A Guide to perfecting game ideas

[KingCharizard]

Welcome to Poke Community's guide to Fan Game Development. In this guide I'll help you understand how to perfect your ideas and make more professional games. This is not a guide to tell you what ideas you should or should not use. It's your game what you decide to do is completely up to you.​

More and more I'm seeing games added to Poke Community without proper planning and without much thought being put into the games. Hopefully this guide will change that and help people properly understand what it takes to design a GOOD game. What makes a GOOD game? Well in my opinion it's a great story. I believe most people continue to play any game is the story, they continue to play so they discover what's waiting around the next corner or what will happen to the main character. Yeah cool features and shiny cool graphics are awesome, but it's the story that keeps people glued to their seat. Games are tricky to make, you must think of an idea that's new but also compelling and Fan games especially are tricky to make, because it's a fan game most people probably won't play it for too long because they experienced the game before and it can get boring very fast. Most people seem to go overboard when making fan games. The idea of a fan game is to allow the players aka fans, to add to the game what he/she felt it lacked, to improve it. The games being added to Poke Community are not well planned and quite simple outrageous, People are trying too much and making the game a complete disaster, in the end ultimately failing to produce what could have been a great fan game. In this guide I'm going to show you how you can perfect your ideas and complete the game you've worked hard on thus far.​

STORY
This is first and foremost, I believe this is where your game comes to life and it's also the foundation of the rest of your dev process. Now when it comes to the story I feel you're free to use your imagination and create an entire new adventure just don't forget it's a Pokémon game you're making so you should try to include some of the original ideas or concepts. The story can make or break a game, so much thought and planning should be put into this part of the games design.
Below I'll include some tips to help you create your story:
Ø Sometimes It's better to try to envision the ending and build on that if your having trouble
Ø Sometimes it's good to create your environment and build a story on that, but keep in mind to do this you should have a basic idea first.
Ø Sometimes just play a game similar to the type of game you wish to create and write down some things you would change, improve and/or add.​

FEATURES
This Is the most important part of this guide and where a lot of games fall apart. Everyone wants that new and feature packed Pokémon fan game. But some features just don't belong in some games. I'll explain what I mean about that in just a bit. But first I need to say Just because a feature is cool doesn't mean you need it or that you should use it, Yeah the Dual Screen feature is cool but do you really need it and features like the Poke Top are cool as well but does it fit with your type of game, I mean if your game is a survival type game I doubt you have laptop nearby. Also people are trying to add too many features or just trying to add too much content to their games, for example 500-1000 Pokémon is just crazy no one will even bother catching that many Pokémon. But if they do, can you produce this many Pokémon? I believe there are only around 512 official Pokémon (I wouldn't be surprised if I'm way off). Also more than one region is questionable (Although some people are doing this successfully. Doesn't mean you can). If you want more maps try making new towns, caves or routes and add them to the region, also Islands aren't a bad idea either. What the point of more than 8 badges? If you chose to include more than 8 at least make them useful, for example in the original Pokémon games each badge let you use a HM or made your Pokémon growth increase. If you look at Pokémon over the years it hasn't changed much, yet it has made Nintendo billions of dollars. Simplicity can go very far, having the most features or having some huge region isn't going to make people want to play your game or like it. So when deciding what features you plan to use remember to keep them simple and relevant. Also make sure you or someone else working with you have the skills to actually make the feature a come to life.
Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to help you decide if a feature is right for your game:
Ø What type of game am I making? Tropical, survival, catch em' all, deep space, ect…
Ø Does this feature fit into my game? Well you're not going to have a Laptop in space are ya?
Ø Will people even need this feature? Like the dual screen yea its cool but is it needed?​

