Hi!
I would like to ask a simple question.
How long did it take before you made your first game ?
I mean, how much time passed (after the decision to make a game in AGS) when your first game was released ?
Hope you understand my poor english ;D
It's an honest answer:
more than 2 years, and I have 1 BG ;D
Never went off the ground, never ;'(
4 years, I think, and counting... ;D
Hm... I downloaded AGS around September 2005, had a general game idea in December 2005, decided to start working around February 2006, decided to get my lazy ass working around Mai 2006, started Juni 2006... and finished somewhen around August 2006.
Joined in august 2006.
Started working on something in december 2006.
Finished it in january 2007.
And it sucked.
Let's see...
I registered on May 24, 2005. My first game was a MAGS game, released June 27, 2005. So there ya go. :)
I downloaded AGS on August 28, 2005. My first finished game, Town on the Edge of Darkness, was published on August 31. 2005.
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=610&BX=7s3li552qco8o&b=3&s=0v
At last!
Esper is the first guy to actually think to use this opportunity to pump his game with a link. :D
what?! you made the game in 3 days? :o :D
Wow, people, som of you are extremely fast !!!
How do you do it ?
Tell us the recipe ;D
Get a bedpan and keep it close to the computer.
My first completed game was made in about 3-4 weeks. (I don't want to give its name; it was such a sucking game.)
My most serious game project, Lost In The Nightmare, was completed in about 1-1,5 year.
But I made Are We There Yet? 2 shorter than 4-5 hours ( http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=768 ).
Nice Gord! I knew I wasn't the only one to think of doing it!
Anyway, I had Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off from work. I had already written the story (it comes with the ESPER package, if you care to read it) and when I got AGS, I decided that would be a good one to make into a game. I spent about an hour reworking the story to make it more adventure-game suitable (in the original there was a large cast of main characters). Then, I made it room by room: I would draw the room, import it into AGS, and make all the initial interactions. This took the remainder of the next two days.
On day three, I finished a couple rooms and then set to work programming the story into the game. Starting with the first room, I put in all the puzzles and cutscenes that move the story alng. This took about three quarters of a day, and that night I found webhosting and uploaded it.
I wouldn't suggest this method. I wanted to make a game, not a piece of art. The backgrounds are really crappy (can anyone say "lens flare!") and some animations are only two frames long (see the goosestepping sherrif... However, I worked my way around this one by explaining that he was a zombie and thus was supposed to walk funny :D ) If you want to make a game that you can be proud of (not that I'm not proud of ESPER, but it could have been quite a bit better), take your time and don't rush it. It took me four days to complete my OROW entry Heart of Abraxas, and two weeks to make Alpha-X: Project SMASH.
However, I really want to make a nice game now. I've spent two weeks just programming the GUI for Alpha X's sequel.
Well, I almost thought that you are making games like a factory ;D.
You can be proud that you did that without any AGS knowledge !
My first complete game took me 6 days and it was 6 Day Assassin.
I started a test alien game in AGS and then gave up on it to make 6DA. It was a long long time ago, years ago when I first downloaded AGS so I'm going to say that it was a month on the test game and then 6 days for 6 Day Assassin.
My second completed game took my 7 days and it was Automation.
Automation is clearly the winner there.
You and your days, Eric
Man, this is awesome!
There are real talents in this community!
I've spent a week creating my first lousy background, now I'm making my second (lousy) bg.
I want to ask:
What's better ? Make a not-so-good game first and then improve the quality, use your experience and create another one, or use the time to create one game instead (a game that you're satisfied with) ?
Well, when I made my first game, it was very short and brief - could be done in 15 minutes. But it took me about a month to make as soon as I got AGS, but I learned a lot from the experience, and I am now making a game with over double the amount of rooms as the first in proberly the same amount of time. So I would advise that you make a short game in AGS to get to grips with the functions, then make a bigger game.
