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2d Refugee escape simulator

6 (46.2%)

World War 1 RTS

4 (30.8%)

2d top down Action shooter(like Hotline Miami and others)

1 (7.7%)

Doom Clone

2 (15.4%)

Total Members Voted: 13

[gigaraptor487]

It is going to be the holidays over here in the UK(6 weeks) and i am looking for a good idea for a programming project to do over the summer, as many of my ideas seem boring to other people i have talked to about this matter.

I have about 6 months of C experience and about an additional 4 months in python prior. The only real API i have used is pdcurses/ncurses but in the week i have before the holidays i want to try and learn either SDL or Allegro(hardware rendered versions). So i technically have a few questions for you:

1: Which of these ideas do you believe is best suited to my skill level and time constraints(essentially most of the 6 weeks) out of my ideas:
     - Refugee simulator set in Yugoslavia where you have to get from Sarajevo to the border with Austria. Involving a Food, Water and sleep clock as well as shootouts with the various militias, and a damage model i have predesigned
     - World War 1 RTS game with a utility that after the battle outputs the names of soldiers, their postitions and who killed them etc.(to get the humanitarian view of the war)
     -A highly moddable top down 2d shooter
     - Doom clone of some form.

2:
  where can i find a comprehensive tutorial for the aforementioned APIs FOR C(i am aware of lazy foo, but c++)?

3:
 do you think i am barking up the wrong tree?(do you think i should spend the time writing tons of 3 day prototypes etc.)

As you can probably see i have created sort of 1 sentence pitches and i am only planning on writing a design document for the one you feel is a good idea.

Thanks a lot in advance,



P.S. i can keep working on it afterwards, i think i would need a working prototype by the end of 6 weeks however

[David Holmes]

1. If it was me, I'd pick the first or third options... the second or fourth seem more likely to get bogged down and not produce anything in six weeks (that could happen for the first and third too, of course).

2. I haven't used SDL in over a decade, but I back then I found the material on the official website to be more than adequate.  This is assuming you're using SDL as a 2D API directly and not with OpenGL.

3. Honestly, if I was doing this, C would not be my first choice in language if you want to produce results.  You'll get some good C experience with whatever API you use, but there's a reason why so many successful hot indie games today are written in higher-level languages than C.

[gigaraptor487]

the idea of this exercise is for me to become more proficient at c. So using another language for me isn't an option. Thanks for the information so far!

[Biag]

A bit late to your post, but IMHO the best idea you have up there is the Doom clone.

Your other ideas are your own ideas. You're going to want to do them justice. You're going to spend ages and ages trying to make the mechanics perfect, muttering to yourself about design, possibly creating assets, the list goes on. Original ideas take a lot of time that is not spent programming. Doom, on the other hand, is already designed, already fun, and comes with literally an entire game's worth of pre-made assets. If your goal is to hone your coding skills, making a Doom clone will allow you to spend almost 100% of your time focused on just that.

Plus, once you've recreated Doom, you have an entire game engine that can easily be retooled into an original idea.

Also, once you've recreated Doom, you should make that refugee game because it sounds awesome and I would play it. But make Doom first.

[Little]

I vote 1, and really dedicate yourself to it if you're not employed. It'd be a niche game, but it'd probably be quite successful. Do a lot of research for it. Keep us updated whatever you do!

[gigaraptor487]

i have just read about the bosnian war as a place for the game. I am not quite sure i can really pull it off without neglecting details while making the game appropriate.

I think if i did it i think that it would have to be a bit watered down.