The DO's, and DONT's, of Game Making, A list of things to add or avoid 4 games

Lately some of the games here have been a bit in the lower quality range, for many reasons. So, I decided to make this thread to show people a bit of what gamers want, and what they don't want.
Guys you know what i'm talking about.
So here are some of the DO's and DONT's of Game Making, and this topic was made to be built upon, so feel free to contribute.

DO stands for Digitalized Objectives, in other words, Priorities that you should make sure you have in your game.

DONT stands for Dude, Obliverate it and Never Try again, in other words, Things to make sure you avoid, and if it's in your game, get rid of it and never think about re-trying it again.

Or, instead of abreviations, we can just say Do's and Don'ts because that works to.





Group 1 : Things to improve presentation


Do's and Don'ts for : Planning
So, i'm going to make a new game. I'm kind of lazy, so i'll just make it up as I go. I don't know who will be the main character or how it will play, but we'll see what happens- DAMNIT. THAT IS HOW SO MANY GAMES ARE LOST. Really, if your going to make a game, at least make sure it's good before starting.

Do:

1. Ask others about your idea before starting. You may think it's good, but usually since your so confident you never realise others may not think so.

Don't:

1. Don't ask others to make your game for you. At least put effort into your game. People hate it when you put NO effort into your Fangame and you are asking others to make it for you. If you want a Dev Team, that's fine, but dont have them do all the work. Do at least part of the work so the others in your Dev Team dont feel like you are forcing all the work upon them.


Do's and Don'ts for : Graphics
Graphics and how good they are all depend on a persons opinion, but there are always things that are just given when it comes to them. Unfortunatly, some people don't seem to care about these rules. So why don't you read a few of these tips and even tricks as to how to make your game less of an eyesore and more of a masterpiece.

Do:

1. Animate sprites Correctly, Don't use Half animation's EVER.

2. Do have clean lineart. There are few things that you can say that makes sprites bad, crappy lineart that makes the characters look like a mess is one of them.

3. Always have a defined light sourse. That means that where there is highlights, they should always be facing the direction of the light source. So if the hand is highlighted to the left, the leg shouldn't be highlighted to the right.


Don't:

1. Don't use sprites that clash. I think that's rather obvious.

2. Don't use over stretched bacgrounds or sprites.

3. DON'T PILLOW SHADE. EVER. IT IS NOT AN ARTISTIC STATEMENT, IT IS UGLY!

4. Make sure you putt the "Hot spot" in the right place for the animation.
Even if you use the correct frames, a hotspot out of place could still ruin the whole animation.

5. Never use gradiants or pillow shading ( Like mentioned above) both of these show lazyness, and use way to many colors, and they just look... Bleagh.

6. Don't strech sprites, resize them properly (for example, to double a sprite's size, right-click and select "stretch/skew" then select height and width to 200% in game maker, set the sprite's quality to it's lowest setting before resizing.)

7. Don't use a standing sprite in a running animation unless the standing sprite doubles as part of the running animation (example: Super Mario Bros. 3 Mario sprites)



Do's and Don'ts for : Sounds
Sounds and music arn't needed for a game, but it makes the game feel so much more complete and it makes it look like you put more effort into your game. Besides, who want's to play a game without sounds or music? Don't you want to beat the final boss while listening to music or epic proportions?

Do:

1. - Equalize your sound effects. You don't need any fancy programs to do this, just use something like Window's default Sound Recorder to increase or decrease the volume of your sound effects so that they all stay around the same volume range. There's nothing worse than having the coin collecting sound so silent you have to strain to hear it, followed by a high-decibel jump sound that leaves your player suddenly freaked out. Alternatively, if you're too damn lazy to do that, you can just find sound effects that stay in the same range.


Don't:

1. Don't use low-quality MIDIs. Some sound fine, but using one that rapes ears is NOT a good idea.

2. Do not use corny sound effects that don't match the character, sprites or game.


Do's and Don'ts for : Level Design
Let me ask you something, how good does a game sound when it has amazing music, sounds, graphics, gameplay and script? It sounds amazing- Wait! What's wrong? The level desgin sucks! Being to repetetive with level design is not cool, and if you never add any twists or gimmicks players will get bored real fast. Make sure that you have good level desgin - Or everything else in your game won't matter.

