This isn't really the first step. I have been working on my thesis for a long time. Before Nomad Axe became my thesis project it was a concept for a game I had since before I started attending Grad School at AAU. Although the concept has always lightly revolved around the idea of being a 2D RPG like Secret of Mana or Link to the Past - trying to figure out how to use a modern twist to make Nomad Axe different from it's inspirations has caused the game to take on many different forms.

In it's original form Axe was not a body deodorant but a game that would use an iPhones gps location and link real places with fictional ones. For example, You start playing the game in LA and in the game you would be in desert area. May haps you take a plane to SF and when you get off the tarmac you fire up the game and find your character waking up in a caravan some where near a coastal village. An extension of this idea was to have materials and allow characters to make items that they could sell for in-game currency. About a year later MineCraft happened and I figured someone made an incredibly awesome and better version of an idea I had. So Nomad Axe had to change. I want to make a game that shows

This type of thing happens a lot when you have a lot of ideas for different games but then never do anything with those ideas. Part of that has to do with never learning any coding languages. Even using other game engines for mods and things - not having a base knowledge for code or scripting put me at an extreme disadvantage. Although I am trying to pick up java script it would be much more helpful if I had started that process much sooner.

Eventually Axe evolved into an idea more similar to what is now being made reality by myself and some other really cool dudes. Nomad Axe is still going to be a top down 2D RPG. There are a lot of grand ideas for how much more the game could be but for now the focus is on completing my thesis.

There is so much to write and say about making your first game and so much to say about how I wish I would have done things in regards to attending Game Design School or even starting work on Nomad Axe sooner.

Games are hard to make. Probably the first step to making a game should be finding other people to help you make a game. That's a hard thing to do. Finding people is hard enough and working with a group means being able to share the creative process. That means you could potentially start out to make something and over time with various individuals putting forward their best ideas you are eventually going to have to learn 'how to kill your baby' for the greater good of the group. That's a phrase I have heard from various developers when talking about game design. I think the first person I heard say it was Robin Hunicke from That Game Company.

To make things worse having an idea for a game and bringing that idea to life are two very different things. What is possible or what is practical can also take a major toll on your grand scheme for that WWE MMORPG RTS Fighter.

What I am trying to say is this: Start small and start with friends. That's what happened today. I met with my brother Jason and our friend Mike Matuzak who both agreed to help me with the scripting end of my thesis project. We are using git which is a free open source version control system used by web developers and game makers alike to collaborate on projects. The cool part about git is that I can show and share my work with anyone. For example, another friend, Omar is looking to learn about html, java script, and view the game development process first hand. Git makes it easy for Omar (or anyone) to check out the changes being made to the source code or even see the notes between Nomad Axes collaborators.

...

The reason I wrote this post before I got carried away was to share the result of my first meet up with Nomad Axe's primary developers. I presented my concept to Jason and Mike and then we worked on a practical way to scale things back so that I could have a presentable prototype for my thesis review in April.

As of now the game is going to be 2 'rooms' or areas. There will be movement initiated by touch events. There will be enemies that carry and drop loot. There is a bone ladder puzzle that needs to be solved to progress to the second area/room. An inventory system will be one of the crucial elements nomad axe - as it will allow players to drag things they have collect from the world back into the world. This is a mechanic that I hope in the future will be an interesting way to solve puzzles and interact with the world in general. Combat will be in the prototype but as of now there are no immediate plans to make the enemies fight back.

That's pretty much it for now. A lot more posts coming soon.