Now, much of the material posted on this board lately has been pertaining to what we can do now, and what we intend to do, as can be seen in Necro's topic (url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/postdisplay.cgi?forum=Forum48&topic;=000721")here(/url), and in JB5AGENT's topic (url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/postdisplay.cgi?forum=Forum48&topic;=000658")here(/url). So I don't really want to just go over what has already been done, but I wish to ask a question or two, and maybe offer solutions.
Now firstly, when you get your hands on Coldstone, I imagine that, apart from the testers and maybe people who had a fiddle with the pre-Ambrosia product, most of us will at first feel a bit lost, and will need to take some time to begin to make our games. Now, I believe that Dee has stated that you can make a working game in an hour or so, using the built in tilesets etc, but how long will it take to make a good, or a great game? You have to write a plot, a script, obtain graphics and music (or use CS's libraries, I suppose) and generally plan out your entire game as Necro said in the aforementioned topic. Now a great deal of this is too much for one person to easily handle, I mean, lets face it: I don't believe anyone here is about to drop their career, schooling, life etc. to devote all of their energy to Coldstone, becoming a full time CS engineer. That kind of thing would only happen after proving yourself popular and capable, not before you release your first game. So what can you do about it, so that you can devote some time to Coldstone, making a great game, but still have a 'normal' life and, here's the killer, finish this game within a reasonably short time period, say a year to two years?
Basically, my question comes down to this, with our first ever games in Coldstone, none of us will be particularly experienced, bar the testers, and as such our development time will naturally be even more than if we knew what we were doing. So, would anyone here consider swallowing their pride and collaborating with someone else, friend, family member, webboard member, even your computer litereate dog, in order to create your first project? Yes, I know that many people will form groups with say, artists, musicians, writers and the actual people who work on the engine, but much of the appeal of Coldstone is that it lets people go solo. Even so, would you consider a collaboration or a possible sharing to get your first game out the door quicker? And of course, you know the old saying, two heads are better than one.
So what do you think? Will you collaborate on your first game, or will you try to go your own way?
-Andiyar
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"Any good that I may do here, let me do now, for I may not pass this way again"
and I wouldn't want to hold up others due to my lack of free time. What I will do is draw on the expertise of friends for review- I have a game designer friend who I will have look over my design before I start, and I will solicit musical friends for short snippets of sound when appropriate. Otherwise, it will be a 100% solo endeavor.
) I do a little 3D, (I can do a head in Pixels, not including eyes) and a good deal of Photoshop.