30 replies to this topic

[nagromme]

I'm thinking of creating a casual game (shareware) and I'm leaning towards Mac-only at first.

Initial tests tell me my concept is fun--now, looking further...

Any thoughts on advantages/disadvantages of seeking a publisher, vs. just putting it out there?

It's all just thinking out loud at this point, but any advice might help!

I see MacUpdate will host your files for you. Any other hosting options I should consider?

And for collecting payment, is there anything wrong with just using PayPal and sending back a code? (I'm thinking some of the game would be free, the rest would require a reg code.)

TIA. It may never happen, but it would be fun!

(I'm not looking for actual buyers or publishers because a) that would be spam, and b) I have no game to offer yet anyway! My interest is in a very general sense. But if this violates some guidelines, my apologies, and mod away!)

[iRolley]

Sorry all I have is a question: what language would you use to write your game?

I've thinking about writing a game myself, but:

1- C++ is waaay to unpleasant to work with
2- Obj-C development's learning curve is steap (auto completion, web exemples, ... are not very good) and that's Mac only
3- Java or Python 3d frameworks like JMonkey and Ogre are great but you need to be pretty good at modeling AND have an app to do it.

I was looking at Unity lately... until I received Quake4.

[nagromme]

I'm leaning towards Flash or Director. 2D should be fine. Casual with a capital C?

They're not speed demons, but I know those tools from my work, so they may "get the job done" whereas learning a new language might turn into more than I have time for. Nothing is certain, though. I know some casual game companies (maybe PopCap?) have a 2D engine they give away for free, and I'll probably do some exploring. I like the vector look of Flash though, and enjoy working with it. (And after all, if I make a game, having fun making it will be the motivator, rather than any hope of income.)

Rosetta is a question--testing would be required to make sure my idea would tolerate it. Or some Universal commitment from Adobe on Flash and Director would sure help! But being a casual game, so far it looks like Rosetta would not be a killer. By the time I'm really into this I'll have my own Intel Mac anyway

Now I also have 3D ideas, but there needs to be a cart before there can be a horse Unity does look great. Or I'd just have fun modding for UT2007 and not making a dime!

[Blackshawk]

Go Unity or Torque.

[nagromme]

Thanks for the reminder, Torque 2D is a candidate!

[Hippieman]

Not to over hype ourselves, but we (Freeverse) do publish a lot of independent developers.  A good one to look at is Justin Fic, who wrote Kill Monty.  While that game was re-branded we do not force that on anyone.  If you do decide to seek out a publisher, feel free to hit us up bruce@freeverse.com

The advantage of going with us, you get our download space, we have a registration framework that can easily be inserted into almost any game or program.  You also get our support so you don't have to field emails and phone calls.  Just something to think about.  Plus, and this might just be ego, but when we release a game, it gets mentioned on most major Mac software news sites (and if it's the games right for retail distribution, we can get you in stores).

Either way you go, good luck!

[Matt Diamond]

The iDevGames forums are a good place to check out. Your kinds of questions have been discussed there before, and many other relevant topics as well. Basically it's a community of people who are interested in writing games, some of them rather skilled at it.

Also there are game writing contests each year, sometimes with fabulous prizes, sometimes just for recognition. People have found that the contest deadlines really keep you focussed and helps push you to finish your game. (The aforementioned Kill Monty started life as an iDG contest entry, and another winner, Escort Wing, is planned to be a Freeverse title as well.)

There also used to be a great deal of content there, including source code, assets, game postmortems, and reviews. Sadly you won't find much of it there any more. But the forum alone is worthwhile, and the site owner (Carlos Camacho) is currently working hard to bring the old content back. Keep your fingers crossed...

http://www.idevgames.com

[nagromme]

Excellent advice, and very helpful to my thinking/planning! Thanks, Bruce and Matt.

Support is indeed a concern of mine (not that I'd ever release a product with ANY bugs ). And I didn't realize IDG had forums--that's a good place for me to start.

[Mister Mumbles]

Sounds like Freeverse knows what they're doing: sponsor a competition and then market (some of) the goods. Smart thinking. Kill Monty was definitely worth it.

[Eric5h5]

OK, so why does this topic have the "blarf" icon?  Nothing wrong with casual games; I've played some myself on occasion....  

--Eric

[Silver Samurai]

I know this is a Mac forum and all but have you considered releasing it over Xbox Live or the upcoming Nintendo 24/7 network?
Don't know much besides that they are open/want to homebrew games.

I agree w/ Pegasus, Freeverse knows what they are doing.

[iRolley]

nagromme, on May 12th 2006, 01:15 PM, said:

I'm leaning towards Flash or Director. 2D should be fine. Casual with a capital C?

They're not speed demons, but I know those tools from my work, so they may "get the job done" whereas learning a new language might turn into more than I have time for. Nothing is certain, though. I know some casual game companies (maybe PopCap?) have a 2D engine they give away for free, and I'll probably do some exploring. I like the vector look of Flash though, and enjoy working with it. (And after all, if I make a game, having fun making it will be the motivator, rather than any hope of income.)

Absolutely. Creating a game is long and tedious so using the tools you enjoy is a must !!!