I think I'd do so, as soon as I learn how to draw ::)
It's okay to make a game with poorly drawn graphics. I've done it more (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=577) than (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=660) once (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=651)! ;D
I personally find it helpful to make something less than a masterpiece for your first try (and maybe second, third, etc.). The point is, by working on games, you are practising your skills. So if you make a few small practise games first, then a couple of nice things happen. You are more likely to finish them because they are small and simple. And when you do decide to make something a little more substantial, its quality will be much greater than it would have been otherwise. And you don't have to release these small practice games. So if you just want to make something with poor graphics so that you can learn the system, you don't have to worry about it looking bad.
Not everyone will find this helpful, but I found MAGS (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=29649.0) to be an extremely good way to get a game finished. The deadline forced me to work on it, and I wanted to get it done in time so badly, that I couldn't allow myself not to finish it. It was a little rushed in the end, and it certainly wasn't the greatest game ever made, but I gained a lot of knowledge about AGS and game making in general.
I think I agree with you, the problem probably is, that people want to make a great game as the first, and they never finish it, because it takes them too long... Simply no motivation :)
i think i started asterix last summer
I first decided I wanted to make a computer game in 1992, when I first got a program called STAC (ST Adventure Creator) on my Atari ST.
15 years later, I finished my first game.
Stuff...happened inbetween. :-\
I had considered making adventure games back in the 1990s, but hadn't the skill set to know how to even start. I happily stumbled upon AGS in August 2003, ran through the entire tutorial in about a month and then proceeded to stitch the random rooms I had made for that purpose into Al-Quest 1, which was completed in late December 2003. If you crave game making glory immediately then MAGS is definitely the way to go -you get the feeling of having at least explored a creative idea and that all important rush of having finished something.
Just about two years. A lot of trial and error work - as well as concurrent work on several other projects which have yet to be completed as well.
But we did get it done.
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=734
Bt
Quote from: Oliwerko on Tue 23/01/2007 17:50:41
I think I'd do so, as soon as I learn how to drawÃ, ::)
In all of my games, I have used someone elses art (from the resource page, THANK YOU!) but I have put some of my art in as well. It seems terrible compared to the other BGs but I know personally that I have done it, and it makes me feel good inside ;D
You should try and start like this and then gradually insert more and more of your own art.
When I first joined, I worked on a game slowly for about five months before I canned it.
Then I made my first finished game, Anna (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=607), in seven days. I have no idea how I worked that fast. I only remember my wife being angry that I stayed up all night...
My second finished game, What Linus Bruckman Sees When His Eyes Are Closed (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=815), took about eight months. It's only a one room game, like Anna, but is considerably more complex.
In between the two, I programmed Spooks (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=688) in six weeks. But that was fast because The Ivy had been doing all the designing and art for months before I got going.
Depends on what you consider the first.
My "true" first game was something in basic that never really went anywhere and I probably spent a few weeks on. Of course I was eleven at the time so that hardly counts :)
My first game that got completed and polished (Block-O-Mania) took about five months.
My first game that actually got published and has a fanbase (SubTerra) took about a year and a half, total.
Same story for AGS. My "true" first game (Glorious Quest) was just messing around with the studio for a few weeks before I dropped the concept.
The first game that I started serious work on (A Tale of Two Kingdoms) now clocks in at two-and-a-half years and counting.
The first game that got completed and polished (META) took about a week.
My first finished game was never released here. It was made by me for my friends at Uni to take the piss out of a lecturer of ours. I cannot remember the amount of time I spent on it, but it was quite short, maybe a a week and a half of work in between studying for an upcoming exam. Crypt took me about a week of spare time work. Party took less. Maybe five days of spare time work. Both games are short though, and I deliberately tried out methods of creating graphics that would be quick.
I am amazed by the people here spending so much time on each background and to make lots and lots of animation. For me it is more about having a short period of inspiration, and trying to quickly transform that into a game. Taking shortcuts in graphics is a way of doing so, but I'm often quite happy with the semi concept look i manage to produce.
