A while back I cobbled together a group of guys to make a game in our spare time. I knew all of them were interested in game development so I asked them to meet up and we would meet on the weekends to work. Around that time I was also heavy into African history, folk stories, mythology, and nollywood village movies which can be kinda stark in comparison to the violence of western games/movies. This made me less interested in development of the violence prone project we were working on and more interested in the production & design aspect I could use on other projects later. Eventually we started loosing guys to graduation and work but we got a good bit done so I thought I'd share the journey.

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[size=16pt]VisionStatement[/size]

''__The genesis__ -'' After working on several solo games and understanding how to go from a concept to its on screen implementation I now need to understand how to manage and work within a large team of people to produce games.

What is the impediment to this? How can I find a way around it?
''***** *****''


''Vision - Problem statement''
What is the Problem?
While there are classes that teach material useful in the making of games there is no set curriculum/track of classes that organizes the material in a manner which steps students through the process of making a game be it solo or as part of a team.
Worse still the field is so young that there are no real long standing Theories or linguistics/Vocabulary to use as a base for communication of ideas.

This Affects who?
Myself and all students interested in game design and development.

Why is this a problem?
When I formally make an attempt to go into the field of game development and establish my own team I run the risk of stalling development and burning money while developing standard procedures and a common terminology for the most basic of tasks leading to a host of scheduling and communication problems.
When an attempt is made to go into the field of game development and join an established team former students may have an initially weak ability to contribute to the team in terms of game design and implementation because of unfamiliarity with the development process.

What constitutes a successful solution?
A standard procedure that covers all aspects from design to development. Basic terminology that precisely conveys the topics and ideas covered in each step of the procedure. Work with a sizable team comprised of the multiple disciples involved in game development to successfully complete a game using the standard procedure.


''Vision - Position statement''
This solution is for what people?
Myself and anyone interested in working in the field of game design and development.

This solution meets what need of those people?
It gives working knowledge of the paths and pitfalls on the procedure needed to conceive, design, and implement a game within the framework of a sizable team. It also demonstrates the paths and pitfalls in how to communicate design ideas with others. Finally it gives an opportunity to take on the various positions inherent to game development in a safe environment not hampered by the need to "keep the lights on", please a publisher, or capture the masses.

This solution comes in what form?
A series of game projects that covers and ultimately combines different aspects of development.

This solution benefits those people how?
It provides a practical and economical approach to acquiring the skill set needed to work as a team in the game development field.

What are alternative solutions for those people?
1. Go straight into an established team and learn as you go.
2. Set out on your own, find funding, and open a studio.
3. Join(make) a group that meets the needed solution instead of building(joining) this one.

What makes this solution better than the alternatives for those people?
1. This solution provides a safe place to learn development skills without the added pressure of a career hanging in the balance. It also provides the demonstrative ability(via the series of game projects) to get a person in the door of an established team in the first place.
2. This solution provides a safe place to learn development skills without the added pressure of running out of funds or employee turnover stemming from frustration and or fear of the company going under.
3. (Join)There is no other group to join. (Make)This group is already staffed with knowledgeable people 6 months strong, supplied with equipment, connected to the departments needed to network with students required to fill other development positions, has demonstrated that a game can be made with the tools on hand, has a concrete game coming down the pipeline, has a set of 3 projects in the works clear through fall 2011, etc.



www.nairaland.com/attachments/1504156_project_breakdown_jpg2886e57e510758771fab463e1b5bb1de


@@color(red):Project 1: Spring 2011 - Development Process@@
Conception, Analysis, Design & Implementation Procedure - Step by step listing of tasks and desired artifacts stemming from the completion of said tasks.

Heavy Gameplay Development - Set and understand how each position in this development cycle works. Come to grips with how to program in UScript and get gameplay from an idea to a functional product on screen. Develop methods to clearly communicate ideas. Note what effects the development cycle and what keeps it or stops it from running smooth and on track.

Moderate Map/Level Development - Set and understand how each position in this development cycle works. Come to grips with how to work within the editor to make level maps. Designing level maps around a desired gameplay rule set.

