Hi all,

I am trying to prototype my first digital game. This is mostly to learn the tools and how it works.

The goal is a visually interactive game. It is not about mastery, it mainly just playing with light.

sort of like the images below (both are flash games).

i'm not sure what the interaction is and want to try different ones.

the user should be able to touch a point and the light will shift or evolve.

Or maybe the user is controlling light itself.

1) How could I begin prototyping this game and testing different interactions? What tools might be able to handle this?

2) I would like to make animate the art myself. can anyone recommend what I might use- or should I go to the next forum?

1) How could I begin prototyping this game and testing different interactions? What tools might be able to handle this?

2d or 3d? 2d will be easier, then you can move on to 3d.

2) I would like to make animate the art myself. can anyone recommend what I might use- or should I go to the next forum?

whether you choose 2d or 3d, basically you'll need bitmaps/textures. you can create them in any decent paint program. photoshop is a popular choice among professionals, but is expensive. GIMP is a popular free paint program also commonly used for games.

if you want to find out if a paint program can do a given effect, post a question in the game art forum here, where all the game artists hang out.

cool graphics, BTW! <g>

2) I would like to make animate the art myself. can anyone recommend what I might use- or should I go to the next forum?

1) How could I begin prototyping this game and testing different interactions? What tools might be able to handle this?

2d or 3d? 2d will be easier, then you can move on to 3d.

2) I would like to make animate the art myself. can anyone recommend what I might use- or should I go to the next forum?

whether you choose 2d or 3d, basically you'll need bitmaps/textures. you can create them in any decent paint program. photoshop is a popular choice among professionals, but is expensive. GIMP is a popular free paint program also commonly used for games.

if you want to find out if a paint program can do a given effect, post a question in the game art forum here, where all the game artists hang out.

cool graphics, BTW! <g>

Thanks!

Hm i haven't thought of 2d vs 3d before.

After some thinking I will try working with 2D first. 3D feels more natural so i'm inclined to it, but 2d might be a good constraint for now.

I am somewhat familar with photoshop because i sketch with it, but i never made art like the one above. It would be good to make the most of it. I thought I had to animate in flash, which would be like, code-art, right? I'll post in the art forum. and probably ask how to create the effect of light. like, sunlight reflecting glass.

----

On another note.

I just found an article that covers fast prototyping which I really liked. It just dawned on me to search google.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/130848/how_to_prototype_a_game_in_under_7_.php?print=1