I was wondering how I could create a Fzero clone, like the one from SNES; it simulates 3D. It's pretty similar to Mario Kart (SNES or GBA version).

I thought I could make a variable to keep track of the distance driven by the player and then change the background according to that. For example, from km 10 to 15 there's a curve so the background changes its animation to one where there is a curve.

With a lot of events this system might work but in the original Fzero you could turn around and see the rest of the road; that is really hard to make if I were to use the system I imagined.

gameplay example: youtube.com/watch

There must be a better idea to clone these games, what do you think?

The Sidekicks

<img src="http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/wp-content/compo2/thumb/4fece63d23302fc26346783b14db117e.jpg" border="0">

Ludum Dare entry

A super villain is trying to take over the world and a sidekick is the only one who can get in his way. But you are trapped in your lair and your nemesis is throwing fireballs at you. The worst part is that you only get one shield to deflect his attacks while you try to save the day. Being a hero(or a sidekick) is never easy.

Controls:

Player 1- Arrow keys to move, jump and use tools.

Player 2- WASD to move, jump and use tools.

Misc- Z to zoom in/out, ESC to pause and P to advance text.

Features:

-Tutorial

-Single Player mode

-Coop mode(which is fun even with just one player, try moving two characters at the same time)

-VS (not available right now, we'll add it in a future version)

-We set up a few difficulty modes but you may change everything as you wish(settings menu) and create crazy rules

To be fixed:

-Music (Due to tech issues just one song was added, the game will feature more tracks in a future version)

-Climbing animations -Minor bugs

-During the tutorial, when the computer tells you to press "return" it means the down key

Notes:

-Linux and OSX versions will be uploaded as soon as possible

-We recommend using the desktop version instead of the web version

Hope you like it!

CODE & DESIGN: Ludipe

ART: aquilicoco

MUSIC: —

"Simplicity" is an indie minimalist puzzle game where your task is to get rid of the red squares. Each time you touch a square it (and the ones surrounding it) will change their colour, will you complete every level included in this game? Will you be able to do it in just a few moves? (featuring over 50 levels)

A simple game made to disconnect from everything and relax for a couple of minutes.

Created by a single person (helped by a composer) in just a month as part of the Ludum Dare 2013 October Challenge.

New features will be included in future updates.

Store Link

I'm not interested in forming this team anymore. I'll email the users who PMed me in case they wanna join my project for Ludum Dare October Challenge.

Regards

> I'll be the project director

No , this won't work

Everyone wants to be the director , but does one really have the experience needed ?

How much game did you make , publish ? Design documents you wrote ?

No one likes directors , everyone hates BAD directors

I've worked as a director many times, during game jams and regular events; and I have written design documents each time. I also have experience managing teams in stuff not related to games.

I don't think being the director is something fun, you have to write lots of e-mails, asign tasks and make sure everyone completes them (it's a pain in the ass). I just said I'll be the project director because I feel I can do it, things doesn't work when there's not a director from the beginning.

I rarely work solo, right now I'm working in two different projects with two different teams; I never had a complain from the rest of the team and I've worked several times with some of those people. I just thought it'd be nice to have a team formed by users of this forum.

If some people want to post just saying it won't work or think that I'm just some immature kid who "had an idea and wants to have a team to make that wonderful game for him" so be it. If someone liked the idea from the first post feel free to reply or send me a PM.

Honestly, everyone wants to be the game designer. If you want experience try offering to work with a team or you'll just end up working on your own.

I don't think everyone wants to be the game designer, maybe they want to be the guy with the original idea but game designing (example: level designing) is pretty hard and requires a lot of work. I'm not saying I'll choose an idea and let the others do the work, I'm just saying I'll help with the main features of the game but I'll focus on serious game designing (not just the original idea).

I've been working in games for a couple of years and I really like being a game designer, I read articles, books, make prototypes and all that; I'm not one of those guys "who just have the idea".

And I didn't say experience is required, but I'd appreciate if they had something to show (even if it's a game they made in a couple of hours).

Hi,

I have always liked the idea of working with a team. This kind of projects tend to disappear and it's hard to get them working. I'm here to try to create a lasting team to develop a few games.

The idea is to have a small group of people with different skills working on a project together. I'll be the project director, that means I'll give tasks to everyone to keep things organized, but stuff like the game we'll develop, the name of the team and all that will be decided by the whole team.

Once the team is formed we'll have a meeting (over skype or similar) and each one will propose a few ideas. We'll vote and start the development. I'll write the design document and email news and tasks to everyone each week.

I am a game designer, I love reading about game designing theory and those abstract concepts, but I can do some coding and basic art (I also own a construct license); and, as said before, I'll be taking the role of director. I'd like to create a couple of small games and then, who knows? we'll see if we can get this team working.

If interested post introductions, skills, previous projects and e-mail.

I found a video in which this topic is discussed. It's from Jonathan Blow, so it's very interesting, he really knows about game designing.

How did you design the destructible terrain like that?

I tried two methods (both worked):

1.- Dirt is solid and it has a collision polygon which is a box. When you dig (down key + dig key) it changes the animation to the destroyed one, which has no collision polygon.

2.- Two layers, an upper one with the dirt tiles and a lower one with the destroyed tiles. When you dig (down key + dig key) you destroy the dirt tile, so all what remains is the destroyed one.

my conclusion: gameplay and story have different meanings by different persons, both matter even distant of eachother. i think your effort will be more well spent toward how you want ppl to feel while playing your game, happy? sad? angry? want to make a question to the player? want to make it have a good time while playing? want so surprise then? or just want then to stressout?

no matter what you choose to make, will always be ppl who will love your work and ppl who will hate it.

I agree with that. Take Fez as an example, the main goal of its creator was to create a relaxing experience. Gameplay contributes to that, you have to take it slow and explore stuff but you aren't afraid of dying from time to time. In this game the graphic design is really important because it has a key role in creating this relaxing experience.

So, as valdarko says, the main thing is how both, story and gameplay, fit together and how the player feels while playing the game.

Some games try to communicate feelings focusing on the story while others prefer to use gameplay to do so. But in the end gameplay must be a bit more important, a game with no story can still comunicate feelings, a game with no gameplay is also able to communicate feelings, but it'll feel more like a movie, take "To the moon" as an example.

<img src="http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/4513/kpv.gif" border="0" />

Added digging animations, hud, energy, hunger and physics (needs to be adjusted). I'll keep working on this after two weeks.

(This is a prototype so everything is just a placeholder)

Yeah, I thought about adding more foxes but I'm still designing their behavior, you have to keep their AI simple because it's really hard to do even a quick AI.

P.D.: I'm also thinking about being able to find a mate and having little foxes around, but that's a bit too complex, I'm sticking with easier mechanics first.