Hello everyone

I've been hobbying around in 3D game development and animation for 15 years or so. Very familiar with Blender, Unity, Unreal, and have currently been learning Godot.

I've come to the point where I really just want to stop learning and start "making". I'm pretty familiar with Python and I've been a SQL developer for a decade. Learning a language isn't what I'm afraid of, and I understand that I'll need to get familiar with LUA with Game Guru.

I'm looking to make mostly RPG fantasy/sci-fi type stuff. So a few questions:

1. Is there an inventory system in GG? If not, has anyone made one before?

2. How are cutscenes handled? I read something about "story zones". Is this something that simply allows you to add premade videos, or is it a tool where you can actually create animated cutscenes, and add audio, animations...etc? Like a cutscene studio?

I have my own home recording studio so music, sfx, voice overs...etc...that will be no issue, and something I'd like to add on my own.

3. Is there any sort of questing system/flow/logic...etc?

4. Is there any sort of character dialog system/flow/logic etc?

I really don't want to just make another COD clone. But...maybe a smaller scale Oblivion... or something like that. Maybe something like Deus Ex (dating myself here for sure LOL). Maybe a 4 player co-op dungeon crawl.

Is this a tool that can actually get me there? I'm 50 years old and have a full time job, wife and 3 kids. I can't devote myself to learning the complete in's and out's of a super complicated engine. I don't need it to have AAA graphics. I just want to make something with a beginning, middle and end. Making money on Steam isn't my main concern or point, but I'm not opposed to trying. But if that never happens, that's ok. I would like to make something my kids will like to play, but that doesn't suck LOL (I understand that's a relative term).

I've looked at Game Guru a few times, but I'm now seriously considering taking the plunge and buying it.

Thanks for any and all of your thoughts.

Emo

Howdy!

Welcome to the forums!



Not out of the box, but users like T-Bone have done some really decent work here. There are also some to work with available in the GCS store.



A story zone generally just plays a premade video. There is no way to create a cutscene in GG on the fly outside of intense LUA scripting. Even something like a back and forth dialogue between 2 chars would be a massive undertaking if done via LUA script so you should know this before you start a project. Personally, when I was working on my fantasy type game, I was relying on a text based multiple choice dialogue system.
However, users like Avenging Eagle have done some great cutscenes using GG assets in Video.



zero. You'd have to build it from the ground up or mix and match what is available on the store.
This is a good place to mention that game guru was initially envisioned as a sequel to fpscreator and dubbed "fpscreator: reloaded". Later on TGC shifted the focus on a universal platform...and granted, that is given with the LUA implementation but that also means that all the more advanced features (weapon handling, ragdoll, projectiles) are geared towards FPS games and everything else is currently bare bones at best.



well... see above. Also none. You'd also have to script it yourself or rely on what other community members have made. Stuff to get you started is here.



Sigh, I know you mean no ill will, but an FPS game is not a cod clone. Hell, this reminds me of the time in games journalism where some mags called even the original half life a "doom clone". My FPS releases harbour zero inspiration from COD.



That is very well possible but I strongly advise against an open world approach. A slightly more linear approach to a fantasy game like Dark Messiah, Drakan: Order of the Flame, Blade of Darkness or Arx Fatalis would be very well doable though. Without too much of a headache.



Haha, this community has members of all age groups. Deus Ex is one of my favorite games and while the immersive sim approach would be a scripting nightmare, I suppose its doable enough



Absolutely not. Sure, GG has bare bones features for most genres, but, in theory, you can do a lot for every possible game type in LUA but multiplayer is a whole different affair. Its barely working as deathmatch and certainly not up to custom game types. Njet.



Its an acquired taste. I think that puts it best. GG is a mess, its broken on many fronts and does not even have a serviceable lighting system. However, its ease of use on other fronts makes it quite endearing to a lot of us. Its not a workhorse in any way, shape or form and once you get deeper into customizing your game you will find a lot of it about as hard to learn as other, more prolific engines. You will face a lot of tinkering if you decide to go with it.

If you decide to stick with it though, you can join the discord to chat with other users in case you need help. Don't worry, its not a cesspool and among the best game dev chats I have ever been on: https://discord.gg/xnTAbBR

If you are still undecided I recommend browsing our work in progress board. It shows you what GG can do in the hands of users like you and me. Sadly, with the ease of use that comes with it, 90% of releases on steam are, pardon my french, vile putrid garbage...from hell



-Wolf

In that case, Game Guru is only going to be of use to you as a rapid-prototyping tool. Gameplay options are limited unless you script them yourself, lighting is more or less broken at the moment, optimisation is getting better but still not as good as the aforementioned engines. Honestly, for all the time it would take you to learn Game Guru's foibles and how to circumvent them, you'd be better off making your actual game in Unity - it will look better, run better, and you'll have way more control. The downside (I hear) is you don't have the same community spirit with Unity.

