Looks like I didn’t manage to pull out something this month :(
I know exactly why:
– As usual I started too many stuff and couldn’t finish one
– I was thinking I could finish something this weekend as I had 4 days off in a row but I ends up being sick the whole time unfortunately

So my usual problems are still there: starting many stuff instead of finishing the one already started and procrastination.
Well I could also say a lot of things to do at work and I usually end up a bit tired back home to develop anything, but that’s kindda lame excuse :P

Here’s a list of stuff I started this month instead of focusing on 1gam (and I guess I’m forgotting a thing or two):
– I tried to make some kind of story game using RenPy: interresting framework I’ll definitelly look more into it
– started a 2d top down arena shooter in unity: I guess this one was my plan for the game of this month, I think I’ll make it into a proper game by the end of june
– started python tools as a helper for microscope rpg and then as a generic node tree editor
– long time ago I’ve started a card game framework in python and wanted to rethink it a bit starting having a server / client on top, nothing really working yet

So, yeah my mistake, starting too much things and not finishing even one of them. I think those days have been heavy working on my full time job part mostly leaving not much energy for anything else, I hope it’ll get better.

Hey,
here’s my february entry for 1GAM:

Click the screenshot to play

Next month… Well actually I’m not sure yet, maybe use this game as a starting point to continue as a space trading thing or maybe something totally different. Will see.

Hey, long time no see… I had a little bit of problem with my computer’s ssd drive who decided it doesn’t want to live on this planet anymore. Fortunately it was mainly used to sustained the os and a bunch of softwares so no data loss, pffffiouu…

I changed a bunch of stuff since last time:
The graphism seems okay now, no more grey cubes, still needs a bit of tweaking here and there I’ll see if I’ll find time to do that. Definitely needs a main menu image.

Sounds !!! I just grab a bunch of sound from freesound.org, still needs a background music, my friend Kixo told me it may have something for me that’s great ^^

In terms of gameplay:
you now have 2 min instead of one
the pirates are still a bit dumb (I need to work a bit on their AI) but now they shoot and can kill you
I add some asteroids as obstacles

Okay, only five days to go and a bunch of stuff are still missing:
A main menu image
A main song (yeah I’m looking at you Kixo :P)
Less dumb pirates that not stuck in front of asteroids forever and that shoot only at player and not every seconds because they can

Bonus:
Random spawning items like health refill or time extension

I still have other ideas but I’ll keep them for the next months to come. Enjoy

Use arrow keys to move the ship, deliver as many packages as you can in 2 minutes.

Hey !!! Here’s the first prototype for Space PostMan. It lacks proper graphics and sounds but I guess the basic gameplay is here. For now there’s only 3 stations and two dumb pirates who don’t even shoot but I’ll add that later. I think you gonna need some more visual information on the station you should grab and deliver package, maybe not only on the radar but dirrectly on the screen somehow

Use arrow keys to move the ship, deliver as many packages as you can in 1 minute.

In order to make this space trading game it would be simpler to make several steps toward this goal. I came up this simple idea: Space Postman !!!

Gameplay:

I’ll start working on different gameplay components that we can use later:
Navigating a spaceship in a top down 2.5d space.
You have a light mail ship without any weapon and you need to deliver packages from station to station.
Pirate ships try to shoot you down to grab the precious packages.
I have already a basic Quest System that will be used to generate random quest (deliver package from A to B) at the begining and every time you complete the delivery. This system will be upgraded later for more complex quests.

Goal:

Make money / points delivering as many packages as you can in a given time.

Screens

Assets:

3D

Player’s ship
Pirate ship
Station
Background Elements (Planets, Asteroids…)

2D

Generic GUI Skin for menus, buttons…
HUD Radar
HUD Metrics (Health…)

Sounds

Ship thruster
Ship metal bump
Laser Shot
Laser Impact
Explosions !!!

Music: Main Theme, End Game and Game Over

Bonus:

Power Up (appear on screen or buyable)
Heavier pirates
Weapons for you too (retaliation !!!)

