GDevelop project

This page contains the details of a technical writing project accepted for Google Season of Docs.

Project summary

Open source organization:
GDevelop
Technical writer:
sedna
Project name:
A brand new tutorial
Project length:
Standard length (3 months)

Project description

I want to prepare a new step by step tutorial for developing a game that will be suitable for beginners. This game will be mainly focused on physics, and it will use different mechanics than other games on GDevelop Wiki. I am thinking of preparing a tutorial for a level-based sliding shooter game or a game like Angry Birds. I am not sure about the exact game right now; I would like to discuss it with the mentors to determine it.

Apart from the game, the game's tutorial will be different from the previous ones on the GDevelop Wiki by using GIFs and short videos as well as images. I will use more visual elements to explain some concepts better and present a better experience for beginners. Moreover, I would like to add a final page which not only describes how to export the game on the specific platform (mobile or web) but also guides developers to learn more about publishing the game on various platforms by using links.

Main Chapters for the tutorial:

  1. Building the scene
  2. Adding objects
  3. Adding physics to objects
  4. Detecting collisions
  5. Improving UI and Design.
  6. Main Menu
  7. High Score / Level Design
  8. Export & Publish (It is going to be full of links for publishing and exporting, and one simple exporting tutorial for web or mobile)

I have already contributed to the original documentation of various pages, including publishing options. Thus, making contributions on different pages of documentation helped me get used to the documentation style and learn more about GDevelop. Hence, I would like to continue to make contributions to the publishing tutorials and other pages that will be determined during the community bonding period. Additionally, I. have started making contributions to the translation of the page to the Turkish. I want to continue to improve and finish the Turkish translation of the application and web pages.

I made a timeline below:

August 17 - August 31 - Developing the game on GDevelop Platform with the help of your feedback

September 1 - September 13 - Starting to prepare tutorial templates and receiving feedback from mentors

September 14 - September 28 - Starting to make the tutorial

September 29 - October 13 - Continuing to prepare the tutorial with the help of mentors

October 14 - October 30 - Completing the tutorial according to the feedback of mentors.

November 1 - November 30 - Improving Wiki pages (according to community-bonding discussions) - Improving and Completing the Turkish language translations

At the end of September, my university is going to start if COVID-19 pandemic stops. Thus, I cannot spend lots of my time with GDevelop, just like the previous weeks. As you can see from the timeline, I indicated that I am going to finish the tutorial as early as I can. Besides, it will help me to improve Wiki pages and complete the Turkish translations.

I want to introduce myself a bit. I am a freshman Electrical Electronics student at Middle East Technical University in Turkey. I am continuing to improve my abilities in development and technical writing. I have been using Unity to make games for various platforms for more than three years. I published three games on multiple platforms, including itch.io(1) and Google Play Store(2). Apart from that, I am developing Android apps and interested in electronics too. In 2017, I became one of the Grand Prize Winners(3) in Google Code-In. I have been continuing to contribute to SCoRe Lab projects in GCI and GSoC as a mentor. Thus, I am familiar with the Open Source ecosystem. Also, last month, my game(4) was selected as one of the Swift Student Challenge Winners by Apple.

With the help of Google Season of Docs 2020, I learned more about GDevelop and started to make my games. I hope my enthusiasm for technical writing and my abilities in game development will help GDevelop's society.