From prototype to actual game

So I started using Unity yesterday and probably won't finish any game soon. I'm still struggling to figure out all the built in commands in the engine. Anyway, I get the concept of prototyping though and basically just conceptualizing the game and not really paying attention to super complex mechanics and graphics. What I don't get is how you guys convert a prototype to the real thing once your prototype is done. Do you remake the game from scratch and base it off the prototype or do you add graphics and tweak the code of the prototype itself? Or is there something I'm missing here? Thanks!

 

I'm a big fan of playing your way to a finished game. Build some mechanics, then play. Add some more stuff to make it more fun, then play. Continue until your game is complete.

It's worth noting that there are several very competent devs on these forums that take a very different approach.

 

It depends. Usually you can reuse a lot of the code and assets from the prototype. But if you can make a game from that prototype or have to start over depend from the game you're making.

For example if you're making a multiplayer game and you made a single player prototype you'll probably have to create a new unity project, setup the communication first and then add some of the code from the prototype.

 

I haven't published but I sort of do both when doing assignments. I build a prototype in a test project where I store scripts etc from previous things. When I'm happy with the core gameplay I create a new project & copy the relevant bits over then start piecing it together & adding in art, sounds, UI etc & modify scripts as needed.

 

When it comes to prototyping , I am really messy and just chuch in random things to see how it would effect it. What I usally do is after prototyping reuse the code / assest that worked.

 

I used to start from scratch. Now adays, I start with one of my existing games. I then hack/slash the new test prototype mechanics into it, in the quickest, dirtiest way possible to allow me to find the fun. Until I can decide whether it's worth expanding. Then I rip out the stuff that shouldn't be there, flesh out the UI, and flesh out the rest of the game. Sometimes, this leaves extra cruft laying around (old code without purpose), and yet, of the 9 solo projects I've released in my spare time, my users couldn't care less. It took me a long time to realize that the world rewards productivity, over perfection.

I'm from the Jonathan Blow school - developer time is the most precious resource there is!

Gigi

 

This is sort of a process question and sort of a design question. Since you already have some good answers in the process department, here are some things that help me from a design perspective:

• Isolate your prototyping phase, at least in your mind. It helps to say "I'm currently prototyping" so you make sure to focus on one thing: finding fun mechanics. As a solo developer, if you're the designer, programmer, and artist it is too easy to get caught up in thinking about extensibility, code refactors, better visuals, fx, etc. It takes a lot of discipline not to add polish (in terms of code quality or visual quality) to a prototype when you get the urge, so I find it helps to tell yourself you are building a prototype only so you can try to stop yourself. Remember that it is a waste of time to add polish to a mechanic that you may end up throwing away.
• If you do the above, you now have another issue: deciding when to move from prototyping to production. This is a really difficult question and if it was possible to get this right 100% of the time, we'd all be making back-to-back #1 hits. There are lots of ways to decide, but here are two things that help me the most:
  • Does the mechanic exist in a fertile or a barren design space? I think I first heard about this when reading Jesse Schell, and it has really helped me a lot. Basically if you can think of lots of ways to add depth and expand the mechanic into a full game - tons of levels, variations, power ups, modes, difficulties, etc. your mechanic exists in a fertile space and is suitable for a full game. If you struggle to design ways to expand your base mechanic, it could exist in a barren space and might need to be scrapped. If you don't know yet, try expanding your prototype to include more depth. If the ideas come easily and expansions to your mechanic make it more and more fun, you're on the right track. If not, seriously consider moving on to a new idea.
  • Get as many fellow designers as possible to play your prototype and give feedback. It is too early to get feedback from regular users at this stage, but feedback from designers can be extremely helpful. They will be more understanding of prototype-level polish and hopefully will be able to give you feedback based on the strength of the mechanics. In addition to giving feedback on the fun, they will hopefully be able to give more educated feedback on what they think the source of the fun is and can help you iterate toward it and move away from aspects that are less fun. So basically, if all goes well, this kind of feedback can help you move into more fertile design space where you have a better chance of success. Also make sure you are going through this process internally, constantly asking yourself which parts of your prototype are fun and trying to iterate in that direction.

Probably not exactly what you were asking, but I hope this helps anyway!

 

Same here. Every project starts from a previous project of one sort or another. Also the first thing I do in any new programming environment is create a game template project.

Absolutely agree. Time in general is my most sacred thing. Unlike money or anything else when time is spent you can never ever get it back.