Just want to know how many other game developers there are on here...

Got an idea I want to get other Devs opinions on but would love to here some tips and opinions from other game devs!

Im a hobbyist game dev. Have done a few months in an international Game Dev education (and it was actually international, even though based in the netherlands, I had germans, Americans, japanese and british people in my class).

Have made one educational game professionally.

https://devrant.com/rants/1975263/...

Thats the last game I made.

I have contributed to some FOSS games. But professionally? The gaming industry is highly volatile and payment is crap, so no.

I would love to get into game dev, but I’m shockingly bad at maths and modelling / art, so anything I make is likely to just make me cry.

That’s why Dreams on the PS4 has got me so excited.

@Brolls modelling and art you dont have to know to make a nice game.
Math is really nice to know, but not needed for all games (most game engines have it done for you, until you get to the more complicated matter).

There is a lot of free resources to get you started.
Opengameart is really nice (im not sure if its .org or .com so no direct link)

Hi, I am a professional game designer (and have dabbled as an indie game developer) *performs secret game dev handshake*

What's your game idea about? :)

Alright well I'll keep the idea short but I'm thinking of a turn based strategy game where there are no enemies and the only 'threat' is pure resource scarcity the environment.

So there would be a focus on keeping everyone fed and housed all while having to fend of cold, diseases and the such...

So it would obviously made with a high difficulty cap so you actually have to work to get far, now that is a super simple explanation of the systems but just want some other devs opinions on this one as I'm on the wall about it

@lxmcf if there is no combat, I doubt many people will be interested. Sadly killing each other is very popular...

@Yamakuzure true but I'll make a game I want to play. If I add enemy colonies it just is yet another turn based domination game that will get called a civilization rip off ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

My thought is if I do something different. The 2 people who actually play it will have fun, rather please 2 people than just cater to a large audience for mass appeal

@lxmcf I like it, how would it work turnbased? Is a turn a day, week, month? How long would a turn take in real life (on average)

@lxmcf oh, don't get me wrong, I'd be totally interested! 👍

@Codex404 it would work by your units using one of your food resources each time and once the turns would take a day at this stage.

Then once you've taken your turn the environment would do everything it needs to, so like let diseases move, have forests start regrowing and the like

@lxmcf would those turns be the same ingame length? Regrowing a forest takes a long time for example.

@Codex404 no some things would have states. So a forest wouldn't regrow in a single turn, would take a fair few else it would just be shame of moving a villager back and forth, no need to ever actually explore

@lxmcf how many turns will it take to regrow the forest? 730 turns seem a bit much even though thats only two years.

Just so you know, Im asking these questions so we can get the feeling on the gameplay. Like would it be a game like Age of Empires where you play multiple games a day or more like minecraft where you are playing a year in the same world? In the latter you want to watch out it does not become a simcity medieval game (unless thats what you are planning, which could be really nice to)

And while im typing this it reminds me of a game that already exists. Im gonna see if I can find it.

The game I was reminded of is: Banished

Its 50% off at the moment

@Codex404 I think I'd make a forest regrow in a month except if would grow at all in winter but this is just a concept at the moment.

And would for sure be like age of empires, my goal would be for the game to get hard and essentially make it if you survive winter or even 2 ingame seasons you would have to have a lot of experience and a lot of games under your belt.

But everything is at concept stage now. Not even a line of code has been written, just testing the waters to see people's opinions and even recommendations

@lxmcf have you checked out banished? Ive played one game over a two months period and one with difficulty a lot higher and it was a different game, food and wood was scarce etc.

The idea sounds great, but Im really wondering if there is a difference with the above?

@Codex404 I'll give it a gander, personally haven't played or seen it but I'll do some research.

A small note I didn't add was I'm considering a multiplayer mode that would allow for combat between colonies but would more encourage team work through trade and such

@lxmcf well, multi-player does not necessarily demand combat. Trade would be good then.