Game Maker's Garage Forum

Game Maker's Garage => Group Projects => Topic started by: Silverwind on October 13, 2020, 03:55:57 PM

Title: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Silverwind on October 13, 2020, 03:55:57 PM
Hey guys, seeing as how a bunch of us old-timers are still knocking about and expressing our love for game making, does anyone fancy a casual collaboration project? I still think a top-down grid-based fantasy-medieval adventure RPG has a lot of merit, and would gladly contribute art, music, writing, or a combination of sorts. I’m no good with modern programming I’m afraid, but it looks like there’s a lot of programming talent among other members :)

By the way, it goes without saying that this project is also open to non ‘old-timers’!
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Johna100 on October 13, 2020, 04:25:06 PM
this sounds like a cool idea. I can contribute music. I also could have gameplay ideas to add to the game. As well as the theory of programming. I only know SC so i might not be able to do the actual coding. And i just ordered a pen and pad for my computer to learn art. Im no good a pixel art though.
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Silverwind on October 13, 2020, 04:46:01 PM
Awesome! Music is an important department :) Game Makers Assemble! Mwahahaha...
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Johna100 on October 13, 2020, 04:49:20 PM
I could compose any genre you wanted, SNES or even an old style Chiptune. As well as classical. I even do some guitar but that might not be the genre.
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Connors on October 18, 2020, 01:25:54 PM
This does sound fun, and I'm willing to work on one as long as people stick to it along with me this time. I'm in the middle of a Halloween game jam so I'll not be participating in another project this month, but I'll likely join you after. I'll keep you posted ;D

I still think about the story we came up with for the one RPG, that was pretty cool, with the town slowly being built as you explore each surrounding area and it's corresponding dungeon.
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Silverwind on October 18, 2020, 04:34:59 PM
Welcome aboard, good sir! I'm with you, a certain degree of commitment is important for morale. I'm certainly willing to see the project through to the end :)

I vaguely recall the project I think you're referring to, but the details escape me. If you think any of the ideas are worth revisiting, do share them :) I haven't given any thought to a story yet, but I did make a start on a UI concept and I'm doodling a few placeholder sprites to get a rough idea of what the game might look like.

Here's a few games and colour palettes I thought would be useful to reference:

Yipe! III
https://images.app.goo.gl/jjPMLKqCD3mQhsuw9

Gurk
https://images.app.goo.gl/y1qTedJ9KBr8QvqW7

Kingsway
https://images.app.goo.gl/Teu5i1H1MkV5HeiV7
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Johna100 on October 18, 2020, 09:46:23 PM
this might be a good reference as well...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exile_(1995_video_game_series)#/media/File:BOEcombat1.png (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exile_(1995_video_game_series)#/media/File:BOEcombat1.png)
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Connors on October 24, 2020, 12:59:27 PM
I will say this: I might be interested in working on an RPG, though they haven't been my focus in any of my personal projects so far, and I tend to play more action RPGS than turn-based ones... I also really enjoy putting a certain amount of surrealism into my stuff. (Thinking of Space Funeral where you go to your own funeral, you can throw bibles at criminals, and there's a completely optional side-quest that results in you just having a chat with Dracula while smoking weed)

Not that I'm trying to steer the whole project my way, I'm interested in what you guys are thinking of. I like the stuff you both posted for art styles.

Here's what I personally remember about the story (I can't find the summary I wrote so this is mostly from memory)

Quote
You're sent to a fledgling town near the mountains as part of a group who are meant to guard the place from monsters. You get the short straw when they're deciding who should investigate an incident, you go out to the forest and you find the first dungeon, which has a boss battle.

There would be threats to the town coming from nearby areas, each with their own theme. Each time you complete a chapter of the game, the town gets a little bigger. A shopkeeper would show up to sell you things. The mushroom farm would flourish. New people would move in. The town could become more fortified.
Oh and there's a wizard tower that's there from the beginning of the game. The wizard gives you advice.
The areas were Forest, Swamp, Desert, and finally the snowy Mountains.

We had discussed a plot twist that explains why there's a random desert near all these other biomes. Basically, in one chapter the river would dry up and you would go to investigate, and there would be this random barren area with desert themed enemies. You enter another dungeon, and defeat something that was sucking up all the water.

