Zombie Ninjas with boobs? I might just put that in the game, just for you!
Anyway, this isn't really about what's going into the game so much as what the game is made with. So with that said, would you happen to know a good program to create games with?
Gender: Male Location: Barkdonald's Inc.
OMFGPlulz: dunt
The best 'program' is education in the field. Don't be all 'I WAN 2 MAEK TEH GAMEZ LOLOLOL' if you have no idea what it takes to get started. Typically you would have a minimum of 2 people, an artist and a programmer, unless you're multi-skilled but you'll be overworked. Pick which one you want to be, and don't say you want to be a game designer because your profile says you're 17 and I don't think you understand the scope that a designer has to work at.
Pretending you know what you want, you either choose whether you want to make a 2D or 3D game. If its 3D, you'll need 3D software like Maya or 3DSMax. 2D you'll need Photoshop, Flash or any painting software. Expect to pay at least $5000 for the licenses to these by the way.
Not even going to list any game engines besides Unity, because
a) its easy to use
b) it can do 3D or 2D games
c) it can publish to pretty much any platform
d) its free, until you want to publish
Unreal Dev Kit is also free but it's intense to learn so you shouldn't even bother unless you're doing a course.
You could use Game Maker but......those games are fairly crap.
What kind of game do you want to make? Sports game, RPG, FPS, adventure, side scroller, shoot em up, text based?
What kind of input do you plan on using - touchscreen, motion based, keyboard, controller, mouse?
What's your distribution - console, PC, phone, web?
What's your market - 10 and under, teens, 20-30, over 50, men, women, casual, hardcore?
What's your timeframe - 2 months, 6 months, 1 year, 3 years?
What's your budget - $10, $1000, $100,000?
Do you have any games courses you can do? Are there any games companies in your area? Are there any local indie studios in your area? Are there any game developer conventions or expos you can go to?
Look at it like a business and not a hobby. Of course, you could always sit at home being a mad programmer and make something like Minecraft on no budget with no real plan and end up making shitloads of money, but that doesn't happen too often so don't keep your hopes up.
Well, I now own Game Maker (Mac version) and am planning on what I think will be an RPG. Only I'm planning on having a choice of either a boy or a girl as a playable character at the beginning (much like Pokemon; not the wholE game, just the gender selection). Any more advice?
Gender: Male Location: Barkdonald's Inc.
OMFGPlulz: dunt
Unreal is a bit too hardcore though, he'd still have to learn 3D software to put models in there....and making an RPG is just a head**** for one person to do.
I used to be like Kosmic King when I was 17, screwing around with Quake engine, cheap 3D software and whatnot, always wanted to make games but never knew the procedures to get there. Just finished my games course a couple months ago and it really opens your mind to how much paperwork is involved, especially in the early conceptual stages/design flow/interface/market/post production crap. It's expensive, time consuming and stressful, but it's probably the best job in the world.
Last edited by Mist_haermm on Feb 13th, 2011 at 11:27 AM
I think he should get some "learnin'" in on multiple platforms, especially if he's serious about making games. What's better than being proficient in a gaming engine? Being proficient in multiple gaming engines. He's more likely to land more jobs, that way, in the future...which is what his young mind should really be thinking about. I know I would change several things about my life if I could go back in time to when I was 17.
Gender: Unspecified Location: With Cinderella and the 9 Dwarves
You are a bit negative, mate. If he wants to make a game for fun and to learn some stuff Game Maker is totally fine, especially since he wants to make a Pokemon like game, that can definitely be made with Game Maker. He can use Gimp or another free program to make the Sprites if he wants. All he needs is some time and interest.
Sure you bring up good points, and I could understand your tone had he said "Guys I wanna make the net Bioshick in three day, I am alone, have no previous experience and my budget is 5 dollars".
If he actually enjoys making a small game, then he can just as well move on to other platforms, iPhone and Android are booming and a decent one man operation can develop for them. Flash is of course still an alternative. And if he wants to get into big projects you are right he might need to do some courses or work for a company.
Gender: Male Location: Barkdonald's Inc.
OMFGPlulz: dunt
Yeah, I realised that when I reread the thread before, I took his first post as sheer ignorance since it takes 2 seconds to type 'free game engine' in Google, but I just wrote 'Preproduction' for my other response instead of tearing him a new one again. Planning takes up most of the time, hell I'm spending most of this year on preproduction and prototyping before even getting into the detail work, and this is all just for an iPhone game.
I'm all for him making games, just have to understand that it's hard work, long hours and at the end of it you'll probably have something that you're proud of but a bunch of other people hate and are gonna tear you down over it.
KMC Community Forums
Jan 29th, 2011 08:52 PM
He's more likely to land more jobs, that way, in the future...which is what his young mind should really be thinking about. I know I would change several things about my life if I could go back in time to when I was 17.