Moderate Audio Development - Set and understand how each position in this development cycle works. Come to grips with how to work within the editor to manipulate audio. Mixing and placing of sounds within a level map. Developing music around a desired level map theme.

Simple story Development - Set and understand how each position in this development cycle works. Simple text based story telling integration
Side note - Leave room for asset swaps.


@@color(green):Project 2: Summer 2011 - Story scenarios@@
Heavy Story Development - "Linked Scenario" based story telling.


@@color(blue):Project 3: Fall 2011 - Assets@@
Heavy Custom content - character, Item, and vehicle models & animations. Static meshes.


@@color(purple):Other Projects:@@
Combine knowledge from previous projects to work on all following projects.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR6pYvNlJs0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ninDm6SrSxg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PAXBpT-Tb0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF6oBN68VJ0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXzyNjwjUdc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bngYnYT1YI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEJULX-YM_A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb7P0Er2yZs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxoDTjXJntU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62kn6cg7_w8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M55P_QX4b4M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv-9437DbD4

Dietrich92: this is really cool.
dope stuff
i am looking at some of the beta testing footage. Really indepth
do u know any programming scripting yourself? if so let me know some good resources.
Peace

Yes there will be lots of scripting shown. I'll even talk through what I'm doing, what I did wrong, and how should I fix it.
Unreal engine uses Uscript it's an in house language they made for games. It's like a cross between java and C++ with some extra capabilities suited to games(mostly dealing with what happens in particular states *falling state* *running state* *etc*)

personally I know Uscript, Java, C++, assembly, Machine code(binary), PHP, SQL(familiar), HTML5(This has been expanded to the point were HTML, PHP, and SQL can do a lot on its own even game production)


I'll provide some references later after I round up some meaty info off of my HDD.

pc guru:

I read your thread and immediately i can tell you're taking it serious, i often laugh when people talk about 3D Development here and say they will create a game soon, that stuff is quite complicated. Good work bro

Thank you,
Hopefully by the time I've finished uploading all the work we did people will be able to see exactly how complicated it is and more importantly how to plan for & navigate that difficulty. It certainly isn't insurmountable actually the main thing isn't complexity it's matching ambition with resources.

Easy example:
My team consisted of software engineer and computer science students. We had guys talking about making games on other worlds with all these fancy effects even though we had no artist 2D/3D. We could plan and program plenty of things but given that we didn't have artist we had to use the recourses given with the game.

Ambition has to coincide with the recourses you have and those you can attain. With that said there is no such thing as being "practical" or "realistic" in the since that most people use it "don't be too ambitious". "Being Practical" comes in your ability to plan and execute not in you ability to tame your ambition. People to often error in conflating the two.

Not practical or realistic


But well planned and executed...

Hello,

I'd prefer everyone to make comments / ask questions here because as I add more videos the page will load slower and slower. When it hits 35(?) post it starts a new page and I want it to do that as soon as possible before to many videos slow the load times down. So while your questions/comments serve to answer your curiosity it also serves a benificial secondary purpose as a buffer so that to many videos aren't put on the same page slowing down the page load time.

If you ask a question in a secondary thread that's fine also but questions directed at me or ones that I reply to out of personal interest will be placed in the main thread(just so you know).

Thanks

first of all,do u reside in europe..and how much did it take you to acquire such resources....and how is it possible to make a. game with just software programming cos I know it also has to do with motion capture,image editing etc....I am also interested in making video games but its very impossible right now as I am in nigeria Where it is nearly impossible to find someone with your level of knowledge.the thing is I have d capital but I don't know how to go about it..or can join your team?

liljboy10: first of all,do u reside in europe..

No, I'm in the U.S black belt region

liljboy10: ..and how much did it take you to acquire such resources....

Time: Years(decades) because I had to find it on my own there are no real "classes" you take to learn this kinda stuff. I've been playing video games since I was 2-3 years old...which is important to note because you have to be exposed / able to break down and isolate the ideas used in the games you play in order to build your own games using those isolated ideas acquired as building blocks. One of the worst things you can do is play a game and merely think "this is fun" because you stand the chance of missing out on why the game plays the way it does (I.E it's gameplay mechanics). If you can't play a game and isolate it's gameplay mechanics all the programing and art classes in the world won't help you.

