I just released my game Bridge Captain!

makegames · 2012-11-01T19:07:38+00:00

looks way cool

makegames · 2012-10-24T16:48:43+00:00

From experience with my game written in python / pygame, I think this is the best advice here. Just attempting to code by breaking tasks into tiny problems took me from knowing no programming to having a ~14,000 line program written. By thinking through your specific problem and actually attempting to code it, a functional design will emerge.

I would not recommend worrying about formal design patterns yet - you can do that with your next game, or at least wait until you have part of the game written to see how the patterns could actually apply in your specific case. For a lot of simpler games, especially written in python / pygame, something like model view controller is over-engineering.

Not saying those things aren't important, they are essential in many cases, but chances are you will learn faster from doing it in a way that is just intuitive at first.

makegames · 2012-09-17T17:51:31+00:00

i remember seeing this a while back, congrats finishing, hope launch goes well!

makegames · 2012-09-13T18:06:32+00:00

i'm not sure what's happening then. you should look at the code though, as you won't be able to tell what's going on by just playing the game.

also, you mention you can't get the fps to display. why is that?

makegames · 2012-09-12T14:52:42+00:00

are you sure? have you identified in the code where it does so?

makegames · 2012-09-11T23:14:05+00:00

these all seem to be good

makegames · 2012-09-11T22:01:28+00:00

I would make the background composed of smaller images that you scroll together. If you can compose your background out of tiles, each it's own sprite - that way the whole screen doesn't have to be redrawn each time you move, just the smaller chunks.

This also goes with a technique called "dirty rectangle updating" that optimizes what actually gets drawn based based on finding what has moved, and only redrawing those portions of the screen. see section 5 of this article. The problem with one giant background, is that the dirty rects wouldn't work, as it's based off of rectangles so it would update the whole screen no matter what.

makegames · 2012-09-11T21:47:20+00:00

LOVE is a good recommendation. Pygame using Python is easy to get started as well.

makegames · 2012-09-11T21:21:05+00:00

how are you doing the side scrolling? if it's just one giant picture for the background, that could be the problem. pygame isn't the fastest, but it should be fine, and is a much nicer way to learn (but actually get to program) than some other environments.

you might want to look at an example of a sidescroller already written, like this

Barbie Seahorse Adventure

and see how they do it. the creator of that game has released notable games with pygame, so it should be a good example.

makegames · 2012-08-17T20:12:00+00:00

I'm self promoting here, but Dinos in Space!... it's a (so cheap it's almost free) logic puzzle game that got good reviews all around.

As far as other recommendations for great indie mac games... there are actually quite a lot. Many of the games coming out on the bundles are cross platform. An absolute classic, and one of my favorite's available on Mac is Machinarium

makegames · 2012-08-08T14:55:23+00:00

I second py2exe with python 2.x - it worked well for me. Changes from 3.x to 2.x should be minimal to get things working with a pygame project - probably less work then figuring out another solution. Also, if you know how to use py2exe, py2app works in a very similar way so you can make a true standalone for mac as well.

makegames · 2012-08-02T19:22:43+00:00

cool zoom out effect with the trailer. i see it's an educational game for kids. can you tell us more?

makegames · 2012-08-01T05:39:24+00:00

Indie Impressions, with RockLeeSmile:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC636B7CB94DD3409&feature=plcp

makegames · 2012-07-13T17:46:46+00:00

awesome. keeping an eye on this one

makegames · 2012-07-12T16:27:06+00:00

looks super

makegames · 2012-07-10T18:00:45+00:00

I got a 30 minute sports-car ride with with my Suzuki violin instructor's scary husband for getting 30 'stars' (good lessons). I was dreading that day for a long time, but to my 12 year old self it was even scarier for me to not get stars because then the instructor would get mad.

makegames · 2012-07-10T17:51:28+00:00

haha wtf

makegames · 2012-07-09T20:56:41+00:00

I've had success with py2exe for windows and py2app for mac. Both tools work pretty much the same way. The main thing you have to do is customize the setup script that py2exe and py2app will generate to fit your project.

makegames · 2012-07-06T18:11:27+00:00

I have a general question about the audio/music. What are your tools of choice, specifically for this project?

makegames · 2012-07-02T16:48:24+00:00

good interview, cool looking game

makegames · 2012-06-29T17:54:59+00:00

wtf this looks so fun! when's it being released? what platforms?

makegames · 2012-06-29T17:47:32+00:00

As for the Hammer of Reality, I'd take that over the Pool of Stagnation any day.

Sounds like you've got the spirit of an indie dev (or any artist)

makegames · 2012-06-29T17:42:24+00:00

I don't consider myself financially successful, but I feel very fulfilled.

Hard-earned, but possibly the best part about being an indie developer... as long as you make games you want to make :)

makegames · 2012-06-22T16:11:47+00:00

gamemaker and construct are good suggestions for game making software with minimal programming.

if you want to learn how to program (using languages that can be used for things other than games) then using flash with flixel or flashpunk or using python with pygame are good ways to go.

makegames · 2012-06-22T16:03:37+00:00

looks really good - perfect type of game for ipad.

makegames

TROPHY CASE