Hey,

So this year I’d be glad to take part in 1GAM as I told before. I know I told the same thing last year and didn’t manage to make it that’s why I need a bit of preparation this time. So here’s a first list of what I’d like to make, I’m pretty sure I’ll not be able to do all that stuff but it a first draft of ways I would follow.

Types of game I want to make:

• Space Trading Game
  

  That’s something I want to make for a long time actually (you may remember this attempt ).
  I already started something in unity, first I wanted it to be my first game for 1GAM but it is obvious that it’ll take way more time than just a month to complete. I need to find a way to split the development into several games and each time adding new features within a kind of episodic story.

• Card Game
  

  Since I’ve played Magic The Gathering back in the days I always wanted to make a card game of my own. I tried a bunch of times and recently I came up with a prototype I tested with someone who never played this kind of card games and it works. It still needs a lot of tweaking and more content but the basic concept is working. So I was thinking: why not make a computer version of that ?

• RogueLike / ZeldaLike
  

  I put those two into the same kind of game because, as one is turn based and the other realtime, they share some common components: elements with simple bevahiours that combined with eath other make some really interresting gameplay, what’s called emergant gameplay. Well at least that’s the way I see it and the way I want to make it ^^

• Shmup
  

  Developing a basic shmup is quite easy: as long as you have a box collider manager you can make wave of random enemies appering from the top of the screen. It could be interresting to make something more from that, I dunno… take this simple concept with some polished art or maybe mix it with another kind of games like physics or puzzle games for example

• Turn based strategy / 4X
  

  4X are games when you usually control an empire and your goal is to eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate. They are not necessary turn based but it could be interresting to make a 4x that way. Not sure yet which elements would be involved, pretty sure it’ll be in space…

Also there’s a bunch of concepts I’d like to explore:

• Procedural Content

  It’s a way to have a different game everytime you play, randomization with some contraints actually. It goes well with a roguelike game as they are always based on this principle. Usually used for dungeon generation with a bit of tweaking you can apply it mostly everwhere. One downside though, as you want something different everytime you need more content and a lot of testing / debugging to check if every pieces goes well together. But in the long run it definitely worth it.
  You can have a look at this site for more information on the subject: Procedural Content Generation Wiki

• Emergent Gameplay

  I already talked about it, I really need to push forward this. Elegant design is always the best way to go. If you have a bunch of simple behaviour that fit naturally together and everything make sence that’s what I’d call a fucking great win.

• Emergent Narrative

  This is an interresting concept: basically the story you want to tell unfold through gameplay and not from dialog or cutscenes. It’s the equivalent of movie Show Don’t tell, here we have Play Don’t Show.

• Non Combat Centric

  Too many games are based on the same principle: you’re the good guy you shoot bad guys, and that’s pretty much it. You can put whatever story you want around it it still the same. Why do we game developper keep doing that ? well because it’s easy in term of action -> feedback. But it still a bit childish, There’s a lot of other ways to explore than that.

• Multiplayer

  I usually don’t make multiplayer game, I don’t really know why. Well there’s always the multiplayer connection problem if you want your game to be played on several computer. A could make a multiplayer game playable on the same computer though… Wait I already did it for this first month of 1GAM, even if it’s not much I could try to go a bit more in that way.

• Mobile

  Yeah I know… It’s usually harder than it looks because you have deal with several possible resolutions, optimisation problems and so on. But some people managed to get paid doing that even one man studios, and additionally it could be fun to find new ways to interact with touch screens, gyros, cameras…

• GamePlay Modules

  This one is a bit more technical but it should be interresting to came up with a bunch of reusable gameplay modules. It should be easy to setup in unity:

  • Dialog
  • Quests / Achivements
  • Inventory / Items
  • RPG Character / Leveling / Skills…
  • Grid Based Layout

Alright that’s more than enough, I’ll not be able to do all of this but at least that’s a goal. Next time I’ll post about what I want to make for February 1GAM.