Good morning!

Intro:

Just bought GGMAX yesterday and aside from a few game breaking bugs I really enjoyed the experience and am quite excited to see the product mature with fixes etc. I bought the engine on a whim to be completely honest after a few trailers etc I wanted an engine that would just let me enjoy the process of making a game but with the addition of scripting. Thankfully GG does LUA which I have already been using for a few months now with LOVE2D . I was originally planning to do a 2D simulation/survival game but this project looks interesting and I love the active community involved developer interaction so decided the jump might not be awful into the 3D world. So my new idea is outlined below, would a more experienced GG user mind giving me a brief comment as to whether this project would be viable in the upcoming engine?

Thanks!

IDEA OVERVIEW:

Beyond Evergreen - A 2D (now 3D?) Sandbox Survival Game

Previous Overview Video:
A few weeks old now so the current 2D version looks a bit better, I can see if I can post a screenshot of that if anyone's interested...

NEW PLAN:

-Try to recreate the project in GGMAX.
-Learn the basics of Blender to create simple 3D assets (and use commercially licensed assets for generic things like trees etc?)
-Remove the default Menu for GGMAX and use my 2D assets to create a new menu and splash screen (I think aside from tile sheets most 2D functionality is built into the LUA scripting system?)
-Use LUA to allow interaction with various objects on the map (i.e chop trees, mine rocks etc)
-Use the 2D functionality to add in an inventory system and UI.
-Create a save system that includes the basic 3D GG save states and includes all new custom LUA added data such as Hunger, Thirst, Inventory etc?

In theory aside from the current game breaking engine issues that make this slightly more difficult I feel this project should be doable and with no time lines I can start small and gradually add features and interactions in each map and perhaps get a little creative with map(level) travel.

My main concern is the LUA functionality I suppose, is it possible to do what I outlined above? (I checked the Steam Global.lua overview that another user posted and I feel all the functionality is available?).

Also how does one set up a project in that way, as you currently save each level but is all script data generic and saved in the C:/ directory or can I create a standalone project from the get go and modify those scripts manually?

Hope that makes sense, can of course clarify further if needed!

Finally on the commercial side of things, if the project is viable I may end up looking to sell it at some point, but the idea is to just take it a day at a time and see if it starts coming together as planned and go from there. I appreciate GG is not explicitly designed for anything but FPS games but I don't see the feature set of the engine prohibiting such a project, I suppose I just don't reference the health, lives, ammo, weapons etc aspects in the UI?

Okay well sorry for the long post, hopefully this makes sense and the YouTube video gives some credibility to my intentions hah.

Thanks, keep safe,

Nytician.

I have edited your post so that the video works

Please be aware MAX is still in development and first Beta was only yesterday, I would recommend having a bash with GameGuru Classic to get a feel for the TGC game making products.

yes it is possible though i would recommend trying to keep it all on 1 map for simplicity ... just beware performance is still going to be something you will need to keep an eye on so make the most of reusing as many objects as possible.


sure, blender is great, use .obj or .fbx should work in GG but try to stick to single mesh & texture for best results.


yes there are scripts that control the menus so you will need to edit this or change the existing images - or use graphix's tool to change all the menu images


definitely, wouldn't be much of an engine if you can't interact with objects though you will need to supply / find the models and / scripts


sure, you can find some examples in the scripting section - (be aware though that taking inventory to other maps etc is a bit of a headache so if you plan multiple levels look for amen's scripts which will help in the process)


as long as you preface any variables with g_ then GG will save these automatically with its standard save system (i.e. g_thirst) - but GG doesn't save / load when changing level so again you need to add a way for your game to do this

@ Nytician
Well, you already have the necessary attitude, you also have tools and scripts in GG, if in addition you already have the right knowledge, then there is nothing that can prevent you from doing great things with GG, or GGMax.
I recommend that you work your map with GG and when Lee releases a stable version of GGMax you can test your map made with GG, but in GGMax.

Hey thanks!

Hopefully I understood more or less everything.

In short, while no Guru (hah...), I think my LUA skills are tolerable and I feel somewhat confidant that if I can work out how to make scripts work it might be possible. The fact that its still BETA is okay as full release is estimated by December and in the mean time I can keep working on assets and scripts etc

I'm thinking to start with only one map to begin with, but hopefully multiple maps or areas to explore if all goes well. Is performance a major concern if I don't pack the map?

My plan with the menus is to disable the menu in the setup.ini and then immediately display a custom splash on the first map followed by a custom UI menu system using the sprite features. I think you can save the game using savegame()?

I hope to create my own models where possible for basic things and use non-custom assets for things like flora etc.

Scripts for interaction I feel should be doable myself as been using LUA for a bit now.

I'm thinking for the save system to create a script that will save player position, currentmap etc all manually so I suppose in effect the GG save system shouldn't really need to save anything as I will just check my custom LUA script for the currentmap and last position saved and set the player to these on game load? In this way I can take any data I save to the users HDD like inventory and use it on any level without worrying about GG's save system.

If I create new scripts though where do I save them? I tried in my documents and just a custom folder and the game wouldn't recognise them, is it only the installation directory? Can I create a Standalone game and then edit it from that folder, storing custom scripts there instead?

Thanks for your responses, hope that make sense!

Nyt.

EDIT: Also will likely not use the original GG as don't use Steam, so will just prototype assets and scripts etc in GGMax until its stable enough for real use.

