The nerd does things (the movie???)

Candelia

Candelia

So.

I've been an idiot for a few years, wanting to get into game design, and had a steadily evolving idea in my head during that time.

At first, it was like, some FFXIV-type shit, complicated systems that were oddly very similar to our favorite monster-collecting franchise. Hell, the current version still has some of that within it.

"So, Cande, what have you ACTUALLY accomplished, if you have no studio, coding experience, or no coherent plan for development?" you may ask. Well, my viewers who have probably not asked that question...
honestly a shit lot of nothin.

I've been constantly "remastering" it, though now I think I've reached a more perfected state of it. What comes now the issue is content, which leads me to here.

Forumers of Smogon, I need ideas. I'm stupid, really. My brain likes to place an "art-block/writing-block" wall of sheer titanium on the daily.
If you want to think of it in a specific way, think of it as art requests. If you want a specific character of your creation added (within reason), done. I'll doodle it, I have a surprisingly large amount of free time as a high-schooler.

What is the general basis of this you may ask?
Well. I've been really into roguelikes. That should answer your question.

What exactly am I looking for, maybe?
to be entirely honest, anything, really. mechanics, characters, bosses, lil grunt guys, you name it. I want this to be as nice as possible so that (if this becomes an actual thing) my players are happy. Because what's the point in trying to make a good bit of work if people really don't like it? (I'm looking at you, EA.)

so yeah none of you have to respond to this silly lil thing it's just me trying to do a thing lmao
​
 
im going to make a rare sincerepost here and advise you to learn how to make an existing game with simple rules, like tetris or chess, in an existing game engine like unity or unreal. frankly if you dont do this then your other ideas will never materialise. good luck!
 
sincerepost hat on

You're reaching really far to start and I'd encourage you to narrow your scope a bit if you want to make something here to start. Just make some smaller proof-of-concept roguelike design in game maker or unity or RPG Maker something with EXTREMELY simple rules. And think about it, ideas are cool, but if you want to mke something of legitimate worth (most of the time at least), you have to put in time to master the craft itself. As cool as it is to to draw a really good picture, you have to learn how to hold a pencil / stylus. As cool as it is to swim the English channel you have to learn how to float first. And even then, with all of these ideas, their execution is RARELY done entirely perfect. Honestly, almost nothing you experience on a daily basis is perfect, so please don't get hung up on trying to make this idea you have perfect; there will always be someone who thinks it isn't perfect (or worse, imperfect).

So what can I give you? The suggestion to just try and make something imperfect as a first draft of anything. I legitimately mean it, make some mistakes; I want to see you make something really basic in a coding language of your choice. Think about what you want to legitimately accomplish in this dream game, and strip them down to the very basic rules of gameplay. how would they work from an algorithm perspective? What does the gameplay look like when you write it out in a sentence? Think about that as you open gamemaker or something and just play aorund in it. think about that as you like, take a second to lean some c# or something. Hell, you could even use RPG Maker if you want something with a super easy bar to clear. Or hell, even just make a very basic design document for your idea, assuming you want this to be your idea. You're still in high-school, you will have plenty of time to practice this craft that you clearly have interest in, assuming you stick with it.

But i'm begging you, if you think that as a high school student you'll be able to make a game of the calibur of Final Fantasy XIV, I'm telling you right now, that is almost entirely impossible with where you are right now. FFXIV is cool because it has hundreds of people working on teams with their own very specific and specialized job. People working on FFXIV might be aware of what other teams are doing, but you won't see programmers doing the character design work that the art team might be working on, for example. Also, this part might be me pontificating on my soap box, but odds are you've seen stories of these high school prodigies who have like world-shattering talent who go on to do incredible things by the age of 18, you're not one of those people, probably. But what you can be is someone who is willing to spend the time with the tools to build what you want to build and learn the ins and outs of the craft itself. You odn't have to be talented if you're passionate and hard-working.

I understand that this will read as a harsh criticism, but please consider, you're at most 18 years old. People working in the video game industry are of all ages, but they all have experience working towards something they want to do. Take the time that you're able to to learn how to make a game, and chase this passion if you're dead set on it. you can literally go to school for this kind of thing if you're certain it's what you want to be doing for the rest of your life, but please just remember, you have to start somewhere. Everyone starts somewhere and it's clear you have a strong passion-foundation, so it's okay that you might have an idea block. Just spend a lot of time on one idea, for example and see what you can make it into with skills you have presently, and skills you might have from learning things on your own.

tl;dr please just make something small and imperfect that might be useful for your grand project long-term

sincereposting hat off

effort is hard so i feel that pard
also asking for ideas is a sign that you're thinking about this too hard
 
Voltage said:
sincerepost hat on

You're reaching really far to start and I'd encourage you to narrow your scope a bit if you want to make something here to start. Just make some smaller proof-of-concept roguelike design in game maker or unity or RPG Maker something with EXTREMELY simple rules. And think about it, ideas are cool, but if you want to mke something of legitimate worth (most of the time at least), you have to put in time to master the craft itself. As cool as it is to to draw a really good picture, you have to learn how to hold a pencil / stylus. As cool as it is to swim the English channel you have to learn how to float first. And even then, with all of these ideas, their execution is RARELY done entirely perfect. Honestly, almost nothing you experience on a daily basis is perfect, so please don't get hung up on trying to make this idea you have perfect; there will always be someone who thinks it isn't perfect (or worse, imperfect).

