My goal is to create a game with a team of a few people. such as myself as a game Artist and musician, as well as a couple other people for programming, I am 31 and just starting to learn programing, but have been doing graphics on and off for awhile. I have the tendency to think and come up with game designs way beyond my means, I'm sure the real challenge of a successful indie team is to come up with fun games, that are with in means of development. So here are a few questions, coming from a mostly novice game designer. Is it easier to create a 2D top down or side scrolling game, compared to a 3D Game which would be either top down, 3rd Person / 1st person, or side. I've never had any ambitions to create a MMO, but I do love Multi-player concepts. my desire for most of my games is from 2 to up to 32 players. - Is multi-player to difficult to attempt? if so, why? This is my idea for a first game, still rather ambitious but I've been working on the concept for 10 years, and finally believe it is with in my means.. Please any feed back / critique / or suggestions on development would be great Title: Fallen World of Solen a 2D Top down game, with Graphics compared to Diablo 2 - yet possibly nicer with more modern technology. A Game system much like or almost exactly like a RTS (Real Time Strategy) yet the player(s) control only one unit, and the computer controls the civilizations of both sides. Meaning the computer fights itself in a way, by developing a waring city, a army, and productive peasants. // Notes What would the player do? The same as a RTS, conquer the apponent, but he just uses one unit to do so. the player is not responsable for controlling anything but his one character. And it is played as a Hack and Slash game, like Diablo 1 and 2 (And 3 when its out) Why would a person play this? I think its a new concept, yet I've seen similar concepts floating around the boards for a few years now. But its just a new approach to playing a Hack and Slash game, you hack and slash your way through a world, where your hacks matter and your slashes cost the apposing team money and the time to rebuild. Class idea's would be much like any game. (At least for now) Warrior Barbarian Battle Mage Huntsman Archer Knight (Similar to Paladin) Healer Wizard Rogue Or what I've always loved, is a create your own character class concept, like Oblivion. choosing from skills and abilities to customize a class of your choosing. Ability to gain Levels and use the same character for different games Acquiring magical items, armor, and weapons. And possibly a few more features. Thanks for your time, I know where all busy with our agenda's but any comments will be helpful.. thank you

If you can't answer the question yourself, you need to work in a team with people who have a better idea of what they're doing(IE: not starting your own).

Multiplayer tends to be difficult because programming languages are designed(naturally) to flow in a straight line. However in order for multiplayer to properly work stuff doesn't just flow in a straight line anymore. Basically to an extent you're working against how both hardware and software "want" to work.

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I have the tendency to think and come up with game designs way beyond my means.

Why are they beyond your means? If you know your development platform, it's mostly the aesthetic side of things that'll hold you back. And aesthetics are mostly fluff, so you can dial thus back as much as you need.

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Is it easier to create a 2D top down or side scrolling game, compared to a 3D Game which would be either top down, 3rd Person / 1st person, or side.

If you're writing your own engine, 2D is easier. If not, 2D STILL might be easier just because it's easier to make sprites than models, I guess. Unless you're going for a really stylized, flat-shaded look, like Frontier: Elite 2 had, which would be pretty awesome.

Anyway, quick comments:

1. I find that simpler, clearer graphics are a lot easier to do and tend to look nicer unless you have a lot of art experience. Your immediate goal shouldn't be "Does it look nice?" but rather "Can you tell what everything is at a glance?"

2. More classes don't really make a game better. Same for skills. Focus on a small set of classes and skills and develop them to all be unique and meaningful. And always think about WHY you have each skill, what it'll be used for in game, and how often it'll be used.

Basically, every skill should be used just as much as the other ones. If it's not, either find a way of making it more important or axe it.

Thanks for your comments. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do. I want to develop my games, rather then work for free for someone else. but also I don't want to ask people to work for free for me. so I guess developing a game that I can design on my own would be the best route.

My biggest question to myself is.. if I develop a game, would it be good enough for a good amount of people to buy it and make it financially worth my while. Its difficult for me to come up with idea's that would be marketable yet accomplish able for myself alone to do with in a reasonable time frame.

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Is it easier to create a 2D top down or side scrolling game, compared to a 3D Game which would be either top down, 3rd Person / 1st person, or side.

I think 2D is usually easier. Not only does it remove a whole extra dimension to worry about from a design perspective, you often can fudge things in 2D that won't look right in 3D. For example, a character might be able to stand on top of / in front of an object and it looks okay, whereas in 3d if you don't have good physics the character will be standing *in* the object.

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Is multi-player to difficult to attempt? if so, why?

Yes, very. You have to deal with latency, differing states between the various clients and server, difficulty debugging unreproducible scenarios, etc. Don't try to make a multiplayer game as your first project.

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Original post by soft Light Industry Is it easier to... - Is multi-player to difficult to attempt? if so, why?

Both your questions are about easiness/difficulty. Why's that?
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson30.htm
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson26.htm

Good post tom.. I guess the truth is I don't like video games anymore, I hate how addicted I get to them, but I love the art behind them and I like to do art my way. Maybe I'll get into animating or something

Cheers :)

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Original post by soft Light Industry Good post tom.. I guess the truth is I don't like video games anymore, I hate how addicted I get to them, but I love the art behind them and I like to do art my way. Maybe I'll get into animating or something Cheers :)

OK. Have fun!