How I would design a game like Starbound

Edit: My original concept was changed drastically, once I took feedback and realized it was not feasable. So, I thought about it, and now I have a new concept.

My idea is a game that is a randomly generating side-scroller much like Starbound. It would be build on a very solid engine, with an emphasis on physics and a variety of situations; essentially a universal physics engine for any kind of situation. Zero gravity, underwater, flight, et cetera. Many of these would probably be Starbound ones, to include temperature and gravity variance, and perhaps to expand to include radiation (assuming radiation won't be present in Starbound already). They may be divided into templates, perhaps with graphics for caves and such, but it would likely implement an expanded form of the existing Starbound dungeon generation for its world gen. Rather than individual blocks, you would have pre made rooms (to include caverns, temples, and so on) that the game would consist of. Since the game would not be based around a block world that you could completely tear asunder, it would be easy to facilitate wider areas, perhaps by generating various layers of background and foreground to create unique environments. Something like this was done in various vanillaware titles; Odin Sphere comes to mind.

Then we add user content.

Make the game have some basic elements, but from there on out allow users to create and tailor their worlds, all the while producing new templates and content for them to do it with. Underwater packs, steam punk packs, cyberpunk, fantasy, the list is pretty endless. Allow users to input their own music and images and everything else in a partitioned section of it that we wouldn't touch (essentially an interface for player-based servers and content), and at the same time have "official" servers and level designs. Mods would be incorporated as appropriate, such as with the original sword of the stars, where each expansion pack was essentially an incorporation of user mods.

Well, so far, does it sound feasible?

Edit: Kudos to mkv25 for jogging my memory on the user-based content side of things.

 

That's neat. Get a team of 200 people together and make it happen.

 

I just want to make sure you realize how labour intensive making a game is.
You'd require numerous specialized teammates to spread out the workload to finish on a reasonable date.
Spend a large amount of time on it to finish on a reasonable date.
Have a large amount of cash to keep you alive to finish the game on a reasonable date.

It's very hard work and not everyone can do it, but since I have no idea who you are or what you are capable of I say go right on ahead if you have the skills.
Personally though I'd recommend waiting for Starbound to finish and make some mods for it before making your own stand-alone game. It'll get you some good publicity and would make a great resume for anyone willing to sponsor you or something.

 

So what does this have to do with St-

Oh okay, you said Starbound in one of the sentences, I see now.

 

that game....... I LOVED IT!, you should try monster girl quest part 1 and 2...

BACK TO TOPIC

It depends if you have the all the time in the world to do it, go ahead, but if you don't and your alone?, its going to be hard

 

Well, I'm referring to form, not theme. I guess I should have notated that. Thematically I would have made something very different from Starbound.

Its definitely a dream, not feasable yet. However, every project has to get started somehow. I'm not too deterred by the fact that I'm not currently in any kind of position to start a game, since I'm at the start of my life with no familial obligations and little interest in anything besides artistic endeavors. As for the mod idea, that is a really good notion.

 

No

 

One of the biggest issues you would find when creating expansions of that awesomeness is that old content comes redundant really really quickly, I mean power creep would be a seriously massive issue in your game, and its something you would need to be very aware of and stamp out from the get go.

 

Yeap, I agree. I've rethought my post a bit. I'll edit it now to match a new concept.

 

It would be completely possible to do. By yourself, though, it could take years.

Starting with barely any resources or funds is just not going to cut it out for you in the long run.

 

Indeed. I would get a team of people and pay them for their work. Having the funds to do something like that is not out of my range of possibilities, at this point.

Regardless, I've come up with a new concept I'm currently composing above.

 

Ah, I see. Well good luck to you in your endeavors.

 

I had this idea, that players could design rooms, and map features as screen sized blocks, that get added to like a big online database, and could be tagged with different features... and then, when worlds are generated, it could include content from all these different worlds. You'd need teams of moderators to keep quality high, and players would have the option to enable content packs, but the end result would be fully randomised worlds that are built from content created by the community.

Who knows where that would take the Adventure game.

 

That is precisely where I was going to go with it in my updated post!

 

Well guys, remember... Cave Story was created by one man... with a will.

Though no where near as gameplay fancy as starbound will be, it has an amazing story; And that's what really counts.

 

I have yet to play cave story. Going to do that directly.

 

Unfortunately the amount of work required for programming a game is mind boggling. The sheer amount of maintenance in keeping literally every facet of dozens of entities together will turn making chess into a bit of a conundrum. Keep in mind that you'll be relying on other people's code to literally move ones and zeroes through a microprocessor and putting lights on a screen. We've come a long way since the days of yore, but languages are still on a level where you're going to have to at least know calculus (and have weeks of spare time) before creating a basic engine from scratch.

 

I'm aware something like this would be an ordeal. I would not get into it without educating myself properly, and without some serious attention and resources towards it. If I were to pursue this game concept, it certainly would not be the first game I'd try to make, and it would not be alone. I am, however, at this point, not a programmer, in any way shape or form. I am merely a person with a lot of prospective free time on their hands, some money, and an interest.

 

It really sounds like you got nothing stopping you from downloading PyGame tonight and making yourself a Snake clone.

 

Just knowledge of where to start. Thanks for the tip.