So what can I give you? The suggestion to just try and make something imperfect as a first draft of anything. I legitimately mean it, make some mistakes; I want to see you make something really basic in a coding language of your choice. Think about what you want to legitimately accomplish in this dream game, and strip them down to the very basic rules of gameplay. how would they work from an algorithm perspective? What does the gameplay look like when you write it out in a sentence? Think about that as you open gamemaker or something and just play aorund in it. think about that as you like, take a second to lean some c# or something. Hell, you could even use RPG Maker if you want something with a super easy bar to clear. Or hell, even just make a very basic design document for your idea, assuming you want this to be your idea. You're still in high-school, you will have plenty of time to practice this craft that you clearly have interest in, assuming you stick with it.

But i'm begging you, if you think that as a high school student you'll be able to make a game of the calibur of Final Fantasy XIV, I'm telling you right now, that is almost entirely impossible with where you are right now. FFXIV is cool because it has hundreds of people working on teams with their own very specific and specialized job. People working on FFXIV might be aware of what other teams are doing, but you won't see programmers doing the character design work that the art team might be working on, for example. Also, this part might be me pontificating on my soap box, but odds are you've seen stories of these high school prodigies who have like world-shattering talent who go on to do incredible things by the age of 18, you're not one of those people, probably. But what you can be is someone who is willing to spend the time with the tools to build what you want to build and learn the ins and outs of the craft itself. You don't have to be talented if you're passionate and hard-working.

I understand that this will read as a harsh criticism, but please consider, you're at most 18 years old. People working in the video game industry are of all ages, but they all have experience working towards something they want to do. Take the time that you're able to learn how to make a game, and chase this passion if you're dead set on it. you can literally go to school for this kind of thing if you're certain it's what you want to be doing for the rest of your life, but please just remember, you have to start somewhere. Everyone starts somewhere and it's clear you have a strong passion-foundation, so it's okay that you might have an idea block. Just spend a lot of time on one idea, for example and see what you can make it into with skills you have presently, and skills you might have from learning things on your own.

tl;dr please just make something small and imperfect that might be useful for your grand project long-term

sincereposting hat off

effort is hard so i feel that pard
also asking for ideas is a sign that you're thinking about this too hard
Click to expand...
Harsh criticism is the best criticism in my opinion, and I appreciate all this.

Maybe I am thinking about this too hard; for the most part this entire concept was simply such a bunch of paper doodles due to not having the resources to advance to computer doodles and whatnot.

Being sixteen is rough sometimes. Plus, the FFXIV term was simply a metaphor (and glad I dropped it, complex rpgs are rough).
I'll scale this down for the time being, and, again, I appreciate the criticism. I should be focusing on things anyway.
 
Candelia said:
Harsh criticism is the best criticism in my opinion, and I appreciate all this.

Maybe I am thinking about this too hard; for the most part this entire concept was simply such a bunch of paper doodles due to not having the resources to advance to computer doodles and whatnot.

Being sixteen is rough sometimes. Plus, the FFXIV term was simply a metaphor (and glad I dropped it, complex rpgs are rough).
I'll scale this down for the time being, and, again, I appreciate the criticism. I should be focusing on things anyway.
Click to expand...

I promise you I was doing almost the exact same things you are at 16 and paper Doodles aren't something you should throw away! Get your ideas on paper because one day you might want to use them for something, like for example, when you CAN advance to computer doodles. Sometimes you don't have the resources to attain your dream goal, and that's okay too! I have confidence that you'll find a way to channel your creative energy, just make sure you remember that the creative process is a nonlinear process that is only sustained through incremental work. The artist who draws a small doodle to practice every day for six months will eventually have 180 drawings while the artist who wants to get the single thing right on their first try for six months will have just a frustrated canvas full of eraser marks.

Don't be too harsh with yourself because at the end of the day, until you're able to break through the barrier of reaching an audience, you'll have to be your biggest champion. It's rough being a creative at times, but it's the process that can be some of the most rewarding parts of the whole affair. And in the end if you can derive joy from both the work and the product, then I'm confident you'll be able to make it through.
 
Last edited:
Voltage said:
I promise you I was doing almost the exact same things you are at 16 and paper Doodles aren't something you should throw away! Get your ideas on paper because one day you might want to use them for something, like for example, when you CAN advance to computer doodles. Sometimes you don't have the resources to attain your dream goal, and that's okay too! I have confidence that you'll find a way to channel your creative energy, just make sure you remember that the creative process is a nonlinear process that is only sustained through incremental work. The artist who draws a small doodle to practice every day for six months will eventually have 180 drawings while the artist who wants to get the single thing right on their first try for six months will have just a frustrated canvas full of eraser marks.

Don't be too harsh with yourself because at the end of the day, until you're able to break through the barrier of reaching an audience, you'll have to be your biggest champion. It's rough being a creative at times, but it's the process that can be some of the most rewarding parts of the whole affair. And in the end if you can derive joy from both the work and the product, then I'm confident you'll be able to make it through.
Click to expand...
Fair enough, fair enough. I do like to save all my concepts, even as they like to sit in my head rent-free :P

I'll make something, just not sure what. Might just be like, a fakemon thingie or something, I dunno. Gotta start small, then get big.
 
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