Do you want to design 3D video games?

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I know this is gonna sound like a dumb idea, but with all the knowledgeable programmers who mod games like GTA all the time, I feel like it would be possible for all of us to band together and make indie 3D games (akin to PS1 and PS2 games, maybe for the PC) that express our artistic desires.

Again, I know it sounds ridiculous, but there's no harm in thinking big. I just want to have at least one video game idea published and I would like some help with it. I don't even care about making money off of it. I live on disability and what I get each month isn't enough. I'm not asking for a donation, I just want a few helping hands.

What do you fellow gamers who struggle with autism (or understand it) say?

The real problem is finding enough people to create an entire team, and finding enough people who have time to commit to a project (especially if it's not paid). There's a wealth of people who have ideas for games, but none of the skills to actually put it together.

I'm so-so okay at making art, and designing levels...pretty good at coming up with design ideas, and brainstorming, not very good at balancing things (like stats, item loadouts, difficulty, etc). Really good at programming Quake mods (it's a super versatile engine, especially since going open-source), but I need to learn a lot more about actual C.

It's not something to undertake on a whim, I can say that much.

I've been involved in development for the last couple of months, on a game that is just in 2D, not 3D.... and it's been stressful and crazy. And even when I thought it was over... nope! There's still alot more. Just keeps going...

You'd need a TON of art (and it'd have to be decent art, or you may as well not bother), sound and music effects, people capable of getting the game to render all of that, people to make the 3D models, people to animate those models, level designers, script writers, someone to make trailers or whatever, someone to get the word out there or deal with, I dunno, Steam or whatever other vendors, someone to deal with all of the game's ideas as a whole, you'd probably need something like a dedicated forum as well, as this sort of thing leads to ALOT of discussion out of necessity... then you'd need testers, alot of testers, ya cant truly get anywhere very easily without testers, and of course some number of general programmers.

And then lots... and lots... of time.

Even just with a 2D game, the one that I've been a part of had quite a big team. I dont even know how many there were, but I think there were at least 20 that either had a major role in it, or contributed in some way. The game's expansion pack (which is what I'm now doing) is only being worked on by a very few, as the head developer and the others dont need to do anything for that. But actually creating the main game... VERY involved process. I'd have days where I'd wake up to 80 freaking emails. 80! That's pretty nuts. And I can only imagine what the head developer had to deal with in that regard.

A 3D game would get even more ridiculous in terms of what you'd need than a 2D game was, particularly if you're going for "good" graphics (better graphics in a 3D game outright MULTIPLIES how long it takes to make every aspect of it).

And then above all of that... you wont get anywhere if you cant keep your team together and motivated the entire time.


Typically, the better idea is to start smaller than this. There's a reason why simpler 2D games often made by one or two guys have been popular in recent times. It lets them get some experience and get their name out there without having to spend a ton of money. Though, there's still plenty of difficulties for that approach.... but there's no way to avoid it being tough to do.

You can get away with much smaller teams if you have the right people. One game I'm working on is just three or four people. The lead guy does all the art, game design, level design, etc. I do most of the programming and help with design, another guy does all the music, and we outsourced the sound effects (which is what most people do these days).

It can get a bit different once you hit a certain point though. Not everyone on the team for mine did direct work on the game; there were things like PR and publishing stuffs to deal with, for instance. And someone else to do things like run the site/server and deal with things like that. Among other similar jobs. For a first-time startup you dont need those sorts really, but as this was an experienced developer I'd been working with, they had alot of "process" already in place.

Though, as a rule, when you've got, say, multiple artists, the entire reason is to get the art done sometime this century. The game I've been doing has over 3000 unique pieces of art (wether they be animated whatsits or static backgrounds). ....and we had 2 months of actual development. Needless to say, just one artist laboring away wasnt enough. Not to mention that in some areas of design, more is just better. Just ONE person doing one specific aspect of a game's design can lead to... problems. This was something I learned pretty fast. But yeah, a huge part of the reason is just so that it doesnt take 20 million years. Not to mention that it helps to have the project NOT collapse if for whatever reason a particular member of the team should leave. After the layoffs, the expansion pack being worked on now actually would completely crumble if I myself were to leave (and an entire mode would never appear, too... though that one would be the case even if that hadnt happened now that I think about it). A pretty irritating state of affairs.

Of course when you're doing it not as part of a job but just as a hobby, it doesnt really matter how long it takes (sort of) but... once you hit the point of doing it more as actual "work", then the fun of deadlines comes into play too; thus a larger team is needed. Missing a deadline is usually a really bad idea.


Also yes everyone lately just seems to get sound effects from somewhere else.