Ironically for a game with a busted lightmapper and half-baked implementation of PBR, I feel Game Guru is an artist's engine. Many of us got lured in by the promise of a code-free experience but ended up staying to have an outlet for our 3D modelling; often the most thriving board on this forum is not Work In Progress games, but the Models & Media section. That's not to say there aren't wonders being accomplished in LUA; the work of AmenMoses, GraPhix, and smallg to name a few really pushes the boundaries of what the engine can do, and we would welcome another script guru like yourself.

My advice would be to download Game Guru and start simple, really simple. Releasing one short one-level game will teach you way more about the workflow than diving head first into a mini Oblivion or Deus Ex style game. Gradually build up your confidence, try implementing some new scripts each time, new art styles etc. You will soon begin to butt up against Game Guru's shortcomings, and then you can decide whether or not to persevere, or move up to Unity or Unreal.

AE

I have to be honest .. If your really very familiar with the other engines listed stick with them ..
Im not sure what GG could offer you that's of any benefit. You will probably be disappointed more than anything compared to what your used to.

you could buy it...and
then you also get all kinds of DLC for free.........about 3 gig
that you can also use in any other engine as you please.
Not bad for the price.

UNIRD12B

I think they summed it up.
The very best pro for GG is the ready to use assets. The business model posts regular DLC promotions on Steam or to TGC site to look for those every week or so.
The cons...?
GG can offer you.... a 32 bit FPS ((or top-down)) level shooter, where compiled projects may or may not come together without various issues. You will find if you get into the coding that in order to test a single change to one script (like increasing the value of a variable), you will have to load the entire level into memory to test the script. Is this the same for Unity, and etc? IDK? Some videos I watched seem to suggest otherwise.
Instead of putting another year into GG, I'm (very pokily) looking into Unity, maybe Gdot? But is learning those (and new language) feeling easy?! No. No, it's not. I also came to GG for the ultra simplistic UI
Of course I say that I'm looking elsewhere, but when this deep, persistent, sluggish sickness I have had for a couple weeks wears off, I will probably get back to the projects I've been doing... uggghhh! Help!

Not sure where you got that from but that's not correct .. You can edit and test scripts on the fly ?

@emo10001 Welcome to Game Guru land

Yeah, well....
If you know your way around Unreal or GoDot then I would stick with that really. GG is not capable of the wizardry that Unreal can produce.

What does GG have to offer:
Pros:
Simplified approach to game design - more like a stepping stone as to what game dev is all about
Stack of models - although some may need some tlc if you want to use - mute point if you can make your own
Great community -
-- knowledgeable, helpful, friendly, not condescending, wont' treat you like an undesirable noob - unless one does behave undesirably
-- get help with all sorts of game dev related stuff, modelling, texturing, etc
-- get help with GG related stuff in a friendly non-noob bashing way
-- without this community GG would have been dead in the water ages ago

Cons:
Ultra slow development - TGC has too many products, with too few staff, with zero commitment to making either of them great (imo)
Communication from top level practically non-existent
Functional, reliable standalone currently hit and miss
Easy to run into memory issues
PBR is, well, it needs work....

Warning:
GameGuru is addictive due to its seemingly easy work flow - little bit like Hotel California
Most of us are here despite the GG shortfalls

Personally I like the GG - the darn thing has me hooked.
I currently have Naelurec running three levels in standalone, with no showstopper issues that I have found yet in the current beta - but that is on my system. No idea if it would run on anything else.
I feel that DNSI looks just as good as PBR at present especially in standalone.
The only reason I am using PBR in Naelurec is because if you use DNSI, the illumination maps get tiled over your models in stead of illuminating them, an outstanding bug that was reported when it first appeared when DX11 was introduced. So I can't use DNSI.

There has been work going on behind a smoke screen of an NDA, which will be announced some time in 2020.
Will it be really cool (we hope so) or will it be another 'meh' in the GG's life cycle, only time will tell.

OldFlak....

@ emo10001
If you plan to introduce your children to the exciting world of video games, GG is a great starting point.
GG is a school that allows you to start from scratch, although it is true that GG is in development and this far from being a disadvantage allows you to be part of this development.
Here there are great scripters, even users who can improve the internal code of GG due to their knowledge in C ++ in addition to LUA.

And most importantly, in the community we all fit, professionals, beginners, here you will always receive help.
You just have to have the detail to come back and state if the proposed solutions have solved your problem, remember that although the thread is opened by you, this will remain in the forum for future reference.
By the way a very convenient thread.