Do:

1. Put health before a big boss fight. If you are beaten down to one HP or life or whatever, it is nice to get powered up for the big guy, plus maybe save so if you lose, you can start from there.

2. Use scenery Variations. Like one world is Grassland, Desert, Ice...

3. Make the locations and environments not only varied, but prominent in the level design. What I mean is if the world you are at is jungle-themed, then the level design would be more fitting if the level were to be, say, "tall", or "muddy". Always take the environment to your advantage when it comes to level design.

4. Always try to make challenging ways to finish the level. If in the first level, a sign told you how to fly over a cave of koopas, try using that throughout that world of levels. One trick ponies should be avoided, especially if they are challenging or fun enough for the player to enjoy.

5. More than anything, develop a good-feeling engine. No one would play Cheetahmen 2 even if there were a thousand trophies to unlock. If a game plays nicely enough, people will come back to it even if there's nothing more to do. Case in point: Mario 64.


Don't:

1. Do not put too many or too little powerups. If you put too many powerups, the game will become incredibly easy. If too little are put, the game will become incredibly hard.

2. Don't repeatedly use the same trick over the course of the game. AKA. Don't make too many rooms that involve a puzzle where you click buttons to make certain blocks solid and unsolid.

3. Never make the player feel "stuck", make the player feel free. For example: if the player enters an area, make sure he can go back, or the player will feel abandoned and constrained. By "free" I don't mean "free" as in open, but "free" as in the player feels like he can go anywhere he wants to. If you have a small tunnel one block tall thick, make sure the player can reach all ledges and overhangs easily, and return easily aswell. In fact, the only thing in a game that should be difficult to avoid are the enemies or obstacles, nothing else.

4. Don't use "leaps of faith" as a difficulty, which means jumping across gaps that you can barely make or having them fall down to an unkown area. No one likes these.

5. Do not make areas with billions of objects that harm your charector, like a pit surrounded by enemies and spikes. Also, do not make incredibly long pits with just a small, cruddy bridge to go across.

6. NEVER make the level too short or too long. If your game has too many long levels, it may become a bit tiring and boring- UNLESS you have plenty of checkpoints so that you do not have to restart the whole level if you die.

7. Don't tack it on. Adding a high score screen at the end of your game doesn't make it any more replayable. High scores are specifically a cheap way to boost replay value, because unless there's a very compelling scoring system, people usually won't replay a game just to beat their old records.

Do's and Don'ts for : Script
Script can mean players talking, signs that show the way, and even the stroyline. Good script is a good thing to have, it gives the player a [i]reason to press forward because they want to know what happens next. So, how can you think of these kind of things? Look at the tips below and see if you can think up something for your game.[/i]

Do:


Don't:


Do's and Don'ts for : Replayability
Wow! That was an amazing game. Too bad it's over, oh well, that was truely amazing. Then you walk away and never pick it up again. Why? Because it's linear, it only focuses on one thing, no extra's, no minigames, no side-quests. No matter how good the storyline or game is, without the things listed below once you finish it, you probrably won't come back.

Do:

1. Unlockable characters, stages, items, etc. Perferably ones that give you a special ability and allow you to do more than you could before.


Don't:





Group 2 : Specific Genre Tips and Tricks





Do's and Don'ts for : Classics
Remaking a famous atari game, or any classic that you think was amazing at the time and still is? Or perhaps your making your own original game made to look like an old Atari/Arcade/Blah game. Either way, here are some tips and advice for Classics.

Do:


Don't:


Do's and Don'ts for : 3D
Making a 3D game is tough, but making a good 3D game is even tougher. Well, when it comes to programs like TGF and GM. But here is some helpful advice for making 3-Dimensional games.

