Game Development 101: Heeding the Call to Adventure

Let’s get straight to the point. You want to make a game. How do you do it? Like any epic adventure, you'll first need to know certain things before you go on your quest to be a legend in the game development industry. So for this week, let me share with you the things you'll need to make your very own independent game. So pick up your sword and let’s go! Step 1: What's your Princess? Mario has Princess Peach. Link has the Triforce. What about you? What will you be fighting for? What's your “Princess?" Before anything, let's talk about the game you'd like to make. What kind of game would you like to make? Role-playing game? First-person shooter? Puzzle? And after you've answered that, tell me, what's so cool about your “Princess?" I've encountered a lot of aspiring developers who tell me they'd like to develop a game that's an almost exact copy of a favorite game they have. Now, I'm not saying it's wrong to make another fantasy role-playing game. I'm just saying you're not done yet. You need to define your unique selling points. What's different about your game? What sets it apart from other games? Having a different story is not enough to make it different. Merely replacing the characters is not enough to make it unique. Play with the gameplay. You don't want your Princess to look like a cheap discolored version of Peach, do you? Step 2: Fighting the First Boss In most games, you have a first “Boss," or your first obstacle to hinder you from proceeding. In game development, you are the first boss. In most games, you fight your “shadow," or the discolored version of yourself, sometime just before the last boss. In game development, though, you are your first enemy. Most of the time, the only person stopping you from doing something is yourself. They say a journey to a thousand miles begins with one step. So, take the step already. You’ve got this awesome game idea. But what’s the use of an idea if you don’t do anything with it? Decide that you’ll make your game already. If you tell me, “I really want to make a game, but I don’t have time," then it's Game Over. If you really want to make a game, make time. “But I don't have the skill set!" Stop whining. You know the problem, right? Do something about it, then. Step two is heeding the call. Make the time. Drop the fears. Defeat your shadow. And once you’ve done all those things, you can move on to step three. Step 3: Choose your Class Alright, you've decided. You have this cool idea, and you’re going to make it into a game. Wonderful! Now, who are you? Yes, your idea is world-shatteringly awesome. But you'll need to define who you are. No party is going to submit themselves to your leadership just because you have an awesome idea. You have to have a use. Assume a role. Be the game designer. Be the programmer. Be someone. You have skills. Use them. Play a role other than the ideas person in the development of your game. Define your class. See step four for a list of available classes. And once you've chosen, equip yourself properly for that role. If you've chosen to be an artist, arm yourself with the drawing materials of your choice. Materials have gold costs, true. But think of this project as a strategy game. You'll need to give up some gold for certain items. Decide if you need those items. And if you have enough gold to pay for them, acquire them. Same goes for skills. If you think digital painting will be beneficial to the game you're making, pay the time and gold cost required to level up. Build your character. Step 4: Forming your Party If you want to go lone wolf, proceed to the next step. But if you think you’ll be needing a bit of help, you’ll need a team. At the minimum, our teams have a project manager, a designer, an artist and a programmer. Sometimes, our team members would take on two roles, but these four roles are always present:

• Class 1: The Project Manager Class Project Managers are masters of time and gold. They make sure the project is on schedule and in budget. Pick a player with a strong personality for this class. Find someone strict but persuasive for this job.
• Class 2: The Designer Class Designers are rogues. They're the jacks-of-all-trade. They like to try out new things, they can do the job of every class, and they get along with everyone.
• Class 3: The Artist Class Artists are magic-users. And their main spell is the glamour. Your game's art is the first thing a person sees. Even if your gameplay is so good, if no one will pick up your game, it's not going to work.
• Class 4: The Programmer Class Programmers are the logicians. They make the game happen. They take the vision of the designer and the assets created by the artist, and put them all together. For this role, it is best to get a player who is not afraid of research and new technology.

If you’re a student, seek out schoolmates who can join your party. If you’re working, seek out friends. It may turn out that some of them may be looking for someone with your skill set, too. Ideally, it would be beneficial to have a musician in your party, too. But if you can’t find one, your team can still function by purchasing royalty-free music for your game. When forming a team, pick people you can work with. And before you begin, it would be a good idea to lay down all the expectations. This is what I expect from you, this is what you can expect from me. This is our timeframe, this is the compensation. Have all the information on paper. Have everyone, including yourself, sign it. “But they're my friends!" We are humans. We forget. Have the information down on paper. Alrighty! You've got your idea, you've found your resolve and you've formed your team. You're all set for the quest that is the actual development of the game. 'Til next time, brave warriors! (Part Two to follow next week.) — TJD, GMA News Ria Lu is the CEO of Komikasi, a casual game development company. She graduated Computer Science from De La Salle University, and studied Computer Graphics for Games at the Tokyo Technical College in Tokyo, Japan. She also teaches game design at the College of Saint Benilde and at De La Salle University.