How do you create games?

[D_987]

From what I've read, it varies - you might find a smaller company who gives you a chance, but most big name companies want previous experience. The QA thing is really about getting your foot in the door.

This is ridiculous. There is no reason to do QA if you want to develop video games aside from getting contacts. These companies want experience in your area of development, not doing QA. A portfolio is a much better way to get a job.

Find an artle on the subject from a professional and I'll beleive you, but what I said has been said MANY MANY times.

 

[Slayer_2]

I haven't read over this thread entire, but if you're totally new to game design, search "FPS Creator" or "FPS Creator X10". Then move up to the SDK for a commercial game. Cryengine 2, Garry's Mod, etc. Then maybe IDtech 1, 2, 3, 4.

 

[D_987]

OK, maybe someone else can answer my questions. I am hoping to have a batchelors degree in Computer Science in about 5 years time, if all goes according to plan. Is that typically enough to break into the industry?

Depends where you get it from, what the industry is like in 5 years and what you want to do.

 

[MGG=REVIEWS]

Ye..i have just found RPG maker, i'll give that a go i'll keep studying c++&c# if something this complex must bring some sort of good out of it if i learn it...
And i have looked at FPS creator i got the free one and i need XP to run it and directx9 (i have vista and directx10) so hopefully after my birthday instead of buying more crap maybe i should get the new FPS creator

 

[clicklick]

First head to www.sloperama.com/advice.html

Read everything there. Everything.

And I don't need to sound rude but you are a bit too young at this stage. Learn the school stuff well first. If you are good at math, logic and willing to put in the time and energy, you can try making a game with XNA. If it seems too much to handle, try Flash or FPS Creator.

Be patient and learn everything you can in the area of game development that interests you the most. Game design doesn't mean just thinking about ideas. Game design means balancing the idea with a feasible implementation with available resources.

But I appreciate your enthusiasm and wish you the best

 

[MGG=REVIEWS]

Maybe i wont want to be a game designer in about 5 years time but it better to have some xp in ICT to get me another job

 

[Mariena]

I think you're a bit too.. influenced.. by your dreams of becoming a game designer. You probably play a ton of video games and now you want to put your own ideas on the screen.. though as been said, it's not that simple.

It's not a matter of "I want to design games. What little app do I download so I can start?"

Huh the website seems to also have some c++ learning books i'll have a read of these...
Hum... i am gonna download Microsoft# see where it goes..although it seems to be more about making software not game software

Game software is software. Okay, let's put it this way: If you can't master making basic 'software', then you can forget about making 'game software'. Start by reading online C++ tutorials, or better yet: Books. Books. Books. Start with good old "Hello World", maybe make a Fahrenheit to Celsius converter, maybe a little clock? Fiddle around with Windows boxes? What you can create with C/C++ is almost endless.

I don't use it to make games, I use it to control microprocessors, and robots, and emulate GPS/IMU devices.

It took me a good 2 years of college education to fully understand C and start programming things at a professional level..

 

[MGG=REVIEWS]

I think you're a bit too.. influenced.. by your dreams of becoming a game designer. You probably play a ton of video games and now you want to put your own ideas on the screen.. though as been said, it's not that simple.

It's not a matter of "I want to design games. What little app do I download so I can start?"

Huh the website seems to also have some c++ learning books i'll have a read of these...
Hum... i am gonna download Microsoft# see where it goes..although it seems to be more about making software not game software

Game software is software. Okay, let's put it this way: If you can't master making basic 'software', then you can forget about making 'game software'. Start by reading online C++ tutorials, or better yet: Books. Books. Books. Start with good old "Hello World", maybe make a Fahrenheit to Celsius converter, maybe a little clock? Fiddle around with Windows boxes? What you can create with C/C++ is almost endless.

I don't use it to make games, I use it to control microprocessors, and robots, and emulate GPS/IMU devices.

I know i ment 3d engine and all that...i know what it can do but it seems to be more about making programs for your Computer than games

 

[clicklick]

A video game is a computer program

 

[Good morning blues]

I know i ment 3d engine and all that...i know what it can do but it seems to be more about making programs for your Computer than games

Games are built on the exact same pieces. You just don't see the more complex interactions when you're starting out.

 

[Avida]

Thanks, 2D animation game are cool have any 3d game creators besides Dark basic, FPS creator reality factory and all the others which cost loads but except you to know the ropes

Prehaps i was a bit too young when introduced to dark basic but god damn that programn bugged me ¬_¬

 

[smallharmlesskitten]

MGG....

www.sloperama.com/advice.html

go read all of this and then get back to me. I require people to read it before I give them help....

Trust me it is very good.

EDIT: I will give you this for no effort

You cannot start by making GTA4... start simple with something like a Tetris clone. Get the amount of time it took to create that. 5 hours from scratch as a Newbie. Now multiply that by 10 million to code something like GTA4 and do everything else on your own.

 

[Woe Is You]

As predro hinted towards, you cannot do everything in a game by yourself. Even if you did, the areas which you fall down on could ruin the areas you are good at - if I made a game myself right now, conceptually it could possibly be brilliant and musically just as such, but graphically I would fail hard even at the most basic of things, and I would have no idea how in hell to code it.

Depends on what you're going for. If you can code, you can do a game. It won't be Mass Effect or even Half-Life, but a game like Rogue is perfectly within your reach. And hell, you can build your graphics skills while doing less graphics intensive projects like that. Gradually, you either become good enough to either make graphics on your own or to convince someone vastly better than you to take the reins.

