gbadev.org forum archive

This is a read-only mirror of the content originally found on forum.gbadev.org (now offline), salvaged from Wayback machine copies. A new forum can be found here.

Graphics > i welcome myself

#31774 - thereaperofsoulstocome - Tue Dec 14, 2004 11:26 am

new here ..hi, recentley purchased a gameboy A sp and waiting on a xrom flash cart plus linker ...its gonna kick azz ...anyways spending over 200 bucks for it all makes me want to do one thing.... get as much as I can get out of it. Being a musician and a self proclaimed artist on top of having dreams my whole life of being a programmer of any computer languages I feel compelled to start learning now...this site is really great on the basics of gameboy programming and im deffinatley going to study the beginers FAQ .. but the graphics is deffinatley the most exciting part of a game to me so its deffinatley going to be the most fun part creating for me...I was really just wondering some real basic stuff like about the whole game making process as far as graphics go like : what are some GBA model and sprite editing softwares (i mean the freeware) and how does it work?I mean is it possible to just create animated GIFs and just use them as characters in your game or is that pretty much all the animations and sprites are? also i was wondering which step of the whole "GAME CREATING PROCESS" is the graphics ? Can somone please give me like a simple breif synopsis of how you make games like in steps

example: step 1 = writing the enviornment thru code
step 2 = defining the variable of the enviornment thru code
step 3 = adding texture and pallette to the variables
game creating process theory? idk but any example would be appreciated


sorry for the long post hope somone reads it and can help me out Im really just trying to put ideas into perspective so when i start reading about all the code and programming I can be thinking of some cool mnemonics to be adding to them :) thx .. sanctuary love.
_________________
give and take
its not like you were never a newbie

sewwing the fate of the obsolete
the fear of all programmers worldwide
"alzhiemers"

#31775 - Mucca - Tue Dec 14, 2004 12:07 pm

Mnemonic->
Alt+E, U

#31776 - blinky465 - Tue Dec 14, 2004 12:12 pm

thereaperofsoulstocome wrote:
what are some GBA model and sprite editing softwares (i mean the freeware) and how does it work?
if you have Windows, MS Paint has pretty much all you need for drawing sprites! (but seriously, I use Paint Shop Pro 7 - its not freeware but worth the price. GIMP is supposed to be a pretty good freebie but I've never used it)

thereaperofsoulstocome wrote:
also i was wondering which step of the whole "GAME CREATING PROCESS" is the graphics ?

For me, graphics are the icing on the cake - some people like to have a load of sprites before coding, as it gives them incentive to get the thing up and running properly (I find that if my game looks lovely, I spend too long "playtesting" it - ie. moving a few sprites around, saying to myself, "that looks nice".)

ps. if you're looking to draw sprites for a ready-made game engine, have a look at http://www.multiedge-net.co.uk/gba/demo.gba and PM me for details!

#31778 - Krakken - Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:33 pm

Great... *Calls to Graga*

#31779 - identitycrisisuk - Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:52 pm

blinky465 wrote:
ps. if you're looking to draw sprites for a ready-made game engine, have a look at http://www.multiedge-net.co.uk/gba/demo.gba and PM me for details!

Ah, I'd forgotten who it was that was doing the isometric game, it looks quite cool already. I've been looking into doing an isometric game at some point in the future, was making some tiles in the manner ScottLininger has used for his compo entry. Plus I was messing about drawing some objects in that "pixel art" style. TBH tho, if you did those sprites you're already using you could probably turn out something good. It takes patience more than talent sometimes, lol. Check out my Gamecube that I drew yesterday.
_________________
Code:
CanIKickIt(YES_YOU_CAN);

#31782 - Cleon I - Tue Dec 14, 2004 3:29 pm

If you're wanting to get into game programming, I'd suggest first learning to program something on the PC since the GBA is a tough platform to learn on. You won't have to worry as much about optimization and there are already a lot of great tools out there.

Of course, if you're just looking to get into the "scene" and are more interested in the artistic side of it, there are plenty of coders out there who need someone to make their games look and sound good. The best way to get noticed is to make a webpage with some of your work and then use that to advertise yourself.

In terms of what the process of designing a game is, I'd describe it something like this:

step 0: collect/develop basic tools (entity system, audio library, etc)
step 1: game design (come up with an idea, come up with the look and feel, objectives, gameplay, etc)
step 2: build a prototype (complete gameplay, but probably only rudimentary graphics and sound)
step 3: flesh out the game, add in all the bells and whistles

The part that you're interested in is actually a pretty minor part of the overall "game creating process" which is why I'd suggest that you find someone to work with. Of course, if you're really looking to get into game programming, there are plenty of resources out there to get you started.