Game Design is the practice of creating and balancing systems and the mechanics which the player uses to affect those systems. This is not to be used for programming questions about the "design" of features, engines, etc.
20
votes
3answers
455 views
How to break the feeling of busywork in a game
I don't know if this topic has been explored before but in a handful of games I've played there comes a point where trying to explore everything, doing sidequests, or even trying to get gear starts ...
6
votes
3answers
100 views
What's a good alternative to colored tiles to account for color blindness?
I have a game with tiles. Each tile is a number, and each number is one of six colors. The color is important to the game play, and I want to make the game available to those who are color blind.
...
-1
votes
1answer
51 views
Get distance between the edge of screen and a moving sprite
How to get the distance between the edge of the screen and a vector moving sprite? I want to get the distance between my moving sprite and the edge of the screen so that when my sprite touches the ...
110
votes
30answers
7k views
How to prevent the “Too awesome to use” syndrome
When you give the player a rare but powerful item which can only be used once but is never really required to proceed, most players will not use it at all, because they are waiting for the perfect ...
0
votes
3answers
256 views
How do I approximate the result of battle between two armies with known strengths?
I need a simple algorithm to calculate the outcome of two differently sized armies battling.
Each army has 1-100 troops and every troop is the same value on the battlefield. The troops do not have ...
-4
votes
1answer
175 views
What does a typical game designer do every day? [duplicate]
I am doing a project in class and i need to know what a person in the game designing career does every day. I have been looking and i can not find anything. If you answer this that would be greatly ...
2
votes
2answers
100 views
Correct utilisation of gameloop (Android)
When using a gameloop like (much simplified)............
updateLogic();
render();
How does one perform 'single' operations? I mean, things like triggering sounds (which will only be played once), ...
1
vote
1answer
59 views
How can I use remote playtesters?
I'm working on a website for asynchronous two-player games (mostly board games); as part of the site's development I'm hoping to use it to playtest new games I design. The good news is that this ...
18
votes
8answers
914 views
Alternates to scratch damage to solve combat deadlocking
Scratch damage is a game mechanic whereby any successful attack always does some minimal amount of damage. This is often used in subtractive combat systems, where the defense is subtracted directly ...
1
vote
1answer
90 views
How to handle a player's level and its consequent privileges?
I'm building a game similar to Mafia Wars where a player can do tasks for his gang and gain experience and thus advancing his level.
The game is built using PHP and a Mysql database.
In the game I ...
-1
votes
1answer
85 views
Specifying 3D objects in a game [closed]
I have hands on experience in OpenGLES 2.0 , OpenGL and wish to apply the same in a 3D game development in Android.
My idea is to develop a Combat game having fighter planes. I am trying to create a ...
-4
votes
1answer
51 views
Game logic questions [closed]
I am writing a platform game in java that is based on minecraft, and i was wondering about what people thought about certain features of the game.
When two enemys collide what should happen
When you ...
-1
votes
1answer
90 views
Game programming books? [closed]
I need a book that's beneficial for me and not something that contains what i have already read.
I have a strong maths,physics background and I have good c++ programming skills
and i want to start ...
0
votes
1answer
142 views
Real cash gambling app
I am making a cash game like deal or no deal for use as an android app, using adobe software.
The idea is player wagers 50 pence through Paypal plays the game wins, say, £10 pounds and then cash out.
...
-1
votes
0answers
63 views
Best Gamedev book for jmonkey engine [closed]
I want to start using the Jmonkey Engine to make a game but I want to learn some theory first. I am NOT interested in marketing or creating a story. I basically want to know which book would tell me ...
0
votes
0answers
31 views
Getting direction of mouse from the middle - slick2d [duplicate]
I need to find the direction of the mouse from the centerpoint, i need it to return a direction e.g. north, south, northwest, southeast and so on
how would one go about doing that in java
ps. to ...