GRAPHICS​

Custom graphics are almost always a good thing. However they can be bad if they are poor graphics. When designing custom graphics you should have experience doing so or have someone on your team who is. Although a game with original Pokémon graphics can be just as successful as one with custom graphics, as I stated fancy graphics are cool but won't make or break a game. I will admit I'm no expert on graphics and I don't have any tips to help you create better graphics just make sure they fit into your style game, for example if your building a tropical type game don't bundle your characters in winter clothes. Fakemon, here's what I think, Fakemon In fan games, maybe. It all depends if they are done right. And what I mean by done right is a believable fakemon, not splicing not a random doodle. All the original Pokémon in a way make sense, I believe for instance take CHARMANDER (A Fire reptile aka a dragon). When i see fakemon they don't look like they belong in your Pokémon world, yeah some look cool but they don't fit. When you create a fakemon you must take into account each official Pokémon that came before it and build on that. All of the fakemon I've saw thus far aren't made this way they are created in an image of what the artist believes is cool But a Electric/Fire Type is just crazy. So when making a game i believe it's best to stick with official Pokémon rather then make your own but if you can do it right then by all means add fakemon. You should also remember the official Pokémon can be improved, by adding new attacks, new evolutions, ect... ​

This Is Incomplete Please wait for an updated version before posting anymore comments. You are free to add advice to this article if you want.
To have your advice added please pm me what you'd like to add.​

I'll keep updating this guide as Ideas come to me.​

Created by, KING CHARIZARD from the Poke Community​

This guide is just that a guide, you don't have to do what it says or listen to anything I've written it's entirely up to you. I simply explained what I felt was the correct way to create a fan game,​

 

[MykehDoom]

Downloading and reading this now. :) Thanks alot.

 

[KingCharizard]

Thanks let me know what you think, keep in mind its very short because my computer crashed and I didn't save. Also has some errors because Im tired and I missed some mistakes before I released it. I will be updating it tomorrow with much more content. It will go over every aspect of game development and cover many mistakes people including professionals and i've made.

 

[Alistair]

I read it, and to be honest, this was not really filled with advice at all. Instead, it seems like you are just complaining about what fangames are including. Yes, dual-screen setups do not make sense if you are developing a computer-style game, but it works if you are trying to replicate the feel of the DS games. I would recommend trying a more objective view on the subject, and explain how a feature could be good or bad. Listing both the pros and cons is a good way to actually give advice about a system. The story section is laughable, at best. A few sentences saying that the story is the most important part and that you should use your imagination is not really helpful. How can the story be good? How can it motivate the player to keep playing?

Like I said, this document is very lackluster. Please, in the next version, have someone look it over, and see if it's actually good. And there is no excuse for poor grammar.

 

[KingCharizard]

I read it, and to be honest, this was not really filled with advice at all. Instead, it seems like you are just complaining about what fangames are including. Yes, dual-screen setups do not make sense if you are developing a computer-style game, but it works if you are trying to replicate the feel of the DS games. I would recommend trying a more objective view on the subject, and explain how a feature could be good or bad. Listing both the pros and cons is a good way to actually give advice about a system. The story section is laughable, at best. A few sentences saying that the story is the most important part and that you should use your imagination is not really helpful. How can the story be good? How can it motivate the player to keep playing?

Like I said, this document is very lackluster. Please, in the next version, have someone look it over, and see if it's actually good. And there is no excuse for poor grammar.

As I stated I was typing for 5 hours and lost everything... And As I said i'll go into more detail in the more detailed version. But I agree it lacks advice it is basically the foward and what not.

Yes, dual-screen setups do not make sense if you are developing a computer-style game, but it works if you are trying to replicate the feel of the DS games.

FYI I've said this!

This is not a guide for what features you should use its what you should concider when deciding on which features you will use. And the story section will include some tips to write a well more balanced story but as I said your free to do what you wish with the story... It seems you mis understood the intentions of this guide its to help you better plan not to tell you what is good or bad...

Also by pointing out what is wrong with fan games it is advice... Perhaps you should Reread the doc because it seems you didnt really understand it at all...

 

[Alistair]

Just saying what's wrong is not at advice at all. Saying what's wrong, what's right, and how to improve is, as is providing a solution. And yes, I did read the article. It was one major complaint. While your intention was probably different, your bias and wording blocked your message.

Here is an example of what you wrote:

Also people are trying to add too many features or just trying to add too much content to their games, for example 500-1000 Pokémon is just crazy no one will even bother catching that many Pokémon.