I started formally programming the summer before starting high school using a book(Microsoft Qbasic) my brother brought home from his University. I learned Uscript by sheer luck from a random person online. He made a game in unreal engine 1 that he didn't want to work on any longer and gave away his source code to the public. I tweaked his code using the fundamental programing/game design knowledge I had and in the process learned how to make games in unreal engine. (That's the short story **small steps that added up later in life**)

Money: Not much actually, Unreal engine 3 is free to download online. I did have to buy a new computer at the time to run the game but that didn't run me much. I knew I only need the computer to program games so I bought a "bare bones PC" for about $300-400. I had an extra HDD, computer monitor, keyboard, etc. sitting around my apt.

liljboy10: and how is it possible to make a. game with just software programming cos I know it also has to do with motion capture, image editing etc....

Unreal engine 3 doesn't come with many art assets when you download it online. A better choice for me was to buy a game made on unreal engine 3; in this case "Unreal tournament 3" and program my own games using the assets provided. Which means that as a programmer I can skip over the "motion capture,image editing etc...."

liljboy10: I am also interested in making video games but its very impossible right now as I am in nigeria Where it is nearly impossible to find someone with your level of knowledge.the thing is I have d capital but I don't know how to go about it

I feel like Nigeria gives you a great edge given that the cost of living is probably orders of magnitude cheaper then the U.S. As a Software dev all you need is electricity and net access. After that you can work from almost anywhere. You could probably spend way more time devoted to private game dev then someone in the U.S or Europe who are constantly worried about "keeping the lights on"

Hopefully by the time I upload the last video I will have successfully imparted the useful knowledge you and others want/need

liljboy10: ...or can join your team?

Hey, sounds good to me though I'm not actively working on anything at this point. With that said I have some ideas in the pipeline. My main issue right now is the types of games I want to make/play have changed. I'm not really interested in the overly violent western style games. I've been looking at a lot of Nollywood village movies, traditional African games, Folk stories, African art styles, reading anthropological books, etc to get inspiration for something different and uniquely African.

Basically I'm in research mode not development mode. That said I'd love to take on some partners from the continent

The Idea pitch sessions:

After we came together we had three Idea pitch sessions. At these sessions people threw around whatever ideas they had in mind for a game. Now given the resources at our disposal we probably wouldn't be able to do any of them but the point of these sessions were to get a broad idea of what types of projects people were interested in working on. This is opposite to the idea of finding out specific projects people want to work on.

The first deals with what destination you want to finish at while the second deals with what heading/direction you want to start at. The sessions are used to determine a common starting place and direction for our ideas to take place.

The video for Group Meeting 2 is actually Idea pitch session 3. I only have video of session 3 While I only have notes for session 1. Below you will find the notes from Idea pitch session 1.

Idea pitch session 1: Game pitch 1 of 4

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Water game:
The basic concept of the game is to take the feel of an old platformer, such as Mario, Sonic, Megaman, or Kirby, and to update the gameplay with several new, innovative, and challenging features that all draw an inspiration from water.

What a general level would look like:
The average level in the game might look quite a bit like a Super Mario World level, with emphasis on reaching and end goal, or like Sonic with an emphasis on beating a stage boss. However, many levels will be very different from either of these series.

(a few) Level concept ideas: 

.....Raindrops, like falling and rising ramps in Mario games, must be navigated across to avoid a death by pitfall. 

.....A steam-powered plane must collect fuel in the form of water as it shoots its way to a boss, otherwise it crash and burn. (a later level should include the guns malfunctioning, and be a very Alladin escaping the Cave of Wonders-esque level, or in other words avoiding the heck out of everything while trying to escape an area) 

.....The waters around a ship must be controlled to make whirlpools to overtake certain enemies, while you must use the water beneath your boat at certain spots to launch your boat over jagged rocks. Also perhaps aerial critters should be destroyed by waterspouts. 

