Community Game

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    • Community Game

      Hey Guys,

      A while back Rez had mentioned that it would be cool to work on a game as a community based on the challenge of actually using the GCC engine, I think really it is whenever Rez has the time to do something like this that we would have to wait for, however I think it would be cool to discuss what game we would want to do, in my school our team projects are driven by pitches, where you have to create a game pitch and present it to your peers but ultimately to the 'investor' which is the president of the video game course.

      Maybe we could do something similar and work on some game pitches to present here and as a community and with the guidance of Mike and Rez, decide on a game we could all work on?
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    • Theoretically we can work on any game, however I think it's more practical to decide which game we can actually create!

      E.g. we can work on a crysis sequel, but in reality we will get something like Tetris3D! It all depends on 'team' size and skills.

      Anyway the idea to work as a team on some project is very interesting!
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    • If you guys are serious, here's what you should do.

      First, come up with a deadline. How long do you give yourself to finish this project? Without a solid, unmovable deadline, you likely won't finish anything. Next year for GDC is one deadline. Another might be in time for the IGF. Or maybe it's just the end of the year.

      Next, brainstorm some basic game ideas. What do you want to make? What inspires you? What are your goals as a group?

      Third, figure out who is involved, what their roles will be, and how much time they can dedicate to the project. Once you have that, you'll have a rough idea of how many man-hours your project has. Take this number and cut it in half. That's a more accurate estimate as to how many hours you can schedule.

      Then come up with some of the high-level systems and figure out how long you think it will take. This won't be much more than a wild-ass guess (WAG is an official term here at Maxis). That should give you a rough idea of how much you can get done and if your game or timeframe are realistic.

      Come up with a pitch as a group as well as a very rough schedule and send it our way. :) We're crunching on The Sims 4 right now so I'm not sure how much programming time I can dedicate, but I'm happy to participate in an advisory role.

      -Rez
    • Damn Rez, you just put us under the spot-light! Lol

      Well, since this is all about initiative, I'll take the first crack at this.

      First, a little bit about what I can bring to the table.

      PS. I'm working on my own game right now, but wouldn't mind pausing it in order to work in a join project.

      I've only been programming for about a year now, but I am an avid learner, and self motivated. I like working on the logic part of things, and I have mainly dealt with c++ and directx.

      I'm decent with HLSL, C++, but could figure something out quick if put my mind to it. I love solving things that seem impossible, so if the team needs to do some research in a specific area, just let me know and I will find out!!

      As far as my time, I can't really promise anything I'm in the Army and you guys know how that is. But, usually I make time for anything I'm interested in.

      As far as game ideas, I don't really know what could we do. Tetris 3D sounds good! Just an idea from Devast3D.

      What else!? For this project I will definitely be a follower so don't be shy if you want to TELL ME what to do, I know people sometimes tend to think too much about it.


      Second, Let's get started, but more important let's finish it!!
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    • Currently I have projects at school I am working on, but the difference is that all of my time is dedicated to programming video games so I am able to split my time wisely between projects, currently I have a flash game in the works due at the end of June, as well as a 2D C++ game due for showcasing June. 19th,

      Starting in July I will be working in a larger team on a 3D game with the entirety of our class, but I will still have more time than now as I won't be one manning the next project.

      As far as where I can help out, I am assuming that we will be using C++ and the GCC architecture or engine, I am experienced roughly 9-10 years with C++ with a few gaps in between during my early years, I have experience with OpenGL mainly but also some Direct3D, I feel comfortable working with

      - Engine and Gameplay programming
      - Sound Design (Music and SFX)

      Any other field like concept art/modelling I can do, but if their is someone else out there more talented than that would be best as I am definitely a programmer first.

      As far as what game I would like to see done, I would really like to see something even semi-original to keep it slightly interesting.
      PC - Custom Built
      CPU: 3rd Gen. Intel i7 3770 3.4Ghz
      GPU: ATI Radeon HD 7959 3GB
      RAM: 16GB

      Laptop - Alienware M17x
      CPU: 3rd Gen. Intel i7 - Ivy Bridge
      GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M - 2GB GDDR5
      RAM: 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 @ 1600mhz
    • Lol, That video is funny stuff. Hey mholley now that you mentioned it, I have a licensed copy of 3D Coat for game art design. It sounds like you are going to be very busy, but if you say you will have time, then it's good enough for me.

