How do I implement good gameplay without being able to make art?

Development Character & Animation
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So I know I can make pretty much any feature of a game from a programmer’s perspective, but I have no skill in animation or sound design. Because of this I am finding it really difficult to know what to do next in my development process. I know I need to make several weapons and enemy types, and I know what the game flow will look like–I’ve mapped pretty much everything out in my head.

The problem is without animation or sound design I can’t make any weapons, or enemy types, or the game flow, because any new weapons that I add just feel like my boring character is moving in meaningless ways to do meaningless damage to stale “enemies”.

Here’s some cool AI art so my post doesn’t bore you:

image
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https://assets.website-files.com/61554cf1696635e97e823d26/62d872d01077d400138987c3_7.webp

I know this isn’t a vision, scope or direction issue because I participated in the GMTK game jam this year and I was able to work non-stop the entire time and we made a game in only two days. I’m pretty sure the reason that I was able to be so consistent and driven is because we had two artists that made whatever animations that we needed. So I actually found myself able to work better because I had a tangible thing that I was programming around.

I’d love for this to be the case now but it would be near impossible to get an artist to work with because I barely have anything to show because I can’t do art. I don’t even know where to look for an artist.

So, TLDR: how do you develop features without having any art to go off of?

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I sympathize totally.

I am also struggling with a new game, and I think anyone who doesn’t struggle, probably won’t produce anything meaningful.

It is a process. You might have seen these courses online about game design, but I think they have something wrong, actually.

You see a lot of strict rules, usually based around the order of events

  1. Overall concept perhaps with art
  2. Game design, how it’s going to work etc
  3. Whiteboxing
  4. Programming
  5. Replacing whiteboxing with actual levels ( or even just making levels from scratch )
  6. Blah blah blah…

In fact, I would say, these are limbs, not steps.

If you try and stay in any section until you have enough for the next one, you will stagnate and lose direction.

It’s far better to spend days on the concept or design ( make notes of course ), then whitebox a level or two, then program your idea for weapon spawn and swap, then go back to concepts, then make a detailed level. Like that, keep swapping.

Why do it this way?

  1. Because you find things you wouldn’t have thought of in one area that will apply in other areas. Always.

You might realize from whiteboxing that you can’t see the tower from the cliff. You might realize from coding your player spawn routine, that one of your core concepts need reworking. Things like that.

  1. It keeps you and your game alive.

You’ll find that you get very enthusiastic about concept design, but then get stuck. That’s ok, do some programming, do some whiteboxing, find some sound effects. And so on.

In your case, use other people’s art to bounce off. Googling images ( or using AI ), is a great way to get level design concepts, and plot ideas. Keep and categorize the pictures you like. Come back to them later.

Practice modelling. Download Blender and get started. It’s a LONG haul, but if you keep trying on and off to make things, eventually your gun or player armor will stop looking like a blob on a stick, and start looking like something good.

Also, get good at repurposing ( called kit bashing ). What marketplace product have you seen that look interesting, but isn’t quite right for you? Get a copy and make that scifi weapon out of what was supposed to be a spaceship or machine. Make that scifi landscape out of what was supposed to be the rocks of Scotland.

Anyway, hope there was something useful in there :smiley:

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…anyone who doesn’t struggle, probably won’t produce anything meaningful.

That’s a good way of putting it. I always knew that I’d have to learn how to make “game worthy” art along the way, I had just assumed that it comes at the end when all of the programming is done. Though I am seeing now that you are right about that you have to move each limb of the process simultaneously if you want to go anywhere lol. I haven’t tried even looking at the market though so I probably will try that, good idea!

Game dev feels like rowing across a sea where at the start your progress is visible as the shore quickly disappears but once you’re out on the open water rowing feels like you’re going nowhere. I think what helps me the most is just to hear from other devs that I’m on the right path and not just wasting my time. Thank you for your response, good luck with your game!

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Good way to put it :slight_smile:

I think, unless you’re exceptionally talented, there will be areas that feel like they’re not working. With me it was modelling and level design. But that is getting a lot better.

You just have to keep plugging away at it, for a few years actually… :wink:

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