A Question of Effort

[DocSeuss]

Let's say people weren't making classic isometric RPGs these days.

 

Let's say the indie scene is too full of boring games and/or 2D platformers, and none of the indie RPGs really stood up to muster.

 

Let's say you wished there were more.

 

Let's say you had the skill to do something about that, or knew the sort of people with the skills required to do so?

 

...would you build an indie isometric RPG? Would you have any interest in that? Because I'm interested in doing that very thing, but I do not possess the skills required to do everything. There are some aspects I'm totally ready to do--I've got a nice bit of experience designing RPG combat systems, and I think I can write/design quests fairly well, but I haven't learned the important bits, like how to make art assets or program, and won't be for another semester or two.

 

But more importantly, I'm interested in working with people. I need to exert the mental effort required in creation, and I need to work with people to help me do that. If I just do it myself, I'll probably abandon it along the way because I can't focus on much these days.

 

Is anyone interested in resurrecting the isometric RPG?

[AllYourGame Nick]

I recommend checking to see if there are any game design clubs at your school. While I was at Penn State, there was a very active organization for people who designed games. I'm sure you could find some people who were interested in the same project.

[DocSeuss]

Unfortunately, I am at a tiny little community college, the program's fairly new, and the only people in the program I've gotten to talk to... kinda suck. Like, one of them is that sort of nerd who thinks DBZ is the best thing ever and wants to devote his life to making games that are ultimately derivatives of that. Also, he's afraid I'll steal his ideas. Plus, they're mostly console gamers and have very little interest in isometric RPGs.

Edited September 13, 2011 by DocSeuss

[AllYourGame Nick]

Hey, don't hate on DBZ. Have you looked into meetup.com? Around me there's a 'game developers' meetup and they hold events where everyone gets together tries to work on different projects. If there was something like this around you, you could join it and suggest a new project for the group. If there isn't, you should consider starting your own. If you're really dedicated to this idea and need to find people, but there are no existing groups for you to draw upon, you should definitely start your own group. It'd be tough work, but so is creating a video game.

[deanb]

Yeah Seuss if you're wanting to do this I'd look at other groups. There has been a few half-arsed attempts tried here in the past. It never really takes off.

 

If you're wanting a base engine to start with I can maybe toss a few your way. I have a yet to be finished series running on the main blog that I have tons looked up but just a pain to have a spin with em all to write about them:

http://pressxordie.com/tag/game-maker/

 

edit: wow I only did 2. Damn. Yeah need to get on top of those some point.

[DocSeuss]

Heh, Dean. You know, if you need someone to write some content, I might be arsed to try. I am well aware of Game Maker and it's not really what I'm going for. Oh well. :\

 

Anywho, AYG Nick, my computer hates me and won't let me reply to you. It's stuck saving the post, it says. Basically, I don't hate on DBZ, I hate on people who steal from DBZ and then worry that I'll steal from them. I live in a state that doesn't even touch a state occupied by game developers, so the number of devs here is small as hell. I'd think the best approach would be to do it like a mod, with a bunch of people through the internet.

[AllYourGame Nick]

...

Anywho, AYG Nick, my computer hates me and won't let me reply to you. It's stuck saving the post, it says. Basically, I don't hate on DBZ, I hate on people who steal from DBZ and then worry that I'll steal from them. I live in a state that doesn't even touch a state occupied by game developers, so the number of devs here is small as hell. I'd think the best approach would be to do it like a mod, with a bunch of people through the internet.

I've got a friend who did just that. When we were in middle school, he created a mod for Half-Life (this is from the time when Counter-Strike was relatively new) and managed to get a bunch of talented programmers and designers on board with him. He had some knowledge of programming and 3D modeling, but once he got other people on board, he took more of a director role. The mod was even featured in a PC magazine. He wasn't able to continue on with it, but the rest of the team fortunately finished it in his vision.

 

So, if you can get some people on board with your idea, you definitely have options as to getting it developed. I highly recommend attracting people who are still in college. Projects like this look amazing on a resume and are great for programmers/designers that are going to be entering the workforce soon.

[deanb]

Heh, Dean. You know, if you need someone to write some content, I might be arsed to try. I am well aware of Game Maker and it's not really what I'm going for. Oh well. :\

 

Oh it's not Game Maker as in the program, that was just the tag I used for the articles I was working on. Covering stuff like UDK, Source SDK, RPGmaker, and a few others that I'm keeping close to the chest.

[DocSeuss]

Ahhhhhhhhhh.

 

Presumably you'll mention Cryengine 3 at some point? That's what I'm working with right now. That and terragen. But terragen sucks and I can't figure out how to use it to make maps in Cryengine so bleeeeeeeeeeeh.

Edited September 14, 2011 by DocSeuss

[GunFlame]

I'd be willing to offer up any advice. I'm kinda busy on a lot of my own stuff right now, but I'd be more that happy to share what I know. I don't possess a massive amount of experience, but I've been end-to-end on plenty of projects.

[Saturnine Tenshi]

I had hundreds of pages of lore developed, and could never find a programmer. \ : If you need a supplemental quest/script writer, let me know. Otherwise, good luck finding who you need. I won't say it's insuperable, but it's certainly daunting. A bit of a tangent, but have you not worked with UDK at all, Seuss? I think I mentioned it elsewhere. If not, you should definitely consider it. Outside of proprietary systems, it's widely used. And the scripting involved with UDK will familiarize you with studio engines.