Yeah! After using a Creation Station 5x4 for soooo long, this new 12x9 will taken some major adjustment on my part.

I hope to start drawing with it instead of pencil. Now, thats not to say I'm giving up the ole pencil, just trying to make the digital transistion a lot smoother. I'm tired of scanning my pics, then rebuilding the layers 1 at a time. I end up redrawing most of the pic with the mouse. And using the mouse is not the best tool for free hand drawing either. I have a convertable laptop/tablet already. It does decent on the drawing resolution. But it has no pressure levels. Like 4. It was meant to be a mouse, not a pencil.

But, no matter what I got, practice makes perfect.

Moldy's Step1: G.A.M.E.S

Jody Byrd — 2006-09-17T05:23:30+00:00

Well, looks like a few other projects will keep this one in the "casually worked on" mode. Oh well, that's not new to any of us :)

The general overview of my game, codenamed Moldy's:

(G)oals: What is the overall goal of the player?

The player must survive, earn money, gain Prestige, and make it thru all the Missions.

(A)dvancement: How does the player get rewarded?

There are no skills, so a Player does not need to worry about XP. Simply completing a Mission will suffice. Prestige will be rewarded (kinda like the score) and Money is given in the form of payment for services rendered.

(M)odel: How should this world be modelled?

Simple, 2d world using X/Y axis movement. Z axis rotation. Top down view.

(E)conomics: How are resources generated/traded/spent?

Money is used to trade goods/services. It is earned by completing Missions. It is spent at Vendor stores.

(S)tory: How much of the story is integrated into the game?

Fixed Linear plot. Story only progresses between missions.

Moldy's Stage 2: Define

Jody Byrd — 2006-09-14T16:20:39+00:00

I need a project name. I'll call it MOLDY for now.

The next stage of my MIRAGE method is Define. This is where I ask myself several questions that begin to turn my Idea into a Project. I usually don't make it thru this part becuase I cant answer all the questions, or I realize that it might not be fun to play. This portion, just concentrates on defining the game itself, not the actual code or the story.

The story could be any part of a large arc, or a simple quest, or no story at all. You only need to knwo if the game is tied heavily to the story.

The code completely depends on the final requirements, so its left out of this part. Mainly so it wont pollute the game ideas.

Basically the process is done in 7 steps, each being more detailed than the last. I've tried to use acronyms to make it easier to remember the steps, and tried not to use the same name twice. A MIRAGE goal is to reduce ambiguity in terminology.

Here's a list of the question sets in order.

1. G.A.M.E.S
2. P.E.R.S.O.N.A.L.I.T.Y.
3. M.I.N.D.S.E.T.
4. S.O.U.LS.
5. B.R.A.I.N.S.
6. H.E.A.R.T.B.E.A.T.
7. Platform

When you are done, you should have enough information to build a project file and get started assembling the game.

Step 1: The G.A.M.E.S.

General overview of the game.

(G)oals: What is the overall goal of the players? (example: kill final boss by getting there in 30 smaller levels)

(A)dvancement: How do you reward the player as he plays? (example: power ups, XP to buy new skills)

(M)odel: The game itself is a model of some smaller world. How should this world work? (examples: homeworld is a spherical 3d free movement, NWN is 3d isometric terrain. Starcraft is 2d isometric map)

(E)conomics: How are resources generated/traded/spent?

(S)tory: How much of the story is integrated into the game?

Step 2: P.E.R.S.O.N.A.L.I.T.Y.

Define the rules of the game.

(P)artners: Does the player has friendly NPC's or other remote players?

(E)nvironment: What type of physics are to be used? What is the world the game takes place in?

(R)esources: What resources does the player use?

(S)creens: What do the screens look like?

(O)bstacles: the player has obstacles the keep him from completing the goal. Describe them.

(N)otifications: What are the game events (example: "hit key, shoot laser, play sound", "boss dead, change level")

(A)tmosphere: What type of ambiance, background sounds, mood does the game have?

(L)ogic: define the hard rules you know you want in the game.

(I)nterface: How does the player interface with the game (example: mouse, keyboard, joystcick only)

(T)iming: What type of pace does the game have? (example: real time strategy, turn based, decision based, time limited)

(Y)ou: Who are YOU the player?(example: You are god, you are the shooter, you are the observer) This is a good place to describe the camera POV's.

Step 3: M.I.N.D.S.E.T.