Do:


Don't:


Do's and Don'ts for : Racing
Racing down the speedway, passing all oponnents like they were nothing, finishing a race in less than a minute, sounds so fun- No, wait no it doesn't! Racing games are boring without interesting courses, tough opponents and alot of secrets and shortcuts. So if your making a racing game, and it sounds like that, then look below to see how you might be able to make it better.

Do:


Don't:


Do's and Don'ts for : Minigames
Ha! I just pushed off the last enemy, I win! Okay, whats the next minigame... WHAT? Thats the excact same as the last one, except with differn't courses and a differen't vehicle! Minigames are fun, but only if they are all original and addictive. Make sure they're like that, or else... Well, no body will play.

Do:


Don't:


Do's and Don'ts for : Mystery
Wow this dark tunnel sure is creepy. Even though it's been like this for like, 8 rooms. Hey a door- oh there's a body inside. Well that would suprise me if thats not what [i]EVERY ****ING DOOR IN THIS GAME CONTAINS! Wow, he's pissed. Why? Because this mystery isn't the least bit Myterious or even scary. Look at the tips below to see if you learn abit about this murder mystery- Actually don't, because that theme is overused.[/i]

Do:

1. Add some form of suspense.

2. Put suprises at every corner



Don't:

1. Make a suspect (if only one exists) VERY conspicuous! make sure it'll be hard to find the culprit.

Do's and Don'ts for : War
Die die die, respawn respawn respawn, grab weapon grab weapon grab weapon, ammo ammo ammo, shoot shoot shoot, hit hit hit, kill kill kill, die die die- It repeats. But it only repeats in War games that didn't have alot of twists or suprises in it. Looks below to see what kind of twists and suprises gamers like to see.

Do:


Don't:


Do's and Don'ts for : Puzzle
Okay, passed that room, what kind of amazing puzzle will be here- Oh, great. I know how to do this one, it's so obvious. *Finished* onto the next room, which will surely be- DAMNIT! The moral of the story is that puzzles arn't supposed to be easy, they're supposed to make your brain hurt, and make you beg for the answer but not get one until you figure it out yourself. But, sometimes the programmers can't figure out himself how to be original like that. SO LEARN, LAZY ASS.

Do:

1. Have variety in the puzzles you make, and make sure that when the players figure it out, they either feel good since they spent alot of time on it, or they think to themselves "Wow, I would have never though of doing that!".


Don't:

1. Make the puzzles too hard or easy. You want the players to think, that's why it's called a puzzle.


Do's and Don'ts for : Side Scrolling Shooters
There games sure have been around for a long time, and most of theme are good. But what makes them? Lots of weapons, enemies, levels and ships to choose from. But that's not all, what else is there? Look below to se if there's something there you didn't think of.

Do:

1. Have variety in enemies. If the only thing that changes between enemies are colors and shooting speeds, it's not really that exciting.

2. Try to have a boss at the end pf a level. This is more of a opinion, but usually players will want some kind of exciting thing to happen at the end of a level.

Don't:


Do's and Don'ts for : RPG's
RPG's - Role Plaing Games - Are games where you can gain items and expirience points by defeating enemies. It sounds fun, but here's where it can go wrong. If you just have a simple RPG, it may go like this-
Kill enemy, Get Items, Repeat about 20 times, Get Better weapons, Get Better Armor, Kill Stronger Enemy, Get better items, Repeat 40 Times, Get even better weapons, Better Armore, Kill Harder enemies- see where i'm going with this? Avoid making that happen, and look at a few tips from players to find out how to avoid those things.

Do:

1. MAKE INTERESTING CHARACTERS! If you have characters that are extremly boring (eg. Hi, I'm Bob, and I am a character with no feelings, emotions, opinions, or anything else that makes me unique!), the game will get old quickly and will never grow on ya.

2. Make a wide range of personalities among the main characters.

3. NPC's are a must have for RPG's. If the whole place doesn't have them, how will there be shops, bars, skill trainers, or anything? Plus, side quests and tips are usually given out by NPC's.


Don't:

1. Do not use the same storyline for Every. Single. Chapter. It gets extremly boring, and you'll expect the same thing for every chapter/whatever, thus making the entire game more of a minigame.

