Game Design Contests - Learning Experiences

pathforger (56) in gaming • 7 years ago (edited)

I may have mentioned on one or two occasions that creating games is somewhat of a passion of mine.

I one day hope to make the field at least a situation-boosting side occupation - but for the moment I'm quite stuck participating in what game jams and contests that occur within my modest reach.

This is not to say that I am not enjoying the experiences as they come along. In truth I find that game jams and competitions inspire processes of learning within me.

Source

For the 2016 Global Game Jam it was Twine (a rather powerful text-based interactive fiction tool).

For the 2017 Global Game Jam it was Stencyl (a game development environment with limited need for coding) and small-scale pixel art.

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And for the 2017 Game Design Contest I again am on the learning path - with one small difference.

This time I have 3 months of learning (not including the crash-course lecturing).

Promising.

I am quite anxious to learn Unity. It would really improve my self-sufficiency as a developer in future. Not that I don't like to work with teams - but I've tended to find that such are a hit-and-miss affair.

In the present team, one month into the game competition I have consigned this to being another "learning experience" - and that is alright. It may not be alright for another team member - but then again one does not reap without sowing.

Source

My aims in the contest are simply two:

To create an innovative game worth playing, &
To learn new skills while doing it.

While I cannot presently be sure that the first will be delivered (though I still hope so - and will certainly do my part), I am happy to note that I am developing new skills.

Most importantly, I have since gained some degree of competence in vector art. I have a long way to go but the 'heads' in the title image represent some of my first efforts at character development.

For those of you who might not be familiar - unlike pixel artwork which involves art made from colored squares (pixels), vector artwork is made up of points, the lines that connect them, the fills within their boundaries and some pretty clever mathematics being taken care of by your computer. Unlike pixel (raster) artwork, vector artwork can be scaled up and down with no loss in image quality.

Source

Also - once you get used to it, it is much faster and somewhat easier to work with - though it will still be desirable to have a pixel-paint program.

I am a fan of freely available software. Its not always on-par with the paid alternatives but some can get pretty darn close - and might as well be on-par for as far as newer users such as myself are concerned.

For my vector artwork needs I have been learning how to use a program called Inkscape. For my raster (pixel) art needs I favor Paint.NET (not the Paint that comes with Windows).

Inkscape is powerful if a little heavy for my decade-old laptop. Paint.NET is light on the processor and easy to use.

I still hope to get an opportunity to learn the workings of Unity in a practical context - but it looks like one of my team members have that pretty much down pat.

At least I feel pretty confident that if I continue dealing vector art I'll be able to add '2D Art' to my skillset for Global Game Jam 2018!

Source

If you found this post interesting and would like to share this with your friends then a resteem couldn't hurt.

If you 'didn't' like this then feel free to share your views in comments. A civil conversation can go a long way.

Sincerely,

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7 years ago by pathforger (56)

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vibvir (49) · 7 years ago (edited)

I had entered the game jam in 2011 at Glassgow , and we made an augmented reality game in 48 hours !!! nice post. Nice read , and good sense of humour . Lol @ i may have mentioned it "One" or " two" times !! i may use that in one of my posts if you dont mind ! haha

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pathforger (56) · 7 years ago

Holy moly!

I just realized that this post attracted the imagination and upvotes of far more weight than I am normally accustomed to! O_O

You Steemians rock!

Oh, and thank you @vibvir! :c) I am glad to hear that you had a great time with Game Jam. An AR game in 48 hours! Very impressive. ^_^

Oh, and yes, I have a tendency of leaking humour into serious topics. My latest publication is no exception (but may leave you wanting for a tin-foil hat). ;c)

Thanks again. If you're into game development then joining more gsame jams in future will only help! :c)

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vibvir (49) · 7 years ago

heres the video :) :)

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pathforger (56) · 7 years ago

There is something incredibly satisfying about seeing reality and the virtual intertwine.

It gives a sense that anything truly is possible in this crazy little world of ours.

