Making a game from scratch

Hi all. So here is my idea. I would like to make a game in an ad lib fashion. Meaning I would like ideas about different aspects of the game from the community. I would like to make an RPG. Perhaps a tactics sort of game. It will most likely be 2d (until I practice more with openGL and directX). Other than that I would like every aspect to be from other people. That goes for the art, story, etc.

NOTE: I am certainly open to to design ideas as well as open to help if anyone would like to. I would like to keep everything up to date as well as the source code open to all if and when this works out.

Look forward to hearing your ideas!

I'd really love to see a "Muscian" class(as in job)

What attributes or benefits should the musician class/job have?

They should comment on public policies that they know nothing about.

Other than that I would like every aspect to be from other people. That goes for the art, story, etc.

Isn't that like saying you don't want to do any work on the game?

Seriously, though, we cannot design the game for you. Figure out your characters and your story and come back with a bit more and we might be able to help.

mramazing, I have recently developed an RPG. The rules (game mechanics) for me to be more precise. I also have a story and character in mind. The time period is most suited for around the 17th century, but can be played for medieval times as well.
It is mostly designed for pen-and-paper, but you can use the rules for a video game as well.
If you are interested, sent me a PM or post here.

@bubba I am not just interested in having other design the game. I figured it would come off like that and i am not just interested in getting out of work. I just want it to be pieced together by a ton of people. I don't want any 1 person to come up with the entire game or even half of the game. I want it to be a community project.

If you think that this is not an appropriate project for this board I can remove it as i don't want to cause trouble. But I also want everyone to know that is not me just trying to be a freeloader. It was an idea I thought would be neat if it doesn't work out it doesn't work out.

AND @bubba, @jerimo thank you for the musician suggestions.

@C_ntua I would love to make a game from your rules. We can talk about what you want from it.

We can talk here if you don't mind.

The course of action depends on how many people you find to work on it.

It also depends on what you want from the game. You want a full RPG game? An online RPG game?
In any case, the above do require a lot of people and people that will actually stick until the end. There are lot of ambitious projects like that, which simply never get completed. I would actually recommend joining one rather than starting your own.

I can sent you the rules if you want so you can look upon them and tell me your opinion.
You can use them in whatever manner you want. I had tried once to create an RPG, but the team just didn't work. So I have only the game mechanics (which mostly I implemented) and a sample story and characters that the other guys came up with.

If you don't find enough people to do the game you want, I can give you an alternative idea. If you are in the pen-and-paper RPG stuff, you can use the rules I already have, implement them a bit and make a complete RPG game out of it. You can then create some simple software to go along, like a character creator and an arena simulation. Then publish the game and advertise is as a General Purpose RPG game (like GURPS I believe). The game will just have a certain time period/theme (medieval to 17th century) . People then can use the character creator and the arena simulator to test the game. By making it a general purpose RPG you achieve two things. First you avoid getting into the story and the art. Which are essential otherwise. Second, you make something that people might use. Otherwise you compete with big commercial RPG games, which is a lost battle most likely. Later on you can add a story, art or implement further the software.

Well, those are my ideas/advise. I don't have much time to really get my hands dirty, though.

Mostly my idea is just to have something that is a bit of everyone. Like I said I don't want it to be created by any one person, but to be built upon by A LOT of people. I have made 2 complete rpg's with a few friends but I am looking to do it with different people and a larger knowledge base.

If you want your engine to be used we can use it but maybe for another project. yours is more direct and requires a more focused group. That is something I can probably get a few people together for. I love pen and paper rpg's and i would love to see the code anyhow and hear what you had planned for it so that maybe I can build something you might have wanted out of it.

I am thinking my idea is going to take a ton more time that I anticipated. I figured there would be more people interested in this sort of thing BECAUSE it doesn't require constant attention but a few ideas. But right now I dont have much to go on from the community.

That being said if this doesn't pick up in the next week or so I will probably have to put it on more of a back burner until I can collect more 'data'.

Originally Posted by Bubba

They should comment on public policies that they know nothing about.

That would make them largely coincident with the "computer programmer" class*

Here's a serious idea tho: you need to make the setting fantastic enough to accommodate anything, eg, all historical time periods and the future too. I think Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld is sort of like that, altho I only read one of the books and it was a long time ago. I think the premise there is that they are all in the afterlife simultaneously or something, so you can walk around and meet King Henry IV or Mark Twain. You could have a planet like that (eg, where anyone and anything, from anywhere, past, present, and future, could end up -- for some mysterious reason -- in the now).

It seems like this would be pointless in a tactical war game because technology will just win, but some clever thinking could mitigate this quite a bit. For example, higher technology may require some very scarce resources (so you have situation like in post-apocalyptic stories such as The Road Warrior).

* and probably most of the "politician" class as well.

Hey MK thank you for your idea. I think that having a world that is a sort of post-apocalyptic void with patrons from a time-travel experiment gone bad sort of deal. Though it is certainly open for expansion. In all I think that it is a great place to start and build upon.

As for the class I think it is very funny. I would like to hear what jerimo had in mind for the class but I think that it is a great class personality. We could have a lot of fun with it.

Thank you MK

That would make them largely coincident with the "computer programmer" class*

Nicely played. However, we cannot use our position as a platform to broadcast our political opinions however flawed they may be.

Back on topic...my suggestion was purely sarcastic. Best wishes on the game design. Definitely not my forte.

People can throw ideas here and there, but eventually every person has to do a specific job. Or team up with a few people. So the best way to go is to built a team from the beginning and giving specific tasks to everyone. Otherwise it just is too vague.

You should at least decide what kind of RPG. An online one? An RPG which has a beginning and an end? You want an RPG that people can play through facebook? A one that you can play with random people using a smart phone? An action/RPG type? A FF tactics kind of style? An RPG for linux?

Specify more the platform and the type and have an idea why would people bother to play it (innovative story, unique period, rare platform etc etc) and not play a commercial one or the many free ones...

Originally Posted by C_ntua

People can throw ideas here and there, but eventually every person has to do a specific job. Or team up with a few people. So the best way to go is to built a team from the beginning and giving specific tasks to everyone. Otherwise it just is too vague.

You should at least decide what kind of RPG. An online one? An RPG which has a beginning and an end? You want an RPG that people can play through facebook? A one that you can play with random people using a smart phone? An action/RPG type? A FF tactics kind of style? An RPG for linux?

Specify more the platform and the type and have an idea why would people bother to play it (innovative story, unique period, rare platform etc etc) and not play a commercial one or the many free ones...

i agree, and secondly, what library will provide the interface ?

Since you said 2D, i would not go far and begin consulting MSDN.

Lastly and most importantly, what language?

Am i assuming C or C++ ?

My objective is not to compete with commercial games. It is mostly just for fun. An experiment for the internet really. Programming is just a tool, as are the libraries. Those specifics aren't really needed for my purpose at this stage. The concept is pure of any library.

Again it was an experiment that seems like it will take a lot more time than anticipated.

BUT:

the library would have most likely been allegro in c/c++. I have dabbled with the idea of doing it in directx but since I have not gotten much of a response and my friends don't know directx it will probably be allegro.

The point was missed i think. I wasn't looking for a free ride, but several seeds to eventually grow into one game.

Perhaps in the future I will try again. Thanks all!

Sorry for the late responce, haven't logged in in a while.

If the player would have more than one character to control at the same time the muscian could have a zero damage, but extremly effective, attack. This attak would cause the enemy to "knock out"/go to sleep/etc...

But, If the player only has one character then he would have a, very, low attack(strength) but a 100% chance to hit.