Allow me to reword this so it comes off as a piece of advice, not as a complaint:

A common problem in current fangames is too much content, such as custom Pokémon. Flooding your game with content can distract the player from the main point of the game. But too little content can also cause the player to not play at all. Content management and moderation is something that should be practiced. Asking people occasionally to see what they think about the amount and the quality of content is very beneficial to the quality of the game.

Sure, it's a little longer, but it actually tells the person how he/she could improve on content management.

By the way, I was just reviewing what you already wrote. If there was more to it, I could have written more about it. And if you really had pages, you should have rewritten them before posting this. This document is very incomplete.

Also, no, you did not say anything of the sort when it comes to dual-screen setups. You posed the question "It's cool, but is it really needed?" This is a bit different than saying that the dual-screen setup is suitable for DS-style fangames.

Finally, as I said before, work on your wording. It can make or break what you want to say.

 

[KingCharizard]

Also, no, you did not say anything of the sort when it comes to dual-screen setups. You posed the question "It's cool, but is it really needed?" This is a bit different than saying that the dual-screen setup is suitable for DS-style fangames.

Once again, I did by asking the question is it really needed? meaning does it fit or is it an extra feature your adding into your game... As my FEATURE section clearly says make sure the feature your adding fits into the type of game you wish to make. And what your reviewing isn't ment to have advice its the foward and ment to open for the advice. Each section will contain advice. Which the feature section has.

Its clear this doc is not complete and needs work im aware of that. Lets leave it as that. Oh and everone has their own style of writing although you tend to keep an open objective view im using a more direct and solid way of expressing the same thing. Also the guide was updated but still incomplete, just fixed a few things and add some things.

 

[Peeky Chew]

I haven't downloaded and read it because it doesn't really interest me. But if you need a future version checked for grammer then send it to me, my mums an english tutor.

 

[Neo-Dragon]

I'm only after giving some advice to the Calis Projects lads yesterday and after seeing this thread I'll part some wisdom here.

For those that don't know, I actually want to become a professional game developer and am currently on my second year in college studying game development. So it will be wise to read what I'm about to say and take it on board. This is straight from my course....

First off, I disagree with this guide.
"A great story" makes a game according to the guide....Wrong.... We all know pokemon games have great stories don't we.... Oh wait, they don't...... If the official games get crit for anything, it's the generic plot that is pretty much the same.
What about pong? Or tetris? No storyline.

What makes a great game is the design of a game.
Most people here are making a fan game.
Only a handful are designing a game.

Game design is all about making a game for someone to play. Generally is has conditions. Such as a win condition and a lose condition and rules. This design uses a think called player feedback.
Feedback is positive and negative and teaches the player the rules.
Let's look at a game and talk about positive and negative feed back,
I'll use pokemon.
You have a pokemon on your team that has a great attack stat, but low speed and defence.
So the positive feedback to the player is that when it attacks, it's really strong.
The negative feedback is that because it has low defence when it get's attacked it will really feel it. Low speed means it won't attack first or dodge attacks.
That was designed by gamefreak in order to provide the player with rules on how to battle.
It gives you positive and negative feedback to learn.

If anyone on this forum can grasp how to use this feedback system in each feature they use, they will be onto a hit.

 

[KingCharizard]

While I agree pong and tetris didnt have a story, they were High score games giving the player the chance to beat his/her high score each time they've played and yes they were fun and challanging I believe Gamers have changed, What could games like Assassinas Creed and Uncharted be without the story? Yeah they were visually amazing but without the story they would just be gorgeous failures.

When I refered to the story, I ment anything to do with the games adventure including plot and what not. Objective anything that effects the progress that doesnt have to do with programming or graphics.
And you are correct game design is about making a game foe people to play, but no ones gonna wanna play a game which isn't balanced or it confuses the player. Also If the game is too much for the play they will quit playing aswell.

Since it seems people dont agree with all my advice i'll post one more edit and thats it. This was a guide that I was making to help people but it seems i've wasted my time.

