14 year old making 3D Wizard game

LaneFox · Sep 12, 2014

Pretty dang cool that a 14 y/o can pick up the right tools and make neat stuff.

Tony252 · Sep 12, 2014

KelsoMRK said: ↑

What you've written sounds like you've tried to shoehorn fantasy into some other setting - so I actually think that's worse.

Part of the issue is also that you're, in essence, making a shooter because you want to make a shooter and not because it's the best way to show the things you've learned in your class. The crux of any game is the friction or conflict held within it. I believe you've got a perfect conflict in trying to save the ecosystem of a desert before it's "too late" so the wizard and the killing of enemies etc feels superfluous. Who are these "enemies"? Are they future people? Did they cause the climate change? Why are they trying to stop the wizard from making the world better?

To that end - who are you saving by turning the desert back into a forest? You should be letting all of these things inform not only how your game plays but how it conveys its message. Since this is for school I would imagine that you could make the greatest game ever to feature a tree-casting wizard but you'll get dinged if you don't teach anyone anything.

I'd suggest looking at the science behind ecosystems and climate change and letting what happens in nature inform the mechanics of your game. If the player is actively "doing" and the "doing" is fun then they won't realize that they're actually learning anything.

With what you have now I don't see how you're going to teach the player that trees pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and create oxygen when a wizard pops a tree into existence - unless you plunk some kind of message on the screen to tell them. In which case - you've killed the immersion and told me that this is an educational game. Ask yourself - what do trees do? They make oxygen. What do they need to live? Sunlight and moisture. How can I turn that into a game mechanic? I need to figure out how to make a lake so I can plant trees around it. As trees create oxygen they clear the atmosphere which allows in more sunlight. If they don't have enough of both then they die. Maybe I have to start with smaller plants that require less sunlight and build up to trees once there is more oxygen. Maybe "making" a tree spikes the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere initially so I have to be careful about building too quickly. So now I've got some kind of basic mechanic that I can go build and play and tweak. Who knows - maybe I'll throw it out, maybe I'll use it. But notice how I didn't mention time travel, or a wizard, or enemies, or anything about the setting at all. I haven't even mentioned if it's first-person, third-person, overhead strategy style. All I'm interested in initially is building a mechanic that is fun to play.
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i agree 100% and i will be reading your post again very soon to improve the game. You clearly have a lot of experience in game developing , and as this is my first 3D game, i find your information very useful. thanks!

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14 year old making 3D Wizard game

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