/agdg/ -I have a several month long case of game dev's block.I've been working on the pictured game completely solo for over a year now (building it up completely from scratch, physics engine and everything), and have been incapable of moving past the engine p

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File: f73e4215a957ae0⋯.png (289 KB,640x403,640:403,lg-snapshot.png)

Milun 04/18/18 (Wed) 04:28:56 576c10 No.31381

I have a several month long case of game dev's block.

I've been working on the pictured game completely solo for over a year now (building it up completely from scratch, physics engine and everything), and have been incapable of moving past the engine phase to the actual game phase. No level, mechanic, or design I come up with sticks, and with each idea I'm feeling more and more discouraged to put in the time to develop it, as I just end up abandoning it within a week. This isn't exactly a first for me, as I've started hundreds of game projects in the last ten years, and finished none of them (with this being the furthest I've ever gotten so far). Is there anything that can be done to break out of this cycle?

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Nodev 04/18/18 (Wed) 07:54:34 049007 No.31382

Is level design the main thing getting you down? Because honestly, it looks like you're struggling a little in that department. Have you already tried taking natural-looking levels as a reference, are there guides to this kind of thing? Sorry if I sounded condescending, because I get the feeling that even if I did have those materials, I'd probably still be in an even worse slump than you.

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Nodev 04/18/18 (Wed) 23:34:21 ca7a92 No.31383

Well, you're spot on about level design there. The saddest part was, that picture was one of the *better* rooms I had to show off. Id say the reason they're so bad is because I can't even settle on my games core mechanic, which would naturally impact the way levels look. That "natural-looking" idea is definitely worth a try. At the very least, it'll give me an unchanging foundation. Thanks! Will report back if I have any luck.

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Nodev 04/19/18 (Thu) 11:27:25 a96da9 No.31384

>>31381

The way i would try to solve this is by first working on the characters move set and abilities.

In order to build levels that implement the game mechanics properly you first need to have said game mechanics.

Also doing it this way will give you many tools to work with which can make designing levels easier.(for example you have a mechanic to swing on ropes which gives you the ability to implement big gaps to swing across in your level design.)

Oh and your art-style looks cool. Reminds me of Ocarina of time.

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Milun 04/20/18 (Fri) 10:55:21 576c10 No.31387

>>31384

Thanks! It's what I was going for. That, and making it look like a certain 1977 Australian cartoon. I've been jotting down mechanics over this week myself. Will give that a try (especially since it gets me away from level design for a bit).>>31384

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Nodev 04/21/18 (Sat) 02:35:19 59278e No.31389

>>31381

go play similar games to what you are making and take inspiration from them.

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Nodev 04/21/18 (Sat) 20:53:13 da2828 No.31393

>I've started hundreds of game projects in the last ten years, and finished none of them (with this being the furthest I've ever gotten so far)

Tell me about them, please

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Milun 04/22/18 (Sun) 01:59:54 576c10 No.31395

File: 45684e8a8fa7c0a⋯.png (196.43 KB,1002x671,1002:671,VWGame.png)

>>31393

Sure! I've actually got a couple of them on display here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIXNn1RJ05CaMCt12wGHaodJUBnTxwwiG

This is by far not all the ones I've worked on. A lot of the first 5 years have just been lost to me (since I stored everything on a USB and didn't really look after it well. I'm still pissed I can't at least look back on them for nostalgia).

From memory, when I was starting out, I used Game Maker 6. Had (and still do) a lot of respect for Mark Overmars. I made (aka: started):

- Tons of platformers

- Some basic 3D games made of the default 3D shapes GM gave you.

- A kaboom clone with Mario and Luigi catching coins for some reason.

- A couple Smash clones which I cancelled because they weren't 3D.

After some years in highschool, I switched to DirectX and Allegro (which I thought was "more professional"), and the latter kept crashing whenever you closed the window which was how you knew it was professional. I made:

- Some of the games you see on the playlist.

- A few bare bones attempts to make a Star Fox 64 clone (didn't get far).

- Even more attempts at Smash clones (which were abandoned because DirectX was too friggin hard).

Eventually, I made the switch to Unity which worked fine for a bit. I mostly worked on the KBARF project, which was based on an idea my friend had (you'll have to forgive the wording in the video by the way, it was made for my portfolio). I'd started working on the pictured game as well, but..

When I found that Unity would force functionality onto a game objects despite me not needing it, I swapped to MonoGame. The pictured game, as well as the OP game were both developed in MonoGame.

The pictured game ("Vaporwave Game") was my project before the OP game. It was based off of a really old game memory I had of a game which was essentially Arcanoid without the bat + enemies (and I've forgotten its name again). I'd gotten quit far too, but what killed it was... the core gameplay wasn't that fun. Though, thinking back on it now, that could have just been because I was working on it near constantly and was looking at it through "burned out" glasses.

And now I'm at the OP game ("Lizard Game"). I think the video in the playlist can describe it quite well, so I'll end this lengthy post here for now.

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Milun 04/22/18 (Sun) 02:17:00 576c10 No.31396

>>31395

And "Beginner's Guide" can suck it. This is what years of unfinished games actually looks like. Not a bunch of walking sims.

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Nodev 04/23/18 (Mon) 03:28:35 1b9ba4 No.31401

Sometimes you just have to force yourself to work. Go through the source code until you find something that looks like it can be improved. Go for the low hanging fruit first, do what you're good at before branching out.

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