.....In a barren wasteland, devoid of water, the only source of precious liquid is from the baddies that you fell, so in order to complete a level you must fight while keeping up your speed. 

.....Ice bridges must be kept stable as you escort some sort of innocents through a level, rescuing them as you go along (with a higher score resulting from more rescued). 

.....A sliding down a mountain level, where you avoid oncoming obstacles, but going bottom to top instead of left to right, as in the plane escape level(s). 

.....Molten lava which must be cooled by water to make a path you can jump across, but won't stay cooled for long. 

.....Running down a water-pipe with Sonic-like control (with the ability to run on the ceiling where needed).


Some ideas borrowed from the last talk: 

.....Perhaps, as the protagonist progresses, the powers of the other elements could be unlocked (presumably from fighting big, or perhaps completely optional bosses). These powers should probably be limited to using a meter, but be allowed at any time. 

.....Other liquids, such as mercury, molten wax, or even glass could make for interesting level mechanics or abilities.


Reasons I like this pitch: 

.....I believe this is something we could get done within a reasonable time frame. 

.....The type of game has proved extremely popular, although it has been mostly lost in recent years. 

.....We can come up with some very unique element-based gameplay.

.....Depending on our artists we can make this very detailed, complex, and badass, or give it the relatively cutesy feel of a Kirby game. 

.....I can make the storyline several times more epic than it should be, which will make me smile--a big, twisted, but well meaning smile.


Games to reference:

Mario brothers *2d series* (starting point)
Pixel junk shooter (environmental navigation through element manipulation)

Ideas tossed around:
Instead of or in addition to manipulating the environment to move around, make the character an element that is state alterable. Depending on the characters’ state it interacts with the level in different ways.
.....a. The play between environmental states could cause a lull in development while figuring out how to get the interactions and transformations to work.
.....b. Given an emphasis on character vs. environment there is an uncertain possibility that numerous amounts of small assets would be needed.

Idea pitch session 1: Game pitch 2 of 4

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Speed game - “Bring sonic into 3D the right way”

The object is to move through an environment with the speed and feel similar to that of a racing game. While navigating the level the player is still free to choose there own path through a level. The level idea tossed around was a big abstract cityscape to move through with an emphasis on speed and unconventional angles to arrive at an event. (Assumption: boss fight, story segment, etc.)

Games to reference:
Sonic series of games *2D version* (idea starting point)
Marble blast (freedom of movement & unconventional angles )
Wipeout series of games (speed & unconventional angles)
Extreme G racing (speed & unconventional angles)
Shadow of colossi (something was mentioned about the tower in the middle of the main field)

Ideas tossed around:
Make one huge world (level) where all game events happen. Set the game in motion and allow the player to navigate there way back and forth through the environment to the events that are happening in the world. Between events set “leading events” in place that lead the player through the environment with the immediate goal of dealing with the leading event but has the side effect of moving the character from one event to the other event. This is done mainly to keep the player from getting lost or confused about where to go next.

a. Straight forward for me to code and for me to explain how to code a game about moving around an environment. I have plenty of experience doing this kind of game.

Idea pitch session 1: Game pitch 3 of 4

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Arena - “3rd person game with serious hand 2 hand and gun play all in one package”

The game takes place in a mining colony controlled by an oppressive corporation. Story wise there were two or three firm plot points mentioned. The circumstances surrounding events cause the miners to at some point attempt to reach the core of the planet and at another point they attempt to find away off the planet. The game is meant to consist of both hand to hand and gun combat. The themes of all weapons were to be mining equipment or conventional weapons miners would have access to. In order to make the hand 2 hand relevant/useful ammo is limited.

Games to reference:
Red faction (Theme)
Red faction: liberation (Theme)
Oni (Hand 2 hand & gunplay)
Cy girls(gunplay)
Jedi outcast 2(melee arena combat)
Mad world(arena based single player, melee)
Unreal tournament *series*(arena based single player, gunplay)

Ideas tossed around:
Hold off on traditional linear levels with set piece events that trigger as you move through the level. Instead make arena levels with the theme of that level set to identify with the premise of the current place in the story. Within the level set goals that must be completed in order to continue to the next level (arena).

