Tips - My First Game

[Slashmore]

Hey!

I'm still making my first game I'm sure you all know

Just a few tips would be handy, Shall I make it as best I can before I get it open, Shall I make it so its playable then open then upgrade to the players liking.. Just simple thing like this, All past experience type of things.

Thanks,

Sean

[codestryke]

Have enough of the game done so that there is some sort of game to play, release it.

If you wait for the game to be feature complete or the best thing since sliced bread then it'll never get released. Course I'm a dive right in type of person. Plus you're going to get a lot of ideas from your users, some will be on track of what you thought, others just might be silly but there are those precious few that could really take your game in a whole new direction.

I'll reiterate this once again, games are not about code, they are not about a technology, online games are about customer service, period. I'm pretty fluid with a lot of ideas but this is not up for debate online games are about customer service first and foremost. Technology and coding are fun but the most well constructed, easy to enhance, scalable game isn't worth a dime unless there is a game there that people are willing to play.

Plus the nice benefit of releasing new features after the game is released is you give the users something to play with and learn and they'll help new people understand those features And users love forward progress, when a game is stagnant it doesn't put a lot of faith in the users that the game is worthy of there time.

Code the bare minimum to make the game playable, release game, enhance game and treat your visitors as you yourself would like to be treated. Very simple formula, IMHO, that most PBBG dame developers don't ever understand.

[Mufasa]

I, too, have struggled with this. It comes down to never being satisfied as a developer. I then have to take a step back and realize that many users don't give a flying hoot about what you give a hoot about, so do enough to please yourself (not in that way  ) and then release it.

It's weird, but players like a game in a sort of perpetual beta, than one fully finished and just being played day in and out

[MystressNyx]

It's weird, but players like a game in a sort of perpetual beta, than one fully finished and just being played day in and out

That is so very true. We have a game that's been in "Beta" for 5 years. New players scoff and get the impression that we're just slackers. lol However, those that stick around realize that we chose to go that route because we never want to become complacent. We'll always be adding, updating, tweaking, etc. The min we truly feel "done", it's really over for us.

[Slashmore]

Main frame of the game is up, Its those pages that'll I'll take extra time on getting right, got the admin panel to do yet and some kinda logging system which I'm still thinking about..

I have a pad of paper from a few months ago with loads of my ideas which I would like to add sometime in the future.. ( Somewhere in the house, sure it'll turn up )

When you add an update do you ask the users if they would like it and add depending on the upper side or do you just add and let them lump it?

Last but not least, Add it and take thier opion into consideration and go from there?

Thanks
Slashmore

[Chris]

I agree with 80% of what codestryke said.

In addition:
- Speed is key. You can spend weeks, but not months on your first playable release. Life is too short for anything longer
- Clearly decide what the game is about and scrap all things that do not match this vision, even if these are very cool ideas (kill your baby).
- Your goal is not to make a game but to provide entertainment.

I have a pad of paper from a few months ago with loads of my ideas which I would like to add sometime in the future.. ( Somewhere in the house, sure it'll turn up )

Throw them away. These are useless, you need only enough design docs to make the first version. The rest will be obsolete anyway after you launch (read codestryke's post again, the part about users input).

[travo]

- Speed is key. You can spend weeks, but not months on your first playable release. Life is too short for anything longer

I havent actually finished my game yet. Im far from it, it is not even playable. But I have to say that I disagree on this.... Well for me anyway.

Im not creating my game full time. If I was, yes, I wouldnt want to spend months on it, but I just spend a few hours on it here and there, as a hobby, not a priority. Sure, Id like to finish my game soon, but in order to do that, I would have to give up other bits of my life, like school and karate.

[Scion]

id read that as man-weeks....which are made up of man-days which have roughly 8 hours in them.....so if you only get to spend 4 hours a week on sunday evening working on your project then your  looking at..... oh say 6months or so to complete these 2 man weeks.

The point is not about that actual time delay between starting and the first release but more about the amount of effort that you put in ..... get feed back early.....

It also will help keep you going.....your less likely to just give up on a project once you have something released and people are using it and asking when the next update is coming out.

[Sinzygy]

What worked well in my past experience was a "stable" server and a dev server (or version of the game).
Every time I added something new, I'd put it on my dev server (on the dev server only people I picked could play to ensure a high amount of quality feedback) and let it run for two or three days (dev server had a faster speed setting, so testing could be simulated for many days in a couple of hours).

What's also really important is keeping snapshots/backups of the game. Not only the source, but also the databases. If you push a new option, and it throws the whole game off balance or is buggy (you didn't use the dev server first, did you? ) you can always go back to the most recent state possible. This is very important if your host is frequently taking a dive or is moving or when the cleaning lady pulls out the plug to your server to vacuum the floor.

