Making a Game and Needing Help! Thread

So I'm making a 2D game based on unity engine, I've done a couple of basic things on my own and I'm actually doing all the scripting, animations and graphics, storyline and gameplay design and the other stuff on my own, but I need help to make the game better.

The game is about an astronaut abandoned in space, trying to build a spaceship to get back home. I actually thought of some sort of storyline for it but it needs serious work, so I need help with the storyline. Also I have some ideas for the gameplay but I would like to know other ideas on a fun and interesting gameplay, so the base gameplay includes collecting resources to build a spaceship while trying to overcome the problems you encounter, such as lack of friction or not having a huge inventory space. I want the game to be huge and not linier so everything should be dynamic except you wake up in the middle of space and your goal is to build something that will give you enough momentum to get past the gate(its kind of a portal that you need to have a certain momentum so it activates). But the base gameplay can be quite boring without dynamism and interesting events. So I need some ideas how to make it more addicting and interesting and less boring.

I personally thought of collectibles and there are tons of objects that can be found in the empty quite space which you can interact with some and collect some. There are also crazy ways to move around including firing the guns governments through away in the infinite space to jetpacks made out of fire extinguishers and a lot more. And also some of these objects can be built, others can be found in the environment.

Basically, I'm trying to make an open world(kind of) big 2D game that offers a lot of exploration and gameplay, but having just a large environment is not enough, it needs to be interesting and fun to make a large environment a good thing!

So tell me what do you like in a game like this and your general opinion on this.

If you're interested to help me further with the game(coding, graphics or anything) comment bellow or contact me at bardia.eghbali@gmail.com

It sounds like a good concept you have there, will be good to hear / see more of it as you develop it.

I can't help shed any light on the story side of things as that really isn't my area, but the movement mechanics you describe sounds like there will be fun ways of traversing the environment. I'm imagining something like the jetpacks, rocket boots etc from Terraria combine with the crazy gun / movement from No Time To Explain, so certainly play those if you haven't already as they might give you some ideas with the movement etc. In fact the gameplay of collectables /resources / crafting or making various inventions to navigate areas is again something worth looking toward Terraria for inspiration.

I think there is a lot of potential in the idea and the setting of space with building some form of spaceship being the goal to reach the exit. But I'd say get some form of prototype / gameplay up and running then you'll be able to get a lot better feedback based from that. It's hard to really provide much help at this stage.

Hey M4347, Thanks for your interest.

M4347 wrote:

I can't help shed any light on the story side of things as that really isn't my area, but the movement mechanics you describe sounds like there will be fun ways of traversing the environment. I'm imagining something like the jetpacks, rocket boots etc from Terraria combine with the crazy gun / movement from No Time To Explain, so certainly play those if you haven't already as they might give you some ideas with the movement etc. In fact the gameplay of collectables /resources / crafting or making various inventions to navigate areas is again something worth looking toward Terraria for inspiration.

I did think of a lot of ways to move around as I said, there are funny ways like firing guns or letting the helium in a balloon out and there are more legit ways like jetpacks and rockets. and I also thought of having oxygen, fuel and power resources to make it a little more challenging and there's a unique crafting to it too. Objects are divided into tiers. Tier 1 Objects are rare and hard to craft while Tier 4 Objects are easy to find. By combining objects of each tier you can build an object in the higher tier. Everything can be build in several different ways using different base objects; for example you can build a jetpack out of micro thrusters or out of guns taped to each other.

M4347 wrote:

I think there is a lot of potential in the idea and the setting of space with building some form of spaceship being the goal to reach the exit. But I'd say get some form of prototype / gameplay up and running then you'll be able to get a lot better feedback based from that. It's hard to really provide much help at this stage.

I actually have made some basic gameplay functions for testing things out and I'll upload it in the game's page here pretty soon. If you're interested, I would appreciate any feedback on it

an astronaut abandoned in space, trying to build a spaceship to get back home

In space.... you mean open space instead of planet? or you actually meant stranded in unknown planet?

You didn't mention any story so I'm really confused with base story of the game. If the astronaut is stranded in space, I had assumption that he has some kind of space base and small spaceship to travel in close range but that ship isn't strong enough to get back home. If he's stranded in a planet, my assumption is that he only has some ruined spaceship or anything that took him there + tools

Anyways, that was my second point. My first point was is this astronaut really alone in .... space/planet? I asked this cause if there are other humans there or at least there are aliens and he can communicate with them, those NPCs can be one of interesting factor and very useful to make explorations interesting

I can't comment anything else until you can answer my question above

In space.... you mean open space instead of planet? or you actually meant stranded in unknown planet?

I mean open space, but he doesn't have anything with himself. You start in the middle of nowhere with a little bit of fuel left in your jetpack, then you have to move around and find things that are necessary, like oxygen capsules and things that you can move around with. So the game isn't very accurate or realistic, it tries to be fun.

