Infamous Quests
The Games => Quest for Infamy => Topic started by: chucklas on February 20, 2013, 10:58:22 AM
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Hello backers!!! You all are awesome!!
I just wanted to introduce myself to you and let you in on a little bit of my history with AGS and give you some insight into the programming side of the development of QFI. First, a bit about me. I am a school teacher living in Maryland. I have taught high school math and computer science, ESL, web development, and I am currently teaching middle school technology in a magnet school. I love teaching and it is my "real job" so to speak. I didn't always want to teach though. I actually got my undergraduate degree in computer science and realized in an internship that life in a cubicle was not for me. I quickly looked for other options. I took a job working at a funeral home while finishing my degree and worked there for about a year more before deciding on transitioning to education. Working at a funeral home, I had much time to reflect and think and it game me some perspective into the importance of being happy instead of wealthy. In high school, I liked the idea of teaching, but I ruled it out because of money. Attending many funerals for unhappy, wealthy people, made me realize I needed to do something that would make me enjoy what I was doing (not that you can't have both, but I needed to do what I wanted to do).
Ok, so I became a teacher, but I still love programming (I just hated being in a cubicle). I have always looked for creative programming outlets. I dabbled in homebrew on the psp for a while, but never really got into it. I always wanted to do more, the opportunity just never arose. That is until about 3 years ago when IA asked for testers to help with SQ2. I happened to check the forum that day and emailed Bt immediately. He took me on as a tester, which led me to becoming lead tester, and the rest took off from there.
While working with SQ2, I talked quite a bit with Jason Mearls (programmer for SQ2 at the time, and current programmer for Mages at Himalaya). He suggested to me that I download AGS and play around a bit. I SUCKED!! I didn't have a clue how games were put together in AGS. I looked at the demo game and struggled. The code made sense, but how everything comes together was like a foreign language to me. He didn't let up and with him and a few others, we started a small side project that we never completed (and has since been completely abandoned), but doing so gave me some insight into how AGS really worked.
After releasing SQ2 at IA, and after Jason moved on to Himalaya, I was asked to take the reigns on another project that was in production (sort of) at the time. I guess I was able to impress Bt and Klytos enough that shortly thereafter I was let in on the secret that IQ has been established and they needed a lead programmer for the game. Without having ever made a game, they put a lot of trust in me that I could pull it off. I was shocked really. I had done some testing and showed that I could be counted on to put in the time, but I had only shown a few small pieces of programming. The side project I had worked on, as far as I know had never even made it to anyone else at IA. I had done a few screens and pulled off a few animations somewhat decently. But really, to make a game, from scratch it is a much larger endeavour.
I accepted the offer to work on the game. This was back in December of 2011. There were some Steve Sketches floating around, and some ideas for the game, but not much. As a programmer, without much in terms of resources, I decided I needed to work on setting up the game's basic shell. I also new I had a little bit of time to learn AGS. We completed the demo a little over 6 months later.
In those 6 months, I learned tons about AGS, and game making in general. If you guys are interested, I would love to add some insight into the programming behind QFI and how the game really comes together. Any questions, ask away!
-chucklas
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Hi Chucklas,
I just wanted to say really quick that I enjoyed reading about your background and how you got your start at IQ...I care a lot about this game and so I really like "getting to know" you guys behind the scenes.
I wish I had tons of intelligent & thought-provoking questions for you because I really do want to know what goes into making a game like this, but unfortunately I'm not even computer-savvy enough to know HOW to ask the right kinds of questions about programming, coding, etc...so hopefully someone will jump in right about here...
:D Sarah
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Sarah --
We have gotten a lot of feedback that many of you really have enjoyed getting to know the team a little bit better. That was my main reason for writing that post. As a team, we feel strongly that we need to be open to you guys and really let you in on what we are doing...etc. I look at many projects out there and I wish I could know more, not just about the projects themselves, but about the people behind them.
As for not knowing anything about programming, you would surprise yourself pretty easily I would guess. I plan on making some posts about how AGS works (starting with the basics) and I'll even show some of the inner workings of QFI. The truth is, anyone can make a game with AGS, you just need to know where to begin.
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You also have to be good at accommodating insane wishes from the director. There's been many programming miracles Chuck has pulled off at my whim. Being creative and light on your toes helps, and Chuck is basically a professional dancer.
Bt
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His dance shoes are really pretty too!
