Monday 4 July 2011

Check out these great books!

As an indie game developer i can highly recommend a few books that will definitely help guide you in the right path and avoid some seriously hidden pitfalls!! speaking of pitfalls, i really wish someone would do a remake of that classic!

Saturday 2 July 2011

10 Actions in motion reference videos ...

A great way to create motion for animated characters in an adventure game is by using or rotoscoping video references. You can find a number of videos on Youtube that show profile and front references of a person walking. Personally I found this a great help in creating realistic animation without much skill as an animator!

I've compiled a few youtube videos below that I personally found useful. If you would like to save these for offline viewing, i suggest using a service such as KeepVid which allows you to paste a youtube link and save the file in its original format. Then all you need do is open the quicktime in Photoshop, add a new layer on top and simply trace the frames. And yes, unknown to many people you can indeed open a quicktime file in photoshop and play it. Give it a try :)

And now the videos; (in all cases take a look at the channels for each respective video, as a number of them have multiple examples of motion.)



















Friday 1 July 2011

10 adventure game development suites

Luckily there's a number of great tools available for developing adventure games. They exist in different levels of complexity, a few are aimed at just the adventure game genre and typically these are easier to learn, while a few others which have a steeper learning curve can be used to create just about any kind of game.

I've listed 10 of these development tools. In descending order which i feel are more suited to creating adventure games:

Wintermute Engine

Winternute is a great engine, and my personal favorite. The great advantage to this engine above some of those immediately below is the ability to use 3d characters with 2d backgrounds. I think this can really help to ad an extra element of depth and professional finish.

Adventure Game Studio

AGS is definitely one of the more popular 2d engines for creating classic adventure games. The learning curve is relatively forgiving with this one and logical, again like others the UI and approach to using AGS is very much aimed at artists with little to no experience in coding. The reality is, as with all game engines, you will need to write scripts for various events in your game. However if you're intuitive you can easily patch together code using various examples and scripts found on forums.

Visionaire Studio

Visionaire is another 2d engine for creating content similar to AGS. Visionaire definitely stands above the rest with support from the developers who are actively developing new iterations of the engine. This one really is tailored to the needs of the artist. At the time of writing this, Visionaire is a 2d engine only; however within the next few months a new version will soon be released that supports the development of 3d content and port to mobile platforms such as the iphone.

Multimedia Fusion

Another 2d engine i'd like to add to the list is Multimedia Fusion from Clickteam. This suite is highly recommended for quick and ease of use and can export to mobile platforms too!

Unity 3d

Unity is becoming very successful in the field of independent games. It's pointless in asking what can be accomplished with Unity, and instead ask what can't be accomplished. There's some great examples of work that can be found throughout the community, games that rival a lot of AAA games. The great thing about Unity is that you can download it for free and like other engines in this list, Unity is designed from the ground up to be as artist friendly as possible. That said, there will come a time when you have to learn one of the scripting languages used within Unity, but with a commitment to learning the basics, you can still accomplish some great results. Unity comes in a number of options from a free version to a premium version which include the tools to build iphone and android applications.

Unreal Development Kit

UDK, is the engine behind a number of successful games such as Unreal Tournament. Like Unity, UDK is a swiss army knife capable of tackling the most demanding of indie game projects in full 3d specularity.

Both Unity and UDK are equally far more advance than the above engines such as AGS and Visionaire, however when developing your own work, consider carefully which tool is right for your needs. If your project is completely 2d, then using Unity and UDK might be overkill. However if you intend to create full 3d environments then these will be the ideal options.

Adobe Flash

Blender 3d

Cocos 2d

Tuesday 28 June 2011

10 steps to making a great indie adventure game!

So you’ve probably seen and played one or two indie adventure games before and have that itchy feeling you could do something similar uh? well I’m here to put you straight!! you most definitely can! and lots of people just like you are doing just that. Read on for 10 steps to making a great indie adventure game!

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Come up with a good story

This one is obvious right? well you’d think so, but it seems many really fall short of this in favor of focusing on the puzzles and technical gadgets. So the first and most important rule; the key to finding a story that will catch the attention of others is to find a story that inspires you, a story that YOU would love to hear. If you lack any inspiring ideas, maybe think of your top ten favorite films or books and write down 5 points why you feel these stand out, once you have the best bits from each of these see if you can thread them together into a single plot. There’s tonnes of resources for how to write compelling scripts and interesting characters. Do lots of research! There’s definitely a process to polishing even the worst of scripts and ideas. A few quick thoughts once passed to me by a professional script writer; Three is a wonderful number. Conflict in a must. Consider interviewing your character! ask them lots of really unsettling juicy questions until they want to leap off the page and throttle you!! Sounds silly right? but its a great way to get to know your cast.

