- Location
- The Hague
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Controversial gaming opinion: video games are good.
What are controversial gaming opinions you have?
Never play FH, but is there a unranked Quick Play vs Ranked Ladder? And are they just playing QP?
- Location
- Pittsburgh
Not ... a thing related to the gamer side of gaming, but rather the developer side. But...
Well, there is common wisdom among gamedevs that it is not wise to build your own engine. Because, why? There are already many engines that are available freely, or well, are economic enough for an indie to manage commercially without breaking their bank. Unity, Unreal Engine, Godot, Game Maker, ... there are so many to choose from. Why reinvent the wheel? Why waste time when you could be working on the, you know, actual game?
Well, I've decided to reinvent the wheel.
Sure, I could use one of the others. No matter what I construct, it is likely that it would be an inferior product to engines that have already existed and have evolved throughout decades of work.
Buuut ... I've had an interest in how these things are created for a very long time. I began learning how to program from C and assembly code, and in the last few months have ascended myself into the world of C++. I've learned things about computers that I'd have never imagined to know of years back. And well, perhaps most importantly, I have been a fan of video games since I was a toddler. Particularly, (J)RPGs. For the past few years, this has led me to even learn about how ye olde 8-bits and 16-bits functioned, at both the code and hardware levels.
So, why not take the plunge? Why not enter this effort, so that I can further learn how computers tick, how video games of today and the past were made. And if I end up deciding not to continue with this project, too? I am fully prepared to use any of the other available engines out there.
Mostly, I just want to learn. I want to upgrade myself to a set of skills that is beyond the surface details. I also want to create something that is truly from my own imagination. Eventually, I'll get to the game I want to make, that's a given. I have a lot to figure out about it anyway, so it's not like this engine project is that much in the way of my creation.
Success or failure ... I'm doing this.
Well, there is common wisdom among gamedevs that it is not wise to build your own engine. Because, why? There are already many engines that are available freely, or well, are economic enough for an indie to manage commercially without breaking their bank. Unity, Unreal Engine, Godot, Game Maker, ... there are so many to choose from. Why reinvent the wheel? Why waste time when you could be working on the, you know, actual game?
Well, I've decided to reinvent the wheel.
Sure, I could use one of the others. No matter what I construct, it is likely that it would be an inferior product to engines that have already existed and have evolved throughout decades of work.
Buuut ... I've had an interest in how these things are created for a very long time. I began learning how to program from C and assembly code, and in the last few months have ascended myself into the world of C++. I've learned things about computers that I'd have never imagined to know of years back. And well, perhaps most importantly, I have been a fan of video games since I was a toddler. Particularly, (J)RPGs. For the past few years, this has led me to even learn about how ye olde 8-bits and 16-bits functioned, at both the code and hardware levels.
So, why not take the plunge? Why not enter this effort, so that I can further learn how computers tick, how video games of today and the past were made. And if I end up deciding not to continue with this project, too? I am fully prepared to use any of the other available engines out there.
Mostly, I just want to learn. I want to upgrade myself to a set of skills that is beyond the surface details. I also want to create something that is truly from my own imagination. Eventually, I'll get to the game I want to make, that's a given. I have a lot to figure out about it anyway, so it's not like this engine project is that much in the way of my creation.
Success or failure ... I'm doing this.
- Location
- Pittsburgh
Yep! Something actually set in the relatively modern day ... around ... 20 or so years into the future. It's been a thing in planning for a long time now, but I haven't been able to work on it a lot because of many uh, unfortunate real life things happening.
I'll get there though.
- Location
- Texas, US
XIII-2 is the best game in the XIII Trilogy.
I attribute this to several reasons but the pronounced lack of Lightning is a huge bonus. (in spite of the fact she's on the goddam game cover. The game is about Serah and Noel, godammit)
The game is too easy but they at least opened up the world so there was more to do than jut combat and combat and more combat like in XIII. There are quiz games and puns and time travel and so many bullshit things to collect that you'll never be able to do without a guide. That part is less cool when you're doing it but, in retrospect, the quiz game asking you "Heads or Tails?" is pretty funny.
Also it has Caius who is hands down the greatest antagonist in the XIII Trilogy.
I always said Snow was the best character and Serah sums up why.
And this alone makes it the best:
I attribute this to several reasons but the pronounced lack of Lightning is a huge bonus. (in spite of the fact she's on the goddam game cover. The game is about Serah and Noel, godammit)
The game is too easy but they at least opened up the world so there was more to do than jut combat and combat and more combat like in XIII. There are quiz games and puns and time travel and so many bullshit things to collect that you'll never be able to do without a guide. That part is less cool when you're doing it but, in retrospect, the quiz game asking you "Heads or Tails?" is pretty funny.
Also it has Caius who is hands down the greatest antagonist in the XIII Trilogy.
I always said Snow was the best character and Serah sums up why.
And this alone makes it the best:
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- Location
- Land of the Midday Sun
From what I've heard that 's not unpopular.
- Location
- Texas, US
It currently has the lowest score of any of the XIII games on Steam. It's been that way for a year or two now.
LR has 9/10, XIII 7/10 and XIII-2 only 6/10.
