9 Ways to Make Game Creation Easier

So you wanna make a game? That's great! I don't claim to be a pro at it myself (far from it to be honest!) but I have picked up some things that are very helpful in getting better and staying organized. In this post I will talk about some of these things and hopefully give you an idea of how to at least start a foundation for your game making journey!

(1) Create A Foundational Idea

This might seem obvious but believe me there is a difference between winging everything and having a basic idea of what you want. You might not know what every detail is but at least a basic idea is good to get you started. For example, is it a drag and drop game? Or is it a RPG? FPS or Puzzle....Or maybe a combination of a few types? You need to know the theme. Characters, graphic style and ins and outs of every feature are really honestly afterthoughts.

Know your foundation then work on top of it, if you don't know what the foundation is, you'll keep changing it and have to remake things multiple times.


This does not mean however that you have to cage yourself, sometimes a foundational change is needed, the point of a foundation in a game creation process is to help you get started and be focused.

Object Folders

(2) ALWAYS Stay Organized

I know for a lot of people this is a dreaded thought but trust me it's worth the effort.

Sprite Folders

If you are making a game with sprites, keep them all in folders and organized in a way you can remember. How I organize it by points, enemies, power-ups, beautification (eye candy objects/images/sprites). Also if your game creation program has a folder capability USE IT! It's so much easier trying to create levels when you can find all your elements to your level easily.


Another way to stay organized in level creation is making any invisible objects (if your game creation program allows it) have a sprite with 2 frames, 1 with a label to say what the object is so you can see as you're creating the level, and one that you can set the object to use which is invisible (no image just a transparent frame) so you don't see it in game. This helps you know if you added music, the scoreboard and/or anything else you might have added.

Folders For Images, Projects Files, Sounds Etc..

(3) Make a List of Your Variables With a Note of What They're For.

Listing Off Variables

If you start learning programming in a game you will end up with commands and variables, once you start to really learn you will end up with a lot of names that you create for different things, even if you have a good memory you might still forget some of what these variables and commands do, so it might be a good idea to make a list what they do. I don't mean the entire code just a simple note of what it's for, you'll remember the rest. I'm just starting this habit. I'm making a script file with notes in it so I know what everything is but you could do it in any number of ways whether it be a notepad++ document, a word document or a list in a notebook I think this is a good idea.

(4) Lists Are Your Friends

If you know a lot of what needs to be done in your game, make a list of it and mark off what you get done, this helps when you are really stressed out. Write every little thing you want to do, so if you do 10 small things that might seem meaningless overall you can make it off and your list gets smaller. This has helped me so much in game creation.

(5) Draw Out Things In Your Game and Work Out Problems On Paper.

Points System Created On Paper For Blox

I don't just mean using algebra to figure out the (x, y) axis of where a certain instance needs to spawn I mean everything! I've created point systems, worked out what entire sections of what a game has to do and it was all on paper. I feel freer in a sketch book, but you might prefer note book paper or even MS paint. However your thinking process is turned on use that to help yourself work things out. And don't be afraid to draw pictures, doodles, symbols, everything you do will contribute to a better made more thought out game. I use childrens' markers, a sketch book and a pencil to do some of my most critical thinking and it makes for a great result (even with my noob knowledge in programming).

(6) Don't Be Afraid To Use Google and/or Ask People You Know Have More Knowledge Than You.

I've been blessed with having a good friend who also mentors me when I need it in game creation. I know some people might not be as fortunate to have a person to be one on one with, but you can still Google, find forums and read the game creation program FAQ. It's okay to not know and it's even better to go out and find out. Some things I learned to did just by digging in Google long enough.

 Not everything you want to know is there but read things anyway, some of the features I learned was from me looking up something totally unrelated to my problem because my actual problem was never addressed online anywhere. Also if you do find somebody to help you, take their advice and don't cringe too hard when they tare up your game and put it back together the right way.

(7) Save Back-Ups of Your Project Files

Whenever you start a project it's good to back up everything, and as you go along save a new project file so you can never totally loose everything in case for whatever reason that file becomes corrupt. This is actually a second hand tip, my mentor always says to do this, and he's always right so...do what he says!

(8) Don't Stress Over the Game Name

When I was creating Blox I was stressing over what to name it because I had no clue, and really it took a little bit of the fun away cause I was so upset I never named the game. Don't do that! Work out your game, enjoy creating and once you have it's “personalty” worked out then worry about naming it. I didn't name Blox until it was almost entirely complete. Keep this in mind as you create your game, and until you publish your game in some way the name isn't set in stone, you can always change it later.


Do keep in mind if you gain a following people might not like you changing it after calling it the same things for a few months, sometimes the real intrigue is in the game name not really what it does. Not to contradict what I just said about don't worry about the name, but it's just something to keep in mind.

(9) Have fun

Remember, you are learning (Even if you are advanced you are always ever learning), if you aren't in a company you don't have any reason to be so serious you loose the joy of creating and exploring. It's creating a game, and after all we all know that games are really for the child in us all...Even if some games wouldn't ever be called child's play. Enjoy your games, make them so fun that you want to play them yourself, trust me it'll help, you're going to be your main beta tester and you don't want to be sick of your own game!




So to refresh and sum up, have a foundation, stay organized which could include keeping a log of what your variables do, draw things out to work out problems, never be afraid to ask for help and seek information you need, back up your stuff and most of all...HAVE FUN!






