A project in mind

[Mobile Suit Bunny]

Go for it. For once, I'd like to NOT be the person who volunteers to build the forum. I've built... 6 or 7 for different projects and groups and I'm tired of seeing them going down the drain.

Hey, I'll set it up and maintain the forum, it's up to other people to contribute (Well, I guess I can contribute a lil bit.)

Won't be home til tomorrow but it shouldn't take too long to throw together.

[Aaeden]

Go for it. For once, I'd like to NOT be the person who volunteers to build the forum. I've built... 6 or 7 for different projects and groups and I'm tired of seeing them going down the drain.

Hey, I'll set it up and maintain the forum, it's up to other people to contribute (Well, I guess I can contribute a lil bit.)

Won't be home til tomorrow but it shouldn't take too long to throw together.

Sounds awesome. Then we can get something whipped together as a general concept generation area so that we can get a plan to start taking shape and then working from there. Forgive my english, I'm at work and bored, so thoughts they not do come out right quite.

[Aaeden]

Just to garner a little bit of interest while the forum is built up, I figured I'd give a brief sketch of the types of games that each role can lend itself to, and the ones that would have less need for each role.

Writers
- Writers are essential in an RPG gaming environment.
- Writers are less significant in a tactical game, or something that needs a storyline and descriptions of items.
- Writers are of minimal use in something like an FPS, unless extensive amounts of dialog and plot development are involved. (Read: The game is longer and unique.)

Programmers
- Games of any style require programmers. Different programming experience lends itself to different games.
- OpenGL or visual programmers lend themselves to FPS environments, etc.

3D Artists
- Essential for FPS games, and sometimes tactical and isometric styled games.
- Not necessary for any 2D themed games.

2D Artists
- Essential for 2D themed games, and are still significantly useful for 3D games, for application by 3D artists.

Idea People
- Quite honestly, almost everybody is an idea person. Being just an idea person is something that usually requires another role.

Sound Engineers
- Essential for almost any game.

So basically, maybe we should figure out what kind of people we've got first before we decide what game to make? I mean, if we have 20 3D modelers, it would be smart not to make a 2D game. Ne?

[Alex]

I'd love to be part of this, perhaps assist with the sound engineering and programming areas. I would also enjoy being part of the story development if this project decides to take a swing in that direction.

Sounds neat! I'm all paws on board if you guys will have me 

[Aurifer]

Ben! I think the forum thing is your job!
We could shove it over where the arts/crafts and computer stuff is.


We will have to do some concept storming. Which species will be available? What kinds of things might the characters do?
Keep in mind the furry mentality. Cute and fun! A first-person shooter would be weak.

What makes a game?
-Character Design (3D rendering and stuff like that)
-Physics engine
-Storyboarding
-Logistics (menus, transitions, etc.)
-Graphic Design (logos, colours, etc.)
-Sounds
-Game Testers
-Programmers
-System Analysts and Designers
-Web design

If you're greatly skilled in any of the above areas, join up!
I'm good at testing for bugs, and I can build web-pages. I wouldn't dare pretend I was good enough at programming to develop the game. I can help with the logical design, though.

[Harle]

I'd love to see a furry RPG!

I do know how these community projects often go, though. I don't think I've ever seen a community project from scratch ever really work out, sadly. Things usually start off with good intentions, but people get bored or don't have time, etcetera.

I've seen lots of community mods work, though. So mayhaps that might be a good route to consider. It helps having a game that pretty much 'works' right off the bat, so people can experience what's going on with it at any given time.

Of course, figuring out what game to mod would be an issue.

Anyway, I'd be happy to help. I have a lot of interest in casual game design theory(regular reader of www.gamasutra.com), I took a year of programming in college(not that I can program anything useful, but I do at least have a working understanding of the concepts), I love to write and work out story concepts and plots, I like to design game systems(figuring out balance and such), do level design(I have a small amount of 3D design experience in game engines), I have a limited familiarity with Maya(beginner experience), have some ability with making textures... basically, I've got a lot of minor experience with the stuff involved in making games, but very little professional experience. ;P The only thing I can do particularly well right off the bat is write and conceptualize. But knowing the nuts and bolts of game design offhand is helpful.

I was originally going to try to go into the game development industry, before I realized that I didn't want to code. =P

Anyway, I'm curious to see where this goes.

[atoma]

There is not only FPS's and RPG's!

What about Battle-Racing (à-la Mario Kart) involving RPG elements?

Having 2 sound engineers can really help. I've been alone in a project before and it's way too much weight.

I'm specialized in Music by the way

[Kell]

Also... why is a bunny the first to bring up porn? i find that insulting... funny, true, and insulting!

[Harle]

Simpler genres could be fun, and to some extent, easier to actually create(though that kinda depends on the route you go).

