@Gnome: what is that that’s duly noted?

BTW, duly noted

ChrisDeLeon:
Your comment was a great read in itself. I think you’ve highlighted a lot of my concerns. I’m still learning and that’s why, with a bit of luck, I’m starting on some smaller projects soon alongside this one.

AGS is great because I’m a designer and an artist. I’m no programmer, really. Luckily though, being a Physics student means you meet a lot of programmers! So the next step is moving away from AGS and maybe even away from exclusively 2D games.

P.S. There are probably some typos in here, too!

That said, there’s an important difference in using an existing, low-fidelity engine and framework, which is not always part of someone’s learning process (depending upon their goals, it’s helpful to some and harmful to others). Using AGS or Game Maker is a different beast than programming an engine while designing and making assets at the same time; on the other end of the spectrum, using a 3D engine from id or Epic as the foundation for a total conversion mod can be mind boggingly intensive, in a way that lessons learned while doing it show clear seams between start and (if it ever happens) end of a project.

That “if it ever happens” is huge; in your particular story (I’m by no means attempting to argue that things ought to have gone any differently in your case – you’re on a great track!) you were starting as a teenager, when time for the mind to wander has fewer obligations than when people get older, and many indies start in thei college years while juggling clubs, more demanding classwork, and a social life with greater complexity. I’ve seen a lot of people start a bigger project than they should, and not only did it never turn into a game, it broke their spirit from building anything else afterward. The one or two beginnin game developers that I saw make even medium-sized games for thee first projects (mind you, this was all programming from scratch) were only able to do so with considerable help by more experienced indies, then came away from it feeling too exhausted to build up momentum into future ideas.

Having finished huge games (on huge teams) and micro games (mostly alone, sometimes leading tiny teams), for people looking to learn game development in the broadest sense (including technical design / programming) I weigh strongly toward the size of recommending that college-age devs start simple and master the process before trying to be innovative. Though if a developer’s interest is particularly focused in writing, animation, 3D level design, or some similar segment of one or more existing genres, tools and existing engines are surely the more relevant way to get where they’re going sooner rather than later.

Scope also becomes an issue when (1.) an amateur error early in a game prevents anyone from experiencing what’s later in it, wasting all that work (or 2.) a long game lacks the sort of variety in inspiration that comes from past projects, which like a magician on the stage or a good dancer means knowing a few tricks to keep an otherwise consistently decent and competently assembled experience from being overly formulaic.

Thanks again for the perspective on your story, and best wishes with the project!

I don’t think there’s any actual “right” way to make games, just ones that work better for the individual. I have grand ideas myself, and I hope that one day I will get around to forcing myself to build one of them.

As for The Longevity Gene – somebody asked me the other day to list the 10 AGS games in production that had me the most excited and your game was in there

Thanks for the interesting read!