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Get the right tools

In recent years the development of technology and new programs have made it easier than ever before to realise your own ideas and present them in a professional way. The tools to create your own games are increasingly more accessible and simple to use, in many cases these tools are made available for free and other times at a very low cost. The tools you will need are:

The game engine

You will need a engine to build your game in. Luckily there’s many options out there with great features, however some of these engines lean towards a specific style of game, so its worth giving a lot of thought to what kind of game you will be developing and finding an engine that accommodates your requirements. Thankfully though, a lot of these engines are free to start using right away, but do come with licensing agreements for use with commercial ventures.

3d modeling program

You will more than likely need a 3d modeling program at some point. There’s a number of reasons for this, from creating environments and backgrounds to character animation and effects. It really depends on the depth of the game you wish to create. But don’t be fooled into thinking that in order to create a great game you have to have all the greatest looking effects and animation. You can just as easily create a great game with static backgrounds and very simple animated effects. In fact personally i prefer games with 2d backgrounds over games set in full 3d environments, and i know many others do too. Everyone has their own preference, but just remember that you don’t have to go over the top to create a game that looks visually pleasing.

Photo editor

At some point you will need to use a photo editor for creating textures, UI elements, and any other kind of 3d artwork that might be required.

Music editor

There’s a number of freely available music editors available. You will use this for adding ambient sounds, voice overs, sound tracks, UI sounds.

Other tools might include a dedicated script editor, a word processing program, a file transfer application and others specific to your individual needs.

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Character animation

One of the most challenging facets of creating an indie game is realizing you eventually need your character to move! and move in a convincing way that doesn't look like he's a robot. There's a number of ways around this depending on your needs. If you're developing a 2d adventure game, with a 2d animated character, then you might want to try hand drawing the animation from motion reference of a real person with use of a video camera, this involves either using the motion as a visual reference or rotoscoping the footage. For this you would need someone to act out a number of motions such as walking, jumping, running etc. You might find you require the use of a tread mill to avoid unwanted distortions in the animation loop. Another option would be to use pre-rendered 3d characters. Luckily this process can be relatively painless. There's an online service called Mixamo that automates the process of rigging and animating animation loops and produces good results within a few minutes. The service is free to try and preview, but there is a premium to download the content, which to be honest is relatively cheap. Take a look at their website, if anything it's quite fun to play with and preview your character rigged and animated. Another option would be to use Daz Studio, with this program, animation is slightly more complex, but does come with prerigged characters which can be animated and rendered, you can also use this in combination with Mixamo to give acceptable results, if a little generic looking. This can actually be a good option. With a little work you can edit the character in Zbrush and reapply this as a morph to the character in Daz Studio.

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Find inspiration

I have tonnes of inspiration saved in one way or another. I have folders that contain everything from light/mood references to character designs. As an independent developer you will typically be a involved in every aspect of the production process, so its a good idea to collect as much inspiration as you can find to immerse yourself in for when you need it. Typically i try to save everything i like in one way or another. This might be a comical video, a short story or simple casual game. The fact that you like it, is a key ingredient in developing your own ideas into something that others will enjoy. For example, if i find a video online that has a great gag or joke, that makes me laugh, then maybe i can find a way to add this into my own work. Of course it might need changing to give the right context, but being able to see the framework of something else and how such things can enhance the flavor of your own work will definitely help drive it a positive direction. Again, never be afraid to find inspiration from the work of others. The reality is no work is completely original, it is all the sum of something else. Stories are simply an evolution of ideas passed down through generations, and over time these ideas get mixed together and form new stories, but they’re never completely original. All that said, i’m not suggesting you directly copy someone else’s work. If you are inspired by the work of someone else be sure to just observe the outline of that work and fill it in with your ideas, or maybe take a number of different ideas that you like and combine them into something that feels unique.

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Be realistic what you can do

As an indie developer its important to work within your means and think about what is realistically possible to accomplish. The biggest factor in this cases, more so than cost and experience, tends to be time. The reality is, there’s a very good chance that you’re not a professional games developer .. just yet; you probably have a typical day job that takes up most of the day and you feel as tired as hell when you get home from work, so time is very thin. You have to be realistic in what you can accomplish in the time you have, and how long it will take you to develop your ideas. A typically indie game can take anything between 6 months to 3 years, so its worth giving yourself a schedule of goals to meet. For example you can give yourself three months to develop mood boards, concept art, look development. Then maybe 6 months to developing the assets; these are the characters, environments, sounds.

