Side_Burn
Formerly 'Tyler777'
- Sep 12, 2017
- 5
- 4
Hey everyone, glad you stopped by and got interested in this topic!
First, I want to share a bit about where I’m starting from and where I’d like to go. Here I’ll be writing about the challenges I’ve run into, and sometimes just throwing in some “philosophical” thoughts on the subject. I’m posting here because this forum has the kind of audience that’s really into this stuff. On Patreon or similar platforms it’s hard to find the same level of engagement (though I’ll probably repost some things there too).
I’ve been playing games of this kind for a long time, and I really enjoy them. So a lot of the time I look at things from the player’s perspective. But I only started making games very recently — just a couple of months ago. At first, I just wanted to learn more about AI, finally get into programming, and improve my English (which is still pretty weak). Somehow, all of this naturally led me to start working on a visual novel. I always dreamed of making one, but I never thought I’d actually try. Guess fate had other plans.
There are plenty of great beginner guides on this forum, but I want to focus on the small details and nuances that are also important, yet don’t get talked about much.
So, here’s my very first takeaway — something I picked up through years of playing games, and that I only now see from the developer’s side.
The first and most important thing: if you start making a game, you need to know how it ends. The ending should be written before you even begin. Create a scenario — doesn’t matter if it’s on paper or in some app. I used XMind myself. Think carefully about the ending (or endings, if you plan on having multiple).
If your game has no ending, then it has no goal. And if there’s no goal, it’s just a dream — which almost always turns into another unfinished project. I’d say there’s a 99% chance it’ll be dropped. And as a player who has seen this many times, I can tell you: it’s frustrating. Especially when the game had real potential. That’s why you shouldn’t take it too personally if someone leaves a not-so-nice comment about it — it’s a fair point.
That’s it for now. Next time I’ll probably write about Git — I’m learning it this week.
If you’re curious, you can check out what I’ve done so far via this link:
First, I want to share a bit about where I’m starting from and where I’d like to go. Here I’ll be writing about the challenges I’ve run into, and sometimes just throwing in some “philosophical” thoughts on the subject. I’m posting here because this forum has the kind of audience that’s really into this stuff. On Patreon or similar platforms it’s hard to find the same level of engagement (though I’ll probably repost some things there too).
I’ve been playing games of this kind for a long time, and I really enjoy them. So a lot of the time I look at things from the player’s perspective. But I only started making games very recently — just a couple of months ago. At first, I just wanted to learn more about AI, finally get into programming, and improve my English (which is still pretty weak). Somehow, all of this naturally led me to start working on a visual novel. I always dreamed of making one, but I never thought I’d actually try. Guess fate had other plans.
There are plenty of great beginner guides on this forum, but I want to focus on the small details and nuances that are also important, yet don’t get talked about much.
So, here’s my very first takeaway — something I picked up through years of playing games, and that I only now see from the developer’s side.
The first and most important thing: if you start making a game, you need to know how it ends. The ending should be written before you even begin. Create a scenario — doesn’t matter if it’s on paper or in some app. I used XMind myself. Think carefully about the ending (or endings, if you plan on having multiple).
If your game has no ending, then it has no goal. And if there’s no goal, it’s just a dream — which almost always turns into another unfinished project. I’d say there’s a 99% chance it’ll be dropped. And as a player who has seen this many times, I can tell you: it’s frustrating. Especially when the game had real potential. That’s why you shouldn’t take it too personally if someone leaves a not-so-nice comment about it — it’s a fair point.
That’s it for now. Next time I’ll probably write about Git — I’m learning it this week.
If you’re curious, you can check out what I’ve done so far via this link:
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You must be registered to see the links