.....a. Straight forward for me to code and for me to explain how to code a game about shooting at stuff. I have plenty of experience doing this kind of game.
.....b. Everyone’s familiar with 3rd person gunplay games.
.....c. Doesn’t require lots of assets and the arenas and enemies can be reused.

Idea pitch session 1: Game pitch 4 of 4

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Castlevainia game – “multiplayer castlvainia, control all characters with one person”

How would a multiplayer castlevainia game look? That was the question spawned from the announcement of castlvainia: “harmony of despair” a genuine multiplayer castlevainia game! In order to grasp how that kind of set up would play out a series of observations were made…

1. If the game is multiplayer either one person must not be able to take down a monster alone or they can’t take down a group of monsters alone.

Resulting scenario – if you have a huge monster come out one player could simply grapple with it to keep it from moving. While held in place the second player could come in for the kill.

2. If the same player is used over and over to hold any & all enemies in place while the same other player was used to kill said enemy that would become blatantly obvious and by extension monotonous.

Resulting scenario – The player that holds the huge enemy in place gets swarmed if he tries that tactic against a group of small quick enemies. So use the second player to fight through the group and cripple there movement so the first player can come through and attack without being swarmed. This causes the game to turn into a treat management puzzle game where the player is tasked with determining what order should enemies be attacked and with who.

3. If two players are busy wrestling with a huge were-bull, axe wielding minotaur, or armor knight in the middle of the screen what do they do about the other monsters moving in for the attack from the left, right, or even from above them?

Resulting scenario – (we’re obviously going to need more characters in the party than two) So I started mining characters from the series of games to use. Mr. whip himself Belmont could be used to deal with characters that attack from one side of the above wrestling match. Alucard could be used to attack enemies coming from the opposite side.

4. If two players are wrestling a huge enemy while two others handle single targets on the peripheral you can never have more than two co-op required enemies on screen at once. And if you had two co-op enemies you can’t put any more enemies on screen cause there are no players left to fight them since they are already busy fighting enemies.

Resulting scenario – (mine more characters from the series to allow for more scenarios) I remembered a werewolf from castlvaina 64 and a little girl from one of the GBA / DS games. This allows for multiple large co-op required enemies on the screen at once along with lesser enemies to fight on the peripheral which allows for the epic scale associated with needing a party to fight a battle instead of one person.

5. If you have 6 people running around on screen along with enemies shifting around everywhere the screen may get cluttered.

Resulting scenario – Leave the party at six players and allow the girl the power to somehow disperse a large group of enemies.


Given this set of observations the game is defined as one where…

1. A player either can’t take down an enemy alone or a group of enemies alone.
2. Different people are good at fighting different types of enemies.
3. Party members are used to cover each other while another is busy taking down an enemy.
4. Crowds of enemies on screen must be managed by the player.

Finally, what are the breath and depth of possible scenarios in a game such as this?


Story – A string of events that detail how each character joins the party and how there journey affects the game world.

a. Introductory segments for each character that shows the circumstances by which they meet and join the main party.
b. Segments that dictate the action that is currently depicted on screen.
c. Changing segments that will introduce new scenarios and recycle old scenarios in interesting new ways by varying the patterns & durations of occurrence given the story laid out.


Fighting – Dealing with the list of threats in the game world using up to 6 characters simultaneously to fight through the scenarios of a level. Each fight offers different mixes of enemies being thrown at the player where the player has to threat manage the enemies on the screen and decide in what order do the enemies get attacked and by whom.

a. Fights are tied directly to the current place in the story line.
b. Fights involving varying number of party members. Current party may have 1, 5, 3, 6, etc. members.
c. Fights along side guest party members where more guest can be picked up as others fall.
d. Fights against current party members.
e. Large field skirmishes where lots of enemies are fought by the party along side allied parties to mimic army on army battles.
f. Fights with back to the wall or closed entrance while some group member(s) leave party to open an entrance.
g. Feint fights where the party is fleeing the enemy, sealing the path behind them, and attempting to open the path in front of them.
h. Fights where some player(s) are positioned elsewhere on screen to activate something that helps damage or open up the possibility of the group damaging an enemy.
i. Boss fights.