Thank you for sharing @vibvir. :c)

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vibvir (49) · 7 years ago

you are most welcome. i agree wholeheartedly ! would love to see more articles that you put up . thank you for taking the time to patiently look at the video and sugar coating your response too :P ! :) Now my 3D art even within 48 hours would be a LOT better !!

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pathforger (56) · 7 years ago

My dear @vibvir - I was acknowledging of not only the technical and time constraints that you had to contend with - not only that 5-6 years is a long time in the context of the ongoing tech-revolution - but also that it was more difficult back then - whereas today we have a relative wealth of support materials and more user-friendly versions of popular game development environments. :c)

In other words - I wouldn't knock it even if I felt that I had cause to (which I don't)! ^_^

As you'll quickly notice, browsing through my blog topics, I have a rather varied output. That being said, I do intend on releasing sneak peaks of resources - and probably actual resources at some point in future - when I feel that I'm 'gitting gud'. ;cP

Thanks again! I'll look at your art on the ancient laptop since this network blocks some sources - including Steemit's image repository. :c)

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ragepeanut (62) · 7 years ago

Great post, I plan to try some game jams in the future. Everyone I know who experienced it says it's like a drug, once you start, it will be hard to stop ! I didn't know about Inkscape, thanks for sharing it, I may need a tool like this one in the near future. Isn't vector art mostly used for simplistic logos and texts (like the Steem logo)? I've always thought it couldn't apply very well to anything else, it would be awesome if you could tell me about some games using vectors instead of pixels !

I have to say, the timing is perfect on your post and it gives me confidence to start working on my project after my exams. I have been thinking about creating a game jam on Steemit for some weeks now and already created an account for it. If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you this question as you are the first steemian I see who experienced game jams. What do you think should absolutely exist in a game jam ? Like, something that would get the 'magic' away if it wasn't there.

Thanks for this post, I resteemed it by the way :)

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basilmarples (61) · 7 years ago

thankyou for this post, Ive been dabbling a little bit in scratch and really enjoying playing with little game-mechanics (especially using randomisation). I also might check out Inkscape now so thanks for the tip! the 3rd image you have used looks similar to scratch programming... what is it a screenshot from?

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tipu (67) · 7 years ago

Beep beep. Hi @basilmarples!
You have used tip! in your comment - that`s my magic word for sending tips ;)
Click here if you wish to learn more!

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pathforger (56) · 7 years ago

You are very welcome @basilmarples - and thank you for being a part of the commentary action! :c)

I admit that I've been under a post-production rock for a few hours so didn't realize this had taken off so strongly (or your comment for that matter). /:c)

I have updated the post to include links to all the software that I mentioned. The Scratch-like is called Stencyl.

It was straightforward enough that I learnt how to use it when I rather surprisingly went solo for the 2017 Global Game Jam. Its not that I didn't want to team up with others. I went in to that game jam wanting to prove to myself that I can make a digital game.

I am very proud of the clunky mess that is linked to in one of those linked articles. :c) I wouldn't have been able to do it had I not spent some time making a pixel tileset and sprite pre-jam (and used a few other credited resources). ^_^

I personally love randomization and stats and rpg roguelikes (example - I like Gearhear RPG by Joseph Hewitt - even if it invariably kicks my butt (when I don't modify the save file... ;c) ).

Thank you again for the feedback! :c)

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amarmech595 (37) · 7 years ago

beautiful.

i am following you.
upvote and follow me @nijhum together we can succeed.

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patriotwargamer (47) · 7 years ago

Hi there,

I liked your post, but fundamentally disagree with ! lol
(Ive up voted anyway, - its a good piece)
As an ex computer gamer ( I finished back in the days of ghost recon, and total war-empire), I have reverted back to old style, old fashioned ,war gaming - on a table top. ( and board games)
As someone who had spent a few years on both sides of the fence, so to speak, I am now strongly against computer games I
see them as a dopomine inducing zombification of the brain, rather than a fun, truly creative pastime, like board games ( or war games, in my case.)
As such they are not a positive pastime, and much less healthy,
than a hobby that requires the effort of researching, painting- and even walking around a table for 4 hours.
I know this will make me the most unpopluar person this thread, but my points are no less valid because of that.

