[deleted]

[The Game Analists]

[deleted]

 

[Terpsichore]

Download RPG Maker or something to get a general idea of basic design.

 

[laclongquan]

Been in your shoes before.

What is your strength? what is your easiest-to-learn skill?

1. If it's coding or graphic design, try making a few mods for game such as Skyrim, Fallout 4. it's new so it's full of modders and you can train your skill, get your audience that way.
2. If it's storytelling, you might want to try some CYOA game modules.
3. If it's animation, the sky is your limit. Other than modders, indie developers are screaming for animators.

If you are good with online sale, you can try contact a few game studio, getting on their affliate program to help them sell their games online (and making money for yourself). Building contact that way.

Marketing you can go the community manager route. But that's long shot.

 

[shihonage]

Im pretty much only good at storytelling, but CYOA doesnt seem to really be what I like

Write a novel instead.

Trust me, this is the most helpful advice you'll get in this thread.

 

[Exhuminator]

If you are wanting to make JRPGs, consider the RPG Maker series. A new entry is about to release:

http://nisamerica.com/games/rpg-maker-fes/

If you can manage to make a game using that engine, then you may be ready to step up to a higher level.

If you want to make WRPGs then god help you.

 

[DosBuster]

Im pretty much only good at storytelling, but CYOA doesnt seem to really be what I like

you can't say you're good at storytelling in a video game capacity unless you actually have attempted it before and succeeded.

but unless you're fine with rpg maker, you should start off simple to learn programming, make a pong clone, once that's done make a breakout clone and from there you will learn the skills required. also, don't start off by writing a 300 page design document, come up with some basic concepts and get them playable then use that to fuel the rest of your design.

 

[adrix89]

Im pretty much only good at storytelling, but CYOA doesnt seem to really be what I like

Write a novel instead.

Trust me, this is the most helpful advice you'll get in this thread.

A better idea is write a RPG novel like what you find on royalroad.
Unleash your inner weeabo!

 

[shihonage]

Im pretty much only good at storytelling, but CYOA doesnt seem to really be what I like

Write a novel instead.

Trust me, this is the most helpful advice you'll get in this thread.

A better idea is write a RPG novel like what you find on royalroad.
Unleash your inner weeabo!

Level up!
Congratulations, you are now a level 2 Mimic! All attributes +2.

 

[Bester]

I often think about making RPGs, and I can program, but there still remain the questions of:
1) a writer, who would do a 10/10 job... where the hell would find such a guy? If he's so good at it, he'd be a self published writer already
2) around 80k bucks for assets
3) a producer (hire artists, do quality control)

Simple.

 

[Snorkack]

1. Learn python.
2. program tic tac toe clone, arkanoid clone, snake clone.
3. Learn how to write a design document.
4. Program the same or similar clones using a free engine like unity
By this point, you should have a grasp of what lies within your capabilities.

 

[ThisNameIsFree]

Im pretty much only good at storytelling, but CYOA doesnt seem to really be what I like

Maybe try Interactive Fiction? You can make one with attributes, skill checks, combat, etc...

 

[Davaris]

Make pen and paper RPGEEEs and sell 'em at places like RPGNow. When you can make games that sell, come back here and show off your mad skillz. Perhaps a programmer and artist (hahahaha) will take an interest and you can form your own Troika.

 

[Severian Silk]

I have a project on hold right now. Doing the programming and graphics myself. Could use a storyteller.

 

[laclongquan]

Im pretty much only good at storytelling, but CYOA doesnt seem to really be what I like

You have to prove your street cred that way. No one team up with writers without a portfolio of completed games. Because it basically means they make the game you want to tell. Uh uh, we dont do shit for amateur writers. The world is completely full of such breed.

You heard of Corruption of Champion? I am pretty sure if its writers offer to start a game making effort there will be partners because they did a great job on the text game. If they KS the old games will be proof of their competence.

 

[Terpsichore]

You can also host a local version of some MMO (emulator) and play around, you'll see how scripting, databases, clientside, SQL and C/C#/loljava work, a complete package.

 

[Davaris]

Im pretty much only good at storytelling, but CYOA doesnt seem to really be what I like

You have to prove your street cred that way. No one team up with writers without a portfolio of completed games. Because it basically means they make the game you want to tell. Uh uh, we dont do shit for amateur writers. The world is completely full of such breed.

You heard of Corruption of Champion? I am pretty sure if its writers offer to start a game making effort there will be partners because they did a great job on the text game. If they KS the old games will be proof of their competence.

If they haven't made anything on their own, they aren't going to do anything meaningful teamed up with you either. I suggested making PnP modules, because you don't waste time learning to program, debugging, making crappy art, or any other non-game related bullshit. You can rack up your 10,000 hrs just making games and learning what works.

