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Converting a board game into a computer game?

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Sat, 08/10/2013 - 14:22
Three
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Still working on RED, and it's going pretty good so far. Some people on and offline have told me it'd make a better videogame since it does have similarities to other videogames (FF Tactics). I didn't give that possibility much thought until now because I have no coding experience myself.

Is there anyone here with said experience willing to cooperate with me / know any way I can get started on my own?

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByWVLhRVj0ykS0JoT0szdGVNMm8/edit This is the first prototype rulebook. It's not the most recent version, but it's the only one online at this point and time. It still has all of the basic game play mechanics though.

If the game seems like something you'd enjoy working on feel free to poke me here. Any other advice is always well appreciated as well!

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Sat, 08/10/2013 - 19:07
#1
larienna
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Just want to quick comment

Just want to quick comment that programming applications and programming video games are actually 2 different worlds. So learning how programm and how to make video games at the same time will be very hard.

I am exploring the possibility to use LibGDX as a video game framework that runs in java. Since it's a framework, there is in theory less work, or low level stuff to do. The 2D scene engine seems to work well for implementing board games. but it's still won't be a walk in the park. Since it's Java, it's object oriented, and those concepts are not easy to grasp for newbies.

There is a demo game on their website with the code explained in details, if you can pass through the code an understand, fine, but if it looks like chinese, you'll have to find a friend to code it for you. Reading a book about java first could also be a good idea.

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Sun, 08/11/2013 - 00:48
#2
Corsaire
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Consider Vassal

You could take a look at Vassal as a potential first step. http://www.vassalengine.org/

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Sun, 08/11/2013 - 05:58
#3
SLiV
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Find a programmer

Your game definitely has potential as a video game, and I would understand why your playtesters pointed this out to you.

However, I have to agree with Larienna: learning how to make a video game without any former programming knowledge will be practically impossible. Learning how to program efficiently in C++ or Java would take at least a year, and learning how to make a video game would probably take another year. You shouldn't expect to release your game within three years if you programmed it yourself.

I have no experience with Vassal, so that might be a good option.

That aside, I think your best bet would be to work with a programmer. I'd be interested myself, but I'm already working on programming my own board game, and I have no idea how that will work out.

Best of luck.

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Sun, 08/11/2013 - 08:40
#4
Three
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Yeah..I'm starting to realize

Yeah..I'm starting to realize how much of a mountain I'd have to climb to learn myself. I don't mind working on this game for a long time, but I'd much prefer finding a partner.

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Sat, 08/17/2013 - 09:38
#5
Three
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So, I've found a programmer

So, I've found a programmer willing to help me out with the game; and another that wants to help move things along. Even better, one of my friends helped put everything into perspective.

What I should have mentioned at the start of this thread was that the game includes no animations (as far as character movement / reactions) and that I'm looking to recreate the game exactly as is. I'm told that this in and of itself isn't a difficult task but there's still a lot that needs to be done. I'll be back to post progress reports, but in the mean time any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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