Define the assets of the game

(M)aps:

(I)mages:

(N)arratives: conversations the NPC's have with the player

(D)atabases:

(S)ounds:

(E)ntities: (Actors, Objects, etc)

(T)emplates: (i.e. Character classes)

Step 4: S.O.U.L.S

The game is always at a certain state (in-game-play, paused, on level 3). Each state can be defined by 4 categories:

(S)tartup: what need's to be initialized.

(O)utput: what needs to be outputted, text, graphics, 3d scene. Network syncs, RPC functions

(U)pdate: take the inputs, and determine the needed updates. Mouse, camera, keyboard input. Network inputs.

(L)eave: are the conditions there to change this state?

(S)hutdown: what needs to be released?

From this point on is more if you are writing the game code by hand. If you're using a game engine, like torque, it can be skipped because it might not apply.

Step 5: B.R.A.I.N.S.

The interface between the game and platform.

(B)IOS: (background tasks, I/O calls,System Calls )

(R)ender: render scene

(A)udio: play sound assets

(I)nput: get input

(N)etwork: process network I/O

(S)cripting: update script engine

Step 6: H.E.A.R.T.B.EA.T.

The main Loop for the game:

(H)igh Performace Timer: get delta time for this frame.

(E)val Souls: update states

(A)dd extra Commands to Command Queue:

(R)un All Commands from Command Queue:

(T)ransitions: Does state need to be change?

(B)rains: update the B.R.A.I.N.S

(E)vents: check for global events, add them to Command Queue

(A)ssets: update game objects

(T)riggers: find/throw game triggers

Step 7: Platform

Choose the platform engine the game is intended for. (example: windows directx, windows gdi, ...)

The idea

Jody Byrd — 2006-09-13T16:28:46+00:00

Stage 1: The Dream

Here are my disconnected notes:

My idea is to make a 2d game is the spirit of Autoduel. Set in the future, you are a driver for a package delivery service. You start out as a simple driver, and work your way up the ranks by completing assigments.

There are 5 domed city-states. Each with it own set of import/export rules. So, shipping cargo can be a pain. That's where Marduke's Over Land Delivery Service comes in. He can delivery your package without all the legal fuss. Just dont ask how.

The "how" is where you come in, Frederick Philips, with a shining new driver's license. As a driver for Marduke, you earn money delivering the rogue packages.

The cities are connected by a series of risen mega highways. basically long bridges over the land with no exits. The cops patrol those roads. Under these bridges, are the old roads. Most are not maintaned by the locals. Nor does the law patrol them.

You start out with a Drivers license, which allows you access to the highways. As you get in trouble, you can lose it, thus restricting highway access, and forcing you to take the back roads.

You do not start with a Gun license. This allows you to purchase weapons for you vehicle. Weapon ownership can be a crime in some cities.

Missions should be two fold. First, is to delivery the cargo to its destination, where you collect the money. Then you must make it back to a office to turn that money in. Thats when you get paid your share.

Vehicles should burn fuel, and guns should expend ammunition.

A new beginning...

Jody Byrd — 2006-09-11T06:40:49+00:00

I realized one day that a threshold must be passed before I have enough information to complete a game. I have plenty of ideas written down that I've been working on. I always figured that if I had the main loop written down, then I had enough to write the game. That's just not true for me anymore. I usually need more information. So until I'm really ready to give an idea the full treatment, it stays as an Idea. I'm keeping a list of them.

Everybody knows that when you have an idea, you plan it, and then you build it. It's the "when are you ready to build it" that takes so long. It is too easy to get wrapped up in the cool features of a game engine. The game engine is not the game. It's just the interface to the computer that has useful gaming functions. I really want to try from now on to write as much as possible about what the game is before I begin coding with a game engine.

I wrote down a method that I now call MIRAGE. It stands for "Make It Right, Anticipating Game Expectations" . It is a collection of outlines, questions, and work-in-progress applications that should help me organize and automate the game design process.

When I'm ready to turn an Idea into a Project, I got a workflow all ready to use. I call them the 8 D's:

Stage 1: Dream: the Idea in it's most grandiose form.

Stage 2: Define: refine the Idea. Make sure you aren't missing information.

Stage 3: Design: make a "paper version" of the game.

Stage 4: Decide: the final design, what do you really want? What is realistic? plan out what the code needs to look like from the design

Stage 5: Develop: write the code, draw the art

Stage 6: Debug: fix it if necessary

Stage 7: Deliver: package it, let it loose onto the world.

Stage 8: Do it again

For my first real Torque project in a couple of years, I want to do a T2d car game. So for now, thing Autoduel clone. I'll have my idea in my next post (as soon as I write it all down).

JodyByrd