      We need to come up with a game that we want to work on.... Originality might be an issue though, lol.

      Also, I would like us to NOT work with the GCC engine.... I think we could learn more this way. Of course, that's just an idea.
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    • I am not sure if I would have the time to put into another full on engine build, I already have another engine build in progress and 2 games in progress, but I would be able to work with an existing engine like GCC.
      PC - Custom Built
      CPU: 3rd Gen. Intel i7 3770 3.4Ghz
      GPU: ATI Radeon HD 7959 3GB
      RAM: 16GB

      Laptop - Alienware M17x
      CPU: 3rd Gen. Intel i7 - Ivy Bridge
      GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M - 2GB GDDR5
      RAM: 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 @ 1600mhz
    • Originally posted by hondero
      Also, I would like us to NOT work with the GCC engine.... I think we could learn more this way. Of course, that's just an idea.


      Learn more about what? If you want to get the experience of working on a game, you should definitely start with an existing engine. Most games are built on top of existing engines, even if those engines are home-grown. Furthermore, working on an existing engine that you didn't build is a very different experience than working in the comfort of your own code base. The instinct of a lot of new programmers is to build everything from scratch, which usually lands you in trouble.

      Unless you as a group decide that learning engine programming is the goal, I would strongly suggest starting with an existing engine as the foundation. If you don't want to use GCC then choose another engine like Ogre 3D, UDK, Unity, or whatever solves the most problems for you. Otherwise, you'll spend months (or longer) just trying to stand up the tech without actually making any gameplay.


      Here's some crunch music to keep you motivated

      youtube.com/watch?v=YdXQJS3Yv0Y

      Hahaha! Nice! I remember watching this as a kid with my dad. It was my first introduction to Tolkein and High Fantasy. :)

      -Rez
    • I'm definitely up for joining in on this project. For the next couple of months, I should have plenty of free time (with the exception of having to pack up and move). I start school again in Sept, so my time will start being a little more crunched at that point.

      If you want a demonstration of my art ability, just look at my avatar ;). I would consider myself far less experienced programmer than a number of people on these forums, but I would happily work on pretty much anything. I'm certainly not an expert in any particular area, so I imagine I'd be more useful in a more minor role--e.g. I probably shouldn't be heading up any large chunks of development.
    • Hello, guys!

      I hardly can join this project now, because of lack of spare-time, but I want to give you my IMHO.

      1. Decide what you exactly want to do and what experience do you want to get. Do you want to get experience of creating engines, or just want to create some game using any tools (Unity, GameMaker etc.)

      2. Team work is harder than independent work!
      Everyone of you may have his own goals, motivation and skills. Also, most of you live in different points of the our planet - real-time communication could be a problem.

      3. You need good tools for teamwork.
      a. Task-and-bug tracker (for example Redmine or Trello.com)
      b. Some VCS. I recommend you to use Git or Mercurial. They are distributed revision control and this is could be very important to you (you could develop independently without internet or main-server connection before merge code). (If you didn't ever use VCS - try it now!)
      And you could use Github for your main repository if you pretend to make open-source project or you could use Bitbucket (for both git or mercurial) as for open-source and for proprietary project ( there are free private repositories are available). Just google it.

      4. Don't waste your time for 3D (except if you use Unity or some). Look at successful indie developers games: SuperMeatBoy, WorldOfGoo, Braid, Limbo, FTL and so on - they are all 2D. And every of this games was created by PROFESSIONAL game makers over than year each game.
      3D math is harder, 3D physics too. 3D art also!
      You better create good 2D game, than bad 3D.

      5. Don't reinvent the wheel! There are many good libs that could make your life easier: TinyXml, Box2d, SDL or SFML and many others.

      The post was edited 2 times, last by andjey ().

    • Originally posted by andjey
      Hello, guys!

      I hardly can join this project now, because of lack of spare-time, but I want to give you my IMHO.

