Alright, today I'll work on
my project. Since I've been writing a few story in the last years (some of them are older than I like to admit), I thought I could try to turn them into games for my FMP. My first idea was to create a
visual novel, to show my abilities as a
concept artist (and artist in general). I wrote down a few ideas for a possible layout and logo, thinking about the
menu (things like "save/load" button). I also wondered about the style: should I make it look like an interactive comic?
Like a Bookgame, but with the visual aspects of a graphic novel. Another possibility is to create an
Adventure Game or a RJPG game. Adventure Games need
puzzles, RPGs need quite a lot of
battles to be considered in the storyline. Unfortunately, the Engine to create Role Playing Games are not visually intriguing, for what I've seen so far (I'll get back to this point).
Oh, boy! I forgot to explain what I'm talking about. Well,
visual novel are games where the story is shown mostly by drawings and explained by text. Sometimes they can be interactive, like with multiple dialogue choices, sometimes not even that. There are "dating sims" visual novel, where the main purpose is to find the right romantic match for the main character; there are mystery visual novel, where is important to solve crimes (like for
Ace Attorney; that game is just great); some of this mystery visual novels have disturbing aspects in order to switch the genre to horror (like for
Zero Escape - Virtue's last Reward game). Visual novel might have multiple endings or guide you to the true ending along the storyline.
Adventure game are often called "point and click" games, due to the gameplay developed to respond to the mouse. There are 2D and 3D adventure games (while visual novel are mostly 2D) and the main purpose of the game is to find object and solve different puzzles to proceed with the story, interacting with the environment and talking to npc to gain informations. The most basic idea for adventure games is the "escape from the room" version, where you are trapped inside a room and you need to find and combine object together in order to get out. One of the problem of Adv-game gameplay is that it could be a bit repetitive and sometimes the puzzle to be solve are just impossible. Anyway, I love this genre, I always loved it; probably it's my favorite in all the gaming industry, since the hilarious
Monkey Island to the recent
Deponia saga. Of course it's not easy to find GOOD Adventure Game (actually it's quite difficult), since developing a story that suits the gameplay without pissing off the player it's not that easy. I usually like the comedy style, that somehow justify the fact that you need to interact with all the object of the room to progress in the game and add humor to avoid boredom.
JRPGs are role playing games where the main character travel around the world with some companions, fighting against opponents to become stronger and proceed in the story, thanks to a fighting mode based on turns where the player can chose what to do with his character: attack, defend, use magic or objects.
Mostly, this is it, for my main choices. I wouldn't mind a gameplay similar to some playstation games such as Tomb Raider, Assassin Creed or Kingdom Hearts, but... it's quite unlikely that I can create something even slightly similar just on my own and in one year of developing, probably without the proper software to support my work. Not to mention the rendering process: I already have quite a few problem last year with a few simple animation, I won't dare to try with something more complicated. I'm not masochist.
Regardless of the type of game, how should I proceed when it comes to cutscenes?
3D or 2D Animation? Still using comic style, maybe with dynamic cartoons?
To create interest in possible costumers I think I should create a trailer, something that could also fit as opening credits, eventually. Still, not sure if I should maintain 2D or get into 3D. Considering that I still have no clue on how to create 3D character, sure.
Another thing: I have quite a few characters, but I'm not sure if the best thing is to keep just one main character or leave a bit of choice to the player. Or eventually create the possibility to "unlock" a playable character after completing a certain chapter/puzzle/whatever.
This is just the beginning plan. Let's get to the most difficult part: finding the
game engine that will make my dreams come true (?).
I had a look into a few engines for visual games:
-
Ren'Py: seems to be the best, in order to create
just visual games.
-
Novelty, Js-Vine, Web story Engine, Belle: different engines to create visual novel, some of the support web-game creation (and html)
-
Game maker: seems interesting to create complex 2D games, but I'm not sure if it can be useful for what I have in mind. It seems better for pixel-based games and I'm not interested in this kind of stuff.
-
AGE and
AGS: Adventure game engines. They have scenes editors and the possibility to create different path for the story. They both seems interesting as engines.
-
Construct 2: Game Engine really useful for 2D games, that has a "beginner" mode. And I'm totally a beginner, when it comes to coding.
-
Unity: It's a 3D Engine, mostly, so I have to figure out how to deal with it. Probably it's the best choice, since I wouldn't be the only one using it. This means that we can have multiple projects and then mix them together, eventually, to create a better and more complex game. Also, Unity has an extension called
Adventure Creator that allows to create Adventure games. Main problem: it's not for free. I have to think about it or try another way to use the engine to get what I need.
Problems and things to consider:
- I have a Mac. Most of the game engines don't work on Macs. (Unity and Ren'Py do)
- If I have to work on Windows, I have to consider the time I'll have at my disposal at the college, or use my laptop (that clearly is not as powerful as my desktop computer).
- I have to learn how to use the chosen engine: right now I can just deal with Unreal, and just in a really basic way. Hopefully I can menage to find tutorials in the internet.
Alright. For now, that's all.