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Make content that stands out from the crowd

Consistent style. Develop a style guide. A single key style that flows throughout the look of the whole game. This might be something simple like ensuring all textures are flat colors and vibrant. Or perhaps making the assets exaggerated in proportion

There’s lots of premade assets out there on the Internet, some free others require a license in one way or another. But its definitely worth research what is available. If you’re doing an adventure game with static backgrounds, then you literally have a gold mine of assets at your finger tips. All you need is the basic understanding of a 3d program, a photo editor and a little inspiration. I actually get quite excited and giddy when i show people what they can accomplish with nothing more than access to the Internet. There are a number of websites that have free 3d objects which include furniture, vehicles, buildings, characters etc. All you need to do is download these objects, arrange them in a 3d program and render and you can have a basic 2d scene idea for any adventure game. That said, your game might be completely 3d, in this case it tends to be a little harder to come by free assets, however there are a number of websites that sell content very cheaply. Sadly when it comes to characters there’s not many options. If you’re creating an adventure game with 2d sprite animation, then you could download a free copy of Daz Studio and use one of the free premade figures that comes with the program, this can be a good option but the quality is questionable. Otherwise, you can bite the bullet and either pay someone to create a character for you or buy a premade character from a number of stock websites.

If you’re feeling creative and adventurous you can of course attempt to create your own assets from scratch. In such cases you will probably need to be familiar with a 3d program and photo editing program. Luckily there exists a number of freely available options for both. So let’s begin with 3d. If you don’t have the means to buy a commercial 3d program then you can download a free program called Blender. Don’t be fooled by the lack of a price tag, Blender is very powerful and completely capable of creating any 3d assets that you can imagine. The learning curve can be a little steep but fortunately there’s tonnes of educational resources and videos available to learn from right away. There’s no excuse to say you can’t create 3d work.

The next piece of the puzzle we need is a photo editor, again we have a number of options available. Probably the most capable programs available for free would be a combination of Gimp, Art Rage and Inkscape. Gimp is a photo editor, Art Rage is a program for creating natural painting effects, and Inkscape is great for create vector graphics. All are free and relatively simple to learn. At this point i’d also recommend getting a Tablet and Stylus for drawing with. You can pick these relatively cheap from most computer stores. For several years I was using a small Wacom tablet that cost less than $100 at the time, i was using this to create professional matte paintings for film and TV. From using that and the one i have now which cost at least five times as much, i can say there isn’t much difference for the casual user.

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Cinematics without a budget

Again be realistic in what you can accomplish. If you have no budget then you probably wont be able to create a full 3d cinematic with all the fancy bells and whistles of a AAA game. However there are valid options to creating a cinematic on the cheap. One such option, and one that is becoming more and more popular is to create motion comic style cinematics. This usually looks like an animated comic book. The advantage to this, technically it’s very easy to accomplish and very cheap. All you need to do is simply draw your frames and characters on separate layers and add very basic animation to them. This often require a little inventive trickery, for example creating a walk cycle can be difficult and time consuming, so someone creating a motion comic style might prefer to have the camera frame above waist height to avoid the need for animating legs and then simply moving the character layer across the screen can be enough to sell the illusion. VFX is all about cheating as much as you can where possible.

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Observation is key

Observe and think about other games, ask yourself why do they succeed, why do you feel they work, and more importantly think about what doesn’t work and why other games fail, this way you can avoid making the same mistakes. There’s nothing wrong with been inspired by another piece of work, so if you see something you like in a game, then think about how you can incorporate this element into your own project, while at the same time giving it a unique feeling.

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Game play

Game play is essentially what separates this medium from others, the interaction between the player and the medium. It’s important to remember a few key points about game play design. One; more specific to adventure games, quite often you have to design your game with the understanding that the playing might not want to go where you want them to go, so its worth ensuring your game can work in a non liner order without losing track of the main goals and objectives and while still keeping it interesting.

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Don’t forget sound and music

Personally, i’m completely tone deaf, so I’m probably not the best person to give advice in this area. However i can tell you my personal thoughts on the subject. One thing that i hear quite often in indie games is the ‘grocery store’ background music. By that i mean, a single piece of music that is playing on loop in the background like when you go to the grocery store, and how the music is always at the same pace regardless of what’s happening in the game. I feel this is poor direction on the developers part. A number of developers seem to worry more about the coding and art side of the project then throw the sound track together as an after thought in the last few minutes with little to no care. The background music, sound track, ambient music, or whatever you wish to call it does have a very strong role to play in fusing the whole experience together and drawing the player into the environment. Personally i think the background music should be relative to the pace of the game play, for example if the game play is very slow and involves the player simply investigating a room, then it doesn’t make sense to have a dramatic orchestral piece playing in the background, however if your game play involves a brigade of armored artillery riding into the blitz of war, then such a sound track might be more appropriate to help communicate the drama. In such cases where the game play progresses at a much slower pace, it’s probably best to have more ambient sounds in the background to help draw the player into the environment. This might be creaking sounds, distant banging, rain, footsteps, a scream now and then. Of course use such sounds sparingly. You can then trigger a dramatic sound track when something dramatic happens, for example if the player is investigating a room then suddenly a zombie walks into the scene you will want the player to feel a sense of tension and fear so at this point you will want to trigger a piece of music that has the appropriate tension.