0
votes
2answers
185 views
What beginner level game should I practice developing that has all the basics of game development? [duplicate]
I am a fresh graduate of Computer Science and am very nervoud for my skills test next week. So I have only about 4 days left till the exam and I really want that job which is game development.
They ...
12
votes
6answers
863 views
Are hidden stats a good idea?
I'm thinking of and RPG, FPS or a turn based game (does not really matter), where the player does not know his character(s) exact stats. Of course they exist as random variables of normal distribution ...
0
votes
2answers
71 views
Sprites: Are there any tools to scale sprites individually without using Photoshop/GIMP? [closed]
I am using TexturePacker as tool to pack my 2D sprites, it is good but it doesn't provide the possibility to scale individual sprites to a specific scale.
I am wondering whether there is any good ...
2
votes
3answers
123 views
Generate slot combinations
How do you generate combinations in slots to achieve a wanted probability of the user winning?
Say, you decide that he should win $200. How do you generate combinations that'll cause winnings ...
4
votes
3answers
234 views
Is it worth having AI opponents step in for disconnected players in an online multiplayer card game
I have an online multiplayer card game resembling spades/bridge and I want to implement a system that autoplays when a client disconnects. Right now, there is a client and server. In the new system, ...
4
votes
1answer
181 views
How to develop multi-player game without involving server side code?
There have been lot of cloud based frameworks released in past few years. They provide real-time communication among users but does not allow developers to write server side code.
So, how can we use ...
5
votes
2answers
316 views
Java 2D game programming: Different approaches to make a game loop
I am new to Java game programming, but the more I read the more I'm confused, because I've seen several different approaches to make a game loop:
1. The standard approach, that uses the Timer class ...
4
votes
4answers
203 views
Storing data for a pokemon like game
The game I'm developing is close to Pokemon. How should I store the data? I am currently thinking of text files where I save the map and have a corresponding textfile for the trainers and their teams ...
6
votes
2answers
158 views
What to do with old data?
I have a game - virtual soccer manager. It is browser based game. It is split into 'seasons' each of them takes around a half of a real year. The central game element is a soccer match, each team ...
7
votes
4answers
476 views
Simultaneous game states
I think I understand the basic idea behind a Finite State Machine-based game loop. But I'm trying to write a little game in which the same object can simultaneously be in multiple, independent states. ...
3
votes
2answers
249 views
How to write a good functional spec for a game?
I am basically (shamelessly) copying a question that has appeared on SO few years ago. The answers are good, but I would like to get more on this topic, so I'm trying a more specialized subreddit ...
4
votes
1answer
122 views
Where can I find the full game list of Game Design Challenge on GDC? [closed]
The GDC Game Design Challenge is very interesting, the event gives designers the opportunity to display their amazing creativity.
When I searched for the old events I could only find articles which ...
57
votes
6answers
2k views
How to deal with (bad?) player suggestions
Every game which builds a community while still being in active development will soon be confronted with players who post suggestions for new features on its forum. Most of these suggestions, however:
...
-1
votes
1answer
50 views
How to Fix Some Portion of bound camera?
I want to add Progress bar with my game to display life of player but when i move down through DigitalOnScreen Control the black bar that i want to display is not displayed there. I want to display ...
1
vote
0answers
53 views
Paylines and Pay dots in Slot Game
I'm working on a HTML5 slot game and completely stuck on the pay lines and the dots that produce the lines from 1 end to the other.
Can someone tell me what's the logic behind generating random ...
4
votes
3answers
388 views
What game mechanic can I use to show that the player character is bored?
I'm designing a part in my game where the player must notice that his character feels bored about a certain mundane task he is doing, without being boring for the player.
By observing the game ...
8
votes
2answers
246 views
100 points between 0-1000 on an increasing scale
Basically, it's for roleplay, I need to generate 100 points along a scale. Level 1 is the starting amount, and is at point 0 on the scale. Level 100 is the highest amount planned at this point, and it ...
