I’m currently developing a short indie horror game for itch.io. I went to school for 3D animation and I’m fully capable at modeling, animation and all that. But I’m incompetent when it comes to programming. I tried Sololearn to see if I could learn c sharp, but I barely made it past the intro section. I also bought playmaker and Emerald AI hoping that would make it easier. But the documentation for playmaker is either limited or outdated. Emerald AI I do have a grasp on though. I wanted to code it myself, but based on my struggles, it seemed more and more likely that I’d have to get outside help.

I’d like to work on indie games with other people, but I’ve learned no one wants to take you on unless you can prove your skills in an already existing game. Which is a big reason for why I want this game made. I’ve signed on for many game jams only for my teams to flake out every time. I’ve met multiple coders on discord who were willing to help on my game in exchange for assets, who then ghosted me. I don’t have much money these days, so hiring is both unrealistic and excessive for a game that I need for portfolio reasons (wish I had spent that playmaker money on this instead.)

The game itself isn’t very complicated: player needs to flip four switches to unlock an escape door while avoiding patrolling enemies. So I don’t think these coders were turned off by the offer, especially when I was willing to make all the assets for an open world game.

At this point, I just want to have a completed game. I loathe the idea of resorting to AI (especially as an artist) but if I can’t find any other options, I may just have to go with it. I’d really rather it doesn’t come to that, so I need advice.

How should I proceed from here? Would it be unethical to use AI to just do the coding and correct it here and there with what little coding knowledge I have? What should I do to get this game done?

Edit/PS: I could spend the years it would take for me to learn coding, but that’s not my end goal. I want to be a game artist and learning to code seems like it would be a distraction from that. Is it wrong to think that way?

  • e0qdk@reddthat.com
    5·
    4 days ago

    Do you have art samples and a spec for what you want to build? If it’s small enough / straightforward enough that the code can be knocked out in a weekend, someone here might be interested in taking it on…

      • e0qdk@reddthat.com
        7·
        4 days ago

        This looks bigger than a weekend project, but doesn’t seem insanely huge. I think there’s probably a fair bit of complexity hiding in those enemy interactions though…

        Looking at the demo reel, the wire mesh walls could be problematic – is the flashlight supposed to be noticeable by enemies through the mesh? Can the enemies path to the player? Getting that to feel right could be tricky.

        How exactly are the enemies supposed to move around the map? Also, are there only one of each of the four types, or are there multiple instances? (Is getting past each one its own self-contained encounter?) Do you have the whole thing essentially mapped out already (e.g. from whatever you made for your demo reel) or is the real level design TODO?

        Another thought that came to mind looking at your GDD is that you’re missing sound effects for things like ball hitting (various materials), and footsteps on (various materials) that you’ll likely want to have.

        I don’t think I’m the right person to take it on – you probably want someone with more, uh, mainstream 3D engine experience. I am curious what you used to produce the demo reel though.

      • neco arc@lemmy.world
        2·
        4 days ago

        the gdd makes it sound simple enough since you mostly just need simple bots to nav around and a small amount of scripting, hopefully someone here would be kind enough to take a look at it for you (or reccomend some addons for which ever engine youre using)