Well hello there, I am Guy O and I'm an indie game designer in my spare time. Welcome to my web space where I will document the behind the scenes process of developing a video game.
This isn't exactly my first rodeo. I learned basic when I was 10. I was part of a team that made Bloodmage total conversion for Quake in 1998 which got about 8000 downloads. I attended the DAVE school at universal studios in 2002. I made mods for Unreal Tournament and one level was published in a map pack on an Electronic gaming monthly magazine CD in 2003. I was on a team that made a UT2K4 engine game for DAVE school based on their NASA seals film and the game was playable at comic con in 2004. Since then I have been learning more about programming and developing solid design documents for various game ideas I have come up with. So I feel like now is the time to really make my mark on the industry.
Mobile games sales last year were 5.8 billion dollars. PC game sales totaled 18.6 billion dollars. So lets see what it takes to get a piece of that pie. First off I look at the sales charts and see what is selling. When you look at a game like Angry Birds which is in at number 1, it's not terribly complex. There are simple graphics, very simple controls and game mechanics. The hardest part seems to be that it has lots and lots of levels which would take time to design. It's a very accessible game. I appeals to all ages, all types of people. It has gameplay which is easy to learn but hard to master. The game came out in 2009, by June of 2012 it had been downloaded 1 billion times. I look at a game like that and think why didn't I make that? It would be easy to reproduce that but the key is, they thought of it first and they got rich doing it.
When you want to make a video game, the first thing that needs to be considered is the type of game that it will be. The software I use is called Gamemaker. It can make 3D graphics but generally it is better suited to making 2D games with a retro style. So the game could be a side scrolling platformer like Super Mario or Metroid. It could be a top down shooter like the original Grand Theft Auto or an Asteroids game. It could be an isometric beat-em-up like a Streets Of Rage or Double Dragon, It could be a puzzle game like Tetris or even an RPG like Legend Of Zelda or Final Fantasy.
I've started a half dozen different games already. Just practicing and learning the software. I even have some things that are playable in a basic form. Now that I have some coding skills it's time to pick one and make a finished product from it and then see if I can make this hobby profitable.
So talking about it is nice but I'm sure you want to see something in action. Here is an example of one of my test runs at designing a great game. I hope you like it.
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