Pics and then add... boring?

[PsychicHeart]

hello GMser- errrr, i mean, AGSers,
i have a growing problem.
no it's not that my brain has been mutated by Dr Crab, Dr Clawman and Dr Zoidberg.
It's about boredom.
When i make AGS games, i usually do all the art first, then import them into the game, then fiddle with the scripting, GUI etc.
This is normally pretty boring.
Is this the easiest way to make AGS Games?

[MrColossal]

Really, if you find making a game boring then no matter the order, it might not help...

Do some art and then some scripting so you slowly get to see the game create itself but other than that... Maybe you just don't like making games.

[Evil]

I hate the scripting and "AGS" process. That's mostly why I haven't opened it since I downloaded 2.3 something. But I love the designing aspect and creating the art. But some people hate the art and love the coding. Maybe you just need to find somebody that likes what you hate, in the ACR thread might I add!

I need to make a game one of these days, I suppose.

[Ishmael]

Two game projects of mine... One is waiting for art, the interface scripting is practically done, the other, nothing done in AGS as awaiting to get all art done. For me it's a matter of inspiration. I don't find it borin, generally speaking, but I'm usually not in the mood to put myself into it...

But if you find it absolutely dull boring, then it's probably not your thing... As Evil said, you might find someone who likes doing the things you draw back from...

[Kinoko]

I typically hate animating sprites but I really enjoy the whole process of game making overall. Sometimes it's hard to get sterted but once I'm going, I never want to stop. I have to force myself to bed every night lately because it's just so fun to see my game slowly blossom into reality ^_^

[Phemar]

I think the coding part is the best. I love it.

I seriously enjoy art as well, but sometimes that can get a bit tedious ...

Anyway good luck with Tuner City, (and maybe this one won't find itself in the trash!)

[Jade]

Me too i like more the art creation. Programming can seem boring when I dont know how to start a certain script...but when i find the right way to make what i want is really satisfating. 
My suggestion is to begin with little things...then with other more complicated. 

[hedgefield]

Agreed.

If you have a passion for adventure games none of these things should frustrate you too much. Sure, animation can be a bitch, and scripting something isn't always as obvious, but once you get it done it's great. I noticed I really like creating special animations a lot more than walkcycles or whatnot. When I get an idea for a funny little animation I'll go off and do it immediately, while my walkcycles are still laying around. And finding creative ways to solve a scripting problem is (eventually) quite satisfying.

I try to make what I would like to see in an adventure game, so that is almost always fun.

[simulacra]

I like making up stories... and full-screen animations. It's also quite satisfying to script something (when it works). But I'll never do frame-by-frame animations. That's too nerve-wrecking for me.

[Chicky]

There are certain things that need to be done and in a certain order. I think this is one of the most important aspects of AGS is one that is covered the least, and it's PLANNING.

Without a plan to run along you often find yourself making things up as you go along which not only becomes boring and tedious but also leads to problems later on, bad puzzle design etc. I find that I have plenty of ideas for adventure games but none of which would actually make a GOOD adventure game... or story. You must keep things simple in the planning stages. Your game may seem short in the plan but it will become a lot more work than you first thought. I recall there being a great write-up about game planning over at www.rodekill.com but I'm not sure where it is on the new version of the outhouse.

For the plan what you need to do is elaborate on one brand new idea; plan it up until about 50% of the game (this includes puzzles, story, characters, background images etc) then start on the very first room of the game. Keep working on this first room until it is fully scripted and arted and to the quality that satisfies you, then you can move onto the next room in your plan. You will find that as you start developing rooms and characters etc, you will be more excited about designing the next part of story and how the game is going play and where the story is going to end up. With this excitement or motivation you can then develop the next part of your story in your plan, and work the areas you have already covered into puzzles within the game. A good game doesn't need hundreds of rooms, it needs a fair amount very good puzzles within a small amount of rooms. Take Apprentice for example, one of the most popular ags games running away with (iirc) four ags awards. Now this game didn't have hundreds of rooms did it? It had five rooms, six including the room used for the intro. It's this simple thinking that makes great game design and is one of two very important aspects.

The second is a very important talent that you need to make a game, no it's not artistic or scripting; it's SELF DICIPLINE. Without this you will get nowhere, you need to be able to force yourself to work on the game and enjoy this whilst you do it. If you stick to something it will develop, and once it's developed it will that become far more interesting and fun to work on. It has taken me a long time to realise this, but now that I have I'm a good 50% through making a game and i simply cannot stop working on it, I find it far too much fun. I'm spending every second of my sparse free time and steaming through the game making process in no time.

As a recap; remember it's PLANNING and SELF DECIPLINE that get you places in game design. In my opinion these two things are the key to finishing a game, and I find that they're working wonders for me.

Expect a GIP thread from me within the next week.

[PsychicHeart]

well, mainly my beef is with scripting. i know that it is indeed the heart and soul of games, but garrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! when it doesn't work!!!

[Phemar]

Flukeblake, three words: LOL.

[Ishmael]

but garrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! when it doesn't work!!!

Well fix it then..?

Nowdays my scripts usually work the first time around they compile, because I've been scripting so long that I know about everything about basic scripting, and very much about a bit more advanced scripting. I wouldn't say I'm one of the top coders 'round here, but still I can manage without constantly posting on the tech boards... My latest greater problem was the gameplay scripting for The McReed Case 2, which then, after a certain amount of tweaking, I got working perfectly.

It's just trial and error.

(And zor: PIPE IT DOWN ALREADY! Remember the three golden rules!)

[Ubel]

Flukeblake, three words: LOL.

I SO much agree with that!

but garrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! when it doesn't work!!!

But I so much agree with that too. It can be freaking annoying sometimes.

[PsychicHeart]

if i see the words: 'Error in Script: Unrecognized command: else if' one more time......

[Chicky]

You're going to read the manual?



*edit* and did you atually read my post?