Huge Rpg?

Stryker

Hey,

I've really wanted to make a huge rpg but after seeing all the "memory leak" topics i'm kinda hesitant... Is there any point trying to make a game any bigger then the average mini game or will it just be a huge hassle?

victorkin11

Without arrays, there is hard to make a huge game!

GingerBGames

I'll tell you this....I've started one, right now i've got 19 levels right now, and the maps are 3500 x 3500. It's got everything you can think of. I've done it two ways to test Gamesalad. I first started with a lot of actors and created the map by putting each individual actor in the scene, it worked great on my mac, when I put it on my ipod and it was slow. Holy cow, that was the worst thing I've ever seen from Gamesalad. But I digress.

So what I've done since then is this. Using two programs, i've managed to make the map and the landscape, trees, rivers, etc. and it's so much better and faster. However, this file is extremely large. I've got 19 maps now, and it's about 75MBs already. I don't think i'm going to finish this, because, for me personally, I wouldn't get an app of that size, not even for $0.99. That's me though. Maybe I'll turn it into some other type of game, because i'm not going to just scratch all of this. I haven't even started the cutscenes for the story yet, as it is now, i'm going to have to do a comic styled cutscene to move the story, or draw it up and do it that way. It's pretty complex, but it's fun to do. I'm working on other games right now, not just this. It's good because I can just step away and then come back.

victorkin11

Arrays can store a huge map & a lot of actor data, spawn only when you need it, I think GS finally with have arrays.

quantumsheep

GingerBGames said:
I'll tell you this....I've started one, right now i've got 19 levels right now, and the maps are 3500 x 3500. It's got everything you can think of. I've done it two ways to test Gamesalad. I first started with a lot of actors and created the map by putting each individual actor in the scene, it worked great on my mac, when I put it on my ipod and it was slow. Holy cow, that was the worst thing I've ever seen from Gamesalad. But I digress.

So what I've done since then is this. Using two programs, i've managed to make the map and the landscape, trees, rivers, etc. and it's so much better and faster. However, this file is extremely large. I've got 19 maps now, and it's about 75MBs already. I don't think i'm going to finish this, because, for me personally, I wouldn't get an app of that size, not even for $0.99. That's me though. Maybe I'll turn it into some other type of game, because i'm not going to just scratch all of this. I haven't even started the cutscenes for the story yet, as it is now, i'm going to have to do a comic styled cutscene to move the story, or draw it up and do it that way. It's pretty complex, but it's fun to do. I'm working on other games right now, not just this. It's good because I can just step away and then come back.

Why not consider porting it to the iPad instead of iPhone?

I think people are more likely to download larger games because (and I have no evidence for this) I imagine most ipad owners will use the wifi connection at home.

Iphones/ipod touches are more portable - they fit in your pocket! But an iPad is still something i think most people would use at home.

Cheers,

QS

juzcook

Honestly, if the game is quality then I don't think size is too terrible. Look at the size of some of the new iPhone 4 games that are topping 500-700mb! I think the major downside to a large game file is that it takes up too much space on your phone. Then again if people can't download your game because of it's file size through 3G you could lose sales.

debugdesign

I would say plan it out and even create a 'concept' using GS - then when you have all the graphics, story, level design etc you could take it to a xcode developer and say 'make this' and they could use your GS file as a guide.

ORBZ

without arrays how are you going to save the game world in your rpg? zillions of game variables?

As to memory usage: Try making tiled images. Your ground can be just a tile that repeats over the whole scene, then add some layers on top of it for other types of terrain.

That should cut way down on memory usage.

scorelessmusic

Lacking arrays is really painful. I know I'm doing my prototype with that 'zillions of game variables'.

HawtSawce

Is using "zillions of game variables" something that will lag GS on iphones? Is there a downside to it besides many things to keep track of?

firemaplegames

Yeah, my games load hundreds of attributes as well. Very painful!

The memory isn't so much a concern as your sanity!

victorkin11

If you want to make a tile map 256 x 256 block, not too big? you need 65,536 attributes to store it!!
how about 64x64 tile map? 4096 attributes!!

firemaplegames

It's certainly possible, but it will be a TON of work.

Games like the Legend of Zelda take a team of 50 people 4 years to complete. Doing something like that by yourself needs to be a labor of love, or you will have no chance to complete it.

Plus it will take so long that by the time you are are done, new devices and iOS version will have come out!

HawtSawce

I have not checked myself but I assume a tiled image only takes up memory of the original tile size and not the complete entity after tiling, right?

victorkin11

you should check this post!

http://gamesalad.com/forums/topic.php?id=11153