lipsum

Having played many AG's over the past 9 years or so, I now have an itch to create my very own game.

In general, my question is - where to start? Do you start with developing the basic idea into a story line, and then fleshing it out to become a game? How do you create interesting and logical puzzles?

Are there any step-by-step guidebooks on this subject? I read several articles and posts, but it left me more confused than before.

thanks for your kind help :-)

Trumgottist

I started with two main characters and a very basic plot idea. Then I created a document on my computer where I wrote down various ideas for puzzles, characters, settings and turns of plot.

After a while, I found that several of the ideas I'd written down didn't fit in the game I was making, so I moved those into another document.

That second document eventually evolved into my first adventure game, and the original idea is still waiting to be made.

How to create puzzles… For me, the creation of puzzles and plot went hand in hand. Initially, I only had a very vague idea for the plot, so I tried to think of obstacles for the hero to put in-between the start and the end. I found the ending most difficult to write, since that's when that approach didn't work any more. So the ending probably is the weakest part of my game.

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yodhe

I perhaps idiiotically put the cart before the horse, and made the game
engine before and as I developed the plot/game story.
In hindsight I wouldn't recommend this approach, and would definately
say get your ideas down onto paper first. As was impressed on me by
my scriptwriting teacher, and something I am only appreciating a few years
down the line, that you can almost also guarantee your first nine out of
ten ideas will be useless. However you generally have to get through these
ideas before you discover your own gems.
On the otherhand I have piles of unfinished projects that haven't got beyond
the storyboarding stage, and sometimes the best approach is to just wade
in at the deep end, and concentrate on producing something, and then sticking with it until it is finished.
I found playing an inordinate number of games, also helped to come up with
ideas of puzzles, as there is very rarely anything that is an original idea. Also look at the dynamics of boardgames is also very good to coming up with generalised puzzle ideas, and how different games take different approaches to similar mechanisms, such as collecting a specific set of objects, or getting
from A->B.
I have also found that the point of a game ultimately is to provide an enjoyable experience for the person playing it, and that one has to be careful not to simply punish players for not thinking like you do.... Whatever maybe obvious for you, maybe completely different for another person, and vica versa.

As to starting ideas, I personally find it easier to start with a genre/world scenario and develop the characters from there, and let the game unfold from the original premise.

MikaelS

Ï myself have played AG's whole my life and I have always wanted to create a game of my own.

I'm just finishing tutorials of Point&Click Development Kit http://www.adventure-creator.com/ and it doesn't seem too complicated when you put your heart on it with focus, and added boost of inspiration! I don't know if there are easier and better engines to create AG, but I stumbled upon this and so far looks good since I have zero experience in scripting.

I'll start with testing and such, trying different things so then I can put my 100% focus on game and story itself, rather than trying to learn mechanics and basics of creating it.

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lipsum

It seems that some amount of scripting is required for using adventure-creator, isn't it?

MikaelS

Yes it is, but there are also step-by-step tutorials that teaches you how to do it slowly and carefully starting from basics. Even I learned it now. Once you start get hang of it, it goes to your spine and I don't even have to look for "examples" much how to write certain scripts and making game is getting faster and faster. It might seem hard at start, but I you'll get it as long as you don't give up and keep practicing.

I have completed first two rooms, puzzles and some cutscenes for my game already. This is really fun and exciting write your own story, characters, add music and sound...wow, I've been spending all my freetime past couple of days just for this!

As my sense of humor is very very dark, will be one disturbing game though; should be age limit 18.

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Wormsie

Without knowing anything of Adventure Creator, I'm going to suggest a few other engines to you:
-AGS (especially good if you don't want to learn to script just yet)
-Wintermute
- Sludge
- Lassie

In order to create an adventure game... hmm.... you first need to have something to say in game-form. What kind of a story do you want to tell, and why does it suit a computer game? What kinds of elements do you want it to have? It helps if you've ever, say, watched a film you liked or read an article (scientific, war, different cultures, technology, relationships) that you thought was interesting and could be something you could use for a game (for example, Tim Schafer had taken a folklore class as an university student and eventually used Mexican folklore as a part of Grim Fandango). Something that gave you a sort of "wouldn't that be cool to have something like that in a computer game" -feeling.

It's good to take inspiration (or to but it more bluntly, steal) from games, movies, comics and books you like, but if you are thinking of, say, doing a game where the main character is a teenager who wants to become a pirate, well, that's been done so many time already.

I would even discourage ordinary puzzles you know from King's Quest or Monkey Island, especially using over and over again the "get me the scissors and I give you the item you have to use next to progress in the game"-puzzle. Instead solving the puzzles should somehow directly influence the story, and be related to it - for example, figuring out how to break into a police database and finding out information that is important to the main character there, instead of a puzzle that has nothing to do with the main plot and characters that also have nothing to do with the main plot. (I think there are exceptions to this general rule of mine and it always doesn't work, but I still think striving for this should be a priority for puzzle designers. And I hope I made sense. I tried to say the same things I intended to say here.)

This all from someone who hasn't succeeded in finishing his game design, so take it with any amount of salt you desire.

There are some interesting articles at http://www.adventuredevelopers.com as well as here at AG for example the following regarding puzzles:

http://www.adventuregamers.com/article/id,522
http://www.adventuregamers.com/article/id,469
http://www.adventuregamers.com/article/id,453
http://www.adventuregamers.com/article/id,564

There are also some interesting interviews of Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert and the likes around. But puzzle design, and creative writing, are, well, creative processes, so there can be no step-by-step guides either, I'm afraid.

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fruithead

I'd love to create a computer game. I'm a writer and have a few adventure game stories I'd love to see come to life. I know an artist I could employ too. Problem is, I'm no programmer. Isn't this the biggest hurdle? I can plan out the perfect game I want but how does someone with limit skills in the computer sciences department see their game come to fruition?

Giligan

I'm using Game Maker 6 for an adventure game I'm currently developing. Aside from a few optional applications, it needs no coding, it's extremely versatile, and has a click-and-drag interface. Most users make scrolling shooters or what have you with it, but it's completely possible to use it for an adventure game. It can be found at http://yoyogames.com.

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MikaelS

Read my post again. I myself had zero experience in computer science really and scripting. These game-engines you make the game with does most of the scripting, you just need to add some basic scripts which everyone can learn through tutorials et cetera. Once you get hang on it, you'll realize how it works just by using logic ( hey, that's kinda like PLAYING an AG...or something). And more popular engines have big communities, on which forums you can ask questions and help should you get stuck.

I am not the smartest person on earth, I was always an average student, I'm not a good reader and I'm horrible at math, but I still learned this, and didn't even have too much trouble. Motivation and inspiration plays key here.

I feel writing this game, designing puzzles, drawing graphics and characters...this all combined is such a terrific way to express yourself and put your imagination on true fruition. What a better way to tell a story than an adventure game? Good luck everyone!

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