A question of if you create menu/scenes OR your games levels first? I'm just interested!!

JodyMitoma

I was just curious as to how you guys create your games.

As I am creating my first game through GameSalad Creator, I've gotten rid of ALL of the hard stuff first, and created every single scene necessary (I've already got 15 SCENES and only one of those are an actual LEVEL! Haha...), and implemented all of the physics and rules required to get a level going, however, I haven't designed a single level as of yet, and have spent close to 100 hours to date.

I've got a working level (but it is just a prototype, and things will change immensely, as it will be graphically beautiful, and much longer in length).

How about you? Level design first, or last?

Braydon_SFX

Level design first -- It's a huge part of the game, it'll take up the most time and effort. Focus on that and let everything else just fall in.

JodyMitoma

@Braydon_SFX said:
Level design first -- It's a huge part of the game, it'll take up the most time and effort. Focus on that and let everything else just fall in.

Ah, nice. That is definitely different than what I've been doing! I know it'll take a HUGE amount of time to do, but at least it'll be fun. I've got all the hard stuff out of the way, and now I can enjoy the rest without having to watch tutorials! Hehe...

I've got 27 levels to create, and they will all be over 10,000px wide. I've got a long road ahead of me, but at least there isn't much technical crap for me to deal with from this point on. (Except, I still have to figure out how to do achievements!)

Dues

+1 on what @Braydon_SFX‌ said.
If you start out with menu etc and find that you need or want to change things in your game, then you might have to redo the menu stuff anyway.

JodyMitoma

@Dues said:
+1 on what Braydon_SFX‌ said.
If you start out with menu etc and find that you need or want to change things in your game, then you might have to redo the menu stuff anyway.

Oh trust me, I know. I've changed the backgrounds, the buttons, the music, and more on the menus already countless times, haha... Whoops!

jonmulcahy

I ususally bang out the core game mechanic

then i get a good idea for a menu so I start mashing that up

then I go back to the game and work more on that

then I start with artwork

then i go back to the game

then artwork

then game

then sound

then game

then music

then game

then high scores

then game



and so on and so forth, I usually end up redoing most of the game twice

The_Gamesalad_Guru

One should always have a basic design document for a game which is basically an outline of things. Plus I always do flow charts for my menus so when my partner @RP designs the art he knows the layout of the menus. I always start usually prototyping tricky things I want to do so I'm sure they work. I do lots of prototyping and depending on the type of game build the basic game engine and work from there.

Loaded

@jonmulcahy said:
I ususally bang out the core game mechanic

then i get a good idea for a menu so I start mashing that up

then I go back to the game and work more on that

then I start with artwork

then i go back to the game

then artwork

then game

then sound

then game

then music

then game

then high scores

then game



and so on and so forth, I usually end up redoing most of the game twice

Only on my first game, but this is exactly how it went.

jonmulcahy

yea, I forgot to mention I always start with a outline of what I want to do:

http://forums.gamesalad.com/discussion/67573/decision-trees

that's 1/2 of the decision tree for the end game logic.

once my game is feature complete I spend about 4x the time it took to develop polishing it up.

it's a lengthly process , especially for games I'd want to play

The_Gamesalad_Guru

@jonmulcahy said:
yea, I forgot to mention I always start with a outline of what I want to do:

http://forums.gamesalad.com/discussion/67573/decision-trees

that's 1/2 of the decision tree for the end game logic.

once my game is feature complete I spend about 4x the time it took to develop polishing it up.

it's a lengthly process , especially for games I'd want to play

That is similar to the flow charts I use. Plus I'll do hand written outlines and notes. Sometimes I will write out the code for complex logic to help me work out the slimmest method.

ReMasteredGames

I sort of mix and match. I start with a level, because I need to make sure I like the core game design and ensure it's stability. Then I create simple "Level Complete" and "Game Over" type scenes to make sure everything flows, then make some more levels, then make some menus when I have an idea.

I basically work on whatever cool idea pops into my head at the time, but menu's generally come after levels for me

Tosanu

I sort of work in a Vertical Slice manner. My first goal is to get an example of everything put together cleanly. I have someone doing art for me so I am a bit constrained by his limitations and time available, of course. My other goal is to set everything up as I go. One of my current tasks that I did early was to create a sort of Table Engine for creating a level from an excel file (i have to manually input the numbers into the table, but it still works) so that I can punch out levels with less lag in the scene editor. While doing that, I have been designing control mechanics, putting together the interactions for enemies, and throwing together a couple of sample levels.

Once the framework is in place, i go back and start going through sequentially, creating aspects in a systematic manner, scene by scene (create new items, new obstacles, new creatures as i reach a point where i need one, and add them to the web of behaviors).

JodyMitoma

@Tosanu, love the whole Excel idea!! It really is too bad GameSalad is so sluggish, especially on Windows!

Tosanu

Basically I write out my own graph in excel, label all the numbers on the x and y axis, and place my objects. Then i write in the x and y coordinates in a table(this part takes the longest after the Code was set up). 2 columns for each type of item. Then i use some slightly long winded behavior coding to have the game go down each column, and Spawn objects in the locations ive indicated, for each category of item. So it really does just put a level right up. And since i stringently control the x and y column points, its as precise as a grid, in my own way.