I've heard this is at least partly due to technical issues with the PC port, though...
And looking at Metacritic, it's above LR but below XIII.
XIII: Official Score is 83 and User Score is 7.2
XIII-2: Official Score 79 and User Score 6.6
Lightning Returns: Oficial Score 66 and User Score 6.0
I guess it's just the people I hang with. They actually love LR a lot for its gameplay. Same for XIII. XIII-2 is indeed too easy as I noted and maybe took the strategy out of the battle system for the most part. Oh well, I'd gladly have less challenging gameplay than XIII's "run from cutscene to cutscene and have some battles between them" approach to storytelling.
And LR just didn't interest me.
KingseekerFreyr
Currently kingseeking...
- Location
- In a void!
DS2 lore is fine.
The jank in that game is not.
The jank in that game is not.
- Location
- Russia
I prefer DS2 over DS3, both in gameplay and in lore.
Daniel Estacado
ZA WARUDO
I prefer how fast you can level up in Dark Souls 2 to Dark Souls. Granted: I'm playing the unpatched version of Dark Souls so that is probably why.
Mechasaurian
Big Bossu
- Location
- Lost among fields of history
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Why, though?
Daniel Estacado
ZA WARUDO
My Ps3 isn't connected to PSN or the Internet at all.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Mine never was for some reason, actually. I had internet, but every time I tried to connect my PS3 using it, even when I followed the instructions exactly, it didn't work.
13-2 has really bad Steam reviews because it is an inexplicably busted port while the other two 13 games are fine if barebones ones. It's not an indictment on the game itself just the PC version. I like LR more though. It's just much more my thing. Also I kinda hate Caius as a villain. I mean he's definitely the best 13 series villain but he has like no competition there.
I'd put the best FF villain as Ardyn or Kuja myself.
I'd put the best FF villain as Ardyn or Kuja myself.
- Location
- Somewhere
No Kefka?
- Location
- Land of the Midday Sun
That's not unpopular?
Dakkaface
Extra Shooty Wordsmith
Well, I think that piece of dev advice applies to relatively complex games. You don't want to build your own complex physics engine or something capable of handling massive maps, 3D collisions, dynamic expressions, etc. Trying to make your own engine for massive stuff like that is a pretty serious undertaking which is going to massively detract from any budgeted money and time you have, and if the team is any larger than yourself, it can seriously impact your production schedule. Losing any team member means their replacement has to take time out of doing productive work to learn your custom engine, because they can't possibly have any familiarity with it. Whereas if you just built your game in a standard engine, you could put out a want ad for peeps that know Unity/Unreal/Source/whatever.Not ... a thing related to the gamer side of gaming, but rather the developer side. But...
Well, there is common wisdom among gamedevs that it is not wise to build your own engine. Because, why? There are already many engines that are available freely, or well, are economic enough for an indie to manage commercially without breaking their bank. Unity, Unreal Engine, Godot, Game Maker, ... there are so many to choose from. Why reinvent the wheel? Why waste time when you could be working on the, you know, actual game?
Well, I've decided to reinvent the wheel.
Sure, I could use one of the others. No matter what I construct, it is likely that it would be an inferior product to engines that have already existed and have evolved throughout decades of work.
Buuut ... I've had an interest in how these things are created for a very long time. I began learning how to program from C and assembly code, and in the last few months have ascended myself into the world of C++. I've learned things about computers that I'd have never imagined to know of years back. And well, perhaps most importantly, I have been a fan of video games since I was a toddler. Particularly, (J)RPGs. For the past few years, this has led me to even learn about how ye olde 8-bits and 16-bits functioned, at both the code and hardware levels.
So, why not take the plunge? Why not enter this effort, so that I can further learn how computers tick, how video games of today and the past were made. And if I end up deciding not to continue with this project, too? I am fully prepared to use any of the other available engines out there.
Mostly, I just want to learn. I want to upgrade myself to a set of skills that is beyond the surface details. I also want to create something that is truly from my own imagination. Eventually, I'll get to the game I want to make, that's a given. I have a lot to figure out about it anyway, so it's not like this engine project is that much in the way of my creation.
Success or failure ... I'm doing this.
But if you're a one or two man team working on a passion project? If you're doing it for the learning experience? If you're doing 8-bit/16-bit level of complexity? Shit, go for it. It's not like established engines make it dead easy - I know somebody who's doing a relatively simple looking game in Unity and holy shit is it taking her forever. Even with an established engine, a team and an infusion of cash from a barely successful Kickstarter, she's nearly a year past her initial projected launch date.
Good luck with it.
- Location
- Texas, US
I've been watching an LP of FFXV and it doesn't look very good but the part where this
Ardyn guy pretnds to be Prompto was interesting and unexpected.
Kuja is fantastic though, no arguments there. I'd agree he's probably my other favorite FF villain along with Caius.
stormbringer951
Against Eternity
Not ... a thing related to the gamer side of gaming, but rather the developer side. But...
