Porter's World

Head First

It wasn’t too long ago that I jumped into the Flash industry looking to bring some of my game-related ideas to life. One of my many motivations for entering the industry was the game Golden Sun on the Game Boy Advance. I fell completely in love with its unique story and advanced battle system with additions unseen to me before. The game also had a sequel titled Golden Sun: The Lost Age. Sadly enough, this game ended with a slight cliff hanger that left many people wanting a third game in the series. It never came. To this day there’s been speculation of more games to come, and a few words here and there from Camelot, but still no solid plans. At the time, I wanted more than anything to learn how to program so I could continue the game myself in the unfortunate event that the third game was never released, which seems to be the sad truth over 5 years later. You may be asking yourself, “Why the back story?” Here’s why:

Many developers jump into the industry with what seems to be a grand idea; this huge project that they have all planned out, know what they want to do and try and get right on it. The very realistic truth is that 99% of people that try to do something that big so soon, or even later, can’t follow through with it. It’s just too much work with not enough experience. It’s hard enough to get a small Flash game out. A simple platformer or puzzle game offering a few levels with enough polish to survive in the industry is no easy task, let alone a MMORPG or console-quality game. Too many people jump in with these amazing ideas that just can’t be done. Baby steps are a must. I had the fortunate experience of messing around with animation for a long time before I even started game work; knowing your way around Flash in every aspect other than code is incredibly important as well. Flash is very different from nearly every other platform you’ll create games in, so it’s incredibly important to know those differences. Once you’re familiar with the program in and out (aside from code) you can then learn the basics and make a small, yet, incredibly addictive and fun game. That task alone is harder than it sounds, I urge all beginners or developers having trouble selling current games to go back to that starting point and work from there on, It pays off.

Everyone has great ideas, and we all want to jump into them and make them a reality more than anything sometimes. The truth is though, it just won’t work. Everyone needs motivation, and on long projects you’ll find it hard to keep moving when nobody is praising your game. Start small and get some encouragement and work your way up. If you follow these thoughts and slow the pace a bit, I’m sure you’ll see an increase in your overall success as a developer.

The Wheel

The world of flash games is a complicated one. There are numerous tasks that must be done for each game, sound effects and music being two of them. We’ve all heard the term “Why reinvent the wheel” throughout our lives, we all know what it means, but do we always follow such a practice? I’ve found that in this day in age, nearly everything that I need to do can be simplified beyond what I already imagined. I have a Korg X-50 Synthesizer that I planned on hooking up through Fruity Loops Studio 8 to create some 8 bit sounds, little did I know there was already a program that could get the job done as quick and easy as possible.

Upon a simple Google search for creating 8 bit sounds, I came across a page that spoke of a program by the name of SFXR. This amazingly small program looks like a simple Game Boy interface and offers amazing power for creating 8 and 16 bit sounds of every possible desire. The file itself is a simple 50kb download and installs instantly. The program consists of one screen that has default buttons to create specific sounds, such as NES sounding jumps, explosions, power-ups and more. You can fine-tune any sound by manually sliding the values, such as sustain and frequency, which will really allow you to get the sound you want. Pressing space bar is a keyboard shortcut for testing the current sound, which is simple, yet incredibly useful. There is a mutate button that slightly alters your current sound in a randomized way that keeps the main idea of the sound, yet still changes it up. There are a few other features to help mix up the large variety of sounds that can be made and all of these are incredibly easy to grasp once you mess with them for a few seconds. All files are exported as small .WAV files and can be tossed into your projects in just seconds. I noticed that the .WAV files were not accepted in flash right off, however I tossed them in audacity and exported them as a .WAV again and they worked perfectly after; this again could have been a personal issue, so feel free to test them in flash beforehand, but refer to my advice if you encounter the same issue.

Bottom line, this program is an amazing gift to anyone looking to do some great 8-bit or 16-bit work. Our newest game Tower of Greed will be using sounds I create using this program and I can already tell that it’s working wonders. This is again just one example of making work easier on yourself, if you need something done, be sure to check the internet for a simpler way to do it; nine out of ten times there will be a handy program or other simple solution like this just waiting to be picked, so do yourself a favor, make your job easier and use them.

Strength In Numbers

I’d like to point this article specifically to any flash developer that does solo work, or even freelance work. An ongoing discussion among members concerning flash game development, is the question of if it’s better to work in a group, or alone. There are a few perks to each side, let’s go over them now and then I’ll elaborate with my professional opinion on the matter.

Working alone has it’s benefits for sure, especially if you’re a decent artist and programmer. The obvious bonus to working alone is that you don’t have to split the cash, all earning drop directly into your hands and you get to dream about what you’re going to buy between work sessions or while you sleep. The next benefit is the ability to work for yourself. You pick when you work, how much you work, and your reasons are your own, nobody can interfere except perhaps the wonderful world of responsibility if you’re doing this as a full time job. One of the more important, and definitely appealing aspects of working alone is that you make the calls. The artwork is as you call it, the design is nothing short of what you make it, you are your own limits.

Now on to the other option, working with a partner or even in a group. One of the most important feature in my eyes to this, is how fast you can work. You’re are able to pump work out at a rate that would look something like the following:

workRate = numberOfMembers*hours+bonus;

As an example, if you work 6 hours, your production is equal to that work time, multiplied by the number of members putting in those hours. Now you’ll notice I added “+bonus” in there, I’ll get to that in my closing opinion. Another positive feature to this work method is that you can have each member of the team excel in a certain ability, thus making your game above average, having great graphics, game-play, and whatever else it may contain that your team can contribute to. One additional, and very important aspect of working with others, is the ability to collaborate your ideas and build upon the original. The progress that can be made during the planning stages via this method is amazing.

If that wasn’t convincing enough, I’ll say it a bit more clearly, working in teams far surpasses that of which one can do alone. First off, yes you split the money, but you work faster as a group. The plus I mentioned in my above formula is the result of combing ideas. When you get together, you come up with ideas faster. You then gain motivation from seeing progress happen at a faster rate. This progress makes you work faster, see more results, thus spiraling you into a much faster development cycle than that of which can be reached alone. In the end you’re getting far more work done per hour if you stay focused and motivated, which is much more likely to happen in a group when others are there to motivate and support you. As mentioned your ideas are more successful and flushed out in a team, and you’re less likely to abandon the project due to a huge workload or lack of motivation, both of which are common among solo developers with a large project.

I’m sure by now you’ve seen my reasoning and would agree that working in a group far surpasses the likes of working solo. Time is saved, ideas are elaborated upon and it’s just all around more fun. If my words alone don’t convince you, look at some of the top games out there today, they’re all developed by teams of 2 or more, and that’s not about to change. The industry is calling for higher quality games, and teams are now forming to compensate for said changes. If you’re solo now and thinking about making the switch to a team, now is the time to do so. Get yourself a steady position with someone else or in an already established team. If you need a great place to find a partner or co-workers, I highly suggest heading over to FlashGameLicense.com and becoming an active member in the community, after all, that’s how I ended up a part of Epic Shadow Entertainment and writing this very article.