 

[Neo-Dragon]

You used a good word there.... "Balance."
That's what I'm talking about feedback to the player and giving positive and negative responses to them.
That word- balance.... It's bang on.
You talk about games like uncharted and assassins creed, and yeah the story makes them really good. But if you have a game that doesn't play well it doesn't matter. Both games mentioned were VERY good at platforming and having set piece after set piece of action.

Balance is why Call of Duty is so good.
A lot of people (I remember an episode of the Bonus Round on gametrailers, a guy from infinity ward said around half of the people who buy the game) don't play the single player part of the call of duty games. It's the multiplayer. Because it provides the player with so much feedback. When they play it, they feel like they have skill.... That's feedback. And it's the balance that provides it. The game is so well tweaked.

 

[KingCharizard]

I never said I didnt agree with your feedback, it was different than the way I was taught, but it was exactly what I was trying to explain in my feature section. I agree if the palyer runs around always getting their way never having a hard time tey will lose interest, but if you make it too complicated they will also lose interest. Its all about content management as someone else said. Thats what my guide it trying to help people with.

 

[Peeky Chew]

https://nitrome.com/
These are all really good games. Creative and very, very pretty. Each one is unique and quite addictive too. I think those things are the best in any game. And if you're going to make a Pokemon fan game you have to think about them.

 

[KingCharizard]

OK Let me make this clear, This GUIDE is for POKEMON FAN GAMES Nothing else not arcade games not platformers or any other genre. IT Is written to help people with a POKEMON game only and is in no way a guide for game development as a whole.

 

[Peeky Chew]

My post was about Pokemon, I thought that those games brought my point across better...

 

[Neo-Dragon]

I never said I didnt agree with your feedback.

I never said you did.
Why do you think people are always attacking your posts?
Most of your posts and even your sig. seem like you feel hard done by or something.
Calm down buddy.

 

[KingCharizard]

I never said you did.
Why do you think people are always attacking your posts?
Most of your posts and even your sig. seem like you feel hard done by or something.
Calm down buddy.

because they are, all I've done since I joined is try to help and I get reported, Everything I post seems to get corrected or attacked like here is a quote someone replied to one of my recent posted

Did you read anything in this thread? I mean, come on...

Its very frusterating to have everything you say contested, I dont think there is more than 5 posts I've made that went uncontested. Here I try to give MY ADVICE to try to improve ideas and I get people Mentioning the bad, usually when you review something you mention the good and bad, pros and cons... But here people only mention the bad and there is plenty good. Also I mention the article is incomplete which means it no doubt has problems, and yet you still feel the need to correct it... which makes people not even want to download and read the doc. Its very frusterating to have something you worked hard on lost then I try to retype it, (and I can never word things the same the second time around) Get such bad ratings...

And you mis use the word calm, Im not actually mad just stressed... You think I come as arrogant but, I think its the other way around. There is no telling you experts anything, no giving advice because its not good enough... You all think you know whats best yet so many projects fail. So many projects have so much potential and support and still fail. Im having a bad day obviously but it still doesn't change what I said.

 

[davidthefat]

Ok first of all, its the graphics that first gets people's attention, they see screen shots first, then may be if they are interested, they will research the game and see the videos. and If they still like it, they will go get the game it self. So the graphics are HUGE, they set the mood and tone of the story, and they also are the main advertisement. As you already know, there are different types of characters, dynamic and static characters. You can use either one to tell the story, and theres different levels of importance in characters. Major or Main characters(ash and pikachu), minor major (think misty and brock in the shows) major minor (May be jessie and jamse, but they can be minor major) minor minor (the random characters that are in the show a couple episodes, like the phantom) You have to use a variety of those characters.

 

[Spikey-Eared Pichu]

Umm, I read the guide, don't completely agree with it, but I've read this whole thread it really it just seems like a flame war in the making...The guy's just trying to give advice, albeit may be in a rather unorthodox and crass way, but let him finish his guide and do as he pleases with it.

If you disagree, then send him a PM about it. Don't muck up the thread. Not trying to backseat-mod or anything, just giving my thoughts on this...

 

[davidthefat]

You have to see it as an art, writing a novel, tell they story as you would in a book. Then just add the interactivity later, thats how movies are made, screen play first then the directing and special effects. games too