I also started at least three games that I never finished, which I guess have an infinite production time ;D.
if we are not talking about 1st AGS game then my 1st 1st 1st game was a text parsed game for the C64 called Evil Mansion. Then with the birth of C128 i started making graphics games since they included a sprite editor.
umm, i had been on ags starting and starting game projects for two years then i finally decided to make a short game. The puzzles made no sense, the dialog was non-existent but i finished it. Now i do believe that no one has a copy of the game to shame me with :)
Fatal Expectation will be finished soon.
My first ever game was a driving game written in basic on a vic-20, which was not very good. I had various attempts at text adventures and a first stab at a Dungeons and dragons RPG style game using a home made machine code assembler, which never got finished. I tried again on the C64, to do the RPG style game, along with a Platform game, but again didn't finish either, although I spent a year on and off trying.
First attempt at an ags game was 4 years ago, again a RPG style Adventure game, got as far as demo, but gave up when the source code and graphics got lost. I tried again last year, getting as far as demo stage, took about 3 months, but I'm rapidly loosing interest in it and haven't touched it in months.
As other people have said, making a MAGS game with the short time limit is a real help to actually getting it finished. It doesn't matter too much about the graphics and story, and you will feel a real achievement when it's finished.
I'm still working on it, sorta ¬¬
This is my fourth year.
I am still making my first game. "Canned it year ago" would be more appropriate, tho.
I started with AGS in 2001 if I remember right.. did not finish a game before in 2004.
I havent worked on my 2 first game projects since 2004 when I finished my first game.
Though I made 3 games during 2006!
So I guess I am making progress!
My first AGS game took about 2 weeks to make, I had to get it done by Christmas and I remember the panic few days before Christmas. The remake of that game took about a month. The two MAGS games I've made were made in two - three weeks.
And the several longer projects have gone Run Hot ages ago. If only I could keep on working on my longer projects on the same pace as when creating those short games!
2002/2003 all my AGS games where for MAGS and they sucked lol, the game "T.I.T" was probably the closest to anywhere near a reasonable attempt.
i rushed and should of payed more attention to the fine details, buggy games with thin plots don't win prizes but its one hell of a learning curve.. and at least you get something to show and get useful feed back
its so easy to start a huge game only to realise by the end of the first room you don't actually have a story that you can pull off
2007? i still rush but now i do go back and fix problems and T.I.T is on the cards to be redone as it was intended to be ;)
I downloaded AGS in the beginning of 2004 and I was like..
I got to make a game! I must make a game!
But I worked hard for 2 weeks (or less) and made a game & thought I've got to share it with the world! Oh boy, people I don't even know and all over the world would be playing my game.I was so excited.
So I put 'Framed!' (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=349) in the net in a hurry.
Some people were exceptionally encouraging to the over-enthusiastic newbie & some were plain blunt. (But I didn't feel they were untruthful ever)
However, I realized soon enough that I had goofed up with the story & plot somewhere (not to mention graphics) in myÃ, child-like overenthusiasm.
So I decided to really think try plan , work hard on the story, puzzles & graphics forÃ, a long time before I put forth my second attempt. But, the trouble is its becoming way too long (the time that is) and I can hear my old "I must release my game soon!" voice deep within my head and I'm fighting it to keep it under control.Ã, :D
From the time I downloaded AGS to the time when I finished My first game was 3 1/2 hours, but the game is only 10 Rooms and I used the instagame space pack and the default game profile.
My Original Game Idea Is having the backgrounds Drawn while I look For A scripter as in AGS I cant Create Dialouge because my computer has an Error
MOLEMAN
still going (energiser drum beat)
Quote from: MOLEMAN on Fri 06/04/2007 14:00:26
I cant Create Dialouge because my computer has an Error
Your computer can't have an 'error' that prevents you from creating dialogue. The only obstacle would be your own impatience when it comes to learning basic AGS-programming.
I've created two games, both of which have happily fallen of the space of the planet. These were both created around the two year mark.
I have a game that i'm actually proud of ready to release this easter.