• DABDA@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    The Chicken and the Pig

    The fable of the Chicken and the Pig is used to illustrate the differing levels of commitment from project stakeholders involved in a project. The basic fable runs:

    A Pig and a Chicken are walking down the road.
    The Chicken says: “Hey Pig, I was thinking we should open a restaurant!”
    Pig replies: “Hm, maybe, what would we call it?”
    The Chicken responds: “How about ‘ham-n-eggs’?”
    The Pig thinks for a moment and says: “No thanks. I’d be committed, but you’d only be involved.”

    • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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      2 months ago

      Damn, that’s a lot fucking darker than I’d thought it’d get on reading the title of the fable.

    • deweydecibel@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I know it’s not the point, but I love the completely arbitrary bit where they’re walking down a road together, and has absolutely no bearing on anything the happens.

  • recursive_recursion [they/them]@programming.dev
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    2 months ago

    As a software dev who’s participated in a couple of game jams and several group projects,

    • I’d say that anyone that claims to be a designer but has no programming experience is typically incompatible with any project
      • and it’s due to the disconnect of understanding just how difficult it can be to translate certain design tasks into functional code
    • Xavienth@lemmygrad.ml
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      2 months ago

      Not to mention that an idea is not a game, not even conceptually. There’s a reason it’s called game design and not game turn-idea-into-code.

    • Guru_Insights99@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      Hey there, champ! I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I’m afraid I have to disagree with your statement. Game development with effort or coding skills? Today I’m gonna show you how to do it without any effort, it’s like becoming an astronaut by watching the big bang theory!

      Let me break it down for you. You see, creating a video game is as easy as pie. Typically, you would use lines of code. But what if I told you that you can gather a bunch of random images from the internet, throw them into a a computer, and voila! You’ve got yourself the next “Call of Duty” blockbuster. Going by standards nowadays people will be lining up to buy your game, guaranteed!

      Who needs coding when you can just use a magic wand and poof your game is magically coded? Just like that! Forget the coding aspect of it, you can make a game effortless! How do I do this you ask me? Well, If you really want to master the art of game development without lifting a finger, I have the perfect solution for you. Introducing my revolutionary course: “Effortless Game Development Masterclass”! In this course, you’ll learn the ancient secrets of game creation without any pesky coding skills or effort required. You’ll be churning out awards winning games in no time, all while lounging on your couch and eating Cheetos. 😎😎👊 Dm me if you want more info for the affiliate link

    • CancerMancer@sh.itjust.works
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      2 months ago

      I got asked by a team of first timers who have never done any professional coding or design if I wanted to chip in on a competitive MMOFPS they want to make.

      That’s not going to happen. Between the rise of cheating, the insane hardware and optimization requirements of an MMOFPS, the general lack of interest in the genre (most have died due to low player counts), and the sheer amount of time and effort involved in designing and balancing the game even after it’s largely feature complete? Forget it, I’m better off buying lottery tickets than hoping for anything to come of that.

  • EmoDuck@sh.itjust.works
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    2 months ago

    There are probably a ton of incredible banger games out there that don’t exist because the person who thought of it just doesn’t know how to code

    • moog@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      “games out there that don’t exist” how high r u rn

          • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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            2 months ago

            Do it dude - if you’re passionate about building a rich simulation game then there’s a good chance you’ll create something awesome. We’ve seen huge successes with Dwarf Fortress and Rimworld - those sort of complex simulations can be both fun and dazzlingly interesting in terms of their emergent game play.

            It’s relatively simple to get started, just simulate one thing or render one simple 10x10 grid, and work your way up. Remember that video games take a lot of effort and set reasonable goals and milestones to recognize your progress… DF originally played on an, essentially, fixed map with no z-plane - wildlife was non-existent and sieges were just pre-planned events.

            If you have an idea in your soul go for it!

    • I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      You mean like an MMO where different maps are arranged in an infinite hexagonal pattern that’s randomly/procedurally generated based on different biomes, that also keeps track of how many players have entered/completed each hex and begins scaling down the difficulty in said hex and evolving it into a more peaceful zone, that way the higher traffic areas eventually form safe zones/towns for low level characters while low traffic areas encourage high level characters to visit and explore, with the highest level characters able to survive unexplored areas and expand the map for all players, all while having developer tools to specifically add unique dungeons/events/items directly to tiles so that the game doesnt feel a mile wide and an inch deep but instead as if the whole world map is alive and constantly changing?

      Yea… That’d be cool.

