Did you finish your first game?
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- Luroch_Delkar
- Posts: 44
- Joined: August 11th, 2010, 11:15 pm
- Location: Some people are in homes, some are in cars, I am in-sane.
Did you finish your first game?
Did you finish the first game you tried to make?
I know from my own and my friends' experiences that beginning programmers like to bite off more than they can chew. The first games that we tried to make ended up being too hard for us and we either didn't finish them or came back several years later with more experience. We did have the exception of one text-based game written in html that was so short in simple that even we beginners were able to complete it, but I would hardly call it a game. I was wondering, out of a community of programmers, how many successfully completed their first game?
For those of you who were beginning to wonder, I am doing research on the start of a videogame designer's career(including the hobbyists) hence this recent onslaught of surveys. Thank you in advance for your responses.
I know from my own and my friends' experiences that beginning programmers like to bite off more than they can chew. The first games that we tried to make ended up being too hard for us and we either didn't finish them or came back several years later with more experience. We did have the exception of one text-based game written in html that was so short in simple that even we beginners were able to complete it, but I would hardly call it a game. I was wondering, out of a community of programmers, how many successfully completed their first game?
For those of you who were beginning to wonder, I am doing research on the start of a videogame designer's career(including the hobbyists) hence this recent onslaught of surveys. Thank you in advance for your responses.
Last edited by Iris on February 10th, 2011, 5:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Created poll.
Reason: Created poll.
"The Enforcer knows only one way to preserve peace. So mind your neighbors else it will descend upon you." Sword of the Stars Forever
HAPPINESS=Moderation, Variety, and Love
Current Projects: Jailbreak (RPG)(3/4 completed) , Dungeonmaster Era
HAPPINESS=Moderation, Variety, and Love
Current Projects: Jailbreak (RPG)(3/4 completed) , Dungeonmaster Era
Re: Did you finish your first game?
Mine wasn't HTML, but a simple batch-file based MS-DOS text-adventure. As far as I remember I did finish it, but I am sure you would hardly call it a game.Luroch_Delkar wrote:We did have the exception of one text-based game written in html that was so short in simple that even we beginners were able to complete it, but I would hardly call it a game.
Cheers,
ajf
Re: Did you finish your first game?
I tried to study some programming languages, but I found them too hard, and I had not enough time to spend on learning them. So I turned to "user-friendly" game making tools, and I made quite an enjoyable, labyrinth-based 2D game. My friend saw that I lack skill in making mazes so he made a [acronym=4 A4-format sheets! All making a one enormous maze that can give you a strong headache]huge[/acronym] labyrinth himself and gave it to me. That was fun! Though I didn't return to game making after finishing that project...
Oh, I'm sorry, did I break your concentration?
Re: Did you finish your first game?
I'll come back in a month or two and let you know the answer to this question.
The Fires of Pride 0.3, a heavily story based campaign.
On hold while I try and finish my book
On hold while I try and finish my book
- Luroch_Delkar
- Posts: 44
- Joined: August 11th, 2010, 11:15 pm
- Location: Some people are in homes, some are in cars, I am in-sane.
Re: Did you finish your first game?
I know what you mean Joram, I still have hopes of finishing my one php/html text-adventure someday. Perhaps I will get back to it after I finish Jailbreak or the Dungeonmaster Era, but I to want to achieve competence in Java before I get to college.
Oh and thanks to Shadowmaster for the poll.
Oh and thanks to Shadowmaster for the poll.
"The Enforcer knows only one way to preserve peace. So mind your neighbors else it will descend upon you." Sword of the Stars Forever
HAPPINESS=Moderation, Variety, and Love
Current Projects: Jailbreak (RPG)(3/4 completed) , Dungeonmaster Era
HAPPINESS=Moderation, Variety, and Love
Current Projects: Jailbreak (RPG)(3/4 completed) , Dungeonmaster Era
Re: Did you finish your first game?
My first real attempt must have been on the TI-86 in QBASIC, but it was so slow just refreshing the screen when the guy moves that I never really made it far enough. Thinking back on it now, I kind of had a Robotron 2084 type of game in the works, but I didn't know it at the time.
So no, I never completed it because:
1. QBASIC is too slow for doing the game I was sort of thinking of.
2. Assembly language is the only way I could have done it, but that was probably too advanced for me at the time.
3. I think a Robotron 2084 game would work if I had done it in assembly.
So no, I never completed it because:
1. QBASIC is too slow for doing the game I was sort of thinking of.
2. Assembly language is the only way I could have done it, but that was probably too advanced for me at the time.
3. I think a Robotron 2084 game would work if I had done it in assembly.
Re: Did you finish your first game?
Here is my very first game written in BASIC. It's a simple proof of concept for interactive fiction. It's too short to be considered a finished product, though. In all, I wrote 19 games in BASIC before I had any training in computer science. Most of them were unfinished but some of them were actually pretty fun time killers. During most of that time, I did not know anything about subprocedures or arrays. I also wrote several games for the TI-82.
