I have been playing with the blender game engine for a couple of months now.
Are there any simple things about creating games I should understand? I mean basic stuff that you all learn that is not written down in any tutorials. I have spent hours trying to make something work, and then, it does…
And I don’t get it. Any advice?
Bill
Sure: A game is an illusion (=fake).
example: it looks like a chicken, it sounds like a chicken, it behaves like a chicken
…
it is a bunch of pixels you see,
it is recorded waves you hear,
it is some programmed behavior it does.
So it is the illusion of a chicken. If well made … you might think it is a chicken ;).
So you did something that works, but you do not know why it works?
As long as you do not tell us what you did we can’t give you background information.
Yes, cluck, cluck cluck
It is probably not specific enough of a post. I know. Maybe there is a link to basic mistakes that people make that screw up a project,
or something like that. I know there are all types of games, but I am just starting here. I will check out you link to monster guides, and thanks for responding.
I started screwing around in BGE about 3 years ago. Only now do i consider myself versed enough in it to be able to put together a half-decent game. And I still have a lot to learn.
There are a lot of little tricks and things you’ll pick up if you continue to tinker. Use your imagination, and remember that Barney’s not a dinosaur, just a man in a suit. (a relevant statement, even if it doesn’t seem like it.)
I have spent hours trying to make something work, and then, it does…
And I don’t get it. Any advice?
Generally this comes about as a lack of understanding the problem.
Back in school, they told us to draw flow diagrams of our computer programs. We all hated it, and very few of us did it. But now I’m working on games in blender, I find that I run into problems unless I draw diagrams.
So when you go ‘Oh I know how to do that,’ try it, and it doesn’t work. Draw a diagram of what it’s actually doing. Then draw a diagram of what you want it to do. Don’t just hack stuff around till it works.
They overestimate their own skills, and underestimate the inherent difficulty in developing a game (any game).
In making these mistakes, they pursue unrealistic projects, which inevitably fall apart.
In making these mistakes, they pursue unrealistic projects, which inevitably fall apart.
But in doing so they learn the tips and tricks (hopefully)
To some extent, but they don’t learn how to actually deliver on a complete game, and there’s more to doing that than just combining a set of “tips and tricks”.
If your goal is to get better at making games, you have to practice by making actual games, not just partial prototypes that lead nowhere.
Goran, yes I created a game. I was told not use subdivisions, so i followed that advice. I was told to be cheap with my polys.
And I listened. I was told it was all an illusion and that the keyboard controls should be simple. I should learn more about textures and transparencies.
Now I know a bit about UV and unwrapping. I still have a lot to learn about textures…Can we rotate a texture when mapping in blender? This game engine is so cool. I was so afraid to play with it, and now I don’t know why I didn’t before. I have so much to learn. By the way my first game is really heavy with subdivisions, and it has a really complicated interface…but it has textures now…and it is better. I love blender.
bill
I should have said the first level of my first practice game. But I did make a scene which says “mission completed” so it must be complete game:}
Most important task on serious (game) development:
[INDENT]set clear goals [/INDENT]
=> When all goals are met - you are done.
Remarks:
You will see how important it is to describe your goals.
You will see how important it is to set complete goals.
You will see how easy it is to get distracted.
You can set intermediate goals (milestones) but they have to lead to an already set goal (not new goals).
If you forget to set an inventory as goal beforehand … skip it until your next project (maybe version 2.0?) otherwise you will find yourself adding one feature after the other without completing (= hobby development) anything.
Monster, you have given me advice without lording it over me…or referring to me in the third person.
If I had lived my life with that advice…to set Goals…I would probably be in a better place now…But then I wouldn’t be playing with blender…So figure it!..
thanks.
One thing that I find interesting and useful is to wrap your mind around doing things based on object parenting / relations, like scene-graph based engines (like JME3, for example). Basically, each object in your scene can be parented to any other objects (except where that would cause a parenting loop). Grasping this can make things really simple.
For example, rather than doing the math to make an in-game camera rotate in an orbit around a fixed position or object, you can just position the camera as you like, parent it to an object, and then rotate that parent. The camera will naturally orbit around the object. I remember when I used to actually do the math to try to get the orbiting to work correctly. But that’s a part of game development - learning the engine and what tools you have available to you.