THE DMG GUIDE TO MAKING A GAME FOR THE FIRST TIME OR: CECILY’S UNSOLICITED ADVICE YOU CAN MAKE A GAME •Even if you’ve never made one before •Even if you don’t know how to code •Even if you can’t draw WHAT TO ASK YOURSELF •What kind of games am I interested in? •What technical resources are available to me? •What are my existing skills? Writing, illustration, music, 3D modelling, programming, design? •What skills do I want to learn? A NOTE ON CODING •It’s not the only skill that matters. Games need artists, writers, designers, composers, and musicians too. •Best benefit/time ratio will come from understanding logic flow concepts rather than “coding” PROGRAMMING CONCEPTS TO LEARN •Variables •If/else statements •Boolean logic •Loops SOME TOOLS TO TRY TOOLS THAT DO ONE THING •Twine (interactive fiction) •RPG Maker (RPGs) •Adventure Game Studio •Ren’Py (visual novels) •Inform 7 (text adventures) TOOLS THAT DO MANY THINGS •GameSalad •GameMaker •Stencyl •Construct 2 •Unity THE ESSENTIAL TRADEOFF: FAST AND EASY VS. FLEXIBLE AND POWERFUL GETTING THINGS DONE THE FUN PART •Plotting the narrative •Designing and planning •Drawing and animating •Writing the dialogue THE LESS-FUN PART •Integration and testing •Project management and organization •Bug fixing and resolving technical difficulties ASK YOURSELF: •What is the simplest possible version of my game? •If I get short on time, what can be safely cut? YOU MIGHT BE TEMPTED TO... •do all the design and planning THEN •do all the art and writing THEN •cram the whole thing into your tool of choice and do the programming THEN •test and debug A BETTER WAY •As much as possible, move in a spiral rather than a line. •Build something SIMPLE first, make it playable and test it •Then iterate to add complexity and fill in blanks TO PREVENT NASTY SURPRISES... •Start somewhere comfortable, but put a limit on how long you stay there •Get familiar with your technology as early in the process as possible •Placeholders are your friend •Try to finish a complete cycle before diving deeply into your “fun part” PITFALLS THE “MAGNUM OPUS” TRAP WARNING SIGNS •“I’ve had this idea for years…” •“If the game doesn’t have [x] then I don’t want to do it anymore” •You have an enormous folder of concept art but no demo THE “CHOKE” TRAP WARNING SIGNS •You get hung up on choosing the perfect tools/engine •“I’ll start building it as soon as I figure out this one thing…” •You’re reluctant to talk about your project or show it to anyone •You have a beautiful title screen but no demo THE “FEATURE CREEP” TRAP WARNING SIGNS •Your core gameplay isn’t working yet but you’re already thinking about adding additional modes/moves/weapons/etc. •You don’t have a clear idea of your “simplest possible game” •When random people say “hey, you should add [thing] to your game!” you wonder if you should start over THE “I’LL JUST START OVER” TRAP REMEMBER: Your first few games will probably be: •small •buggy •not quite what you imagined THAT IS OKAY! IN FACT, IT IS ENCOURAGED! YOU ARE WAY MORE LIKELY TO MAKE THE GAME OF YOUR DREAMS IF YOU MAKE A BUNCH OF TERRIBLE GAMES FIRST ASK FOR HELP Dames Making Games @DMGToronto http://dmg.to Cecily Carver @cecilycarver [email protected]