But a part of me thinks that if a bunch of furries get together to make a furry game, we should prolly go a step further than the non-furry game developers go when they make simple games with furry characters. Something like an RPG or an adventure game would let people tell a meaningful story with interesting characters, and include furry themes in serious ways that people outside the fandom never really see or care about.

We see that sort of thing in comics, and stories people write about characters, but I mean, who wouldn't want to play the part of one of those characters in a story like that? Instead of just a furry character in a platformer or what have you, where you could substitute in any character and the game wouldn't really lose anything for it(well, maybe to some of us!)

Yeah there's a lot of talented furs, but we're also very creative and artistic, so why not try to produce a creative and artistic game? =)

But then, I'm slightly biased! So, just my perspective.

[PyroVulpes]

I have to agree with Harle here. While a battle racing type game would be fun, it would just end up being another game of it's genre, but with furry characters. An RPG type game, on the other hand, has a lot of potential to include more furry-ish elements. I'm not exactly sure how one would incorporate RPG elements into a battle racing game, but I know it's quite doable with FPS games. Might I suggest creating a total-conversion mod of either Morrowind or Oblivion?

[Harle]

An Oblivion mod came to mind, actually. And could work, though I admit I'm not totally sure how much leeway the Oblivion SDK actually gives. I think I'll look around and see what extent people have gone to in line with total conversions, just to see what's possible.

Personally, I'd like to see a furry game similar to the game The Longest Journey. It always struck me as pretty furry in spirit, if not form. Might be hard to make, but if it was done mostly with 2D background art and 3D characters, like a lot of adventure games, it would be well within the community's talents.

But that is me! I suspect others might be a bit more action oriented. ; )

[Mobile Suit Bunny]

No new board tonight, I'm on a mission to sort some other stuff out first. =)

[atoma]

I personally do not own Oblivion, but if we could make something online.

I think the whole concept is to be able to play with other furs around the world?

[Aaeden]

That would be a good place to start. Yeah, Oblivion would in no way be online roleplaying game tailored. Additionally, most online FPSes, while they may allow custom character models, they're actively discouraged. I mean, look at something like CounterStrike, you can dress up as whatever you like, but then it just means that everyone has to download it if they want to see it, unless things have changed since the last time I played.

Regardless, even without genre, an online game is something that's completely doable, but would require a little extra effort involved.

Would we want something that could be played in a browser? Something that would connect between several computers? Or something that would have a main server for gaming on? These are all new issues we need to address if we intend to do something global.

[atoma]

And we'd need to discuss all of those things in the new forum...

When will it be ready?

Also, A downloadable Client that connects to a Server should let us more freedom of development.

[Mobile Suit Bunny]

And we'd need to discuss all of those things in the new forum...

When will it be ready?

Also, A downloadable Client that connects to a Server should let us more freedom of development.

Yarr, sorry, been busy the past couple days. You'd figure I'd have learned to not volunteer for anything by now, but... -grumble-

I'm going to finish that off today.

edit: ok, well, that wasn't so bad. http://annex.servebbs.org

Yeah, I probably could have come up with a cooler dyndns name. I can always change it later. =P Barebones phpbb, gonna set up a few basic forums. Aaed, I can give you admin rights if you like, don't know how you want this organised. I'm all for clutter.

[Lycus]

Yah, i also like the switch from first to third person mode. It would give you a chance to fell in your character and let you engage what around you in 3rd person. Thing is, should it be present day, the futur or in the pass kind of theme? Anyways, im no computer genious but i do intend to learn how it works.

[Mobile Suit Bunny]

Alright, due to lack of traffic and some unfortunate technical difficulties (mah power supplies keep dying), project board is on hold for the moment. Don't have time to sort it as well as I'd like until the weekend.

[Aurifer]

Rule #1: Communicate! When we start building, we'll have to keep in touch with ideas and stuff, so don't forget about that.
(Myself, I was out for half a month...)

We should make a few polls. Some questions we might include are...
As a furry gamer, you prefer:
-Which genre? (Sports, Action, Adventure, RPG, FPS, etc)
-What mood? (Light and Cartoony, Serious, Dark)
-Characters and Stereotypes? (Would we have a cute fox and lonesome wolf and muscular bull and athletic leopard?)
-Magic and Tech? (Semitechnological with some magic, dark-ages with magic, futuristic tech with no magic?)

I'll repost with this, because I just can't wait for the new forum, and this is something that a wider audience should answer, too. The whole game will be shaped by the answers to these questions.

[Aaeden]

http://games.curvedperspective.com

New forum up. PHPBB3. Looks rather nifty, with a rather decent setup.

Feel free to let me know if you want admin access.

This is on a remote site that I find tremendously reliable. No downtime that I've ever experienced, and an enormous amount of storage space.

Go for it!