It’s free & comes with frequent updates
Here’s the situation:
You’re an indie group that wants to create a registration system for your game. Instead of creating a website where users register from scratch you have the brilliant idea to use WordPress. Why WordPress?
- has huge support for 3rd party plugins and is very extensible
- already has mundane functionality built in
- checks for duplicate usernames & email address
- sends an activation email (and will notify admins of new users)
- accessible to anti-spam features / plugins
- emails password reset links
- creates all the necessary database entries, fields, etc and has the ability to access them (query strings, connection info, etc)
- changing the look of the website can be done instantly using themes
- core functions can be overridden easily (check out the wiki page!)
- website can be ready to go in minutes!!
Seriously do you want to make games or spend your time doing all of the above and much more? We sure didn’t! One approach is to use the database that WordPress uses for our player’s usernames and passwords. WordPress has it’s share of cons including vulnerabilities which require you to stay vigilant, however you would have to do that anyways. This solution doesn’t have to be permanent, but at least it gets you back to doing what you love to do, game developing.
The next step is to create the game website using another WordPress installation so it keeps separate from the main site (indiegamesstudio.com). Then we could have the game client authenticate through the database directly however if you want to keep the database location hidden from your players, then you’ll want to create an registration server. You’ll also need to create a separate “player’s database” and not use the database your game’s webpage uses. You can override WordPress user creation functions so that it creates the username, password, etc in BOTH databases (a few notes from our wiki page). The game client will communicate with the registration server and the registration server will communicate with the “player’s database” (which can be located somewhere else). The registration server will act as a proxy and help keep the player’s database hidden from your players:
Client —> Registration Server — ??? –> Player Database
More to come!
Apr 12
25
Game Developing: I have an idea…
I can has $10,000,000 for this?
When I’m not developing games I enjoy reading post mortems, tutorials, tips, etc relating to games. I ran across one by a guy named, Tom Sloper. This guy has developed games on a variety of platforms such as Vectrex, NES, SNES, Atari (2600 & 7800), 3DO, PS2, and even AT&T U-verse (TV/Internet provider in the US) to just name a few! I was in absolute amazement of the plethora of experience this guy has. In addition he has written several articles in regards to developing & breaking into the game business.
Tom starts with an article called, “Game Design 101” where he takes on a very frequently asked question: “I have a Great idea for a video game… how do I sell it and get rich and famous?”
To begin with the author explains why nobody will just buy your idea from you.
“You just wanted somebody to take your idea and run with it, while you sit back and wait for the end result so you can play right? And maybe make some easy money. Forget that right now, it’s not going to happen. Pretend for a moment that you have a great idea for a novel, not a game. How would you go about getting it written and published? Would you go to a bulletin board (forum) and advertise looking for an author to write it for you? No you would have to get off your butt and write it yourself.”
I have frequently seen this in forums where a user new to game developing, with an idea, asks for help with the art, programming, design, etc basically asking someone to make the game for them. And eventually someone will respond, “So what are you going to do?” The reply is usually some incarnation of being some sort of manager and making sure everyone is doing their part. As you can imagine these types of projects never get off the ground; and why should they? They’re expecting you to do all the work while they get “half the profits.”
Although the site is kind of ugly, don’t let that fool you! There are roughly 73+ articles with indispensible wisdom to get you headed in the right direction and make your game(s) come to life!!
Good Luck and have fun!
Posted in Game Developing by .
If you’ve ever wanted to add “record & playback” mechanics to your Unity3D created game, Eric Cameron has something for you! InputVCR is a FREE recording class (comes with a demo scene) that can be downloaded from Unity’s asset store. There are a variety of uses for this, such as match replays, kill cams, companions, etc. The author has released the script under the GNU LGPL license (basically do as you wish). If you intend to use or modify this asset I’d suggest to send the author an email thanking him.
Check out the author’s demo scene; just remember you’re in first person so if you record yourself walking around and hit play be sure to TURN AROUND so you can see the playback!
Enjoy!
Posted in Game Developing by .
Mar 12
12
News: GDC 2012
If you didn’t get a chance to check out GDC 2012 in San Francisco here are a few things that impressed me the most. This year Unity Tech. had a very large 2-story booth docked between Sony and Nvidia. Besides showing off titles created by their engine, they flaunted their advanced character animation tool.
There was no confirmation that this feature would be in the next update or for that matter in the next version of Unity. I’ll make a guess that an announcement for Unity 4.0 will take place at Unite 2012 in Amsterdam. Looking over their timeline (Unity 3.0 announced 3/10, released around 9/10) I would guess a first quarter or summer release in 2013. If you own the Pro version their last upgrade price was $750 ($500 if you upgraded early).
