open source collective hell game
a bad idea from the mind of izzy kestrel, inspired by Aaron San Filippo
this is (at least to start), a simple 2D platformer game made with Godot Engine. it exists for all to enjoy - not only as players, but also as Game Developers.
finally, we can put the discourse to rest. are you a Game Developer? no? why not? all you have to do is make some changes to this project. it's that simple.
will you add some art? some music? some new gameplay mechanics? dialog? robust multiplayer functionality with rollback netcode? it's up to you.
your contributions are valuable regardless of how experienced you are or where your strengths lie.
even if you never touch a line of code, you're still valuable as a player who can spot things that are wrong and reporting them for others to fix.
i would even go so far as to say you're still a Game Developer by simply playtesting and providing QA support - games can't exist without those people!
this is a game that will live or die by its ability to capture a collective imagination and i like to believe that people can do some pretty amazing things when they organize together under a common goal.
so the next time someone asks, "oh, you're a game developer?" you can proudly say:
"yes. i worked on A Little Game Called Mario. heard of it?"
be kind, respectful, and have empathy for your players and fellow developers. this means:
- adding content that improves the player's experience
- adding comments/tools/utilities that make it easier for less experienced developers to contribute
- removing content that is racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or any other number of things that diminish the work and make it less accessible to anyone who might want to play or contribute to it
your contributions should be additive whenever possible.
this is not your game, it is everyone's game.
if you believe changing/removing existing features could improve the game, that's great! but please try to get in touch with the people who originally made those choices and see if you can collaborate rather than disregard their hard work.
assume their contributions were made with just as much intentionality as yours and should be just as valued.
don't be shy about talking to new people, be it to collaborate or just to ask for help! you're all here for the same reason: to make a game.
the whole point is collaboration and making new friends.
you can always fork the project if you want to explore a different creative direction. that's cool too.
Godot Engine is a free and open-source tool for making video games. Check out this video for a very quick primer: The Godot Game Engine Explained in 5 Minutes
you can download Godot here:
it is relatively easy to learn but can be fairly powerful. the documentation is very good and includes some helpful resources:
if videos are more your thing, i recommend these channels:
this video was used as reference to create the framework for this project: Make your first 2D platformer game IN JUST 10 MINUTES
if you're feeling impatient and just want to tinker, you can download the code directly, unzip it, and open it in Godot as a project.
however, you will need to learn a thing or two about GitHub in order to submit your changes back into the shared repository.
if you're totally new to GitHub and working with code repositories, i recommend this guide as a quick primer.
pushing your changes back to GitHub can be a little daunting at first, but if you're really struggling i'm sure someone will be willing to help!
you don't need to be an expert at any of this, you just need to know enough to contribute. learn the basics and you'll be fine!
oh! one last thing - be sure to take advantage of the Issues page to see what kind of outstanding work might need to be done or report problems you're having with the game. in fact, this is a great place to start if you're a new dev and aren't sure what to contribute! games are complex and sprawling things and prone to bugs that often don't get fixed, not because the developers don't want to, but because they have to prioritize other tasks in order to get the game out the door on time. we've got all the time in the world here!
you can easily test your changes as you work while developing locally in Godot. once you're happy with what you've added, you can start the process of submitting your changes (see How to GitHub).
changes to the remote project on GitHub will kick-off some automated build processes that you don't need to worry about (though if you like to worry or are just curious, you can see how the sausage is made in .github/workflows/build-and-publish.yml and visit the Actions page to review the results).
give it a few minutes and the game will automatically be built and published! 🙌 share the link with your friends/family/whoever and tell them proudly what you did to make it better.
and then? write down their feedback and do it all over again. ask them if they want to help. you're now a Game Developer and you have the skills and knowledge to help them be one too.
For complete instructions on how to submit your changes to the project, click here.
i could go on for hours about impostor syndrome and all that junk (stuff i feel, just the same as you!!) but some ppl need more encouragement than others so i won't attempt a one-size fits all spiel here 😉
but if you have questions/feedback/concerns/ideas/whatev PLEASE don't hesitate to DM me on twitter @iznaut!!
always happy to make a new friend that i can gas up when they're feeling down on themselves (god knows i wish i had more of that myself when i was getting started)
i would ask that this README stay mostly untouched without my consent just bc it was written with a great deal of intentionality and care (honestly, at time of writing, i have spent more time on this than the game itself), but you can absolutely let me know if you think it could be improved.
if you have things to contribute that are not exactly "game content" - like your own guides and resources - please check out the secondary README.md in the .godot_ignore folder to learn more about how to include those.
you may also want to check out the Discussions page!
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