All project topics that do not adhere to the following rules and outline will be locked.
When creating your game project thread, please follow the outline below. This outline will help you organize what you’ve accomplished on your project so far and help others learn more about it. If you are filling out this outline and can’t provide all the details then you probably aren’t ready for a game thread yet! If you are not ready to create a dedicated topic yet, please use the Brainstorm Central topic to discuss your idea and get early feedback.
First, some ground rules.
- (Optional) PM TragicManner with your completed outline for moderator feedback —What you PM us should look like what you are planning on posting!
- One thread allowed per project—ask a mod/admin if you need an old topic locked
- We require proof that your project is currently in development, so include at least two of the following: Screen shots, a video, design documents, mock ups, demos, proof of concept, etc. If you cannot sufficiently prove you are beyond just the idea stage, your topic will be locked until you can.
- No pointless “bumping” of your topic—post meaningful updates
- Keep your first post updated with the latest information—use the EDIT button
A note on the proof requirement
We get a LOT of people posting topics about games they want to make. We ask that people actually start working on their games before posting dedicated topics for them to help people who are already working on projects get the help they need. A day, or even a week, is probably not enough time to post yet. Feel free to use Brainstorm Central and Work for Hire to get help on getting started. If you want feedback before posting a topic for your game, post updates on the General Update Board.
A note on Moderator Feedback
We love hearing about your projects before you post them! It helps us give you the support you need to have a great experience here in Fan Games and Programs, and helps us point out if you missed anything before you post. This is currently optional, as we don’t want to become a barrier of entry for anyone. The more games being made, the better!
Thread Outline v1.3Thread Subject:
- Should at least contain your project’s title.
Thread Byline:
- Include helpful information here. Perhaps when your latest update was or what your project is about.
Thread Body:
- Project Title
- The first thing you should include is the title of your project. You should also mention what type of program it is. An Application? RPG? Puzzle? Action shooter? A screen shot or image of your title screen are also popular choices.
Awesome Dude
(title screen image)
“Awesome Dude” is a retro platformer I made for Windows. It’s still in the testing stage though.
- Synopsis
- You don’t have to give everything away, but give us at least details about what sort of game-play is involved. If it’s an app, what does your app do and how does one go about using it?
Take control of Dude, the smack talking cyborg as you battle your way through 8 stages full of spikes and baddies. Dude is trying to rescue his goldfish from the clutches of his evil twin. Collect power ups and use your laser blaster to make your way to the stage boss!
- Features
- What neat things are you implementing? What makes this project unique? Facts about your game, not opinions such as “It’s cool!”
After every stage you can visit Dude’s lab and upgrade your laser blaster. I created a couple nifty items for this game as well. There’s a power up that will lower or raise the gravity. By using it you can reach new areas or slow down certain enemies. If you’re into a challenge I added a difficulty setting that changes enemy speed and stats. There’s also a time trial mode too!
- Content
- Who are your characters? Locations? What other interesting things can be found in your game? If it’s an app, what’s “out of the box”? What exactly are we downloading and installing?
Main Characters
- Dude, the hero.
- Goldie, Dude’s goldfish who managed to get kidnapped!
- Big Buddy will upgrade your equipment if you bring him enough tokens.
- Etc etc
The main game takes place in 8 stages you can visit at any time. There’s also an upgrade shop and an options menu. You can save your game at any time. Here’s a couple screen shots of the stages…
- Screen shots
- Minimum two required! The screen shots should be diverse; title screens do not count. Upload PNG, GIF, or JPEG images… NOT BMP format. Bitmaps are memory hogs.
- Progress (Optional)
- How much have you done? What still needs to be done?
Some more helpful tips…
- Use spoiler tags to organize your information. To have a spoiler box with a custom title do the following:
[spoiler=title here]info[/spoiler] - Need screen shots? You can hit the print-screen key (PrtSc) which will take a screen capture of your computer monitor. Now simply open up an image program like Paint and select “Paste” to place the capture onto the document. Make sure to do any necessary cropping and resizing. Usually a 640×480 image is adequate, place very large ones in spoiler tags.
- When in doubt, ask a fellow member or a moderator for help or advice.
- There are a number of helpful topics already out there, make sure you’ve checked them out. They’re either stickied or a tab located at the top of the forum (like this topic)