Just be aware that when December comes, it will not be anything like complete. We've gone past 2 release dates so far because they were completely unrealistic. Judging from the beta bugs there's a LOT of work to be done. I wouldn't expect the software to be anything like perfect for another 12 months or so and that's being optimistic based on GG's development time.

You won't get as shiny visuals, but Game Guru Classic would be much more stable for this or AGK (much more stable overall and in honesty way better suited to doing this type of game).

Yup not sure GG is an option as I don't use Steam. Will have to have a think. I'm not too bothered for more features to be honest but of course bug fixes are an essential need to get a game working hah. So is it unlikely that even by December the main bugs will be fixed?

That might be a game changer, I hope not though as I just bought the engine hah, and its good when it works .

Nyt.

you can stick with max, realistically you won't have your game anywhere near ready by december anyway, if there's any show stoppers along the way just report them with as much info as possible so they can be reproduced and they will get fixed

max is perfectly usable for prototyping and script work in its current form and classic crashes a lot during scripting if you are unfamiliar with it so it's not much different in that respect - max is better/easier even due to the dynamic lua editor


well it will be better than classic as its 64bit but its untested yet so who knows


they are stored in the GG root directory - so "Program Files\GameGuruMAX\Max\Files\scriptbank"
a standalone can read new scripts but they won't be encrypted till you build the standalone and you will need to rebuild the standalones for other changes and you wont have access to the dynamic lua system etc

Well, first it will take time to learn to make your models and texture them, and it will take time to build the game.
So if you don't have any expected deadline to meet, I would say just learn, build, and grow with MAX.

Classic by comparison is just plain ugly, and performance and standalone are an issue even for long time users who are actually trying to make games with it.

Yes it is early days, but it takes time to build a good game and MAX needs time to get to a stable product. But if you build your game in Classic, you will likely want to move it to MAX anyway, and it may or may not be a smooth transition. You just might find you have to build it from scratch again in MAX.

MAX has far better visuals, and 64bit means better performance.
Just my opinion, but I would say don't waste time with Classic, just enjoy the ride in MAX.

OldFlak....

Hah thanks both, well this is a difficult decision. My instincts are to perhaps just stick with LOVE2D the game platform I was previously using as its pretty stable tbh but equally, so long as major bugs are fixed asap, MAX is pretty feature complete for me overall and fun...

Just don't want to lose progress on maps etc.
Scripts, assets and story aspects are irrelevant as I can just backup but map corruption is an issue I'm concerned about.

Again though at the moment so long as I can prototype things it doesn't matter to much as learning blender and getting the basics of scripting down etc. Sorry just thinking outloud...

Might keep at it then, it is very fun if it stops crashing, and it seems there is enough built in for my design ideas. The community is friendly which is a major plus hah.

Will perhaps muck around with scripting first anyhow as assets can be placeholders as I work out how to manipulate the 3D engine and use the libraries. On a side note that is one feature I love...everything is a global to add/use in your own scripts, the rest is just ingenuity, no learning countless overhead and API's like Unity... not that I mind in a sense but as this is a hobby I just want to enjoy it.

Thanks again for your responses, really appreciated.

Nyt.

I was just being realistic. Don't get me wrong, I've been using TGC products since the original Dark Basic. But it comes across that you are expecting Max to be pretty rock solid by December. I very much doubt that. Game Guru was released back in 2013 as FPS Reloaded, still not stable to this day. It's not all down to the engine it uses. Several bad decisions have come into play as well over the years. You have been given fair warning

Max looks like it could be great. It's looking handy from previews. But I am keeping my expectations low still. Don't hang your games hopes on a new engine barely out the door. This is good advice for any new game engine in honesty. I'm not expecting to be able to use Max for some time for anything serious. I could be wrong and I hope I am, but experience here dictates it will not be ready by December, it may be useable, but any big game will likely encounter unforeseen issues. Already, I've seen several posts about Max from people who are expecting it to do things that it won't be good at. Expectations are high and I think a few people will be highly disappointed.

However if you are just tinkering and want to make a game as Max gets into shape then your in the right place! It looks good but at the moment only really for basic FPS type affairs.

Caveats;
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I don't own MAX, and have no idea when I can acquire MAX-- granted it's new.
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So your goal is a 2-D game ONLY in it's entirety? -- ??
You would be using a rather higher level 3D engine to create a seemingly
simpler style 2d game-- sure it's done all the time in Unity, etc, so no prob!
Why not start in GG Classic if it's only 2D, the scripts should remain nearly
the same? As DVader suggests, MAX being under constant development
for the next foreseeable future means files might get swapped, etc when
a new version of MAX comes out, though honestly with just a sprite based
game - I see little issues. Seems like a data/ variable heavy game only,

I've yet to see a sprite/ HUD demo in MAX beta... but far from their biggest
challenge at the moment!

Writing your own SAVING the levels scripts might be the biggest challenge
it seems? That will take some study and perseverance to accomplish.
Good luck, hope it goes well, keep us informed.

no, he wants to look into making it 3D

Oops sorry missed the new posts hah. Its difficult but I think DVader might be right to be honest, I'm not looking for a majorly serious career change into game dev but at the same time perhaps understandably I would like my game to work . So for now going to keep checks on the progress of MAX but for now thinking sticking to LOVE2D might be more viable to avoid frustration! Also for GubbyBlips thanks for your thoughts, my intention was to redesign the game in 3D as smallg mentioned .

Anyone has further argument for GGMax I'd be happy to be persuaded as it is fun and I love the LUA integration but the realities of making something I have all planned in a BETA engine might be a bit too optimistic!

Thanks again,

Nyt.