2. Give personalities that are too similar to an already existing person.

3. Don't make leveling up to easy or to hard.

4. Don't make all the enemies so close to each other, this will reduce grinding, which can kind of ruin an RPG since then you'll always be 30 levels ahead of your opponents and bosses.





Group 3 : Fangames and Original games





Do's and Don'ts for : Fan Games
When making fangames, whether it be Mario, Zelda, Kirby, Metroid, or any other series, you need to make sure you stay true to the series and make sure you do, and steer clear of, the following:

Do:


Don't:


Do's and Don'ts for : Oringinal Games
When making oringinal games, you need to make sure you really are original and make sure you do, and steer clear of, the following:

Do:

1. Make sure your "Character" is not just a recolor or a minor edit, this goes the same for stroyline, script, level design, and anything else. Even if you thought it was original and you've never heard of "So and so series" if others think you ripped something off, there's no changing minds. So it's best to think about everything before creating.


Don't:

1. DO NOT RIP OFF OF OTHER GAMES! If you're making a game about a worm with a hammer on it's tail, don't, please don't make it a ripoff of Mario, I mean, it just won't feel right. This goes for anything else, if you decide to make a game about a frog that can sing, do NOT rip off of Tetris, LoZ, Yoshi, you name it! It won't feel right at all.


Do's and Don'ts for : Mixing Series
If you ever had the idea of making a fangame where many characters from differen't series collide, some things can turn people off. And some things do the opposite. Find out which is which and look at the tips below.

Do:

1. Make sure you keep the characters true to their gameplay type! If you are playing a mixed fangame, and you start out as Mario and then turn to Link, you'd probally expect to change gameplay type, too, right? Well do it! I know it's frustrating to program, but doing so will add greatly to the gaming experience.


Don't:



So uh, yeah, go ahead MFGG, help newbies.
Contribute.

Note : Of course you don't have to add something to every topic, it can be one topic or two, one tip or three, 2 groups or all of them- all up to you and whther or not you give a crap.

This post has been edited by mamaluigi on May 4 2008, 06:17 PM

Don't for sounds:
Use low-quality MIDIs. Some sound fine, but using one that rapes ears != good idea.

Don't for Graphics:
Don't use sprites that clash. I think that's rather obvious.

Don't for Level Design:
Don't repeatedly use the same trick over the course of the game. AKA. Don't make too many rooms that involve a puzzle where you click buttons to make certain blocks solid and unsolid.

Do's for Mystery:
1. Add some form of suspense.
2. Put suprises at every corner

Don'ts for Mystery:
1. Make a suspect (if only one exists) VERY conspicuous! make sure it'll be hard to find the culprit.

Sounds:


- Equalize your sound effects. You don't need any fancy programs to do this, just use something like Window's default Sound Recorder to increase or decrease the volume of your sound effects so that they all stay around the same volume range. There's nothing worse than having the coin collecting sound so silent you have to strain to hear it, followed by a high-decibel jump sound that leaves your player suddenly freaked out. Alternatively, if you're too damn lazy to do that, you can just find sound effects that stay in the same range.

DO: for Replayablity

Unlockable characters, stages, items, etc. Perferably ones that give you a special ability and allow you to do more than you could before.

This post has been edited by Elyk on May 4 2008, 12:42 AM

Expand upon that?
One word isn't excatly a tip, more of something to think about.

This post has been edited by mamaluigi on May 3 2008, 09:39 PM

Don't for replay value: Don't tack it on. Adding a high score screen at the end of your game doesn't make it any more replayable. High scores are specifically a cheap way to boost replay value, because unless there's a very compelling scoring system, people usually won't replay a game just to beat their old records.

Do for replay value: More than anything, develop a good-feeling engine. No one would play Cheetahmen 2 even if there were a thousand trophies to unlock. If a game plays nicely enough, people will come back to it even if there's nothing more to do. Case in point: Mario 64.

Group 1 is merely "In General", as in it applies to all games, right?