Anyways, that was my second point. My first point was is this astronaut really alone in .... space/planet? I asked this cause if there are other humans there or at least there are aliens and he can communicate with them, those NPCs can be one of interesting factor and very useful to make explorations interesting

But I'm trying to add this loneliness touch to it and the fact that in the open space things can go wrong easily, like you gain too much speed and run out of fuel you're gonna get lost so bad, or you can actually start spinning so bad and there's no gravity or friction to stop it. I think NPCs would be fun but the astronaut is really alone if he wasn't then they would help him, so there can't be any humans there, but having alien attacks is possible, like alien thieves that will try to steal the parts of your unfinished spaceship.

You didn't mention any story so I'm really confused with base story of the game

And a little about the story behind it, the astronaut is in another galaxy. They have built a portal from our galaxy to the other one called the gate. But travelling through gate requires a lot of momentum, so you cannot go through the portal with a jetpack or anything like that, you need a spaceship with thrusters, designed to gain instant speed. The astronaut wakes up in the open space, not remembering much, but as you play you'll find cassettes that reveal the journey he had before his spaceship exploded when he was trying to get back through the gate. So yeah the story is really weak right now it needs to be rethought but that's the main theme.

So the astronaut will only be travelling in open space. TBH I don't find that interesting as there's not much to see in open space. Also I fail to understand how someone could find space parts or anything in open space

I think you need to change the concept of "stranded in open space" to "stranded in some place". It might answer some basic questions I mentioned

Say, the astronaut is stranded in spaceship graveyard or junk-o-rama, it sounds more interesting than open space, it can answer why player can find some parts. Also just because the place is spaceship graveyard or junk-o-rama, doesn't mean finding parts will be easy so the difficulty and story twist is still preserved

You can add couple features such as some parts are only available in certain areas but that part is guarded by aliens and player must find and create weapon to get rid of the aliens

I'm glad to hear your honest opinion, and I also doubted that it will be interesting so I asked this question here. But although the open space may have lack of visual content and story, but it offers a new gameplay. Btw there are objects left in the open space, a lot of space junk like satellite parts or thrusters and fuel tanks that were disconnected from the rockets. And this takes place in an imaginary world so maybe they throw the stuff they don't use in the open space because the space on earth's surface is too valuable to be wasted by keeping those on earth or whatever like that.

So here's an idea, first you build a small thing with the limited supplies in the open space then you can travel to different planets to gather other resources that cannot be found in the open space. Still some items will be exclusive to the open space, like premade thrusters or battery cells. You can also build or improve a battery cell with resources found in a specific planet. And there will be planet inhabitants that you need to maybe defeat or cooperate with to achieve certain things and this makes a lot more sense than UFOs. I also like the spaceship junkyard idea so maybe one planet is only a place to dump old spaceships and you'll find some parts there that are still working.

the concept sounds pretty awesome if you can pull it off. i had a few storyline ideas you can think about. if you havent already, watch "gravity" and "the martian"

how does the main character get abandoned in space and do they get home? sure its basic but it gives you your beginning and end.

the main problem for the MC is going to be oxygen and water. food isnt a big problem cause you can go 21days before you die. so maybe have that as your timeline for your game. 21 days to save yourself.

if its open and non-linear then its up to the player to decide whats important. do they go for oxygen right away or do they try to fix their communication array? maybe their space suit has a hole in it or gets a hole in it later on. do they sleep? where do they sleep? if they want to eat or drink they have to be inside somewhere so their heads dont explode(or is it implode?) or do they? maybe they rig some kind of latex hose and make the first outer space feeding tube?

why are they in outer space to begin with? what was their role on "the mission" before things went sour? maybe you can choose from 1 of several characters? botanist, engineer, scientist, doctor, or capt? depending who you pick depends on where you start in the game. you could have the same opening cinematic but then have your character wake up in a different location and you wont know is the best to pick because they are all far away from something they need.

you might want to look into how long astronauts can wear their diapers for too.

dennysrenders wrote:

how does the main character get abandoned in space and do they get home? sure its basic but it gives you your beginning and end.

the main problem for the MC is going to be oxygen and water. food isnt a big problem cause you can go 21days before you die. so maybe have that as your timeline for your game. 21 days to save yourself.

Well, my first idea was that you find these cassettes in the open space and you'll hear about how someone tried to save himself and build a spaceship to go back and then the thrusters failed and exploded, also that he finds out that his mission was a planned failure and he was just a test subject to check if a living human can pass the gate. And you are doing the same thing, after you build yours exactly the same happens to you (same sentences and background sound that are heard in the cassette) and then your ship explodes again so something like you'll live this 21 days again and again. Maybe caused by some sort of black hole like the one in interstellar. But then I though that's lame...

maybe you can choose from 1 of several characters? botanist, engineer, scientist, doctor, or capt? depending who you pick depends on where you start in the game. you could have the same opening cinematic but then have your character wake up in a different location and you wont know is the best to pick because they are all far away from something they need.

I like that idea some kind or character customization. Maybe add stats for each skill like as you build stuff you improve and unlock new ways to make things. Just maybe.

But the game won't be accurate with how an astronaut lives in the space, like when you are in the game there is no sleeping and also no eating. Maybe I'll add the food resources but I don't like the whole sleeping thing in the games. So diapers... Nah