And finally, there is a villain who orchestrated a lot of the attacks on the town. It's the dragon who lives in the nearby mountain and doesn't want your civilization to move in on its doorstep.


Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Silverwind on October 25, 2020, 04:06:23 PM
Man, I’d forgotten all of that. It’s a great plot for a short game :) I’ve been working on a colour palette and threw a few musical ideas together to get an idea of the game’s tone. I’ll post a few bits tomorrow.

I’ve got a week off work, so I’ll dedicate some proper time to this project with the aim of having an initial concept by the end of the week :D

How’s your Game Jam project going Connors?
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Connors on October 25, 2020, 10:00:50 PM
The prototype for my jam actually game is submitted! I actually have some finishing touches that didn't make it into the Jam version, I'm gonna be finishing it soon. Ideally I'll update it with a more complete multiplayer by Halloween. :) https://connorses.itch.io/boo-boo-graveyard

It's wild to see you come back here and talk about making an RPG again, and taking time off to do it!
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Silverwind on October 26, 2020, 06:25:03 PM
The screen recording software I used doesn't allow much free bandwidth, but here's a short ramble about ideas and approach as well as initial concepts of music and visuals:

https://www.screencast.com/t/PK6Z7y46e

The yellowish-green grass is less appealing to me, but as most of the other graphics have bold colours they tend to sit better on it than on the lusher green grass. I'm looking forward to doodling up a sprite sheet!
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Silverwind on October 26, 2020, 06:26:11 PM
The prototype for my jam actually game is submitted!
Wow! That's an ace little game Connors :) Super stuff!
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Connors on October 27, 2020, 03:57:16 AM

I made a short video of my thoughts on this.
 I like your songs Silverwind! Your style fits the chiptune instruments pretty well actually.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc5mMeUODhk
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Silverwind on October 27, 2020, 02:59:56 PM
Alas! The video appears to be private ;D
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Connors on October 27, 2020, 04:55:15 PM
it is now "unlisted" (you can watch with that link)^
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Connors on November 02, 2020, 12:15:08 AM
OK so there's a bot that made it hard to tell if there were new posts but rest assured I'm still here (the video I linked is now viewable, I think). But to summarize:

I'm fine with doing a typical RPG like things people linked. I'd also like to discuss possible twists on gameplay. I've been rather enamored with games where attacking and defending become minigames, for example. I think that type of mechanic could be fun to make.

Also game engines... I'm most comfortable with coding in Unity or GameMaker Studio. GameMaker is probably a good choice for this project since it makes it easy to set up 2D games with pixel art.
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Silverwind on November 02, 2020, 03:19:53 PM
Sorry Connors, I meant to post last night but forgot. Your thoughts are great! :D If you're happy to take the helm programming wise, you're the best guy to call shots on the majority of game mechanics so that we're designing something you can actually create XD The battle engine is in your hands good sir!

As a matter of fact, I'm mostly excited about working on the tileset, as I'd like to release it as a free game dev resource like the old Roguesoft set. Perhaps designing the tileset could be my official contribution to the project? I'll try to create entity sprites as well, but they'll take a lot more time and effort.

I'm afraid I didn't get as much done as I hoped this week, as most of the story and gameplay ideas that I came up with emerged from—and are inextricably linked to—a game idea that I've had for a long time and am rather precious about, as I still intend to make it someday. I basically ended up defining the shape of that project unintentionally! I did improve the UI mockup I put together earlier though, ending with a screen resolution of 1024px x 640px—which quite by chance appears to be the second biggest project size in SilverCreator. I'll have to give SC a go one of these days.

I hope to work on the Tileset a bit this week, but I'm back to work now, so its a free time project once again for me. Still committed to seeing this through though :)

EDIT:

OK so there's a bot that made it hard to tell if there were new posts
Oh yes, that bot's on quite the rampage! If only they'd post something useful, like story ideas, or concept art...
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Gan on November 05, 2020, 10:52:53 PM
https://youtu.be/4r_iZoEdYow (https://youtu.be/4r_iZoEdYow)

I'm very excited about the idea of a group project.
I have also been working on game ideas in my free time. I tend to use plain Javascript/CSS/Html for game development. My goal is to reach maximum audience, all devices and future-proof compatibility.
I definitely would like to help out. Any level of contribution is good with me. I plan on seeing this project through to the end. I can take a large or small part in the project. If we want to go Adventure of Eek style of development, Javascript/CSS/Html isn't too difficult for game development and I can clone my project setup and introduce it so everyone can help code if wanted. I also don't mind doing a majority of coding if wanted.