EDIT: Make the word "inconspicuously" instead of conspicuously. I made a mistake....

This post has been edited by Soiyeruda on May 4 2008, 01:37 AM

I have an Idea for a new Section: Planning. First Dont for Planning: Don't ask others to make your game for you. At least put effort into your game. People hate it when you put NO effort into your Fangame and you are asking others to make it for you. If you want a Dev Team, that's fine, but dont have them do all the work. Do at least part of the work so the others in your Dev Team dont feel like you are forcing all the work upon them.

I think this topic deserves a Sticky, or a least a Mention in a Stickied Topic about Important Topics. :P

This post has been edited by OniLink10 on May 4 2008, 01:45 AM

Don't for level design: Never make the player feel "stuck", make the player feel free. For example: if the player enters an area, make sure he can go back, or the player will feel abandoned and constrained. By "free" I don't mean "free" as in open, but "free" as in the player feels like he can go anywhere he wants to. If you have a small tunnel one block tall thick, make sure the player can reach all ledges and overhangs easily, and return easily aswell. In fact, the only thing in a game that should be difficult to avoid are the enemies or obstacles, nothing else.

Do for level design: Make the locations and environments not only varied, but prominent in the level design. What I mean is if the world you are at is jungle-themed, then the level design would be more fitting if the level were to be, say, "tall", or "muddy". Always take the environment to your advantage when it comes to level design.

Do for RPG:
MAKE INTERESTING CHARACTERS! If you have characters that are extremly boring (eg. Hi, I'm Bob, and I am a character with no feelings, emotions, opinions, or anything else that makes me unique!), the game will get old quickly and will never grow on ya.

Don't for RPG:
Do not use the same storyline for Every. Single. Chapter. It gets extremly boring, and you'll expect the same thing for every chapter/whatever, thus making the entire game more of a minigame.


Do for Level Design:
Put health before a big boss fight. If you are beaten down to one HP or life or whatever, it is nice to get powered up for the big guy, plus maybe save so if you lose, you can start from there.

Don't for Level Design:
Do not put too many or too little powerups. If you put too many powerups, the game will become incredibly easy. If too little are put, the game will become incredibly hard.


Do for Mixed Fangame:
Make sure you keep the characters true to their gameplay type! If you are playing a mixed fangame, and you start out as Mario and then turn to Link, you'd probally expect to change gameplay type, too, right? Well do it! I know it's frustrating to program, but doing so will add greatly to the gaming experience.

Don't for Origional Games:
DO NOT RIP OFF OF OTHER GAMES! If you're making a game about a worm with a hammer on it's tail, don't, please don't make it a ripoff of Mario, I mean, it just won't feel right. This goes for anything else, if you decide to make a game about a frog that can sing, do NOT rip off of Tetris, LoZ, Yoshi, you name it! It won't feel right at all.

This post has been edited by Project_MK on May 4 2008, 02:28 AM

Do for Level Design:
Use scenery Variations.Like one world is grassland,desert,ice.....

don'ts for Graphics:

animate sprites Corectly, Don't use Half animation's EVER.

Don't for graphics:

Don't use over stretched bacgrounds or sprites.

Don'ts for sound:

Use the same music for every level.




This post has been edited by sonic_luigi15 on May 4 2008, 07:00 AM

I edited my other post and-

DON'T for Level Design- Don't use "leaps of faith" as a difficulty, which means jumping across gaps that you can barely make or having them fall down to an unkown area. No one likes these.

Excellent, mamaluigi and contributors.

This topic is FAQed.

dos for sprites:
Do have clean lineart. There are few things that you can say that makes sprites bad, crappy lineart that makes the characters look like a mess is one of them.

Don'ts for spriting:
DON'T PILLOW SHADE. EVER. IT IS NOT AN ARTISTIC STATEMENT, IT IS UGLY!

K, updated with all of these.
This may end up better than I thought, and thanks, Guinea.

another thing,

make sure you putt the "Hot spot" in the right place for the animation.
even if you use the correct frames, a hotspot out of place could still ruin the whole animation.

Forgot this one.