Well, there is common wisdom among gamedevs that it is not wise to build your own engine. Because, why? There are already many engines that are available freely, or well, are economic enough for an indie to manage commercially without breaking their bank. Unity, Unreal Engine, Godot, Game Maker, ... there are so many to choose from. Why reinvent the wheel? Why waste time when you could be working on the, you know, actual game?
Well, I've decided to reinvent the wheel.
Definitions of success for professional products and personal projects are different, and so are the rules for greatest chance of success with each. Theoretically. Professional developers in my non-game related experience do like using hot new tech and resume-oriented languages, even if the final product becomes overengineered.
Well honestly I didn't play FF6 til the GBA release (Australia and all) and I never really liked it. Kefka was pretty cool but while he's one of the better FF villains he didn't really stand out? Maybe he got overhyped before I played it. I'd put up with years of people shilling him up by then.
I love FFXV. One of my favourites. That said
- it's an open world game that appeals to immersion and completionism. That doesn't translate to a fun LP.
- the combat is easy to do badly which would make it look worse if the LPer sucks at it.
And yeah Ardyn's great because his motivation isn't abstract, grand scale ambition, rooted in philosophy, an eldritch death urge or otherwise impersonal like every other FF villain and most RPG villains. He causes all the suffering, death and horror he does because he HATES you. He just fucking HATES you on a personal level. Because you're the chosen one the gods picked over him. He wants to ruin your life. Then end it. To spite you. And if that leads to the obliteration of the world? Well fuck the world and the gods.
Also his VA is some of the best ever.
- Location
- Pittsburgh
Thank you!
Oh yeah, I'm definitely being realistic as to what milestones I'm going to cover over time. My first game I've thought will be pretty much of the complexity of an SNES-era, to 2D PSX-era title. Even if I was working in Unity or such, I probably still wouldn't be putting this into a 3D world since I don't think I'll have the resources in the first place to feature a modeled 3D world as my first title. In the realm of 2D, I have a better imagination of how to scale production cost for a game.
In the distant future though I certainly aim to tackle 3D, which I intend to learn more of over time while I'm working this through.
I hope your friend reaches great success with her project as well. Game development really can be an extended process.
Part of my motivations for this engine actually is it being an impetus for me to learn new things. How to level up my programming skill is one of course, but also how various systems within a game engine work together and function, like graphics rendering, input and game logic, etc. In some way, those words in minitext kind of apply to me too, I suppose lol.
Also another motivation is it being a possible portfolio item of mine since I both hadn't gone to college studying CS, and I didn't really take the idea of me programming too seriously until 3-4 years ago
I've been told that at least with respect to the latter point, even if this engine was not completed, my work on it would indicate the level of programming knowledge I'm at to prospective recruiters. I may as well invest that effort into something I've been interested in anyway.
stormbringer951
Against Eternity
Part of my motivations for this engine actually is it being an impetus for me to learn new things. How to level up my programming skill is one of course, but also how various systems within a game engine work together and function, like graphics rendering, input and game logic, etc. In some way, those words in minitext kind of apply to me too, I suppose lol.
Also another motivation is it being a possible portfolio item of mine since I both hadn't gone to college studying CS, and I didn't really take the idea of me programming too seriously until 3-4 years ago
I've been told that at least with respect to the latter point, even if this engine was not completed, my work on it would indicate the level of programming knowledge I'm at to prospective recruiters. I may as well invest that effort into something I've been interested in anyway.
Having a Github/Gitlab account linked on your CV, where people can see you are actively working on coding and can have a look at your actual code might also be advantageous.
Hmm, actually, if you're interested in messing around with some smaller stuff, the 7 Day Roguelike challenge happens soon (3-11 March this year), it's a nice way to quickly iterate through some gameplay designs, usually for a simple high concept twist on gameplay/mechanics/theme of a roguelike game. If you are interested, there are some C++ libraries if you don't want to write from scratch (writing up fresh graphics-handling code from scratch for a 7-day real-time game jam is kinda rough), libtcod has been around for a while and there's a getting-started tutorial.
There are some pretty cool games, some of which aren't what you'd probably think of as traditional roguelikes.
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the atom
Anarcho-Kemalist Thought Leader
- Location
- Comfortably numb
I'm sort of in the middle on the KC: D thing. It's not impossible that there were black people in the general area at the time, so the idea that you can't because REEEALISM is silly, and based on the dev's response and behavior I'm not especially inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. Of course, as another poster mentioned, the number in the area at the time would probably have been countable on one hand so it strikes me as a really weird hill for the social justice community to make their stand on.
You named like three dudes in response to the claim that you could count Bohemia's black population on one hand. I get the idea that having black people around isn't ahistorical and I'm even sympathetic to the idea that they should be included for representation's sake (or just rubbing it the face of fascists, that's always fun), but I think people are taking the whole MedeivalPOC thing a bit too far in the other direction. Barring some fairly strong evidence to the contrary, I feel comfortable pointing out that Central Europe would not have been remotely what one might consider racially diverse by our standards.
I dunno, does it? I mean from what little gameplay I've seen it's hardly flashy, but I'm not actually aware of many other medieval rpgs that have so much as attempted verisimilitude. Frankly I'm way more tired of the WoW/MTG/DOTA/LoL aesthetic in fantasy these days.
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