      1. Decide what you exactly want to do and what experience do you want to get. Do you want to get experience of creating engines, or just want to create some game using any tools (Unity, GameMaker etc.)

      2. Team work is harder than independent work!
      Everyone of you may have his own goals, motivation and skills. Also, most of you live in different points of the our planet - real-time communication could be a problem.

      3. You need good tools for teamwork.
      a. Task-and-bug tracker (for example Redmine or Trello.com)
      b. Some VCS. I recommend you to use Git or Mercurial. They are distributed revision control and this is could be very important to you (you could develop independently without internet or main-server connection before merge code). (If you didn't ever use VCS - try it now!)
      And you could use Github for your main repository if you pretend to make open-source project or you could use Bitbucket (for both git or mercurial) as for open-source and for proprietary project ( there are free private repositories are available). Just google it.

      4. Don't waste your time for 3D (except if you use Unity or some). Look at successful indie developers games: SuperMeatBoy, WorldOfGoo, Braid, Limbo, FTL and so on - they are all 2D. And every of this games was created by PROFESSIONAL game makers over than year each game.
      3D math is harder, 3D physics too. 3D art also!
      You better create good 2D game, than bad 3D.

      5. Don't reinvent the wheel! There are many good libs that could make your life easier: TinyXml, Box2d, SDL or SFML and many others.


      This is all really good advice, except for one thing. I would strongly suggest against using GIT or Mercurial. It's a complete nightmare to manage binary files in those systems. Some people absolutely love these kinds of systems so if you decide as a group that you want to run with it, go for it. I would not recommend it unless you know what you're getting into.

      Use something simple like Perforce (free for a handful of licenses) or SVN.

      -Rez
    • Aside from Gits downside on large binary files, it is GREAT for code, I use it exclusively now and would highly recommend it, on our current project we use Git for code and perforce for Assets as perforce seems to be easier for artists to grasp.
      PC - Custom Built
      CPU: 3rd Gen. Intel i7 3770 3.4Ghz
      GPU: ATI Radeon HD 7959 3GB
      RAM: 16GB

      Laptop - Alienware M17x
      CPU: 3rd Gen. Intel i7 - Ivy Bridge
      GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M - 2GB GDDR5
      RAM: 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 @ 1600mhz
    • WARNING: this is not holy war!

      Use something simple like Perforce or SVN

      Perforce and SVN have a big drawback (at least for that case) - they are centralized. Also, Github or Bitbucket are more handy than Google Code or your own SVN server.
      Storing binary data is a problem, and I don't know how gamedev companies solve this problem, but I recommend you to store your binary data separately from your code repository:
      1. Your game hardly will have big amount of binary assets.
      2. You don't need to merge binary files.

      Also, if you decide to use Git or Mercurial, I recommend you to use SourceTree client (for both). This is the best client for those CVS's for Windows and Mac.
      SourceTree

      The post was edited 2 times, last by andjey ().

    • @andjey - I have to respectfully disagree with your idea about storing binary files separately from your source code. In practice, all files needed to build the game should go into the same source repository - even (or especially) binary files. These binary files will most certainly outnumber your source files, even on a small project.

      The reasons:
      - The repository helps everyone on the team maintain a snapshot of working source files that create the game. Use two methods (say, Git and Dropbox), and it is too easy to get source code that is incompatible with binary files.
      - It simplifies work flow - a single repository is just easier to manage.
      - It simplifies backup and restore operations.
      - It simplifies build scripts.
      - It allows for easy branching, or Perforce streams (read up on those - they are quite cool).

      Oh and by the way, Perforce is now free for up to 20 workspace configurations, so the old 'Perforce is too expensive for small teams' excuse is now thankfully obliterated.

      I'll give one more plug for Perforce - because it is a centralized system it is much much faster for large repositories.
      Mr.Mike
      Author, Programmer, Brewer, Patriot
    • I would like to get involved with this.

      I had a 1 year internship for a for a small game development company. During my year there I built my own game engine. It was significantly less than the GCC engine. I am looking now to get a better understanding of how game development works using a capable engine.

      I think this project would be really good experience. If this is going to go forward lets get a conversation going via IM or skype.