This is more of a philosophical discussion, more than a gaming discussion, I suppose. If you , or anyone wants, to chat about it.....

here is a cottage I built earlier for an american civil war, campaign, - to try and illustrate what I mean in, my argument.

compo 1.jpg

cheers everybody!

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pathforger (56) · 7 years ago

Hey there @patriotwargamer. Thank you kindly both for your upvote as well as your feedback!

I am curious. :c) What is it that you are disagreeing with? /:c)

While I've been wanting to make digital games for as long as I can remember I also enjoy tabletop games. Besides having played within every edition of Dungeon & Dragons other than 1st, I've also enjoyed the brutal Warhammer RPG system, the Savage Worlds RPG system, and also a bit of Fate.

My 6th edition-compatible Hochland Empire army has remained within the dark for a fair number of years - a my luck is blighted and there is something annoying about taking less time to lose a battle than to unpack or repack one's miniatures. ;c) I wonder if the acrylics and putty have solidified...

I did find myself far more enjoying skirmish games like Mordheim - but also enjoy board games like Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, Pandemic, Posthuman (although I haven't found a player 2 for that in a long while), etc.

I'd say that my interests are more or less split 50-50 between tabletop and digital - but digital has a certain extra 'shine' for me. ^^ Keeping my eye on The Game Crafter though as my improving graphics abilities are opening new horizons in table-top game design. ^^

Do not fret. I think that I know where you are coming from. You feel that games can suck players in for hundreds of hours where they lose out on doing more human stuff.

The truth is that some games can - I still remember the hours I sank into my first RPG on the Apple ][+ thinking that the skritchy skratchy sound of the game booting up was the most melodious sound in the World.

Still - not all games are like that and some players wouldn't have it any other way. To each their own. :c)

Thank you again for the thought-provoking feedback! ^_^

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patriotwargamer (47) · 7 years ago

Thanks for that great reply !
To each there own, I couldn't agree more with ! My worry, as you pointed out, is the handing over over your time, to an impersonal exchange. I think the longer term effects are HUGE - more than huge, to be honest. - from a societal perspective.
One of which is the stifling of creativity, and independent thought- it leads to much bigger issue later on in life.
If you get the chance, read Terence Makenna's chapter on electronic drugs - 'food of the gods'- written before the comp age. With all the fantastic technology we have to use and make better for everyone, if we don't have a sentient brain to enjoy the fruits of it, (due to years of dopamine hitting rewards on computer games- zombification), it all seems a little silly!
Using technology is fantastic- but i feel computer game participation is the technology using us !

The one fundamental thing is with any computer game , is that you are a sheep - you are following someone else's trip ( no matter the perception free will).
Creating your own trip is a much (psychologically) healthier path to take. - in the age of laziness - it's easier to take the easy option, rather than the effort involved in making real life games, if you see what I mean .
A great reply !

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pathforger (56) · 7 years ago

You are very welcome :c)

While I am sure that there are some gaming experiences out there that do hinder creativity - I would hesitate to generalize on this matter. Up until the sunset of the PlayStation 1 I personally found that games did little to stifle my creativity and independent thought. Just because games had rules didn't mean that I wouldn't test any 'give' existing. ^_~

More-so these games would distract me from 'acting' upon that creativity and free-thought.

Never heard of that title. I will look it up. :c)

I would agree that video games and television have taken on some of the role that beer and other alcohol used to up until this point - taking our minds off of the failings and miserable situation of our lives. Yes, one can get addicted to these mediums - but that doesn't mean that there is not also potential. Games 'can' be a force for good - even if most games designed are designed to capture our attention.

Having experienced both kinds of games, I genuinely value both. The non-digital kind haven't any coding to constrict play - like a chess program preventing moving pawns like knights. We can choose what rules to abide by and which ones to abandon or "house rule".

Thank you for the very intriguing angle. I'll be stepping away for a while now. ^_^