Like developing the artwork and assets, developing the music can be fun and easily accessible to anyone.

Consider outside help

There might come a time when you feel you need outside help, or perhaps you feel a collaborative project would be far better. Perhaps you’re a wizard with code, but absolutely color blind when it comes to art, or maybe you’re a fantastic artist but have no idea what a boolean operation is. In such cases you have two options, either learn what you can or seek outside help. If you want to go with the later, there’s a few things to consider. If the person you’re collaborating with is good at what they do, then there’s a good chance they have a job and they’re getting paid to do just that, in these cases that person will typically have less time and will likely fail to deliver all the work you require from them within a reasonable amount of time. On the flip side of the coin, if the person isn’t getting paid to do what they enjoy, then ask yourself why is that? Maybe the person has a great portfolio, but isn’t in work. This could be a sign that the person has issues with managing themselves. It’s worth remembering that when you collaborate over the Internet, the person you’re working with will have personal commitments and a life away from the project, they will probably have a day job and will go through days of feeling one way or another that might affect the way they work and the amount of work they can produce. To summarize what I’m saying; I’ve worked with a number of people in the past 10 years through the internet on indie projects and I’ve always had the same experience.. To begin with its frustrating, and you wonder why this person isn’t delivering on what they said, but after a while my personal thoughts on this began to change as i realised a simple truth; life gets in the way. Be content for the work you get from the person you’re working with. A good security net is to have a dropbox, a place online to store files. Ask the person to upload the files to that location every so often, even when they’re incomplete, that way if they do drop off the radar you can hand the work in progress to the next person. Don’t expect them to meet deadlines and if you have a budget to pay them; if you trust them consider paying a small percentage up front and the rest after the work is delivered, and always use Paypal where possible to secure both parties.

Distribution platforms.

Promoting your work
There’s always a debate of whether or not one should unveil their work before its finished for the sake of attracting positive attention but doing so at the risk of losing your intellectual property to someone else. Personally i feel its a good thing to show limited work in advance to build pre-awareness of your project. It’s a great way to ensure you have a fan base and people willing to buy your product when it’s finally complete. It also helps you to convince a distributor to invest in your product when they can see in advance if there’s an interest. However in building your pre-awareness you should try to strike a good balance between showing only enough to grab peoples attention, but not too much that you run the risk of revealing the intimate plot details and elements of your game that makes it unique.

There’s a number of great ways to promote your project. To begin with build a website or blog to bring your updates to the viewing public. Once you have this in place start by discussing your project with friends and peers, you can begin by simply adding your website URL to email signatures and social networking websites which include forums and message boards. Most of these platforms usually have a place to add your personal URL, so that’s a good place to start. As you begin developing your work and concepting your ideas visually, you can then begin to spread your wings a little further and start discussing your project in forums and networking websites, publishing work in progress and updates in these domains that lead back to your URL. Later as you add more and more content to your blog you might feel you have enough content to make a press release. This involves contacting established websites and media outlets related to your game and perhaps providing videos and polished artwork to get them excited about something new. If you have something unique, reviewers love to be the first ones to discover the next best thing. If they can see something that they feel works, they will support you in the form of reviews and news articles directing attention to your work. At some point you might also consider creating a video trailer to add to various video websites. This is an art form in itself, but well worth investing the time in, and like the cinematics above, they don’t have to be high budget. You can even try to make a series of viral videos that perhaps reveal other aspects of the story not seen in the game itself. Having a dedicated video channel and creating a trailer can really help reach a greater audience beyond your immediate peers. Above all, one of the key components to successfully promoting your work is to be consistent in providing updates, documenting the process and maintaining a close relationship with those interested in your work.

If people take the time to email you, then email them back, if someone leaves a comment on your blog, then reply to it. There’s nothing more disheartening than when you express your thoughts about a piece of work in a comment or email and you never get a response. In fact its a big turn off and will reflect on how you feel about your fan base.

