What NOT To Make

[jordan4ibanez]

I have made a game as horrible as I possibly could while still maintaining the feeling that this was supposed to be a good game. I did this as an example to look back on, as this is my first game made in love2d. I wanted to make sure that I, and hopefully others that see this don't make these mistakes either.

This game is called "Playing With A Rock 2.0", basically it is like extremely primitive, singleplayer, full-court "basketball". You get points by making the "rock" hit the walls while it is going downwards. 10 points you get a nice message, beyond that there are surprises.

This game has:
-Terrible control (You cannot control the rock in mid air)
-Glitches (You can glitch through the walls)
-Horrible color schemes
-A terrible layout
-Headache inducing graphics
-Annoying music
-Excess stuff (leftover files)
-When you hold keys down while it is loading, it'll take longer to load!

In face, it's so "badly" made you can't even pack it into a .love file without getting an error.

Here's a video
http://youtu.be/TZgIAsr-iXo

[scutheotaku]

Mistakes or not, you managed to complete a game with LOVE - congratulations! Even if it's a simple, primitive game, you made it and completed it! And really, the game isn't THAT primitive. It's actually sort of funny, in a sadistic sort of way (reminds me of some of the adultswim Flash games).

My first game ever (not including text experiments in BASIC, haha) was a game where a ball moved around the screen and you had to click it to gain points. It was nothing special, but it was something. Be proud that you've completed something.

Now, if you're not happy with it, why not spend some time trying to improve it? For example, how can you make the control better? How can you improve the collision (so that you can't "glitch through walls")?

PS: Was the part about not being able to pack it into a .love file a joke? I'm not familiar with how to do this on Linux (which it appears that you're using), but on Windows and Mac you simply zompress the files (NOT the folder) into a .ZIP folder, then rename the file extension from ".ZIP" to ".love".

[jordan4ibanez]

PS: Was the part about not being able to pack it into a .love file a joke? I'm not familiar with how to do this on Linux (which it appears that you're using), but on Windows and Mac you simply zompress the files (NOT the folder) into a .ZIP folder, then rename the file extension from ".ZIP" to ".love".

Thanks for these words, but this was made bad on purpose! And no that's not a joke, if you'd like to try it xD

[jordan4ibanez]

I completely forgot!
Download: https://dl.dropbox.com/s/sge2v2wlwrhbau ... e.zip?dl=1

[Ubermann]

Mistakes or not, you managed to complete a game with LOVE - congratulations! Even if it's a simple, primitive game, you made it and completed it! And really, the game isn't THAT primitive. It's actually sort of funny, in a sadistic sort of way (reminds me of some of the adultswim Flash games).

My first game ever (not including text experiments in BASIC, haha) was a game where a ball moved around the screen and you had to click it to gain points. It was nothing special, but it was something. Be proud that you've completed something.

Now, if you're not happy with it, why not spend some time trying to improve it? For example, how can you make the control better? How can you improve the collision (so that you can't "glitch through walls")?

This.
I completely agree. Even if your first game ever is not a best_game_ever, you are learning and now you know what needs to be improved, you understand how your errors were commited, and maybe you have new ideas to improve or implement.

PS: Was the part about not being able to pack it into a .love file a joke? I'm not familiar with how to do this on Linux (which it appears that you're using), but on Windows and Mac you simply zompress the files (NOT the folder) into a .ZIP folder, then rename the file extension from ".ZIP" to ".love".

For creating a .love in linux:

1- open xterm or whatever terminal you want
2- change to the directory that contains all the lua files
3- execute this command: zip -u -r myGame.love *
4- profit

About the zip commad: -u says to update the compressed file with only the modified files. If it does ot exists, it adds all files. -r says to see folders recursively and add them with their contents to the compressed package

[veethree]

Well at least you made an actual game. This is the type of shit i usually use löve for cause i suck at coming up with game ideas. lol

[T-Bone]

I don't think it's possible to design a Löve game that cannot be compressed into a .love. Just mark all the .lua files (and any other stuff you might use), right click, hit "compress" (the actual word may vary depending on OS), and then rename the .zip to .love. Works on Linux, Mac and Windows.

[Saegor]

Well at least you made an actual game. This is the type of shit i usually use löve for cause i suck at coming up with game ideas. lol

this is beautifulll

[OmarShehata]

The are three SUPER important things any game designer will tell you.

The first is to prototype.

As a rule of thumb, you will never know if the game is fun or not on paper. You need to prototype it before you start. If the prototype is fun, then you can start working on it.The trick, however is that if the prototype isn't fun, trash it and start over. If it's not fun now, it won't be fun when you add all the graphics and levels and powerups etc..

The second most important thing, is to prototype.

When they were making Castle Crashers, they completely trashed the first prototype of the game and started from scratch because it wasn't fun enough.

Finally, the most super duper important thing that you must never forgot to do, is to prototype. This really is the most important step in the development cycle. It's where you know whether the game could succeed or not. It's what game jams are all about. Game jams encourage people to prototype concepts, and if they work, you use the mechanic or concept to make a full game.

As others have said, the best experience comes simply from making games. Don't be afraid to make crap, because that's the only to reach success. Just keep making games.