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Need tips on making my own trading card game

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#1 tcggamer

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Posted 30 April 2014 - 06:30 AM

The game has a elements from yu-gi-oh, pokemon tcg, vanguard and magic:the gathering, but i have trouble doing art. can some of you guys help?



#2 theDaftDev

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Posted 30 April 2014 - 08:38 AM

Well, first it would more comfortable if you were giving us more informations about what you're actually wanting to do. So that would be a videogame, right ? 


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#3 Mister Sympa

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Posted 30 April 2014 - 10:07 AM

Um, I think he means actual cards. Like, in a deck and everything.


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#4 theDaftDev

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Posted 30 April 2014 - 10:10 AM

Um, I think he means actual cards. Like, in a deck and everything.

Well that would be so much work, I wanted to make sure..


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#5 Bowsette

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Posted 30 April 2014 - 10:20 AM

I'd recommend avoiding just stealing mechanics from existing games. Otherwise, what makes yours the game we want to play? What makes it unique, beyond being a mish-mash of random bits of other games that probably do the whole thing better?

 

And when you ask for help with art, what you're really asking is "Can someone do all the hard work for me?"

 

It's the same as when Big_Willie_Styles wanted an artist for a manga. He had "an idea" but beyond that, it'd be the artist doing all the hard graft, and it's very hard to get someone interested in something like that because, as of now, you've shown us nothing. What makes your "idea" unique? What stops it from just being a flash in the pan that won't see any fruition because you get bored, or you haven't thought things out?

 

Additionally, what you're asking is stupidly ambiguous. You want help with art. What art? What are the cards, what do they do, what sort of art style are you looking for, what components would ideally be on each card, what sort of design is on the reverse of the cards, etc etc.


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#6 Mister Sympa

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Posted 30 April 2014 - 10:26 AM

Well that would be so much work, I wanted to make sure..

 

Yes. Yes it would. You and Milliana are entirely correct on that point.


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#7 Calvary

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Posted 01 May 2014 - 05:51 PM

You've gotta love the whole, 'I have this idea, now you go make it a thing, also I can't pay you' attitude that people have.


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#8 seakingtheonixpected

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Posted 01 May 2014 - 05:55 PM

You've gotta love the whole, 'I have this idea, now you go make it a thing, also I can't pay you' attitude that people have.

Yep, everyone always wants other people to take all the risks on their projects.

 

"I'll pay you later" is hardly an incentive.



#9 Big_Willie_Styles

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Posted 03 May 2014 - 10:11 PM

Make the rules simple. As an example: The Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG is simple. And fun.

 

Make the art amazing.

 

Flavor text for all "monsters" (or whatever you call the attack cards) adds a lot.

 

Foil cards help but are not necessary.

 

There's this TCG that just didn't catch on in America, Redakai, that had translucent 3-D holographic cards. High quality cards but insanely convoluted rules. If you have the money to add an "action" element to the look of the cards, it's pretty cool. (I picked up two $15 decks on clearance for like $1.99 at Walgreens, that's how I know anything about it.)

 

It would be great to make a television show around playing it.  Make it easier for the inevitable TCG merchandising to pick it up and play.

 

Pick the type of card game you're going for: Serious business fantasy or parody humor. And don't waver. You can be either Duel Masters or Magic: The Gathering. You can't be both.

 

When it comes to artwork, you probably need to hire somebody. But found a business first, for legal reasons. You probably can't legally "hire" somebody for a business venture without having an official business license. But I'm talking about America. I don't know what country you're in.


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#10 tcggamer

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Posted 05 May 2014 - 12:42 AM

Since I have a small information pool given out, I'll tell you guys the theme. Basically you control dragons and that's it. It has effect cards and stat-affecting cards, but I have a problem with balancing it out. ALso, I have poor art skill IRL and virtually. If you guys want to get paid after, we'll split the royalty by 60:40.



#11 seakingtheonixpected

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Posted 05 May 2014 - 01:25 AM

How do you expect us to balance it if we don't know the cards, that is the job of a playtester who has seen and interacted with the cards.

 

If you are worried about copyright issues and people stealing your game. Just make all the documents you have into a pdf, print it out and mail it to yourself. When it comes back just don't open it and if it ever goes to court you can use the postdate to prove that you came up with the idea first.

 

Also, if you don't have the money to pay an artist where are you getting the money to pay for printing. You can't exactly print playing cards at home unless you have a really expensive set up.



#12 theDaftDev

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Posted 05 May 2014 - 09:49 AM

Yeah that's what I figured out. If you barely have the money for an artist, then you just won't be able to afford the printing.

That's why I thought you would turn it into a videogame in the first place. Which is still what you should do I suppose. The project would already take a more 'concrete' dimension, and maybe then you could convince an artist to work with you. What you wanna do here is to get people to work for you, based on nothing. I'm making a game myself, and I know I won't ask some help to an artist, though I would really need it hah :P, until I have some decent shit to show, since I don't want to spend money on this. 


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#13 seakingtheonixpected

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Posted 05 May 2014 - 01:46 PM

Yeah that's what I figured out. If you barely have the money for an artist, then you just won't be able to afford the printing.

That's why I thought you would turn it into a videogame in the first place. Which is still what you should do I suppose. The project would already take a more 'concrete' dimension, and maybe then you could convince an artist to work with you. What you wanna do here is to get people to work for you, based on nothing. I'm making a game myself, and I know I won't ask some help to an artist, though I would really need it hah :P, until I have some decent shit to show, since I don't want to spend money on this. 

Yeah but that would require programming skills. Which we have no information on whether or not they have.



#14 theDaftDev

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Posted 05 May 2014 - 02:48 PM

Yeah but that would require programming skills. Which we have no information on whether or not they have.

 

Would be more simple than printing the whole thing still. And programmers won't be that hard to convince if the game is correctly planned. Though yeah, that's typically the "idea guy's thread". Didn't want to be pessimistic, though I don't think this is going concrete. 


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#15 DeadChannel

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Posted 26 July 2014 - 07:58 PM

Since I have a small information pool given out, I'll tell you guys the theme. Basically you control dragons and that's it. It has effect cards and stat-affecting cards, but I have a problem with balancing it out. ALso, I have poor art skill IRL and virtually. If you guys want to get paid after, we'll split the royalty by 60:40.

That's still a "I'll pay you later" sort of setup. 

You have no way of distributing or manufacturing the cards. Those things cost money, which you lack.

 

From the point of view of a potential artist, it seems unlikely that they will ever be paid. If the person is any good, they have plenty of other paying options to go to before you.


Perhaps if the idea was really killer, if the game was well thought out, and you knew what the hell you were doing, you might be able to attract contributors. But all we know is that it's a game that uses a bunch of other people's game mechanics, and has dragons in it. I'm sorry, but that's not new, it doesn't excite me. 

 

Ultimately, you have to understand that this is something that you care about a lot more than anyone else. That's cool, it's your game.  But you've got nothing to show us yet. Ideas are a dime a dozen. 

 

Not to rain on your parade, but why would an artist help you if the odds say they they never see a penny? 

I really do wish you the best of luck but... tough love.


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