-1
votes
1answer
98 views
How to go about front end UI to main Game Engine and then to Game Over Phase [closed]
I am about to complete my first ever game. I have used Qt for windowing and OpenGL for actual game logic. I am confused about .. things which are related to design so according to FAQ, these kinda ...
0
votes
2answers
61 views
multi user web game with scheduled processing?
I have an idea for a game which I am in the process of designing, but I am struggling to establish if the way I plan to implement it is possible.
The game is a text based sports management ...
2
votes
0answers
76 views
Looking for ios game design management document template [closed]
i am looking for ios game design/development management document template in order to break down my work flow and structure.
0
votes
1answer
107 views
Rendering a simple game and multiple simple geometry [closed]
For a while I have been looking to create a simple 2D game, but I have been lacking in time to create such a thing, recently I have had more time to purse that.
I have been working my way though some ...
10
votes
1answer
372 views
Decision Tree vs Behavior Tree
What are some differences between Decision Trees and Behavior Trees for AI Game Development? When would you use one over the other?
6
votes
2answers
271 views
How can I handle a bunch of achievements in a game? [duplicate]
Take for example Team Fortress 2. There are a huge load of achievements, and I'm wondering how the manages all of them. And since there's a lot of achievements, I'd also like to know how it "knows" ...
12
votes
2answers
316 views
Scrambling word into least recognizable form
My goal is to present the player with a scrambled word that should be reordered back into the original form:
OELHL --> HELLO
I want a scrambling algorithm that takes any given word(>3or4 letters, ...
0
votes
1answer
71 views
How do I check for non tilted 2D rectangle collision?
I'm trying to find out how to check collision with different rectangles. Now the cubes I have have a x, y, height, and width to them.
So it might look like this on the screen:
And not like this:
...
0
votes
1answer
82 views
Android activities, when to use them?
I'm getting back into programming my game and I can see that I've used activities for so many things. I only have one with a custom-view (my actual game), the others are activities with XML-views, ...
-6
votes
1answer
70 views
Android Game an [closed]
I want to develop an android game (3D/2D).. and I don't have any knowledge about android app development. So can you suggest some helpful and understandable resources like video tutorials or head ...
0
votes
3answers
293 views
Starting out - should I make complete games or just play around? [closed]
While starting out, I made clones of some arcade games (Tic tac toe, Pong, Snake, Tankwars, Breakout, Tetris, etc). Most of these games had just had the gameplay, I didn't code any of the starting ...
0
votes
1answer
161 views
What concepts are there for interactive water?
I want water to be a gameplay object in my game. The player should be able to take in in a bucket and tip it out somewhere in the world. Water should flow in some way so that it can be used to build ...
1
vote
2answers
151 views
Regarding physics engines and the GPU
The rigid body physics engines that use a "bounding box" for collision detection, I am aware of how they are created.
What I want to know is, is there a physics engine that does not use "bounding ...
0
votes
5answers
306 views
Should my platformer have collectibles? [closed]
By collectibles, I mean objects that you collect mainly for the sake of collecting them, not to power up. Think coins in Super Mario or bandages in Super Meat Boy.
I've seen a few platformers that do ...
0
votes
1answer
75 views
Using buttons on Smartphone shooter games
Just a simple and probably stupid question.
I noticed that many iOS and Android shooter games tend to avoid using traditional buttons in favour to autofire.
The very first reason to do so is to ...
4
votes
1answer
93 views
Handling Different Aspect Ratios for a Multiplayer Game
I'm currently designing a competitive 2D, side-scrolling multiplayer game and I want support full screen play at any aspect ratio (e.g., 4:3, 5:4, 16:10, 16:9). Doing that is not so much a problem, my ...
0
votes
0answers
44 views
Shooter enemies spawning without editor on iOS
I have found this question with some very brilliant answers. I really like the "distance from bottom of the screen" spawning approach and the fact that the enemies flow can be easily visualized on an ...
