We're all alive still, right?

[Xulai]

Yo all, doing my monthly checkup on Magic of the gods. Making this topic as a roll call?

I'm still alive, not doing much except programming a overhead view 2d tile based game with C++ and sfml. My life is okay, but nothing really anyone would care to hear about *points at that skeleton in the corner*.

What's up with everyone else?

[Charles]

I'm still alive and I do check this forum every once in a while.

As for what's up, I'm running a small business that is unrelated to games and it's gotten almost to the point where I could use money from it to finance game development. That is my plan.

I'm already looking for a php programmer to help me with a new game idea. This game would run as a facebook app. It would be very simple to program to begin with and much, much more can be added later.

I don't want to divulge details, but my current thinking is that it would be a sci-fi game.

For those of you who really want to see Magic of the Gods back online someday, the plan is to get the facebook app game going first because it is so much easier to do. Once that is generating revenue, other game projects would be possible including perhaps redoing Magic of the Gods.

[lordborral]

Minecraft, on this: www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=1014&t=63084&sid=0208d572319f143e85cf2f720822bb1e server.

I think I'm gonna try to learn some C++ via hacking it.

[Xulai]

What do you mean, learn C++ by Hacking it?
Define what you mean by hacking it.

[lordborral]

As it turns out, I'm learning Java, and by hacking I mean tricking the server into thinking things that aren't true. Like say, immortality and whatnot.

or that I can make water float. silly stuff.

[Xulai]

I see I see, Any luck with that?

And any progress with the facebook app, Sir Charles.

[Charles]

Some progress. I've created a facebook app, just to understand how it's done and to use as a testbed for early versions of the game. So I do have an extremely simple facebook app up and running.

Here is a link to it:
apps.facebook.com/testaba/

You can also bypass facebook and go to it directly here:
test01.0sites.org/test01/test01.php
If you don't see anything really impressive, try running it again and answering the questions differently.

I also have been learning to use php, but it's been slow going since I don't have much time to devote to it and I haven't had anyone I could ask questions about it. On Sunday I went to a game developers meetup and found someone who is willing to help with the php programming. We're meeting this weekend to discuss it further and perhaps get the project going.

Two people isn't much of a development team, but it's a start. I also have a graphics guy who expressed interest in doing work for me. That would be three. Both of these guys are talking about doing work for barter or for a percentage so money is not an obstacle. How much time I can devote to it still is a problem because I need to spend my time working on the other business. When it's doing well enough that I can put serious amounts of time into game development again, I'll also have at least a little bit of money available as well.

I had expected that by this month, my other business would be at the point where it could provide funds for game development. It is looking like it won't quite happen yet. We are very close though. By May 2011 at the latest I think that will be true.

[Charles]

Work has begun on my new game. It is a sci-fi game in which players are involved in interstellar colonization and the establishment of the nations of the future. Then the players get to run those nations.

We actually got far enough along to do a preliminary play test. It went well, but I found a lot of things that need to be improved.

[Xulai]

Cool, how's things going now? and can we have links to the new game or it's forums or whatever?

[Lord Borral]

Now entering university in computer science, haven't forgotten my first brush with game development yet~

[Charles]

Wow, you guys are still posting on here. I haven't checked in months. I guess I owe you an update.

I don't have any links to give on the sci-fi game because there is no website or forum. I did reserve a domain name and some other things, but there's not anything to see at this point.

Right after I posted that thing about the play testing, I got disillusioned with the game. You see, I knew that I didn't have the time or the money to do something of the magnitude of Magic of the Gods at this point. Yet I noticed all these facebook games that were not very good at all, but were raking in money from huge numbers of players. My idea was to do a facebook game that would be very simple by my usual standards, but still much better than anything I've seen on facebook.

I created a facebook application and discovered they can be ridiculously simple to make. They don't even have to do anything besides link to an external website.

Then I set about working on my game. I made it very, very simple. I cut out a lot of things that would have been very fun just to keep it simple. I thought I would add them back in to the second version after the first version was already online.

Part way through play testing, I started having some serious doubts about whether the simplistic version was really going to be all that fun to play. I mean, some people would be into it, but it might not be very many. Yet adding in the complexity to make sure it would be fun would make the project bigger than I had time for. Not because it would be all that big a project. I just had very little time available to work on it.

For example, one aspect of the game was going to be that eventually, you could build fleets of starships and go conquering other star systems if you wanted to. Or form alliances with other players. One thing that really simplified the game from a programming standpoint was postponing all that until the second version. In the first version, building starships would be just too difficult for new colonies. All the action the player actually deals with would be within his or her own star system. So it becomes a game where you build things, arrange your society how you want it to be and try to cope with various issues that come up such as engineering problems, economic problems, political revolts, etc.

I think that probably just doesn't have enough action unless there's rebellions breaking out and that's not necessarily fun when you're the mission leader and all the rebellions are directed against you.

So anyway, that project is on indefinite hold.

On the plus side, my other business that's unrelated to games is growing fast and producing more and more revenue. I thought I'd have enough money to finance a new game project by January 2011 and we really didn't have enough. I started the sci-fi game project anyway, but it was so constrained by lack of time and resources that it hasn't been working out.

I may try again with that game or a new one when there are more funds available.

I'd welcome comments on the game idea I just discussed.

[Charles]

Here's another update. I have now got some available financing and a programmer who may be willing to work on the sci-fi game project. I've been discussing it with him, but I'm not sure if I want to proceed. I'm still unsure the game would be all that good and I am reluctant to put any of my personal time into it because I'm doing so many other (non-game) projects.

[Charles]

Now I definitely have sufficient financing and a programmer willing to work on the sci-fi game. Still not ready to put time into it myself and I have the programmer working on another (non-game) project.

[Xulai]

How goes the Sci-fi game project Charles?

[lordborral]

TOTALLY remembered my login info this time~

Been a while eh? I hope you're not paying too much to keep the forum running. =p