As said, GG is worth the price for the assets and just being part of the development as it could be a great tool for new users and kids in future but to answer your question, GG is not for you, to be fair to it though, it's not meant to be, it's for new users first entering the world of game making before they move on to bigger and better things... 1 (or 2) man development team will never be able to compete with the biggest names in the sector.
If you want to stop learning and start making then moving to a new engine is not the answer regardless of which engine it is... Are you sure that's your goal? If you enjoy learning and sharing GG can be rewarding, we do welcome more experienced users who have a friendly and sharing attitude
I haven't tried Godot but I know unreal and unity are both very capable of what you are wanting to achieve and with the new "learn" prototypes in unity you can achieve basic games in minutes now... It's actually becoming easier to use than GG even for new users and it looks like they're continuing to improve on the feature for the foreseeable future, a great time to check it out

Cons:
Oldflak wont let me try " Naelurec "

A friend of mine said once when he leaved the forum:
"Game Guru is not for game developer, it is for talented people"

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate the honesty. Very realistic explanations and and expectations. I have considered the getting GG for the assets as suggested LOL.

For Wolf [quote="Sigh, I know you mean no ill will, but an FPS game is not a cod clone."], you are correct LOL. No ill will intended. I understand what you're saying. It was a broad statement.

Not sure what I'm going to do. I may stick with learning Godot. I was very interested in GG's drag and drop ease of use, but I think most of your are correct, eventually the limitations and or bugs would likely cause me more frustration that it might be worth for me.

Might be worth it, as was suggested, in a way to get my kids started.



Thanks again everyone for the responses. Seems like a great community!

@ emo10001
You are welcome

Yeah, GG IS the community - the engine is a side-affect

Really though, despite its flaws, it has a ridiculously low price tag, which is probably the main reason for so much negative stuff on Steam, kinda attracts many that want a big green 'make my game' button, in stead of being willing to work at it.

The GG is worth more - lots more. It's biggest plus is that you get to become part of one of the best game dev communities out there.

Just remember if you do download, install, and try it - you will never really leave

OldFlak....

the best part of gg engine..for sure..

sadly it's true

Whatever engine you use: Happy developing!

@emo10001
Oh Cmon GameGuru Premium is only £8.24 and you get all this …
https://store.steampowered.com/sub/67585/?snr=1_5_9__403
That has to be around 20 gig of assets. No matter what engine you use a game developer would be daft not to grab this for the Royalty Free assets

I'm trying, i really am trying!

dont go.. dont go... Stay with us Roy

lol, yes just stay for the xmas holidays and maybe the new year... and then might as well stay for easter.... and then...

insane price now
for all you get,,,,,no excuse not to buy it even if just to try.

https://store.steampowered.com/sub/67585/

OR...….

https://store.steampowered.com/sub/90432/

UNIRD12B

Those prices are ridiculous - almost insulting....
Makes me feel like the GG is just a vehicle to sell assets.....

OldFlak....

that's pretty damn nice there bod

Yeah looks nice.
Ok for one room, but on bigger level, somewhere on the map something will be messed up....

OldFlak....

See, I look at those pics and I think 'those lanterns aren't casting bright enough', 'the moonlight is a bit strong', and 'that's a lot of banding and compression'.

Great models though

AE

Yeah, those shadows look great - but banding is noticeable

On lighter textured models I get really bad discoloration and banding.
I be on current beta and the lightmapper just bombs out for me, so can't do a scene to show what I mean.

By the way that first pic with the fire makes you wanna sit in that chair with a good Port, or JD.....

OldFlak....

Well Bod, during my tests even the simplest levels screw up mercilessly. I'm talking texture glitches, models being pitch black, rogue shadows and so forth. This happened both with my media and stock media. However, seeing that it just works for you, I will run some more tests.



-Wolf

Here's my current output with Game Guru's lightmapper.

Exhibit A: Very noticeable banding i.e. compression artifacts.


Exhibit B: Low resolution shadows. Tweaking 'lightmappingquality' and 'lightmappingblurlevel' in the setup ini does nothing to improve upon this, although 'lightmappingsizeentity' helps a bit.


Exhibit C: The way static lightmaps are 'added' is all wrong. Static lightmaps are frequently too dim, unless you ramp surface factor up to ridiculous levels. Since surface factor also effects the strength of the sun, it's very difficult to get a daylight level with dark interiors in your buildings. Dynamic lights are also highly sensitive to surface factor. The image on the left shows surface factor 40, which about as bright as you can get away with before your dynamic lights go supernova, but look how dim the static lightmaps are. Rather than using additive blending, they appear to just be pasted on at 40% opacity, hence areas that were lightmapped as pure white are now grey. The image on the right is a quick mock-up of what it should look like, although you can see the banding much more clearly here.

You can fake this look by using both a static and a dynamic light in the same spot, which is what I did in exhibit A, but that really brings out the banding.

Anyway, rant over, I hope it'll get looked at in 2020.

AE