Gonna Make A Game This Summer(hopefully this doesnt turn into vapourware))

[blueberry]

Ok, I decided I'm gonna try and make a game this summer just for the fun of it.
My libraries of choice will be SFML and Chipmunk. (And of course the STDLIB!)

Game play Overview:
This will be a bullet hell game with twist. The bullets will be colidable with each other using Chipmunk's physics. Players will be able to equip multiple weapons into levels as well. A 2 player mode will be supported, where 2 players duel it out with each other as well as a survival mode where the player trys to survive against a hoards of "dumb" enemies

Game play specifics:
-shot patterns will the creatable by the player.
-capable of creating profiles for each player.
-damage will be calculated based on the the amount of force that the player is subjected to
-amount of bullets will be limited in the form of a resources bar, resources are depleted by amount of force used to fire the bullets as well as amount of bullets.
-upgrades will take the form of buying guns in various directions to increase possibility’s in shot patterns, and different bullet types.

Art direction:
I will be using paper models(origami type things) as my character and bullet sprites. Sprites will all be based of photos. I hope this will give a unique effect, as well solve my problem of not being about to draw. Graphical effects will be limited as I don't have too much experience.

Things to do:
-gain experience with my respective libraries
-implement gui elements
-implement game objects
-implement character development parts of game such as shot pattern creation and equipping of patterns and bullet types
-implement game play parts.

So what do you think of my idea? Did I leave anything out of my to list? Do you have any advice?

-blueberry xD

[Need4Sleep]

sounds cool!

[ModShop]

Seems like you have a pretty solid idea of what you want it to be. My advice to you is to make a design document outlining all the details of the gameplay/game modes/etc. This will help you stay organized and help you design your game better from the start. Make sure your design is as complete as you can get it before you start programming, because design changes are multiple times harder to implement in code written for a different design. Of course the WILL change as you go on, it happens to every game ever created (except Pong... maybe) but you want to minimize late(r) production design changes.

Your idea seems pretty cool though, good luck! Let us know when it's finished ;)

[rollie]

I once read that the first pong game was initially not slated to have an AI opponent, but one of the engineers realized how to very easily implement it with a simple hardware hack...I tried to find a reference to this online, no luck though. If so though, even THAT design document was modified at the last minute :)

[NGen]

I feel as though using a full-blown physics engine for something like this would cause some problems when implemented. That is, unless you want the result of shooting bullets to be the bullets spinning off in pseudo-random directions.

[blueberry]

Wow. I looked up design document on Wikipedia. It actually sounds pretty complex. I will try to make it as complete as possible. This will be my first time trying to produce a rather large, and polished project.

EDIT: ^NGen, what I am aiming for is for the bullets to be self colidable. So...I’m hoping it doesn’t go in pseudo-random directions and instead improves game play...

[Abramus]

My advice: Do not create a detailed design document. It’s a waste of time in your situation, as you’re coding alone, and unless you’re experienced you will most likely do it all wrong. I would rather accept the fact that you will need to rewrite many parts of your game during the process, and thus code in such a way to make those modifications easy to do.

Although making a short document with requirements for your game is definitely a good idea. And try to create something that works as fast as possible, this helps a lot with motivation.

[Script Coder]

I can agree with Abramus, you should not go into too much detail with the design document, esp since you are just one coder. Although planning your ideas is not bad. As with the art direction surely there must be someone on this forum with some creativity that is willing to help. Other than that I looking forward to seeing the game.

[ResidentBiscuit]

I agree, don't go overboard with the planning. It's good to have a core idea of what you want, and an overview of the major systems being implemented, but don't get too specific. It's just a waste of time and will become a bigger hassle when something needs to be changed down the road (and it will).