• Want to start learning how to make my own game - where do I start?
    10 replies, posted
Hey guys. I have some great ideas when it comes to making my own game or mod, however I'm stuck at where to actually start. I really want to learn, so hopefully someone could lead me in the right direction. Audio - I'm an audio engineer and I own protools, cubase, and FL studio 11 so I know what I'm doing in that department. Level Design - I'm assuming that's to do mostly with the engine I pick, so Unreal 4 or Cryengine? After I pick the engine, where can I begin learning how to use it? Modeling - I'm also assuming I'd be using Autodesk. Which version should I get and where can I read up on how to start using it? Programming - I was considering taking a programming class or two at my university but it may be better to learn it on my own. Where would I start here? Is there anything I am missing? This is a momentous task I want to be able to achieve so obviously learning everything will take me a lot of time, but it'd be nice to have a pointer at where to start. Sometimes google isn't very trustworthy when finding good sources. Thanks for the help!
at least for modeling and level design you'd be mainly comparing 3ds max and maya along with some more specialized tools like zbrush or modo - starting out with either of the two is fine (a blender is fine too) as fundamental 3d skills will transfer between programs "making my own game or mod" is a bit of a unrealistic ideal given how specialized video game production has gotten in light of increasing expectations etc - it's a lot more doable to pick one field (and probably one sub-field out of that field: in 3d art it'd be like how a character artist would differ a looot in comparison to a hardsurface weapons/vehicles artist which would also differ (although not quite as much) to an environment artist) and learn it deeply (programming would probably be one of the most far reaching ones)
If you want to start really simple,try Game Maker or Construct 2.
The real problem is programming, and if you are not creative enough, Level Design can be also a bit of a pain You can have all the sounds, maps, and models in the world, but if there is no code to bring them to life, they're pretty much portfolio content
[QUOTE=NitronikALT;44755854]The real problem is programming, and if you are not creative enough, Level Design can be also a bit of a pain You can have all the sounds, maps, and models in the world, but if there is no code to bring them to life, they're pretty much portfolio content[/QUOTE] When I talked to mike morasky at valve he emphasized the programming part too.
I can give you simple answers: Audio - You seem to know what you're doing with this right now. Level Design - You can use either Unreal 4 or Cryengine, I STRONGLY suggest Unreal 4 because Cryengine is beyond a pain in the ass to use for a beginner. It is not very beginner friendly at all. Modeling - I use Maya when I model, you can also use 3DS Max. Either are perfectly fine. You can learn how to use it online in tonnes of different places. It's not too difficult to wrap your head around but be prepared to actually sit down and spend time making different things before you actually move on to modeling stuff for your game/mod. Programming - Start with C#. Get that down and then attempt C++. I'm not a programmer so I'm just passing on information from the people who do programming for games. That's all I can suggest. Good luck with your project. Oh yes, and take a look at programs such as ZBrush and Roadkill, maybe even xNormal if you want a program that can handle mapping for you with different options. Roadkill can help you with UVing and ZBrush is a sculpting tool normally used to create high-poly assets for baking onto low-poly objects. I'd suggest a tablet for ZBrush. Also knowing Photoshop is basically a necessity. It's amazingly good for texture creation.
[QUOTE=redBadger;44755743]Hey guys. I have some great ideas when it comes to making my own game or mod, however I'm stuck at where to actually start. I really want to learn, so hopefully someone could lead me in the right direction. Audio - I'm an audio engineer and I own protools, cubase, and FL studio 11 so I know what I'm doing in that department. Level Design - I'm assuming that's to do mostly with the engine I pick, so Unreal 4 or Cryengine? After I pick the engine, where can I begin learning how to use it? Modeling - I'm also assuming I'd be using Autodesk. Which version should I get and where can I read up on how to start using it? Programming - I was considering taking a programming class or two at my university but it may be better to learn it on my own. Where would I start here? Is there anything I am missing? This is a momentous task I want to be able to achieve so obviously learning everything will take me a lot of time, but it'd be nice to have a pointer at where to start. Sometimes google isn't very trustworthy when finding good sources. Thanks for the help![/QUOTE] It depends on what you want to do. Starting from a game engine? Get ready for one hell of a ride if you don't know any programming experience beforehand. I would recommend not doing this first, but rather start out with some simple programming. If you want to start out making games [I]right away[/I] I would suggest using Lua and LOVE. It's a very good and simple framework for making games, and Lua is also quite easy to learn. If you want to prepare yourself for modding using game engines I'd go C++; most game engines are programmed in it. However, C++ has somewhat of a steep learning curve for a beginner, so I would go for it only if you're motivated. IMO it's better to learn programming on your own rather than in a class, you get to program whatever you want and you can go at your own pace. TL;DR: Pick a language that is most suited for your needs and start from there. [editline]8th May 2014[/editline] If can supply links for stuff if you want [editline]8th May 2014[/editline] Also you're going to get more info by asking in the programming section. There have been a ton of threads like these before so you should just search through there.
If you got some links i'd love to have them.
I'm not too sure about Lua tutorials, but this one seems pretty good (albeit pretty fast): [url]http://luatut.com/introduction.html[/url] For LOVE: [url]https://love2d.org/[/url] C++ If you want it in video format: [url]https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1D10C030FDCE7CE0[/url] - I used these tutorials to learn C++ when I was 12, I think they're quite nice. The videos progress somewhat slowly so it's easy to grasp the basic concepts. In text format: [url]http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/[/url] - Tutorial goes by a bit faster but I would recommend this if you don't like videos. If you like books: [url]http://stackoverflow.com/questions/388242/the-definitive-c-book-guide-and-list[/url] Those are some good starting points, from there you'll end up progressing naturally. [editline]8th May 2014[/editline] It doesn't really matter what language you pick, really. C# is also a good alternative to Lua and C++.
I want to start making a game with a friend. He and I might look at getting into game programming and 3D animation classes at some point later on.
I'm going starting professional studies for game development. Highly suggest.
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