Group platforming – Navigating through an area by making way over gaps and obstacles.

a. Simple timed gap and obstacle jumps one player followed by the other.
b. One player hand springs other players to higher points and the group pulls the last player up by rope.
c. One or two players defend the group as the rest navigate some obstacle.
d. Sneaking into an area to open the way for the group by platforming a wall instead of going through the entrance.


Running – Running from one side of the area to the other.

a. Platforming on the run through a level not stopping or slowing down.
b. Fighting on the run through a level not stopping or slowing down.
c. Fleeing from a flood of enemies too numerous to fight as a group.
d. Breaking through a line of enemies while on the run shoving them aside or running them over.
e. Running from cover to cover from a barrage of enemy projectiles.


Exploration – Searching an area in hopes of finding a given person, place, or thing.

a. field exploration
b. town exploration
c. structure exploration


Talking – Extracting information from people in an effort to further the story and flesh out the world.

To be continued below:

Ahh man, I miss this thread.

1. A while back I got upset at the people in the culture section because I was constantly having to "defend" Africa from the swarms of negative post. The Idea of having to "defend" the continent from people living on the continent itself just made no sense to me so I left to cool off.

2. When I came back all of my post were erased and I couldn't login so I left again.

3. So now I can finally post again but all my content is gone.



Where would I even begin on posting all that material again... sigh, It was a unique thread

RandomAfricanAm: Ahh man, I miss this thread.

1. A while back I got upset at the people in the culture section because I was constantly having to "defend" Africa from the swarms of negative post. The Idea of having to "defend" the continent from people living on the continent itself just made no sense to me so I left to cool off.

2. When I came back all of my post were erased and I couldn't login so I left again.

3. So now I can finally post again but all my content is gone.



Where would I even begin on posting all that material again... sigh, It was a unique thread

how far have u guys gone with d game?has it been completed?...just continue from u left ofd

RandomAfricanAm: Ahh man, I miss this thread.

1. A while back I got upset at the people in the culture section because I was constantly having to "defend" Africa from the swarms of negative post. The Idea of having to "defend" the continent from people living on the continent itself just made no sense to me so I left to cool off.

2. When I came back all of my post were erased and I couldn't login so I left again.

3. So now I can finally post again but all my content is gone.



Where would I even begin on posting all that material again... sigh, It was a unique thread

how far have u guys gone with d game?has it been completed?...just continue from u left off

unreal engine4 is next generation do you know how to use that one

by the way let me introduce myself
I am hunter21(codename),I don't have any particular programing skills , I tried using unreal3 and cryengi e3 with the aid of youtube tutorials some while ago but I couldn't go past editing a terrain.
I have knowledge of metaphysics, pcsychological anthropology, military and warfare and I share a common interest with you

can you please drop your pin or phone number, I want to discuss with you

hunter21:
can you please drop your pin or phone number, I want to discuss with you

@hunter21 Man you are bringing back good memories. I really wanted this thread to work out. If not for the software it self, definitely so that others here can see the process laid out on how a game would be made from top to bottom. As I stated before the big data wipe last year in 2014 around April or May caused me to leave nairaland for months (I lost a lot of hard work).

@liljboy10 @hunter21
As for bringing this thread back I'd love to. I actually found some remnants of it I can post now. I was thinking about making a diary post laying it all out then moving everything over here when I'm done. I've also thought about just moving this whole thing over to coli.com to avoid having all my hard work wiped again.

That said where are you located? One thing I really liked about this thread was that I had the pleasure of meeting a lot of Nigerians egger to create games/art/software just looking a stable platform to do the work. BTW, I'm in the U.S myself that's why I asked your location.

I reside in Lagos nigeria

hunter21:
I reside in Lagos nigeria

Ok cool, your in the hot spot of Nigeria. So tell me about yourself and what your trying to get into/have been doing in regards to software? Who knows maybe something will click.