If you hadn’t heard city generation software UrbanPad went bankrupt (12/2011) shortly (2 months) after having their $700 product sell for $30 using the “ShareIt” program. Unfortunately at the time of this writing a solution has yet to be found to activate the software since their authentication servers are down. If you’ve found a way or have a crack please email us! Although I’m out $30 bucks I did learn a lesson. The lesson for me is to make a more thorough investigation in small software companies before purchasing from them. For example, Xaitment AI Software is a small German company that specializes in AI. Searching on Google I’ve found they received a 1.5 million dollar investment recently however what red flags this company for me is that I was unable to find support forums for their products. Perhaps I have to register and I’ll get “access” but unless their user base community is large or has fan based/offsite forums this company is just too young for me and not worth the risk.
Reallusion is another middleware company that was at GDC that provides a potentially monumental tool for the indie community. I’ve been asking for this since it’s release and finally a company has created it. Motion capture using the Kinect. When Reallusion gave a presentation at GDC 2012 I was blown away but before I got too excited I wanted to do some research before investing in the company. They’re in their 5 version of iClone, have easy to navigate to and populated forums, video tutorials on how to use their products, and a very active community. These are the kinds of things I like to see if I’m going invest in a product. Motion Capture & Kinect are already available but if you want an FBX output (for Unity) their ETA is May 2012. An evaluation copy will be available so you can try it out and an estimated $799 will be the cost of the software ($799 includes iClone5, MoCap plugin, & 3dXchange; $249 Kinect for Windows; Xbox 360’s Kinect will need 3rd party drivers and not be able to access all the features).
Posted in *News* by .
If you’re like me and have been using the beta or have been hesitating using a beta, the wait is finally over… the official release is finally here!
Here are some of the highlights:
- Shuriken Particle System
- Built-in Pathfinding
- Upgraded Occlusion Culling & new LOD
- Google Chrome Native Client deployment
- Linear Space Lighting and HDR
For a complete list of features check out the release notes!
Have fun!
Posted in *News* Game Developing by .
3D Mario Tutorial by The Walker Brothers
I really love tutorials, especially video tutorials, and when I find some that are not only effective but create a fun learning environment I have the need to share. The Walker Brothers provide high quality training and video tutorials for free! With industrial experience, a mellow voice, & covering sought out topics, you’ll find yourself creating real functional games. The Unity Lab tutorials are taught through videos hosted on Vimeo however if you’re completely new to Unity you may want to start with the introduction. They even provide a “Walker Boys Studio Certification” for the completion of their Unity course; again the entire course is free!
A couple of notables:
-
Unity Lab #4 – you get a chance to check under the hood of a Mario clone similar to Super Mario Bros on the original Nintendo/Famicom
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Unity Lab #5 – continuing exploring game mechanics using a Mario 64 / Galaxy (?) clone; what’s great about this is they teach you how the character can push objects, lift objects, throw objects, jump climbing, and much more!
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If you’re an artist they have over 300+ hours of video tutorials for sale; it’s worth checking out and getting an inside look from industry experts
Enjoy!
Posted in Game Developing by .
FULL VERSION of Demolitious is now FREE!
That’s right Demolitious is now free and of course no ads! Imagine that? So what’s the catch? The only thing we ask is if you enjoy the game please take the time to rate it and share it with your friends. Check it out here:
Demolitious for iPhone/iPad
Demolitious for Android
Enjoy!
Posted in *News* by .
Dec 11
24
News: Unity3D v3.5 beta RELEASED!
Since the Unite 2011 conference we’ve been anticipating the next Unity installment. Earlier speculations were December 2011 and here it is!!! Well it’s beta but still!!
- Built-in Pathfinding <—- OMG!!!
- BRAND NEW particle system: Shuriken Particle System
- Export to Flash!
- Brand new multi-threaded renderer! Support for Linear Space Lighting & HDR!
- Google Chrome Native Client Deployment
- Occlusion Culling & LOD improvements
- And much more!
Check out Unity3D v3.5 beta now!!!
Posted in *News* by .
Here’s a rough version of the framework so far. I have it working with a game now but there’s still more code design that needs to be completed before release. From the screenshot you can see I tossed in some textures just to hold things into place. The textures are easily swappable; in fact the entire GUI style can be replaced completely. I’ve been using a console interface to unit test the functionality of the framework. Currently there are a few ideas on the design of the core part of the framework in the works, to allow extensibility for new commands & features.
Stay tuned!
Posted in Game Developing by .
Oct 11
25
Game Developing: What’s next?
Sadly Unite is over… but the next big update for Unity is just around the corner, so what’s next? Research for the next project continues! Currently we’re very fond of having a multiplayer game so I’ve been studying up on Unity’s networking API and their networking tutorials. Ideally we’d like to create a framework where every game that is made from now on has the option to be multiplayer. One my favorite features of the Torque Engine was all the games made with it were automatically multiplayer. In fact you had to make a very small code change (comment one line of code out) to make single player games. Back in the day, Torque’s network code was legendary (and in some ways still is) and was capable of making 64-player games such as Tribes 1 & 2 possible.
So far things are looking really good and I can’t wait to share more!!
Stay tuned!
Posted in Game Developing by .
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We really need to get their attention but don't have a lot of this... "money" they seem to be attracted to. This fad will probably pass soon but until then you can help us fight this battle by clicking the "Donation" button below. Even a few bucks will make them respond to us!!!
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