Make It Happen - Guides, Tutorials and tips on productive game design.

 Introduction

Making a game, it sounds like the easiest job to do. What many miss however is just how much work happens behind the screen. I never thought of myself as a game maker to be honest. I Just wanted to make a game and see if I could make something of it. It's not easy, and I really hope I can give you something to take away with you to put some more ideas in to your projects self success.

When I began my RPG, I only wanted to use one program which is called RPG Maker. My advice will help even if you use another program. I only had plans to make an RPG and this why I settled on what purchased. I got started. It didn't feel right for a long time. I started back in 2013 after purchasing and began my one and only project. Heavens Heroes: Unite.

At the start I needed a guide.

I was working full time in employment and some days when I came back from work my brain was fried from the day. I kept forgetting what I was working on when I really wanted to work on my game. I would miss methods I used when making content and things became a mess. And so,  I began making a diary of everything. I made a log each day of what I did, and why I did it. If I made a new system I would log what I did to make it and reference everything. Just leave the first few pages blank to create an index for later on.

I learned I was able to pick up where I left off easier. I noted what I wanted to do next and so on. When I do a full week at work then I know on the weekend I have everything I need for when I put more time in to making the game. It's so easy to forget what you're doing and which system does what and when, and without references and using notes it would be difficult to quickly see what I did and work on the improvements.

Noting things down is important, just don't do it on your computer, write things in a book. It's so nice to go through the pages and have the notebook there to go through. Your character's, skills, story and more can be in reach and it really helps when making skill trees too. I'm onto my 4th Notebook and I do get upset that my game is not really popular, but I see the work right there and it encourages me to not forget about what I set out to do.

Be creative with your notebooks and you'll have a much easier experience.

Humble Bundle of goodies.

It's a well known fact, if you want a game cheap, you go to Humble Bundle, or you anticipate the Steam sales, or sales on other gaming sites. Humble Bundle in my opinion is a gold mine of goodies from time to time. I recommend you check every week for any game making packs. As I got deeper in to my game project I needed new graphics, and so I began my journey through Humble Bundle.

My game uses a HUD system which let's you know of a number things such as, what power up you are using, and notifications. I did all that through Adobe Photoshop  which is expensive, but I recently got a hold of Coral paint shop for £20! I saved 100's of pounds. On Humble Bundle you can find dev packs, great artists that have icons and characters and more for your games. There is music and more for a rock bottom cost. It beats pirating and stealing. And you can support the artists and charities too.

As a last note with purchasing graphics. Make sure they are cleared for use in your projects. Also, try not to over buy what you don't need. If the bundle is cheap but you only see the use out of a few items, then go to the makers web-site and see if it would be better to buy separately. This is just so you don't end up with so much stuff you don't need.

Without some of the stuff I used from Humble Bundle, I would have been in the dark, and even though I did use some of the stuff I purchased it lead to me editing and and now creating my own graphics. It's a transition, like going from scooter, to skateboard. 

I hope this helps...

I will add more to another post as there is much more to add. As a developer I'm allot like Homer Simpson in front of a computer minus the donuts. Mmmmm.. Donuts C8D. So yeah I'm a bit of a cave man. I'm no game dev, just someone who has some experience making, learning and failing many times over. Use the advice above, they are among my few top success tips for my project. 

I will have more next Thursday. until then take great care. {{{{{{{{{:-)