Concerning design documents: I personally like to keep all my notes and tables I make within reach so I can come back to them. I currently have a whole notebook filled with ideas, formulas, tables, etc. for my game. Every time I'm on the train or have nothing to do, I take it out, flip through it and maybe add a thing or two. Of course, later on players will give you a lot of input (which they of course always want to see implemented right on time) and maybe you'll already have thought of a similar thing and then you'll be glad to have kept your notes.
And taking notes and especially writing a design document will make it a lot easier for you to actually write the code for your game. If you can put it in words on paper (flow charts and pseudocode ftw!) then you're to about 60-70% done (well, that's just my opinion). Coding is easy and will only pose a few problems which will be quickly solved through google and forums like these.

And about the time needed for your first release... Three to five weeks is an acceptable number. Per week I'd say it's about 15-25 hours (depending on what you do next to coding). In this time you have to be done with what I call the foundation: the mechanics that push the game forward and that (should) make it unique or special at least.

[Mufasa]

I'm in the boat of having spent around 4 months on my current game. There was just so much to do from scratch (Even though I bought an established game, it was good only for its users... gameplay sucked and the code was horrible).

In the end, I realized it's dumb to try to fit every feature in, so I've put lots of stuff on a "TODO" list and I have a launch date that I'll meet, regardless of where I'm at.

[Chris]

if you only get to spend 4 hours a week on sunday evening working on your project

Let's say that after years you made the game. It is the best game on the planet, excellent gameplay, polished, superb graphic, etc. What then? How are you gonna maintain it if you have only 4 hours once per week? How are you to provide customer service, fix bugs, make optimisation once it gets bigger, register the game on votesites, make promotion, analyse CPM/CPC/CPA rate of you promotional efforts, maintain and monitor the server, and so on; if you have only 4 hours? What if the server crashes on Monday, will it be down till Sunday's evening when you have the time to fix it? OK, assume you are some god that is capable of doing it, how long are you able to keep the pace? Are you ready and willing to use your only free Sunday's time on maintaining a game till the rest of your life? How long can you keep up with this until you break down; 5 years, 10 years?

Coding the game is the easy part, real work starts after that...

If you don't have enough time you would be better making someting in "release and forget" style like flash game.

but in order to do that, I would have to give up other bits of my life

You don't need to give up bits of your life. It is not true at all. You are to give up large parts of your life, this is much more accurate In the end what distinguish good games from poor games is not gameplay, brillance or coder's skills but the willingness of the owner to pay the inevitable price...

[Scion]

...What then? How are you gonna maintain it if you have only 4 hours once per week?

Id actually written something in this vein, but then i deleted it because i didnt want to sound discouraging....

still if you do come up with the ultimate game with all the bells and whistles then id hope that youd have also been able to monetise it enough so that you can quite your day job and just spend time following your hobbies....coding, sys-admin, dba, marketing etc.....or at lest pay someone else to do em for you

[travo]

As Scion said, You would hopefully be able to quit your day job... Well Im still at school at the moment, but Im sure I would be able to reassess my other priorities if I was ever in that situation.

Also A flash game would not suit me, I know PHP .

As I said, I am making this game as a hobby. A little project I can spend my time on when Im bored, adding bits where I want, fine tuning them. I shouldnt have to give up parts of my life. I should be working on it because I like to work on it. Once its finished, I will reassess the situation, but for now, I am going to lose sleep so a feature will be finished.

Edit: I lose sleep anyway, but thats because I lose track of time, not because I have a deadline

[jannesiera]

As Scion said, You would hopefully be able to quit your day job... Well Im still at school at the moment, but Im sure I would be able to reassess my other priorities if I was ever in that situation.

Also A flash game would not suit me, I know PHP .

As I said, I am making this game as a hobby. A little project I can spend my time on when Im bored, adding bits where I want, fine tuning them. I shouldnt have to give up parts of my life. I should be working on it because I like to work on it. Once its finished, I will reassess the situation, but for now, I am going to lose sleep so a feature will be finished.

Edit: I lose sleep anyway, but thats because I lose track of time, not because I have a deadline

I totally agree with this. The only thing is, once your game is released, you have a certain responsibility to your players. But if you are clear with them from the beginning and they know exactly what  to expect, then this shouldn't be a problem.

As long s you're not being the jerk ruining PBBG's reputation .

[Mufasa]

As long s you're not being the yerk ruining PBBG's reputation .

yerk? *Animorphs flashback*

[jannesiera]

As long s you're not being the yerk ruining PBBG's reputation .

yerk? *Animorphs flashback*

That would be "jerk" I assume? *edited*