I hope this has been helpful for somebody.




~ God Bless ~
~ Firefly

New Stuff For TRG!

Alright ladies and gents I'm getting back in to my game creation stuff!  Tilly's Rose Garden Spring will be worked on more often now!

I've actually started up already, I've updated some stuff and I'm adding things.

1. I've changed the tulip point images/sprites and added another color

2. I've created a points system - I'll make a "how I created" my point system later. I will say that I did the same thing as my blox point system as in I used my sketch book..But yeah whole process will be written up later.

Here's an excerpt though:

//point system rules:

    // Each point group goes up by a consecutive number-group.
                             //(ex: rose go by 10's)
....... 

//Point Worth Consecutives:

    // Roses: 10's
    // Tulips: 1's
    // Lillies: 3's
    // Daffodils: 15's
    // Hearts : 5's (starting at 50)  [Bonus winged heart not included consecutively] 

3. I'm working on writing up my "rules" for how things work in the framework of the game. It won't be relevant to anybody but me, but I might make a PDF for people to read to help them get an idea on making a framework/foundation for their games.


4. New points, power-ups, and enemies:

Mushroom bonus point, winged heart bonus point, (tulip image redone) new yellow tulip point, and a new daffodil point. - New Point Drainer and a new Point Transformer.

I will also be adding health drainers, and a mega drainer which will drain health as well as points, also a (hopefully animated) snail that each time you're touched by him you slow down...more ideas as well but you can't get everything in one sitting! You Must Wait! Yes I am mean today.


Lastly for now is I'm adding a health system...It's sketchy still but it's coming along.

Okay so there's some updates! I'll be updating you more though not as often like I used to, I have no internet so I have to go out to get it. I'll be slow posting but I'll be working!



~ God Bless ~


~ Firefly

Inking Tips: Solid Vs Loose Lines

In this post we're going to talk a little about inking. I've spent a little more time with pens and ink so in my tests and drawings I've learned a few things that I'd like to share. I will sperate this in to two sections: Solid vs Loose Lines and Texture/Shading. This isn't extensive but I hope it's helpful in the long run!

Note: When I say inking, I mean art pens, not a brush or fountain pens, though these things might apply to those as well. I am talking about art pens like Prismacolor pens or Sakura Micron (or pigma) pens (or other pens like them, there are other brands as well).

So, without any further ado, lets begin!

Solid Vs Loose Lines: 

I've learned in recent months and really over the year that just because something is outlined that doesn't mean that the lines themselves have to be totally hard in nature. For example, if I drew a cartoon cat face I could ink with hard lines and you can tell he's fuzzy, or I could ink with looser more fluid lines not following the exact curvature of the face and he could almost appear to feel furry. He's still a cartoon but he's got more detail.

Neither one is better than the other but they are different. However if you like to color with a looser medium like watercolor, or a more detail oriented medium like colored pencils (pencil crayons in some countries) then maybe the looser style is more fitting. Of course it depends on the subject matter.

In the drawing below the inking on the character is loose and the inking on the poppy flower is solid. Knowing when to combined styles is key to making a picture coherent and not just a rambled mess.  Another thing to notice in this drawing is that there are different line thicknesses. The pattern on the dress has thing lines the fur on the character is thicker as well as the outline of the flower itself. It's all about finding what looks good.

Combining styles, knowing when, and creating something nice comes with practice and also some knowlage of yourself. Your style might be different than mine, so as I say these things it's not THE WAY it's just how I see things, take what's useful and ignore what's not....Anyways, moving on!

Texture and Shading:

There are many ways to add texture and shading while using pen, it can be VERY time consuming but it is well worth the effort.

 Within the styles there are many things you can do, a few are:  Hatching, cross-hatching, circles, scribbles, lines, and dots. Each of these have their place and are great for texture and shading, as well as fun patterns if you like artwork that isn't a subject oriented but an abstract style.

As a few examples I drew grapes, a tulip and an eye to show some of the things you can do with ink.

Grapes:

With the grapes I added a lot of black areas, these show contrast, three-dimensionality , and also some shading. I also did cross hatching on the grapes and the leafy part as well as scribbles on the grapes that would be more shaded. The section that says highlights refers  to those little parts I "roped off" that show where light would be hitting the subject.

Tulip:

For the tulip, I also did some contrast with the highlights and cross-hatching, but I also added some lines along the edge of the flower following the curvature, it's a more subtle looking approach to shading lovely for "softer" shadows.  I also added cross hatching in the more shaded areas.

Eye:

The eye shows fluidity with the eye-lashes, making fast but calculated strokes can make your artwork look much more "alive". I also used lines to the hair of the eyebrows, also using fast movement to make the hair look more fluid and textured. Highlights as  well on the white of the eye (since it's really off white and moist you would have a highlight sometimes) and the iris itself.

Another thing you can do with ink is make areas black (or dark if you're using a colored pen) then go over it in white. In this picture I colored the edge of the butterfly-wings black then went over them with a white pen. - You will also notice that I used different pen sizes as well as did lots of contrast black. Also if you look at the picture you'll see I added dots which add texture and a pattern to the butterfly.

In this drawing you can see I used hatching to texture the sash, circles in the paisleys and scribbles to show the shadow of the neck. There's also some contrast shading too.

Overall these are some things I've learned and I hope they help you as well!
Thank you for reading and God bless.


~ Firefly