I’ll finish this by saying I have a genuine love for indie games, especially adventure games. I always love to discover something new, so if you have something you’re working on then I’d love to hear about it! If you want to promote your game here, then get in touch!!

Monday 27 June 2011

10 great Indie games!

I'm a really big fan of anyone who can bring to life a creative project through their own efforts and even more impressed if they can generate a sustainable income from this. The indie games market is just such a place to find lots of original content created by independent artists from all around the globe. It's worth noting that these game developers rarely work in the entertainment industry or have professional experience in this area, they typically have a 9-5 job working on these games in their spare time often alone with no help or funding to support them, this truly is a labor of love born from the passion to bring an idea to life.

One day i'd really like to add myself to the list of successful independent game developers, but for now i'll continue following the journey of others that are well and truly on the path to success.

In this post i'd like to highlight a few that really inspire me. I make no secret, some people admire pop stars and actors, for me i have an equal amount of admiration for these people.

Stasis

Stasis | Adventure Game

What the developer says;

"Stasis is an adventure game, that puts you in control of John J. Maracheck. A deep space ‘salvager’, war veteran, and captain of the DSV Hawking. Going back to classic adventure game mechanics, you have to solve puzzles, and use objects around you to progress, and to uncover the mysteries surrounding The Groomlake.
Graphically, Stasis is fairly unique in the adventure game genre, opting for highly detailed isometric graphics, as opposed to the more classic ‘side on’ views of other adventure games. Richly detailed rooms and fluid animations create an immersive environment for the captain to explore, with danger lurking in every shadow."

Rhem

Rhem

What the developer says;

"RHEM 4 is a graphic adventure (point-and-click, pre-calculated first person). The virtual world is shown through the eyes of the players. The environment consists of individual pictures covering a 360-degree view. Navigation takes place through going forward, turning left/right, etc. In principle, each standpoint has four views. In the virtual world, one must have in advance different puzzles to unlock, representing both collection and use."

Gemini Rue

Gemini Rue

What the developer says;

"Azriel Odin, ex-assassin, arrives on the rain-drenched planet of Barracus. When things go horribly wrong, he can only seek help from the very criminals he used to work for.

Meanwhile, across the galaxy, a man called Delta-Six wakes up in a hospital with no memory. Without knowing where to turn or who to trust, he vows to escape before he loses his identity completely.

As fate brings these two closer together, we discover a world where life is cheap, identities are bought and sold, and a quest for redemption can change the fate of a whole galaxy"

The Blackwell Triology

Gemini Rue

What the developer says;

"Play the role of Rosangela, a medium, in The Blackwell Legacy. She must assist tormented spirits by investigating supernatural mysteries with the aid of her spiritual guide Joey Mallone. The duo's first case will involve a series of suicides at a local university. Something unnatural has forced these students to kill themselves, and only you can solve the mystery!"

Amertis

Amertis

What the developer says;

"Indeed, those of you who enjoyed the quaint charm of the photographic settings in Atlantzone may be taken aback by the Amertis graphics which include a large amount of 3D. To soften the shock, and make them feel more comfortable, we have made sure the story begins in the “real” world, that is to say with photographs. But after that, fasten your seatbelt, you're in for a great new adventure!
And as you will see, very soon, the game stops being linear. Of course, some actions will still be required before you can progress or get to do something else, but you will have much more freedom of movement than in our previous game."

The Lost Crown

The Lost Crown

What the developer says;

"There is an ancient treasure, hidden out there in our haunted landscape...but, are you the one to find it? Others have tried, and failed...not though lack of effort and skill, but because someone, or something, has stopped them...dead.

Join Nigel Danvers & Lucy Reubans, treasure seekers and ghost hunters, on their adventure through the murky world of Saxton, England, as they seek answers from a mysterious world inhabited by the living, but haunted by the dead.

Be warned; not all lost treasures should be found. Beware the ancient guardians, who have guarded the last great Anglo-Saxon Crown for over a thousand years...they will be waiting for you."

Limbo

Limbo

What the developer says;

At this time I can't find anything to quote from the developer. See the wiki article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbo_(video_game)

Alpha Polaris

Alpha Polaris

What the developer says;

"In the midst of the snowfields of Greenland lies Alpha Polaris™, an American oil research station. High above, the ion storm of the century is gathering, bringing about a strange intermixing of reality and night terrors. It is up to Rune Knudsen, a Norwegian biologist, to take on a desperate struggle against fear and death, and to face the primordial force lurking beyond the veiled sky.

“The heart of the game is its restrained horror setting. It allows us to explore a wide range of human themes in a realistic way: paranoia, isolation, friendship, love and so on. To us, that is the core of a good horror adventure.” -project leader Teemu VilĂ©n."