My 20 days Challenge

[Mejingjard]

Hello guys, so i'm close to get my work vacations, and I always wished to do my game ideas

So I'm planning to use 20/30 days of my vacations to make my first html5 game that will be a rpg hack & slash platform game, and I'm here to ask you for an advice

Here goes what I'm thinking to do:

 

I'm good with drawing so I'll draw the characters/scenary and vectorize it to make the sprites[spend 5 days here]

Get the assets and start to program and I decided to use Phaser [spend 15 days here]

 

Have you guys some tips to start? spent 1/4 of the time for design is a good decision?

I'm don't planning to do the entire game in 20 days, i'm thinking I can do a part of the game like make things work and create 2 stages

 

Finally, I will use js/css/html and for backend Ruby on Rails but I think for this kind of game I don't need to use much backend, the js do everything, or I'm wrong?

[mentuat]

Here's a few random thoughts:

- I would resolve to complete the game in the 20/30 days you available, think of it as a hard deadline. Regardless of your previous development experience, your first html5 game is inevitably going to be a steep learning process with all the frustrations and mistakes that come with it so I would focus on making a much simpler but fully formed end-to-end game in the time you have to get all of these challenges out of the way quickly and not lose the initial excitement. Hopefully then you can approach your next game (and others after) with the same level of interest and not get bogged down by long early, half finished projects!

- On a similar note, making a 'RPG hack'n'slash platform game' would 100% not be what I would recommend making as your first foray in a different technology! If that is your dream game project then perhaps initially create a smaller game based around one aspect of it (eg. a hack'n'slash mechanic or a basic run and jump platform game). This would enable you to complete the game in the time you have whilst also developing techniques and game mechanics you could use and expand on for your ultimate game.

- Personally I would not advise doing any polished artwork at the start because it's likely that your game will constantly evolve as you develop it which might mean your carefully designed sprites do not fit any more! Consider just using static illustrations or placeholder assets at least until you have nailed the gameplay

- I would skip any kind of back end and just focus on the core game, try to remove any obstacles or technical elements that do not directly contribute to the end result of just having a fully playable game, I wouldn't even worry about having messy or unorganised code, just get it done for now and keep the excitement high!

[Mejingjard]

@mentuat

 

Thanks alot for your feedback! These are very good points!!

 

I think you are 100% correct, I will change the plans to do a simple version of my idea, a game to just to jump and get items, with a basic skill to kill the enemies.

Is really better to choose to do the entire work over time I have available I thought this reduce the frustrations and make me always with the excitement as you said

 

So, about the assets, you can recommend me to use open source assets just to learn or maybe get some and modify to save time? I didn't know where to find assets for this kind of game (will be a vikings/warriors theme)

[mentuat]

So, about the assets, you can recommend me to use open source assets just to learn or maybe get some and modify to save time? I didn't know where to find assets for this kind of game (will be a vikings/warriors theme)

 

Generally I just use simple geometric shapes (ovals, rectangles) in place of characters until I'm sure I've got the player movement and scale within the game right.  Then at the point I start to get bored with coding I'll switch to creating the assets to get the interest back - nothing quite like seeing your game come alive when place-holder art is replaced with proper characters and backgrounds!

 

Whether you create the assets yourself, pay an artist or rely on open source will depend on your skills, time and budget available.  This looks like a good place to start if you are looking for open source assets: http://opengameart.org/

[Mejingjard]

Sounds good! This method appears really useful i'll try this to!!! following this steps i'll never stop the development

 

Thanks a lot!! For your feedback/advice/attention