      • EmoDuck@sh.itjust.works
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        2 months ago

        Definitely some cool ideas there but how do you deal with the long term effect of the map becoming too big?

        The bigger the map the more the defs would need to stretch their resources to adding cool stuff.

        Also, at some point, the inner hexes will be essential all complete cleared and new players will have to wander for a while as soon as they level up a bit.

        Unlocking a new hex would be fun at the beginning but how fun will it be after 100+ have been unlocked and any more just will inevitably just feel same-y because even the best defs will eventually run out of ideas

    • Aceticon@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      The inability to detail the idea all the way down to the level were something concrete can be made from it kills it well before the lack of coding skills.

      It’s like what separates having an idea for a book and writting an actual book that is enjoyable to read: there is no “knowing how to code” barrier in there and yet most people can’t actually pull it off when they try or it ends up shallow and uninteresting.

    • phx@lemmy.ca
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      2 months ago

      This is actually one thing I’ve been thinking AI and deepfake tech can potentially do good. Let’s say you have an idea and can code… You have an idea for music but no instrumental talent, so the best you can do is hum it. You can’t afford voice actors or other professionals.

      Or maybe you’re artist with an idea who can storyboard but not code. Maybe you can make 2d designs but not 3D models, or aren’t great at animate.

      But… there is software that can take what you say and change it to a different voice. It can animate a model to match the words. Similarly, software that could generate instrumental sounds from humming is possible. An AI can generate interactive dialog. It could also provide assistance in the generation of music, debugging of code, and eventually more advanced 3D modeling.

      A lot of game design software is much more a GUI to an environment/model and triggers etc than stuff like writing hardcore backend C++ code etc. AI could take that even further.

      Then add VR. Drop somebody into a blank-slate where they can create a whole world with a word, a gesture, and a great idea.

      One day, that might be a reality.

    • fosho@lemmy.ca
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      2 months ago

      have you ever smoked weed? ideas are cheap - even ones that seem good. ACTUAL good ideas are only proven good when they are implemented AND become successful.

  • Actionschnils@feddit.de
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    2 months ago

    I once read an article about a guy, whos just doing this. He is selling gaming ideas to studios. But to be fair, he did develop some indie game by him self. He just realized, that he is not good in developing and the hates the whole programming and design part. He only has good ideas.

  • SuperSpruce@lemmy.zip
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    2 months ago

    I’ve had game and software ideas swirling around in my brain, but for the longest time I couldn’t program them. But now, I have enough knowledge to build parts of my grand deckbuilding game idea: An arcade style deckbuilding game with strong meta-progression. It’s playable at superspruce.org.

    As for some other ideas, including the simple idea of a weighted shuffle music playlist where each song has its own weight, they are still currently out of reach, mostly due to trying to access the filesystem and whatnot. Better than a month ago, where within the last month I found out how to make the browser play music

  • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
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    2 months ago

    Lol I was legit surprised to find it’s an actually written (satirical) article! The other ones had me rolling too, like John Cena coding “Banjo Threeie” LOL.

  • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
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    2 months ago

    i mean, provided you actually want to put in effort that’s called “being a game designer”, it’s perfectly valid to not write code or create assets.

    • ulkesh@beehaw.org
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      2 months ago

      Asking for and/or expecting unpaid volunteers is most definitely not valid.

      If he wants to pay them properly, then I would agree.

  • I Cast Fist@programming.dev
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    2 months ago

    Great idea, how about you describe it in so much minute details it bores your goddamn mind? Can’t do it? Sorry, then you’re not cut for being the idea guy, you’re fired.

    If the fucker can’t do the above, he’s what programmers call a client: an asshole who thinks too highly of himself and his ideas and will annoy everyone every time he changes the goals.

    • CaptDust@sh.itjust.works
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      2 months ago

      I can’t think of any FOSS games that would invite an idea guy to drive the project. They’re made of volunteers, sure, but FOSS game teams still expect tangible contributions. Otherwise it’s just another feature request and will get picked up if the team thinks it’s worth it.

      • Ephera@lemmy.ml
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        2 months ago

        More specifically with FOSS projects, whoever puts in the work makes the actual decisions.

        Like, if there’s a change that one person wants and the others actively disagree with (and it can’t be made configurable either), then that won’t happen.
        But usually, there’s hundreds of features that make sense in principle. And if someone scratches their own itch, i.e. implements the feature that they’re missing, then that obviously won’t be rejected, even if it’s not the most requested feature.

        So, yeah, such an idea guy would need really good ideas and present them so well, that others selfishly want to implement those ideas (and moreso than all their other ideas).