looking to start a game and like some help

[duanne_boy]

hi all im wanting to start a game
i want to start of first by building the gui for starting the game and then and intro video.
was wandering whats the best way to attack this.
do you have any help on building a start gui?
ive watched tutorials vids and read manuals
just would like some extra feed back.
so i know im going the right way about it.

kind regards Duane

[selmiak]

Are you having problem with the design of the menu and video or do you want help with coding the menu, so that the game starts when you click a button and so on?

And I'd recommend you start making your game and then try to give the startmenu and the intro movie the same look as the rest of the game, not make the game feel like a one screen menu you did at the start of the project.

[Crimson Wizard]

And I'd recommend you start making your game and then try to give the startmenu and the intro movie the same look as the rest of the game, not make the game feel like a one screen menu you did at the start of the project.

Not that I have much experience in game making but I have some experience in failing to make a game , and I totally agree with selmiak here. The game is usually lots of work and you may change your mind numerous times during its creation (and therefore whole gui concept may change). First thing to do, in my opinion, is a well outlined story and gameplay concept (defining how player controls the character and which actions are available).
Probably it is better to make few rooms first and some interaction to see how it forms. Such things as main menu and intro may be lowest priority.

[InCreator]

1) Make game
2) Add graphics. See that there's no graphics mentioned in point #1. Use random stickmen and stuff until you have a game.
3) Add everything else

Never start with intro video, or all you end up with is half-finished intro video
People often suggest to plan everything out, write hundred pages of story, etc.
For some, it works. For me - never. Game must feel like a game from very beginning: you have to have something to PLAY asap.

Then, everytime you work with your game, you're adding something to something you already can play and while testing, you're actually playing and having fun in the proccess... as opposed to closing AGS/MS Word/whatever and playing some other game.

Also, if you get over GAME part, everything else is bonus.
Even if you get fed up, you can still RELEASE A GAME and while maybe not looking as cool as could and not having this awesome intro video, it can still be played and enjoyed.

Long scripts, videos, plans, etc tend to get boring/doubtable in quality quick and kill projects. And during making the game, you'll make heavy changes most likely anyway, so half of the design may become wasted, while other half might be more than you can chew.

[Chicky]

I have found with my current project that it helps to develop the world in that your game is set first. So you decide on the theme of your game and start sketching out ideas for places the player can visit to achieve their goal. Sometimes it can be good to plan the intro as this helps you get a better understand of what you're games about, but simply trying to explain it to a friend will quickly give you an idea of how developed your ideas are.

Seeing as it's your first game i would suggest having the main story arc be about the player and his epic journey to escape the room.

[Eric]

I think quite a bit of how to approach a game depends on your personality and your creative processes. I've mentioned quite a few times here how easily my attention wanders, and that makes it hard for me to finish projects. I'm making more progress on my current game than any other project, simply because of the wealth of materials I have to work on. If I get bored making sprites, I write dialog. If I get bogged down coding, I draw a background. If I get annoyed by GUIs, I sit down with my guitar and compose music.

Once I realized I could break the big project down into smaller ones that I could bounce around to complete according to my mercurial whims, I found myself working much more often, and making a much better product.

I will agree with Chicky above that starting small is good, though. I completed one full room with a puzzle, two characters, some animations, some dialog, and some music, to sort of prove to myself that it could be done (no voiceover yet, though), before moving on. This jibes with InCreator's assertion above as well that it's important to have something playable for yourself, so that it feels as though you are making a game.

[AnasAbdin]

Are you asking how to start making a game generally; or only preparing a suitable GUI for your newborn game?

[Fred7162]

I have found with my current project that it helps to develop the world in that your game is set first. So you decide on the theme of your game and start sketching out ideas for places the player can visit to achieve their goal. Sometimes it can be good to plan the intro as this helps you get a better understand of what you're games about, but simply trying to explain it to a friend will quickly give you an idea of how developed your ideas are.

Seeing as it's your first game i would suggest having the main story arc be about the player and his epic journey to escape the room.

I completely agree with you. But you would not believe how complicated an escape a room game story can be(Im making one with a CRAZY long story. The most depressing part is the game will only have 3 rooms)

[duanne_boy]

yea ive a concept in mind so im just rolling with it making things up and changing things as i go along no idea wheres it going to go but so far its working out fine. ive already done one room thats finished.
just starting on the next one now, so i think thats the route ill take for now.

and then after i will write somtehing more indepth