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games. How do I make them?
13 years ago
General
So I've decided to finally force myself to bite the bullet and learn to develop my own games. The problem is I don't even know where to start. I have no programming experience, though I have a vague understanding of how it works on an incredibly basic level, so my best bet would be some kind of pre-built engine that allows for the importing/manipulation of custom media with a default system of play(RPG Maker, or some other similarly loathed piece of software).
The problem is that designing the system of play is the most fun part of designing a game (at least for me it is), so at some point I would like to be able to do that as well. So maybe I should just try to learn to program from the ground up? But where do I even start then? I literally don't know where to even begin with this.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
The problem is that designing the system of play is the most fun part of designing a game (at least for me it is), so at some point I would like to be able to do that as well. So maybe I should just try to learn to program from the ground up? But where do I even start then? I literally don't know where to even begin with this.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
if you want to make more RPG-style games you might get stuck with things like rendering text, but it allows importing of custom media and everything, and it should be pretty easy to figure out!
it doesn't really have a default system of play, but it's got a lot of tools that make it really easy to make physics games and platformers
I have a friend here that's going to a nearby school for video game creation and it seems to be pretty good, but that would only help you if you were out here.
I'd prefer something I can learn on my own at home so I don't have to pay an arm and a leg and I only have to sacrifice time (BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW HOW MUCH TIME I HAVE HA HA HA)
Depends on what sort of games you want to make, although I would suggest starting simple and working your way up.
Using the software for creating games like the first one suggested should be good for building up base knowledge for what can be done in general, or what you like doing and how your approach is, etc.
If you want to move on to actual programming, I might warn you that often people find it better to work in teams for these sorts of things-- everyone has different expertise. It doesn't hurt to see how you feel about it, though. There are a LOT of programming languages for different purposes, and much of the time you'll see that people might push one or another simply out of personal preference-- some people have an easier time with one language over another, although they achieve much of the same goals.
However, before you look into what languages are used for games and why, you need to start with basic programming skills since it's a very different sort of building and thinking than one is accustomed to. You'll figure it out with time and practice, but you will have an easier time of it starting low. To that end, I know C++ is usually seen as a good starter language since it's easy to pick up and requires problem solving skills of all languages. You don't necessarily need to be fluent in the language, but you do need to learn how programming works, nomenclature, grammar, etc. and C++ will do that. After that you can look around for more specific languages, such as ActionScript for Adobe Flash. One problem with C++ is that you need special software in order to compile it and I don't know how easy it will be to get a hold of one that is worthwhile and straightforward to use (I used Microsoft Visual Studio. I tried another for Linux, but I couldn't figure out how to make it do). Flash of course, is easy to get. AS is a bit of a pain in the ass though, depending on versions. But that's a personal thing, lol. It is geared towards making games, though.
For what it's worth, i have a book on C++ as well as one on AS 3.0 (which is obviously old as hell and I hated 3.0 because I learned 2.0 and 2.0 made more sense to me :P). I can also offer starting help with beginning level things like... stuff lol. Ach, it's been a while since I wrote anything in anything, but I can help with things at the start I think (like how to look at things and figure out how to reduce how many lines you need to write based on your skill level (I mostly can shrink equations down), or even fussy but important things like keeping code neat and legible to avoid errors or making debugging and editing easier in the future).
There are also a lot of sites with tutorials and examples which can often be very, very helpful (there were some forums for ActionScript which saved my life many times back in ze day. Well organized with good examples and tutorials for just about every little thing you might be wanting to do).
Even if you hate programming, learning a bit about how it works can turn out useful later if you find someone who can program for you so you don't inadvertently ask the impossible or so you can better understand them when they want to discuss it. Provided it's a route you take. And anyway, there are few things which are not worth learning about. :P
I have good tutorial sites on PhP and Ruby, too, but I don't think those are any good for making games (though what the hell do I really know?). I do know the Development field is growing a lot, though, and new tech startups are popping up all over the place (like Detroit) and if you have the skills you can get a job with a startup with no degree pretty easily.
Yes, and tech things have a habit of also dying quickly. And I don't have the skills. Seriously. D: What I can do is extremely rudimentary. I can't even get my site to work quite right across all popular browsers, and all I'm doing is CSS with like a line of PHP due to laziness so I don't have to update every page just to futz with the menu or whatever. :P If I had access to the server, I would try to do more with PHP, alas I do not, so I have no way of practicing anyway (I would really like to just write a page that calculates commissions estimates for people but I guess I'll have to do that with Flash and I'm all ehhhhhhh about that since then I have to make it look pretty too and that's work because I hate flash. I'd prefer to write the appearance with numbers. As... odd as that must sound from me. But it's a layout and those need precision and I'm better just using words and numbers for that than actually drawing it. Plus with numbers it can be scalable and I am just a little obsessive about that).