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The return of the 'bedroom' programmer [video]
- acdanger 12y agoPapers, Please was my favorite game from last year. It amazes me that a single person was responsible for the programming, art and music.
- emerongi 12y agoAnd the story, gameplay and -flow. Papers, Please is actually a pretty "basic" game, but the way it is all put together makes it great. Achieving that is not easy at all. I think it is better than some new shooters, even though they have great graphics, action etc - Papers, Please looks like a kids game compared to them. It just shows that the idea is worth much more than anything else.
- pdq 12y agoMy favorite example of a solopreneur game development is Chris Sawyer writing RollerCoaster Tycoon in x86 assembly language in 1999 [1]. The game series (along with Transport Tycoon) sold an estimated $180 million worth of copies. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RollerCoaster_Tycoon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RollerCoaster_Tycoon
- samtho 12y agoI would sure love to get my hands on that source code...
- loup-vaillant 12y agoWell, what you have is pretty close. Comments and aliases will be missing, but the structure is there.
- TillE 12y agoBanished is an even more technically impressive example: one guy doing all the code (C++/DirectX) and 3D art, just not the music. And of course Minecraft, same thing until late beta, I think.
- lost_name 12y agoThe creator of Dust: An Elysian Tail doesn't get enough credit for a similar accomplishment. Aside from voice acting, soundtrack, and parts of the story, Dust was designed and programmed entirely by Dodrill. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust:_An_Elysian_Tail http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust:_An_Elysian_Tail
- archagon 12y agoWhat's more, I believe he actually didn't know how to program when he got started. EDIT: Why did someone downvote me? I read it in an interview, and it goes to show how awesome this guy is!
- loup-vaillant 12y agoCould you dig up the source? That interview sounds like something worth reading.
- archagon 12y agoCheck out this postmortem: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/180520/postmortem_humble_hearts_dust_.php http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/180520/postmortem_humb... "Late in 2008 I read an article in OXM detailing what was possible with a new programming language, cryptically called XNA. I had never programmed before, and besides a short contract doing cutscenes for Jazz Jackrabbit 2, had never worked on a video game (I'm actually an animator/illustrator by trade). ... A week of rudimentary tutorials later, I quickly realized you have to make EVERYTHING from scratch! No level editor existed. No animation tool. No scripting or dialogue systems. No nothing -- just a bunch of otherworldly programming words. But that's what made it exciting: learning a new language (literally), slowly making my artwork interactive, and more importantly, growing my aspirations beyond the original 8-bit design." A truly inspiring story!
- yeureka 12y agoI loved Another World ( 1991 Amiga game ) and was amazed that the whole thing was done by one guy: Éric Chahi. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_World_%28video_game%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_World_%28video_game%29
- DougHaber 12y agoI definitely agree. It was a groundbreaking game too. He gave a great postmortem talk about it: http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014630/Classic-Game-Postmortem-OUT-OF http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014630/Classic-Game-Postmortem...
- chops 12y agoThanks for sharing this. I did not know about this talk, but the game itself is fantastic, and has a very unique feel. I suspect I'll learn a little something from this.
- TeMPOraL 12y agoMy personal favourite of one-man gamedev is the Touhou Project series. The guy behind it has been making the games - story, code, graphics and music - for the last 20 years, creating a huge franchise that has a pretty much cult following worldwide. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touhou_Project http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touhou_Project (I still can't fathom how you can put that much storyline and create so interesting characters in what is basically an insanely hard version of 'dodge the bullet' game)
- pushedx 12y agoThe best part is that the developer is called "Team Shanghai Alice" on the title screen and elsewhere. This gave me the impression that it was a ton of people working on the games. I was shocked to find out that it was one guy.
- TeMPOraL 12y agoI don't know if this was the original reason for the 'team' name, but I hold the image in my head of dolls doing most of the work ;).
- zura 12y agoAny advice [for programmers] of how to draw such pixel art [easily]?
- petercooper 12y agoNot a direct answer to your question but if I were in a situation where I needed art like those faces and I didn't want to spend money (and believe me, there are lots of people who wouldn't want to be paid much for great work out there) I'd "cheat" by initially using photos and Photoshop to do the hard work. Indeed, I just gave it a quick go. Searched for "old russian woman" and did some stuff with posterization and pixelation: http://imgur.com/a/Tj2Os http://imgur.com/a/Tj2Os - it's not great, but it took like 3 minutes. Obviously, I'd be looking for photos that could either be heavily edited or were open licensed/public domain if I were doing it for real.
- cobalt 12y agoHire an artist. Pixel art is actually a very tricky form of art if you want to make anything actually look good. You have to be very meticulous and pay attention to every detail. You have to also have a good understanding of anatomy/shaping as well as lighting and color patterns.
- octo_t 12y agoThis! I've seen loads of terrible pixel art by people who think it will be easier or look better than other kinds of graphics, and failed miserably.
- acdanger 12y agoNot that it isn't difficult, but the creator of Papers, Please pulled off programming, music and art apparently all by himself. I think it's possible to create expressive pixel art with some dedicated practice. Like learning anything new: start with the simplest project you can think of, be prepared for frustration, and show your work to people who will encourage you.
- shurcooL 12y agoStart to draw. Practice. Or hire someone who's good at it.
- darrenf15e 12y agoinspiring. pixel art really has a quality all its own, regardless of the technical or budgetary limitations surrounding its origins.