Demo: Adventure of Eek (https://matthewfrench.github.io/Adventure-of-Eek/)
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Silverwind on November 06, 2020, 03:01:00 PM
Yay! Great to have you aboard Gan :D That's a great engine you've made for Eek, and I reckon it's about the right scale for a small project we want to finish. I'll try to make more placeholder tiles over the weekend.
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Gan on November 06, 2020, 04:30:51 PM
If you fellows don’t mind using the Adventure of Eek game engine, I’ll setup a repository this weekend with the code including instructions on how to run and modify. You will be assigned contributors so you will be able to modify the project, like adding graphics/sound/code changes.

I’m assuming everyone has little to no familiarity with project repositories and contributing project work to a repository. So I’ll make videos showing how to do that.
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Gan on November 07, 2020, 08:01:36 PM
Should the first post in this thread be updated with information/progress/state/decisions?
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Gan on November 07, 2020, 09:56:47 PM
I created the repository and videos for getting setup for the team project.

Repository: https://github.com/MatthewFrench/Team-Project-for-Old-Times-Sake


How to Contribute
Video: Getting the tools (https://youtu.be/le7noAENHjA)
Video: Running the project (https://youtu.be/JQmDcWRbijA)
Video: Understanding the structure (https://youtu.be/RNnasLCToUs)
Video: Saving graphic/sound/code changes (https://youtu.be/RNmETXfDCDU)

The above videos will guide you through getting your computer ready to run the project, running the project, understanding how the project is set up and saving any changes back to the project repository so everyone can see them.

Tools:
Github Account: https://github.com
Github Desktop: https://desktop.github.com
Webstorm EAP: https://www.jetbrains.com/webstorm/nextversion/

After you make a Github account, please post your username and email so I can add you as a contributor. As a contributor, you will be able to make changes to the project in the repository.

Please post any questions.
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Connors on November 08, 2020, 12:34:15 AM
Well, I'm not as familiar with the tools Gan is using but I like the idea of writing the project for web browsers. I do appreciate the tutorials and I'll look at them when I have the chance.

My offer stands that I could write some mini-games that happen during combat. I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on how the battling mechanics should work. What does that base game use, Gan? Is it using Silverwind's percentile-based system?
My thought is that if I did work on a turn-based combat system I want to include something engaging, something that feels skill-based, or strategy-based (that is to say, if we make a simple turn-based system without the minigames, there should still be something that makes you think during battles).
Basically if I ever find myself simply clicking Attack repeatedly and hoping I'm strong enough to win, we have failed. :P

Also, while I'm here I wanted to bring up a cute idea I had for a game premise:
You are a courier and the game has you delivering things to a variety of characters in a fantasy realm. For whatever reason, I had imagined a quest where you deliver lunch to a skeleton and I thought, that's a nice wholesome premise for a game, and we could draw some tasty food sprites.
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Gan on November 08, 2020, 09:44:49 AM
What does that base game use, Gan? Is it using Silverwind's percentile-based system?
Custom written system. I'm not sure what the system can be classified by, I don't think it is percentile-based though. Battle system is based off of strength, speed, armor count and weapon count.
Speed - Determines who attacks first and how many times the enemy was hit in that single turn. Scales relative to enemy. If enemy is 1 speed and player is 2 speed, player will hit first and hit twice. If enemy is 10 speed and player is 40 speed, player will hit first and hit 4 times.
Strength - Increases damage to enemy and increases chance to block/dodge an attack.
Armor rating - Decreases damage to self and increases block/dodge chance.
Weapon rating - Increases damage to enemy and decreases enemy's block/dodge chance.
Damage is calculated:
Code: [Select]
damage = speed * (strength * 0.25 + weaponRating - enemyArmorRating) * (Math.random() * 0.5 + 0.75) * 0.5
Speed scales damage. Strength is only 25% effective due to the 0.25 reduction in the calculation. Weapon and armor are fully effective additively. Then I give a chance for damage to fluctuate between 0.75x and 1.25x by random chance. Then I lower all damage by 0.5 because I didn't want to deal with huge health values.
Dodge is calculated by adding/subtracting self and enemy armor/weapon/strength values. Then normalizes the dodge change between the player and enemy. Then the dodge percent of the player/enemy determines if they dodge/block the attack.
Critical strike is simple, everyone just has a 5% critical strike chance. 2x damage on that turn.