Will you be creating images/art/textures, and if so which tool will you use? I mean, apart from photoshop which is way to expensive, do you know a good drawing application not expensive? I was looking for that to make web site icons and gradients.

[Eric5h5]

iRolley, on May 13th 2006, 12:16 AM, said:

I mean, apart from photoshop which is way to expensive, do you know a good drawing application not expensive? I was looking for that to make web site icons and gradients.

You could do that with the GIMP, which is free.  I don't like using it compared to Photoshop, but some people get on with it OK.

--Eric

[iRolley]

Eric5h5, on May 13th 2006, 08:20 AM, said:

You could do that with the GIMP, which is free.  I don't like using it compared to Photoshop, but some people get on with it OK.

--Eric

I get irritated when using such programs. I used to do drawing long ago using Aldus SuperPaint. It was great simple and INTUITIVE. For !&*$# sake today these programs makes it sooo complicated. If I am drawing a square DON'T SHOW THE &?%$ FONT PALETTE !  I am usually a self-taught computer user, but these programs make having University Diploma in Computer Science worth being able to take the garbage out.

UNBELIEVABLE, I am irritated just thinking about it. And I heard GIMP was even more complicated, so for my neighbors' safety I won't even try it.

*breaths*

Intaglio was a good program to do simple drawing, but it costs 100$US or more.

[nagromme]

iRolley, on May 13th 2006, 11:41 AM, said:

And I heard GIMP was even more complicated, so for my neighbors' safety I won't even try it.

Well since I already have professional tools for work, I won't be aiming cheap on the graphics production. Photoshop, Freehand, and Lightwave 3D are all likely candidates--plus building graphics directly in Flash. Final Cut Studio might even make an appearance.

I know what you mean about complex programs--they often don't lend themselves to natural creativity until you spend a LOT of time learning them, which is not fun. See what you think of Painter Classic, though--I think you can still buy it, plus it's bundled with Wacom Graphire tablets (which I also recommend). It depends on the style of images you need to create though.

Eric5h5, on May 12th 2006, 10:20 PM, said:

OK, so why does this topic have the "blarf" icon?  Nothing wrong with casual games; I've played some myself on occasion....  

Nothing should be implied about casual games I mainly play UT2004, but I love simpler fare as well.

I chose the icon on a whim because I liked the green. I mean, that is a NICE green. This time I'm trying the red-orange heart, though.

[Eric5h5]

I dunno; I didn't have any problems picking up Photoshop.  It works pretty much how I expect it to work, and generally you get the sense that they mostly have listened to people who use it over the years, though I actually prefered version 5 to newer ones.  I did find the GIMP to be overly fiddly, but maybe that's just because of not using it much.  (It also doesn't really do CMYK I don't think, but that doesn't matter for web or game graphics.)  It *is* actually somewhat geared for web stuff specifically, as it has several quick plug-ins for typical web graphics effects.  You could just use it for that and ignore all the other features.

--Eric

[iRolley]

Eric5h5, on May 13th 2006, 12:44 PM, said:

I dunno; I didn't have any problems picking up Photoshop.  It works pretty much how I expect it to work, and generally you get the sense that they mostly have listened to people who use it over the years, though I actually prefered version 5 to newer ones.  I did find the GIMP to be overly fiddly, but maybe that's just because of not using it much.  (It also doesn't really do CMYK I don't think, but that doesn't matter for web or game graphics.)  It *is* actually somewhat geared for web stuff specifically, as it has several quick plug-ins for typical web graphics effects.  You could just use it for that and ignore all the other features.

--Eric

Ah... *sigh* you know how long it took me to draw a triangle? (Which is THE most basic shape...) You must miraculously understand that you need to press command when drawing a 6 side polygon in order to be able to choose the amount of sides. THEN once you draw your shape, you can't modify its color easily. Select the shape, select a color... no nothing happens.

I mean, the most basic rules of an application are:
- show what is relevant to the current action
- remove or disable what will have not effect in the current state

both are not respected by Photoshop/Illustrator. You can click on many buttons expecting them do affect the selected shape but nothing will happen. And then the relevant actions are hidden in unexpected places. The whole interface with 10 billons floating windows is horrible... and... Did you try the latest G-Force plugin for iTunes ? It is beautiful...

[Eric5h5]

iRolley, on May 13th 2006, 09:48 PM, said:

Ah... *sigh* you know how long it took me to draw a triangle? (Which is THE most basic shape...)

Sorry 'bout that.    I just don't have those problems with either program; what can I say.  I would never try to use Photoshop as a drawing or paint program, however.  As the name strongly implies, it's for manipulating photos.

--Eric

[Blackshawk]

Photoshop is designed around hotkeys. I know its not convenient for a first time user or casual user, but at its core Photoshop is for the professional graphic designers, most of whom have been using Photoshop since its beginning and know all the hotkeys already. Trust me, take a little time to learn the hotkeys and you'll get the most out of Photoshop.

[Marble]

Have you investigated Unity, nagromme?  It's just fine for 2D and it's a lot more intuitive than Torque.  I wouldn't know about Director or Flash, but I can say from experience that using Unity, even for someone with rusty programming skills, is as fun as playing the game you make with it.