Wanting to Make an Indie Wide-Open Sandbox Game?

Okay, I am in the process of writing a Wide-Open Sandbox game inspired by games like Grand Theft Auto and Saints Row only with a more anime-inspired look, but sadly, I know nothing of computer programming or game design, so nearly all of my contributions are "fluff", that is, storyline, characters, and concepts.

I don't want HD graphics or anything like that, although I don't want it to be 2D.

I know I could never have enough money to contact a major game company, but does anybody know of any Indie Developers to contact for such a game?

I think you'll be needing a more specific idea. We all want to have our game projects come true, but I'm afraid I'm as lost as you.

I suggest that you learn a tangible skill that you could use. When working on Turtles all the Way, as I am right now, I had to make use of my programming skill. You will have a very hard time getting anyone to help you if all you can do is story and writing.

Learn Perl for the basics.

Then, learn C++.

Why Perl? Python is way better.

And ideas alone are worth nothing. You won't get anyone to help you until you have a prototype you made yourself.

Ideas are a dime a dozen, what do you have to bring to the table for inspiring programmers, artists, ect? Not trying to be rude, but that's just the way it is in the world of game development.

Take the time to learn a skill, be it programming, art, or even music. I can't tell you how many indie artists/programmers will jump at a good musician, due to their rarity.

Polish up your idea. A GDD is a requirement for almost every game in existence (Although the actual form of said document may vary). And you need to learn the resources necessary to bring the project to fruition. At the very least learn an engine.

On top of what everyone else has said, read a book or two on the theories of the craft of game design (the Game Developer thread in this forum has a few posts with recommendations). Learn what a game design document is, and how to write one; learn to prototype on paper or a tabletop if you're not prepared to jump into code just yet (but in my experience you will have to touch code eventually). Figure out if your ideas are even feasible given the shoestring budget of most indie devs. Figure out what tools you could build it in. Etc, etc.

Thanks, these are all good ideas, and I will probably have to look these things up.

Any particular books that would be a good read?

I have a few ideas, and I know damn well I'll have to learn coding myself if they're ever going to be more than pie-in-the-sky dreams. Sounds like I do need to learn a fair bit about this GDD. Could be a good idea just to get my own ideas straightened out instead of a mish-mash of self-proclaimed cool ideas.

I do find myself wondering what to learn to code with to make the game. Go the easy route and use Flash or Game Maker, or get serious and learn a real programming language and make the game from scratch?

I'm a programmer, but I already have sort-of a project like this. If you want, check this out: http://www.sites.google.com/site/cmcomputerofficial/genesis

I'd like if you checked it out, but you don't have to. Also, Perl is my 3rd learned programming language. I don't use it though, Genesis is written in Python.

For a game design document, you generally start with the high concept, where you sum the game up in once sentence. In your case, it would be "A Grand Theft Auto inspired Wide-Open Sandbox with anime-styled graphics". From there, you describe each aspect of the game in more detail. So, you would have a section describing the the gampeplay and key features, a section describing the story and what the game is about, a section for characters, levels, any concept art you may have anything else that needs describing. Someone reading the design document should be able to get a good idea of what the game is like before a single line of code is written.

Also, this is a really good book on game design that does a great job explaining all the different aspects of game design. It goes over the considerations for different genres, how the business side of the industry works, wisdom from people have worked on all sorts of games, and it explains design documents much better than I ever could. I definitly reccomend it.

edited 28th Jul '12 6:39:37 AM by cfive

This is maybe the best games design book I've read so far. The GDC Vault is a great website for developers of all sorts, having a free section with all sorts of great presentations from many Game Developer's Conferences.

Regarding Wide-open sandbox games, I suggest checking out the Quicksand Box trope to avoid one of the common pitfalls of the genre. I also heartily suggest _not_ starting a games career trying to make one of these! Have a go at something far smaller in scope so you can see it through to the end. And ditto for the advice that you simply cannot supply ideas - everyone in the industry is hugely creative and they all want their ideas to go in. You need to bring something to the table.

edited 29th Jul '12 1:52:31 PM by betaalpha