I'd personally start with doing tiny programs with something like Python or Ruby than C/C++. They teach you the logic that compasses just about all programming, but don't bother you with memory management, garbage collection and other low-level programming related tasks. Switching languages (and learning to program closer to the hardware) isn't terribly hard (can be done within a week) in the end once you know the logic behind it. Once you get the bigger picture, you can concentrate on the tiny details.

On the flip side if you need a soundtrack I'm looking for a new project in between work...

Will you do it for free?

I thought I was being pretty honest, you will likely need a team. Not many games get made with only one person at the helm.

Yet some very nice games have also been made by a single person. See: Cave Story, Tumiki Fighters, Guardian of Paradise.

Aquaria also comes pretty close, since it's done by one programmer and one artist. And just a good share of the games done in the 80s and early 90s.

 

[Theo Samaritan]

On the flip side if you need a soundtrack I'm looking for a new project in between work...

Will you do it for free?

Yes actually, music (like film) is a hobby of mine rather than something I rely on.

 

[klarax]

man, i wish it were that easy... try using C++ or some other lanuage, its hard to start with but is the industry standard. If you're serious, keep learning it until your a jedi

 

[crimsondynamics]

You know as i am in my second year in high school, teacher was telling us that we should prepare for our job for when we leave and i want to be come a game designer and hopefully be creating my own game ideas within years after but i dont know where to start,
with the price crunch thing money is a tight subject, so does anyone know any game software that will teach me and maybe let me create my own games?

If you want to be a game designer, you don't have to place such a great emphasis on coding. (Every developer works slightly differently; not all developers require that their game designers are also coders and / or artists.) Game designers cover a wide array of functions and plenty of those have nothing to do with coding or art at all. If you have coding skills and artistic talent it will definitely be a bonus but they are not essential, like they were back when hit titles were created by two-man teams.

Being a game designer for large-budget titles and / or titles developed by a team of 30-300 staff means you will frequently be doing research, reading books on a game's subject matter, writing hundreds of design documents or perhaps even working with artists, musicians, the QA team, level designers and developers to bring to fruit the game's vision. You will perform many specific tasks and at the same time you will wear many hats.

You are expected to be analytical and critical of games, you are expected to play games for research, you are expected to be at the very least competent with scripting and game engine tools that developers will have in place to streamline the production pipeline. This is one of the reasons why you don't have to worry so much about coding or 3d modeling skills - there are people dedicated to that purpose already. It is highly beneficial, however, to understand how software development, modeling and animation works and to understand the limits of software and hardware so that you are able to effectively communicate with other team members. This you can understand by playing with tools.

You are expected to make the game "fun". That's a tricky one. It's like answering the question "how do you define 'gameplay'?" (What would your answer be?)

RPG Maker, despite its simplicity, is actually a fantastic piece of software. One, it's a mature set of tools for you to play with, allowing you to, provided you are creative and persistent enough, to create Zelda-type games. All the music and art assets are there as well as means to allow you to write in your game's dialog. It will also show you the different steps involved in making a game (well, at least an RPG, but it's a start.) Having said that, it will also illustrate the sheer perseverance required to complete a game. Now let that sink in for a bit: you have to come up with the story, the dialogue, lay out the level designs, balance the units and statistics (read: Excel) and test the game both to see if it works or not (and to fix what's not working) as well as to see whether it's fun or not (and if it isn't fun, to identify the reasons why and remedy them). RPG Maker allows you to complete a game without any coding but you will quickly see it is a daunting and protracted task you have laid before you. You can also see that by adding coding and actual art asset modification (e.g. drawing textures, mapping them to 3D models and then animating them) without any previous experience is the domain of madmen.

Playing a finished AAA title is one thing: Playing a broken mess of code until it's a commercial product four years down the line is something entirely different.

You can try RPG maker or some other complete 2D game engine first before tackling more complex 3D tools (even veteran developers had a terrible time adjusting to 3D development during the PlayStation/Saturn era), and you should try reading some books on game design (not coding related). if you decide that game design isn't your cup of tea but still want to work within the industry, there are many alternative routes you can take:

- Development: Ask your counselor about math, physics and computer science courses.
- Art (2D, texturing): Ask your counselor about art electives
3D modeling / animation: Ask your counselor about any suitable courses; if none are available in your school, you can look to get the Maya student edition which is free, and buy yourself a few beginner books.
- Writing: Don't forget many of the most memorable games have memorable stories; well, somebody has to come up with those lines!
- And so on.

I'm not trying to discourage you. On the contrary, you still have five years where you can steer yourself in the right direction and I hope you make it. I am being brutally honest though: game design (or indeed, working in the industry) is not for everyone. It is highly rewarding but requires commitment and passion which is why you should know what you are getting yourself into. See if this is what you really want and take it from there.

Good luck.

Spoiler

Oh, and you might want to make the next Halo or Gears of War, and perhaps RPGs aren't on your list, but remember, unless you are the boss or a well-established designer, chances are you will have someone (probably in marketing, no less) call the shots for you. I know, it sucks.

 

[MGG=REVIEWS]

Thanks for the all the help that all of you have given me, but does anyone have any links on c++ or c# code learning, it is complicated and Microsoft help videos say nothing except what to do

 

[Baby Tea]

On the flip side if you need a soundtrack I'm looking for a new project in between work...

Will you do it for free?

Yes actually, music (like film) is a hobby of mine rather than something I rely on.

If you need audio production (Other then music) then look no further! I do it for a living!

...not that I'm trying to ninja a spot on some indie game or anything, but Theo can do music and I'll 'shotgun' the SFX!

 

[smallharmlesskitten]

Dont teach yourself. Get someone competent to teach you. And remember that you have to start small.