64D Com-Unity Game

Posted by Moikle on April 6, 2015, 12:13 p.m.

What do you guys think about doing a community Unity game?

Remember when we did that 64d community RPG? I really enjoyed that, and want to do something similar.

Our community games tend to revolve around game maker, which we are all pretty much fluent in, I was thinking that we could all work together on something we are slightly less familiar with. People who already know unity can point the rest in the right direction and offer support as well as stabilize the probably messy buggy code we produce.

Everyone, no matter your experience can take part, as long as you have some idea of how C# works, and have some idea that you can contribute. Even if you doubt you can even make a hello world program using tutorials, you could submit some art for the game, 3d, 2d, textures, sound, level design, writing, anything that comes to mind. Just get yourself the free version of unity, and do the basic tutorials to familiarise yourself with the navigation and the very basics of the program.

We could take turns to add to the game, like we did with the community rpg, we would share the files with everyone using git, so others can see how it is progressing/offer suggestions/support. That or we could take a less structured "add stuff whenever, as long as you don't delete other people's stuff without asking, and document all your additions." approach.

I am well aware of how interest in these community projects often tapers off and it gets abandoned, but if we don't restrict ourselves to a specific order, and are allowed to come back later and add stuff, then I suspect a few people will be left adding to it for quite a while.

I propose we write up a very basic GDD together at the start to keep ourselves focused on a common goal for the core aspects of the game, and to decide things like genre/setting/important mechanics and things like that.

yes, this blog is very rambly, but it is just a brainstormy type thing, and if anyone is actually interested then I will write up a clearer blog and plan for the project.

So?

Comments

Kamira 8 years, 11 months ago

Let's do this. I can't program and my modeling is limited to CAD stuff, but I'd love to donate my skills as a beta-tester, story-writer (to some extent), and thinker.

Moikle 8 years, 11 months ago

I can't program that well outside of gamemaker, but I have dabbled in unity, and if I have a well formed idea I can cobble together a solution. I am hoping this project will allow us all to learn something. I also do a fair amount of 3d graphics and animation, and am familiar with the pipeline to get these into the engine

Moikle 8 years, 11 months ago

Don't feel like you have to, Steve. I know how much you don't like being made to do unpaid work (rightly so) but if you are in then great!

Castypher 8 years, 11 months ago

I would be interested in doing something like this. Just bear in mind that Unity doesn't play nice with group projects, unless you go through painful amounts of preparation.

Honestly I'd just sign up as a programmer. Not too great at any other aspect (conceptualization and story aside) but I can hold my own in whatever department we're weak in (modeling, audio, level design). I guess I can also do music but I don't think it'd work well alongside Steven's.

I am fairly fluent in Unity though. I've worked with it for about a year and a half, and am currently co-teaching a class on it, so I can help ease other people into the workflow.

colseed 8 years, 11 months ago

seconding what kilin said about the version control - unity can be used with git to sync scripts and stuff, but since the scene files are stored in binary format those might be a bit trickier (there's ways of saving them to text/XML format but last i checked they can be iffy - also you'd have to make sure not to check in all the library files probably because dear god that sounds like it'd be messy)

i and others primarily use dropbox for syncing group unity projects simply because it's easiest, but that also means that only one person can have the actual unity project open at one time - usually enforced via a semaphore/"lock" file (i.e. whoever goes to work on it puts a text file that says lock_name on it in the folder somewhere so everyone else in the folder knows not to click da open button)

also i'm not going to have much free time till the semester ends/summer, but i'd be down for helping out - capable of pretty much anything unity-related at this point i guess (programming and modeling probably strongest areas)

Moikle 8 years, 11 months ago

Ok so the turn taking approach might be better. How about we take turns but don't announce the order at the start. Instead have a queue where we do like a first come first serve thing Announce that you have something to add, and if you need to edit the main files then we add you to the queue and you get a certain ammount of time to add what you can. Assets such as 3d models and music can be worked on at any time, because i don't want too many rules getting in the way of our creativity.

Maybe people could make scripts on their own local copy and then add it to the pile when their turn comes, and make adjustments from there

I used to use drop box but my promotional 100gb subscription ended and the only ones avaliable for purchase are over 1 tb, and to expensive. I am using google drive.

Oh also, i forbid us from making a game that LOOKS like it was made in unity. No ugly default ui, and no assets that you find in every single teenager's first attempt at unity

Mega 8 years, 11 months ago

Jeremy and I are currently working/procrastinating on a collaboration in Unity.

The workflow we've been using is basically to create a separate scene for each person to work with, for testing, and then assign people to "final" scenes.

On a previous collaboration I created separate asset subfolders for each person to keep their scripts and assets in.

The only 'collision' you end up getting is on the project file itself, so things like project-wide settings must only be changed by one person at a time. Any assets, scripts and so on will be seamlessly 'blended' into the game; when you've finished an asset, you put it in the main asset tree; if somebody wants to modify it, they pull it into their own asset folder and so on.

Also yeah, I'd be somewhat up for this. Could be fun :P

Quote:
No ugly default ui, and no assets that you find in every single teenager's first attempt at unity
But mah cubes D:

Moikle 8 years, 11 months ago

Jeremy wanted me to help with that mega but i didn't really feel like I'd be able to add much to that particular project, but that is what gabe me this idea.

Ok maybe i can make an exception for your poor little cubes

Also if you have any friends from outside 64d/ can contact old but inactive members who you know might be interested then get them involved too :D

Nopykon 8 years, 11 months ago

Sounds fun, I will help if I can. I'm a newb with Unity, but It seems like a good choice. I used it at GGJ with two experienced users and SVN. Yeah, the binary blobs were a problem.

Maybe art? Can do ok 2D/3D, concept art. AD? I could perhaps code some parts too.

I too hate the unity menues and that default teenage look. Let's make the assets ourselves. Unity cubes? Sounds bad. No unity-cubes!

Castypher 8 years, 11 months ago

Quote:
No ugly default ui, and no assets that you find in every single teenager's first attempt at unity
I am in support of this, although the new UI also has a very strange workflow.

Quote:
But mah cubes D:
I've gotten into the habit of creating rudimentary models out of Unity cubes, for level design purposes. It's actually quite fun. I share this sentiment. Give me my cubes.