We all obviously love playing video games, and most of us have dreamed about being able to make some ourselves, but the time and energy required is immense. But the Daily Reaction crew of Seb and Dan have decided to take the plunge and go through the process of developing a game! We hope to bring you along on our journey of pain, joy, triumph and certain failure in an ongoing feature that aims to be enlightening, enjoyable and informative.
Dan: With the development cycle being a boundary that many journalists cover but rarely experience, Sebastian and I have decided to throw our hat into the proverbial mix. The concept for the idea was something that we have been joking about for a number of months, but did not fully conceptualize until recently. After The Return of the King episode of Bad Gamers, we continued to talk about my growing interest in learning Unity3D and what it really took to develop a game from beginning to end.
Seb: Yeah, this is something I’m incredibly excited about… and scared. I have no experience with Unity, Java or anything like that and Dan’s knowledge is nearly as scarce. But that’s the point of this new feature – this is going to be a new experience for us, and we hope to be able to share with you what we learn in easy to digest periodicals that bring you along for the ride. This is the beginning of the very beginning, and I already can’t wait for the finish line.
Dan: Starting out, I read dozens of ‘how to start developing your own game’ tutorials, and the one thing that seems to be universal about starting is to keep your expectations in check.
Seb: We are going to make the biggest game eva!
Dan: Exactly, that is exactly what we are going to do…or not. Realistically, neither of us have any real experience in this, nor do we have the time or resources to make something like a full fledged title – so we cannot expect to make the next GTA game. Could we expect a game like Angry Birds then? Nope, what we really need to set out to do is find the most fundamental gameplay aspects and merge them with the simplest mechanics we could conceptualize.
Seb: Yeah, that’s the thing, the whole project has to be realistic, but still awesome. One step at a time, like Daily Reaction. Luckily, we already have some gameplay and plot ideas, although we’ll keep them secret until later on in the cycle.
The great thing is, we’re shooting in the dark here, neither of us know where to begin. It’s going to be a difficult, but exciting time, and I’m looking forward to playing the finished product in 2024.
Now that we have set our own fates in motion and you are now one step closer to understanding our insanity, feel free to let us know what you think of this ongoing developer diary by commenting below, or by tweeting us at Seb and Dan. Also, feel free to send us an email at DailyReaction@PlayStationLifeStyle.net if you want to give us some pointers on how to proceed through the abyss.
ALSO: Giveaway! We have two codes for Dragon Fantasy: Book I on the US PSN store for the PS3 & Vita. To enter, just retweet the following and follow us:
RT&Follow @PSLifeStyle to win Dragon Fantasy #PS3 #Vita – #DailyReaction is back & giving out games! http://t.co/B45q2H7iSx
Good luck!