My thought is that if I did work on a turn-based combat system I want to include something engaging, something that feels skill-based, or strategy-based (that is to say, if we make a simple turn-based system without the minigames, there should still be something that makes you think during battles).
Basically if I ever find myself simply clicking Attack repeatedly and hoping I'm strong enough to win, we have failed. :P
Agreed! A few ideas at the moment: having different on-hand weapons that could be chosen per attack or have weapons have special effects. We should definitely invest time in the design phase, really nail down the direction.
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Gan on November 08, 2020, 06:44:42 PM
We can definitely change the battle system, more stats, less stats, rewrite. Just need design details.

Also I’m pretty good at coding UI but not designing. If you have a design, I can implement it. Any screens, just get me design pictures, details and decorative graphics.
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Silverwind on November 19, 2020, 04:45:51 AM
Neat stuff folks! I'm dying to work on the tileset, but work is all-consuming at the moment due to reduced staff. I get two weeks off at Christmas, so I'm looking forward to playing around with the pixels then :) Hope I haven't killed the spiritual momentum!

Should the first post in this thread be updated with information/progress/state/decisions?
Good idea, only you guys are more up-to-date than me. Do you fancy starting a new topic now that Project Eek is officially in development?
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Gan on November 19, 2020, 12:00:04 PM
Neat stuff folks! I'm dying to work on the tileset, but work is all-consuming at the moment due to reduced staff. I get two weeks off at Christmas, so I'm looking forward to playing around with the pixels then :) Hope I haven't killed the spiritual momentum!
No worries. I have two weeks off at Christmas as well.

Good idea, only you guys are more up-to-date than me. Do you fancy starting a new topic now that Project Eek is officially in development?
Lets hold off on making a progress tracking topic for now. We don't even know the name of our project, we also haven't made any other decisions outside of your awesome art style and music.

Idea:
Let's all individually brainstorm and write down our own ideas regarding name, story, battle system, quests, and anything else game related.
Then let's meet in an hour long live video conference*. We can decide as a team "in-person" what we want to do and write it all down in a design document(google doc) as we discuss.
How does that sound?

*I believe we all have Discord and Discord does have a video conferencing ability.
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Silverwind on November 20, 2020, 01:27:34 PM
Great idea :) Shall we have the meeting before or during the holidays?
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Gan on November 24, 2020, 08:54:06 AM
I’m good with most times from now until after the holidays.

We may want to sync on Discord. I don’t get GMG notifications.

My Discord id: MattF#9537

I’m notifying people. Post your Discord id if you want to join in.
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Connors on November 27, 2020, 02:45:34 PM
Connorses#0986
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Johna100 on January 28, 2021, 08:51:03 PM
i know i have not shared much interest with joining online meetings. Truth is Im just shy. But I still could contribute some music if you really needed extra video game style tracks. Not sure what you decided in the meetings.
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Gan on February 02, 2021, 12:31:55 AM
Same, I was very shy for most of 10 years on the GMG.
We could definitely use music any any other contributions.

Right now we use Discord for text group collaboration: https://discord.gg/ugzxpyuj
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Johna100 on February 02, 2021, 07:39:33 PM
thanks for the reply. i think i can run it in my browser.
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: EqwanoX on March 16, 2021, 10:57:28 PM
oh hell yea, im a little rusty with coding but i would definitely enjoy being a part of this if i could do the graphics, we should brainstorm something, discord link is invalid
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Connors on March 18, 2021, 02:36:32 AM
Here's a new link, EQ:
https://discord.gg/96yYQbKCMq

The project kinda stopped dead when I started this semester of college and said I was taking a break from it, but I think it's high time I came back to it. I think I'm prepared to balance it with other projects and I'll try to dedicate a minimum hours to it per week. I liked the ideas we were putting together.
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: Johna100 on January 07, 2023, 10:45:38 PM
Im checked out the discord server for this project, if you ever start working on it again, i could contribute.
Title: Re: Team Project For Old Times’ Sake?
Post by: francyhans on May 18, 2023, 05:54:55 AM
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