BDT

[BFenix]

Well, what are you fellas thinking of? Any theme-driven story? I would prefer something original and nearly entirely new.

[Zupponn]

I have coding experience if that helps.

[Tzan]

I do some coding on the weekends:

[Ross_Varn]

About the most original we can get off the top of our heads is Brikwars. There's a legion of source material there.

[RunsWithLegos]

I am all for the steampunk idea. I can draw up some areas, and write fluff poems and sotrys and shit.

also i would love to see a brikwars sidescroller or something

[mgb519]

Warning: my idea involves a lot of places, as you have an entire world to sail around (Since it's bigger, the locations can be more spread out so it comes out the same). I hope to have about 1-3 cities or towns for each of 6-8 countries/regions, including a city state which actually travels around the map as it is essentially a giant helicopter.

In a fictional world where magic is the stuff of legends (I haven't named the world yet, and I'm not sure how important it is), there exists an artifact of unknowable power often referred to as "the torch" or "the scepter" to the point where no one remembers where the names come from. Tales and rumors circulate everywhere and no one is sure what the original legends were. It's never been found, but that hasn't stopped dozens of men from going on fool's journeys around the world that never come to fruition. This has led to massive exploration of the world and the discovery of exotic places and goods that would not have been discovered otherwise. At the same time, many of these unsuccessful wanderers are forced to extremes once their expeditions come to an end and their fortunes are depleted.
Or so it has been in the past.
An era of piracy is coming to an end as both industrial and technological revolutions are well underway. Some of those who still practice it have found a smarter way to operate, giving a cut to various governments in an arrangement that grants them powerful backing and security. The rest have been forced to the island of Mallerova, a tiny lawless region which cannot truly be called a country. The government is completely useless and incompetent, and other countries generally leave it alone, as its not worth the risk to root out a few pirates. There is the much more pressing matter of an possibility of war between Hallica and the combined forces of Aquavia and Brundinia.

I'm working out some of the plot specifics, mostly with regards to the end, but I think you can see where this is more or less headed to. You play as Andrew McMillian, the son of a once famous pirate who actually turned away from pirating and back to the thing that brought him into it: the search for the fabled artifact known as the torch.

Gameplay would probably either be 3d person or isometric 3d, and I expect that the latter is more feasible. For an engine we could use unity, since it is free, and while it isn't Java compatible (many of us know Java, as I understand it), C# is Java with Groucho glasses.
I'd divulge more, but remember that I have to check in with some people.

[stubby]

Really I have no idea how to start other than the one that it sounds like a good idea. So submit a character sheet that at least kind of mirrors your skills and let's do this.

Ross Varn, Level 1 Thousand-Yard Stare Idealist
Programming: -5
Bluff: +3
Procrastination: +5
Design: +7

Skills are meaningless. A guy with level 1 skill who can take specific ownership and responsibility is worth a million guys with level 10 skill who are just "here to help."

If you want to collaborate on brainstorming ideas or worldbuilding or whatever, the wiki is probably the place to do it.

[mgb519]

I'd take ownership and responsibility for creating my idea, at least. If you have a good idea, someone has to do so before we will consider it. Sound good to everyone?

[Ross_Varn]

Stubby, d'y honestly think this crew isn't going to hound in a million directions at once?

We are being a bit naive at the moment, though. I don't know how to make a game, a good number here do. Worldbuilding is always a fun pursuit for a bunch of nerds, but how are we going to jump from that to game making?

[mgb519]

Again, I think we should use unity. I feel that the first thing should be to set up something very basic, like a world with one town. We work out everything that will be in the game only once. Then we can fill it out as we make new stuff, since we'd have something to work with. Since Tzan almost certainly has the most experience with unity, I'll let him act as sort of a guru or something. That way, he doesn't have to be deeply involved since he's probably busy. That work?

[Tzan]

Here is my advice, I say this every time.

Make a tic tac toe game.
You learn how to use the system (Unity Editor, its free!).
You learn the basics of the programming language (C#)
You learn the specific API (Unity API)
You learn the basic game life cycle, start/play/end/restart
You learn how to make 3d models/UV mapping/Texture maps/import to Unity/shaders
You learn how to hook up sound effects.
You learn how to debug code.
You get the satisfaction of completing a game, do not misunderestimate the power of this.

But of course TTT is not sexy, so they ignore the "easy project first" method.
I have done TTT in Java, Shockwave and Javascript (on an HTML page).
I did the Java version in 2 days, including art. But I already knew alot of Java before starting.
Starting from scratch with Unity and C#, I would be surprised if someone could do it in a month or two.

Curt Schilling should have started with TTT and worked his way up.

[mgb519]

That's certainly a much better idea to start with.
Perhaps we can come up with something equally simple but more original?
We'll start sometime in the next few days, whatever we decide.

[Whiteagle]

Skills are meaningless. A guy with level 1 skill who can take specific ownership and responsibility is worth a million guys with level 10 skill who are just "here to help."

If you want to collaborate on brainstorming ideas or worldbuilding or whatever, <a href="http://brikwars.wikispaces.com/">the wiki</a> is probably the place to do it.

Exactly, we can shoot the shit all we want, but what would be the ultimate goal?

That's certainly a much better idea to start with.
Perhaps we can come up with something equally simple but more original?
We'll start sometime in the next few days, whatever we decide.

Hmmm, wasn't there a "Connect Four" knock off flash game on the Lego Club site way back when?

[mgb519]

No one else seems to be suggesting much in the way of "let's do this" so much as "no, we can't do that." I will now outline a plan of action and direct it. If you've got a better idea, then please speak now.

What about a top scrolling gladiatorial arena thing? Shouldn't be too difficult to do, provided that we make it in steps.
1. Menu and actual game world. The latter will be empty for now. Function over form.
2. Arena. Nothing in it yet, just building the walls and so on. Again, function over form for now.
3. Player only. No enemies yet.
4. Player weapons.
5. Add dummies.
6. Develop basic AI for mummies.
7. Improve appearance of everything. Work through in whatever order seems appropriate at the time.
8. Improve animations and AI
9. Check for any other improvements that can be made.

So to start this, we need to make basic buttons and transition between the menu and the game.
For anyone who is interested, download unity: http://unity3d.com/
It is free, and that is key. I'll be trying to learn how to use it as well.
Someone else needs to learn how to use blender.
We will get started on this idea in three weeks, unless we decide to extend the deadline. Also, we need some form of communication. Is Skype feasible?

Right, now stop putting your energy into talking about why this is an impractical idea and start putting it into actually TRYING TO DO THINGS. If you think my ideas are not feasible as a starting point, then create a new idea. Maybe take Tzan's idea and apply the same sort of steps.

[Keldoclock]

Tzan is exceedingly correct. It's like a Hello World, you have to do the most basic tiny thing to get your head into the project.

Why don't we have a TTT clone with Brikwarsy art that we could reuse later on?

Ideally by the end of this we could have some uberviolent simple turn based strategy game - something that *feels* like Brikwars.


I'm doubtful about my ability to help as I have a broken arm.


+My broken arm gives me a lot of free time to do things, like coding.
-My broken arm means it takes me much longer to do many things, like coding.