I just became aware of the joke

[Tiago]

Think about creating a shareware game, it will be good for you:

- You'll learn more
- You'll the chance to prove to yourselfe how good you are (you tell you didnt know)
- You'll have the chance to show your work to some company (if you think is good)
- You can get feedback from other people about you work, (non-professional level)
- You don't have anything to loose

[burns flipper]

Definitely start creating or be involved in a group to create your own thing - make a game that really interests you.

I have a degree in Computer Science and do you know what it was that got me through all the interviews to come out top of all the graduates at my company? Experience. I worked for a year for a real company as part of my degree, and it gave me the real experience that made me really stand out from everyone else.

If you can demonstrate that you can create your own games (or work as part of a team to do this), they'll really take you seriously. Having a degree does give you a really good grounding - add some real-world experience to it and companies will really want you.

[Ghost]

Hello to all of you,

Sorry that I am late with this response but you are probably used to it, I had to think really hard how to respond well to your supportive messages.

I find it a bit difficult to start with this, not really knowing how to begin.

Well I always wanted to get into the design part, not so much making graphics but rather storylines, worlds, quests, that sort of things.
While I would definitely like to give graphics a try I would still need to learn a lot and it is simply a fact that some people are far better at this from the start than others, that is okay, we can't all have the same skills.

On the moment I really don't have any design or programming skills whatsoever, it was my intention to learn such skills on school, but for certain reasons I haven't begun on such things yet, I rather don't disclose what the reasons are.

Like many of you said, including my friend, the best way to start a portfolio is to make small shareware or public release material during which you learn designs or assist another project, but it sometimes feels so far away, out of reach.

During the discussion with my friend the subject of what games should be like came up; entertaining or challenging.
My friend felt that games should be entertaining first most, no complex choices or vast storylines, I on the other feel that games can also elevate and challenge those who play games, make their perspective on things a bit bigger to begin with, or be entertaining by being challenging. (not treating the gamer like an idiot).

What would that mean in game term?
Well instead of another Super Soldier game in which you have to take on some alien or fascist menace instead you are presented with situations and choices in which black and white isn't so clear and there are true reasons and consequences to this all, making you more than just an observer.

[Zetr0]

@Ghost

I do hope you dont lose heart, there are many ways to involve people into a story of a game, its a shame there not enough of it these days.

why not consider signing up to a team ?

I know of a team that could use help with story and developement, and one you might be interested in....

Team Chaos: The Time Guardians its a Fan Make of Chaos Engine 3, (based on the first one.... were ignoring the 2nd one as it was CRAP)

we need story and development of it... how the play is envolved in it... we have some good ideas BUT we need a concurrent story to develop boards etc on.... it all FAN based so the only payment you get is in Kudos and the knowlegde of a project well done, and of course your name in pixels and something to show

interested?

join up then....

[Harrison]

Often when people start out they only have the big end goal in mind. In the case of gaming it is the creation of a big complex game. From your words I have the idea that this is how you have tried to approach games development in the past. Making something that is revolutionary and quite complex. Sadly this never works. Everyone has to start off small with concepts and ideas and grow from there.

In games development I would suggest focusing on small areas. For a demo create something based on a more simple arcade game from the early 80's. That would create a good grounding to show the ideas of game design and what is needed to create a game. Then expand on this by trying to add more to this existing simple game. This would teach the basics of games design, by developing a simple structure and working model, and then starting to build on this and expand it.

The same is true of concept, story board, plot and writing. Creating a simple outline of the whole concept and then filling in the details once that is complete. So you have something at each stage as it grows that can be seen and understood by others. Rather than trying to tackle the whole thing from start to end and as one huge single entity that will be too hard to handle in one go.

I also think it is a great idea to get involved with existing projects, and something like Zetr0 recommended would be brilliant. Working alone is never a good start as you need others input as well as the ability to get instant feedback.

You also need to quickly learn to take criticism on the chin and not take it to heart. With any creative process, be prepared to have 80% of your ideas rejected straight away, so never work on any one idea beyond a very brief skeletal outline, until you know that others like the idea first. That way you won't ever be wasting time on something that will be rejected anyway. And you can always keep such ideas for later if you personally really liked them.

As for where you should start for now. I think you should sit down and do some Google searching, looking for homebrew freeware communities where people come together to discuss games development. Join some of these and get actively involved in the discussions. From this you will find some groups of people with some existing ideas for a game who are looking for others to join and help them. Even if their concept and ideas is not ideally what you would like to help create it will still be the perfect opportunity to get involved in the creation of a game and will result in something that you can show off as your own work for the future.

So basically don't just try to jump head first into your idea of the ultimate game from your own point of view. You first need to do some small simple projects to gain some experience and to get something out there for others to see.

[burns flipper]

Your big end goal should be broken down into a series of much smaller goals to reach along the way - having some simple easy-to-reach goals eraly on will help boost your confidence and give you a sense that your accomplishments so far are all part of the bigger picture.

Your 'not treating the gamer like an idiot' concept is a good one - if you get people questioning things, they'll think more about the game when not playing it and will talk about it more with their friends. Having situations with no clear answer immerses the player deeper into the fantasy world because they have to start thinking as if they're there in order to solve the situation.

[Ghost]

Hey Zetr0,

I haven't forgotten about your or this topic for that matter, I will contact you later through PM.