I had actually written some games before this and they ran on a quiz toy with a one line LCD display and it used a rather limited subset of BASIC. But I can't even remember what that quiz toy was called or what type of games I wrote on it.
I had actually written some games before this and they ran on a quiz toy with a one line LCD display and it used a rather limited subset of BASIC. But I can't even remember what that quiz toy was called or what type of games I wrote on it.
ALIEN.BAS:
http://www.wesnoth.org/wiki/User:Sapient... "Looks like your skills saved us again. Uh, well at least, they saved Soarin's apple pie."
Re: Did you finish your first game?
Nothing is finished!
Wesnoth Bestiary ( PREVIEW IT HERE )
Unit tree and stat browser
Canvas ( PREVIEW IT HERE )
Exp. map viewer
Unit tree and stat browser
Canvas ( PREVIEW IT HERE )
Exp. map viewer
Re: Did you finish your first game?
I am not sure if assembler is correctly described as being advanced, rather the contraryMCP wrote:2. Assembly language is the only way I could have done it, but that was probably too advanced for me at the time.
Cheers,
ajf
Re: Did you finish your first game?
Yes, in several different ways.
I've made countless board and card games since my youth many of which got to where they were playable (and some of them even enjoyable). The first serious one I attempted to make with an indepth rule set was a Squad Leader type (designed for Sci Fi) which I was making with a friend. I designed the rules and he made the peices, the scenarios, and the stastics. He moved away and took the peices with him. I would say the system (the part I made) was definately useable but a bit more random than I liked and did not handle airpower appropriately. I have not however been able to work on it since he moved as the custom pieces were important to play.
I did finish the first computer game project I set to which some people here may know as Count Kromire.
I also did finish the first computer game I seriously set down to code which was a school project. It was a pretty basic shooter type vaugely remesant of asteroids except that you were facing one large enemy who shot back and took many hits to kill and you bounced off the walls instead of looping.
I've made countless board and card games since my youth many of which got to where they were playable (and some of them even enjoyable). The first serious one I attempted to make with an indepth rule set was a Squad Leader type (designed for Sci Fi) which I was making with a friend. I designed the rules and he made the peices, the scenarios, and the stastics. He moved away and took the peices with him. I would say the system (the part I made) was definately useable but a bit more random than I liked and did not handle airpower appropriately. I have not however been able to work on it since he moved as the custom pieces were important to play.
I did finish the first computer game project I set to which some people here may know as Count Kromire.
I also did finish the first computer game I seriously set down to code which was a school project. It was a pretty basic shooter type vaugely remesant of asteroids except that you were facing one large enemy who shot back and took many hits to kill and you bounced off the walls instead of looping.
"There are two kinds of old men in the world. The kind who didn't go to war and who say that they should have lived fast died young and left a handsome corpse and the old men who did go to war and who say that there is no such thing as a handsome corpse."
Re: Did you finish your first game?
I wouldn't exactly call BASIC advanced either ;p.ajf wrote:I am not sure if assembler is correctly described as being advanced, rather the contraryMCP wrote:2. Assembly language is the only way I could have done it, but that was probably too advanced for me at the time.
Cheers,
ajf
- Alarantalara
- Art Contributor
- Posts: 786
- Joined: April 23rd, 2010, 8:17 pm
- Location: Canada
Re: Did you finish your first game?
The first one, yes. It wasn't until the eighth or ninth that I started not finishing them.
This seems to happen regardless of medium: I have finished my first Wesnoth campaign, Warcraft 3 map, Java program, C program, tabletop RPG campaign, Pascal program, HyperCard program, crocheted plush toy, crocheted hat, Wesnoth art (terrain and sprite), and probably a lot more things I don't remember right now. All of these also have at least one incomplete project to go along that was started afterward.
This seems to happen regardless of medium: I have finished my first Wesnoth campaign, Warcraft 3 map, Java program, C program, tabletop RPG campaign, Pascal program, HyperCard program, crocheted plush toy, crocheted hat, Wesnoth art (terrain and sprite), and probably a lot more things I don't remember right now. All of these also have at least one incomplete project to go along that was started afterward.
Re: Did you finish your first game?
Is Wesnoth finished?
Wesnoth Bestiary ( PREVIEW IT HERE )
Unit tree and stat browser
Canvas ( PREVIEW IT HERE )
Exp. map viewer
Unit tree and stat browser
Canvas ( PREVIEW IT HERE )
Exp. map viewer
Re: Did you finish your first game?
Has it achieved what Dave originally set out to do (and more)?ancestral wrote:Is Wesnoth finished?
I would say that Wesnoth has been in the polishing stages for a long time.
Of course you weren't asking a serious question though. There will always be bugs and feature requests as long as there are new players and contributers, obviously.
http://www.wesnoth.org/wiki/User:Sapient... "Looks like your skills saved us again. Uh, well at least, they saved Soarin's apple pie."
Re: Did you finish your first game?
I just started it about a week ago. At this point it's not so much a game, as a learning exercise with SDL.