The basic thing about programming is to always think logically, and there's a fair amount of math involved. Besides that, it's just learning the commands that a particular language uses. That'll get you going with the basics anyway. I learnt to program in AGS by looking at the kitchen screen in Kings Quest III and then trying to duplicate it in AGS. Out of that, Infamous Adventures' Kings Quest III remake was born.
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I am neither good at thinking logically nor math. Can I still be a programmer?
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I am neither good at thinking logically nor math. Can I still be a programmer?
Yes, but not a good one.
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Bazinga.
Bt
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I dabbled in homebrew on the psp for a while, but never really got into it.
PSP homebrew eh? I ported some open source games to PSP: http://gtamp.com/PSP (http://gtamp.com/PSP)
Teaching probably does beat working in a cubicle although whenever I worked as a network admin at schools, I usually locked myself in the server room on purpose.
Looks like your volunteering paid off, well deserved. Writing code for an existing engine can be a lot of fun, I've mostly learnt that by working on fan made mission scripts for Grand Theft Auto 2.
I am neither good at thinking logically nor math. Can I still be a programmer?
Logic skills are very important for coding but 2D games with simple physics can be coded with very little knowledge of mathematics. There are lots of fun games out there created by coders who can only do basic algebra. Playing adventure games requires logic skills (unless you cheat and use a walkthru).
I'd consider QFI 2D but KQ1/HQ1 box and manual say "3-D animated adventure". 2D sprites on 2D backgrounds but they can sort of move in 3 dimensions.
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PSP homebrew eh? I ported some open source games to PSP: [url]http://gtamp.com/PSP[/url] ([url]http://gtamp.com/PSP[/url])
pretty cool. thanks for sharing! I'll have to bust out my old psp sometime this weekend to check them out!
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Heh...I was just kidding. I have no problems thinking logically. In terms of math though, yeah--algebra and geometry is pretty much the extent of my knowledge there. I dropped Pre-Calculus in high school and then again during my freshman year in college, because I just couldn't make heads or tails of it. Never went beyond that. In my own defense though, I had two REALLY bad teachers. The guy who taught the college course had such a thick Chinese accent that he was barely understandable, and spent the entirety of every class furiously working through problems on the chalkboard with his back to students. Fucking horrible.
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Sarah --
We have gotten a lot of feedback that many of you really have enjoyed getting to know the team a little bit better. That was my main reason for writing that post. As a team, we feel strongly that we need to be open to you guys and really let you in on what we are doing...etc. I look at many projects out there and I wish I could know more, not just about the projects themselves, but about the people behind them.
As for not knowing anything about programming, you would surprise yourself pretty easily I would guess. I plan on making some posts about how AGS works (starting with the basics) and I'll even show some of the inner workings of QFI. The truth is, anyone can make a game with AGS, you just need to know where to begin.
Hmm. Funny you say that--my first declared major in college before I went into nursing, was computer science. I thought that because I loved computers that, hey, how hard can writing and executing a program be??
Turns out very, ha. Even though the professor was confused that I dropped the class because I currently had an "A", it was very easy to tell the folks who had a knack for it, and I wasn't one of them!
So yeah, I'd definitely love to check out how AGS works behind the scenes...but you'll probably never see the next Indiana Jones game from me...
8)
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It's funny you mention Indiana Jones. I'd love to do an Indiana Jones adventure game. If fact, I'd probably have to be the damn story consultant for the group! hahaha (Huge Indyfan here.) I think it'd be an interesting concept to do an Indiana Jones adventure game in the Sierra style, with a variation on the classic multi-icon interface, rather than the verb icons you had in the Lucasarts games. Everyone who has ever started any Indy fangame has always stuck to the classic Fate of Atlantis interface--and I think that's actually quite limiting. I could see an Indy game working well with the interface we've got set up for QFI--where there are dedicated run and sneak commands, an attack icon, etc. Totally different type of story, of course, but it could be very interesting with a custom interface as opposed to the traditional Lucas one. I think a QFI-style interface would lend itself to a more action oriented Indy adventure game than the way Fate of Atlantis and the Last Crusade handled it. The action in those games tended to feel tacked on, and I think it was largely a result of the interface. Anyway, that's a pipe dream, of course, as we'd never in a million years get our hands on the Indy license, but hey--a guy can dream, right?
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Thanks for sharing some of your always nice to know the people behind these great games