2D Game finished & published in a month.
by Mango Pork · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 11/04/2008 (5:33 pm) · 5 replies
Hi. Artist & Designer here, with some programming experience. Not yet familiar with torque sdk.
Lets do some fun possibility thinking.
Would it be possible to finish a 2d puzzle game with good graphics (torque platformer quality) in a month between one scripter/programmer and one artist, with torque?
I'm looking to get a simple-yet-fun game onto XBLA or Steam, via torque or other means.
Lets do some fun possibility thinking.
Would it be possible to finish a 2d puzzle game with good graphics (torque platformer quality) in a month between one scripter/programmer and one artist, with torque?
I'm looking to get a simple-yet-fun game onto XBLA or Steam, via torque or other means.
#2
One main question I would ask.. is does your programmer have torque script experience? The community here is great.. but on that time crunch, you just aren't going to learn the whole thing. The other question is.. how dedicated are your people? The time your willing to put in is obviously going to make a difference. I'm still working a game that I thought would take me me two weeks : (lol)
11/07/2008 (10:36 am)
Um, short answer is: no. However, from my experience, Torque is certainly you're best shot. The issue is that any game worth playing is going to have problems that will come up that you need to solve. That takes time. If you are rewriting a small puzzle game.. then ... maybe.. still pushing it.One main question I would ask.. is does your programmer have torque script experience? The community here is great.. but on that time crunch, you just aren't going to learn the whole thing. The other question is.. how dedicated are your people? The time your willing to put in is obviously going to make a difference. I'm still working a game that I thought would take me me two weeks : (lol)
#3
I got Xeno Sola prototyped in a week and finished in about 6 weeks. Had I put in a proper tutorial feature and a little more play-testing, probably 8-9 weeks to completion. Similarly, I got Mini Shogi cranked out pretty fast... but it was built off an existing game that I'd developed earlier, Mini Chess, which took 4 months from scratch.
On the flip side, my first project Xeno Versus still isn't done. My goal was exactly one month with it. Feature creep and lack of planning can making any project bloat up to the point where the reward / effort ratio is far too low.
So if you've got a lot of Torque Script experience and a clear idea of what you're going to make, I'd think you could crank something out in a month. BUT, be forewarned, you'll end up making a sacrifice somewhere. There are always bugs, roadblocks, etc that tack on a lot of time -- especially if you decide to change course slightly and add a feature that you hadn't planned on.
11/11/2008 (6:12 pm)
I wouldn't say "no" flat-out. I'm assuming you're going to work on it part-time.I got Xeno Sola prototyped in a week and finished in about 6 weeks. Had I put in a proper tutorial feature and a little more play-testing, probably 8-9 weeks to completion. Similarly, I got Mini Shogi cranked out pretty fast... but it was built off an existing game that I'd developed earlier, Mini Chess, which took 4 months from scratch.
On the flip side, my first project Xeno Versus still isn't done. My goal was exactly one month with it. Feature creep and lack of planning can making any project bloat up to the point where the reward / effort ratio is far too low.
So if you've got a lot of Torque Script experience and a clear idea of what you're going to make, I'd think you could crank something out in a month. BUT, be forewarned, you'll end up making a sacrifice somewhere. There are always bugs, roadblocks, etc that tack on a lot of time -- especially if you decide to change course slightly and add a feature that you hadn't planned on.
#4
Some, but certainly not a conclusive list, of the variables are:
1) How fast you can convert a concept to code/script
2) How fast your artist can convert concept to game art
3) How fast you and your partner can get through disagreements
4) How fast you can find solutions or work-arounds to challenges
5) How much content you purchase/outsource. If you buy ready-made content, vs. chosing to have it made from scratch from a 3rd party. (personally I think ready-made content generally is best for prototyping only, as you want a game with unique assets and not looking like another game you are competing with)
6) How much of your 1-month window can be dedicated to the project. if you are working a "real job" at the same time, I know in my case, that means a) a slow ramp-up period in each dev session to get my head wrapped around the project again, and b) having to stop the project at an inconvenient point in order to get enough rest for the "real job".
7) Knowledge of the engine and tools you are working with.
8) Scope creep... that evil, evil little bastard...
Most of my prototypes take about a week with around 30-40 hours of effort. If you worked on it over-time (60-80 hours a week) and were efficient with your time, your timeline is certainly possible.
Now, one thing though... if you are focusing on the time window rather than finishing the game with a decent amount of quality, it's entirely possible that you will have a month's worth of buggy code and ungly content. Whereas if you had taken a bit more time to invest in quality you might have an exponentially better product (think about every flop of a game from the past 10 years where a publisher and/or VC have pushed a product out the door that would have been significantly better had they waited a couple of months).
11/11/2008 (11:13 pm)
I would say "no" if it's your first project with the engine. But if you have a few projects under you wing, you should know the engine enough to make the 1-month project feasible. Certainly there are countless of variables that would determine success.Some, but certainly not a conclusive list, of the variables are:
1) How fast you can convert a concept to code/script
2) How fast your artist can convert concept to game art
3) How fast you and your partner can get through disagreements
4) How fast you can find solutions or work-arounds to challenges
5) How much content you purchase/outsource. If you buy ready-made content, vs. chosing to have it made from scratch from a 3rd party. (personally I think ready-made content generally is best for prototyping only, as you want a game with unique assets and not looking like another game you are competing with)
6) How much of your 1-month window can be dedicated to the project. if you are working a "real job" at the same time, I know in my case, that means a) a slow ramp-up period in each dev session to get my head wrapped around the project again, and b) having to stop the project at an inconvenient point in order to get enough rest for the "real job".
7) Knowledge of the engine and tools you are working with.
8) Scope creep... that evil, evil little bastard...
Most of my prototypes take about a week with around 30-40 hours of effort. If you worked on it over-time (60-80 hours a week) and were efficient with your time, your timeline is certainly possible.
Now, one thing though... if you are focusing on the time window rather than finishing the game with a decent amount of quality, it's entirely possible that you will have a month's worth of buggy code and ungly content. Whereas if you had taken a bit more time to invest in quality you might have an exponentially better product (think about every flop of a game from the past 10 years where a publisher and/or VC have pushed a product out the door that would have been significantly better had they waited a couple of months).
#5
If you have a deticated team, and a good design already then yeah its very possible. The biggest thing is making sure your programmer knows the tech!
If you want to hit me up I might be able to help, I am always willing to work with an artist towards getting a game completed!
11/12/2008 (11:13 am)
Dont let people get you down.......If you have a deticated team, and a good design already then yeah its very possible. The biggest thing is making sure your programmer knows the tech!
If you want to hit me up I might be able to help, I am always willing to work with an artist towards getting a game completed!
Torque 3D Owner Deborah M. Fike
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