 

[commie]

pls help

Apply for a job at Bethesda or Bioware. Though you might be overqualified.

 

[v1rus]

#1 take the red pill and join the glorious sjw movement
#2 get hired by BioWare

All done.

 

[v1rus]

pls help

Apply for a job at Bethesda or Bioware. Though you might be overqualified.

Hey, that is my joke!

 

[Keldryn]

Most definitely do not start by writing up massive design docs. That makes you tbe "ideas guy" and nobody respects or values the ideas guy. What counts is being able to implement your ideas. If you can't do that, then ideas are pretty much worthless.

Learning programming is one way, but if you don't already have a lot of programming experience, it will be a very long time before you can tackle anything on the scope of an RPG. And honestly, anything of that scale is beyond what a single person can reasonably accomplish.

My suggestion is to download the free version of Unity and start doing some tutorials. There are no shortage of opinions on Unreal vs Unity, but I think it's difficult to argue with Unity's accessibility -- particularly as a learning tool.

Do enough of the Unity tutorials to get a feel for how the editor works, and then start using a visual scripting package. You wouldn't generally use visual scripting for low level engine features, but your goal here isn't to figure out how to build a whole game yourself -- you need to discover where your game development skills are and focus on that area so you can contribute something of value to a team effort. You'll figure out very quickly whether you have an aptitude for programming or not (most people don't).

Playmaker is the most popular and most widely supported of Unity's visual scripting tools. My recommendation would be to get the free trial version of ORK Framework and work through the 50-part "build a complete game" tutorial series. The end product of that is a small JRPG style game that has a simple but complete set of features. You aren't limited to JRPGs with the toolkit; it's just an easy paradigm to learn with. ORK has its own visual scripting tool which isn't as robust as Playmaker, but is also specialized for building an RPG.

Do the whole series without deviating from the instructions; after you complete it, start customizing and adding to it. Here is where you'll really get a feel for where your strengths lie.

 

[Keldryn]

Also note that there is absolutely no shortage of would-be game designers/writers in the indie game dev community (as is the case with professional development). If you're focusing on design, you need to demonstrate that you are exceptionally good at it.

In the AAA industry, skilled programmers are generally in the greatest demand and command the highest salaries; in indie development, there doesn't seem to be the same shortage.

You'll see plenty of indie teams composed solely of programmers and designers, but you'll rarely see a team of artists who can't find a programmer.

So being able to create your own art and/or animations is a HUGE plus as an indie dev and immediately makes you more valuable as a team member. So it may be worth your time to learn how to use Blender (yuck) and see if you have any aptitude for 3D modeling.

 

[The Avatar]

I got started with Unity tutorials. It's free, easy to learn, and there are plenty of resources out there. Since you are a beginner, you may want to start with a simpler game, as RPGs can be quite complex and usually not done by a single person.

 

[Keldryn]

Are you fricken sure?

I feel like literally every source I've read says that 3d modelers and asset makers are more valuable than programmers and code monkies only get like 60k

Yes, I'm sure.

Game Developer Salary Survey 2014

I worked at EA back in 2007, and the company makes the pay scale by position transparent to employees; the 2014 survey results line up pretty well with the EA standard pay scale.

Rockstar was not so open regarding standard pay scales, but I found out enough to know that it was pretty close as well. Programmers > Artists > Designers. Leads of course get a significant increase, and general work/life experience as well. I made significantly more than a couple of other first time designers who started around the same time -- but I was also a good 8-10 tears older and had several years of programming experience outside the industry.

Note that I said "skilled programmers" -- entry level programmers don't get paid that much. I suppose they could be considered "code monkeys." Senior software engineers with 10+ years of experience can command six figures and should never be referred to as monkeys. These guys are very difficult to replace.

Junior artists can often earn more than junior programmers, but the salary cap for experienced programmers tends to be higher.

Art is well-suited to being outsourced or created by contractors; when you cycle through programmers you lose a lot of valuable knowledge and experience and it takes longer for new programmers to get up to speed.

 

[Keldryn]

https://unity3d.com/learn/tutorials

 

[Chris Avelltwo]

Programming is boring and you'll spend your entire life doing it unless you have a massive team to help you. Just look how long it took Cleve to make Grimoire, or how long it is taking Toady to make Dwarf Fortress. If you do it solo its going to take pretty much your entire life just for a single game. If you're willing to invest your life into it then by all means go ahead, but a more sensible way to make games is as part of a crew where instead of a lifetime effort, it might be a few years effort instead, and then you can go on to make numerous games as part of a team.