Hi. I'm relatively new to here, so if I posted it in the wrong place, then sorry. Basically, I have a game idea, and have got it down a document so I don't forget it. My question is, what would I do once the idea is in my head? I mean, for a few years it will probably be a game idea, because I'm still learning how to program. Any help is appreciated.
Cheers,
Leikaru
You could start by searching these forums for threads started by people in similar circumstances, for instance this one started yesterday.
You could start by searching these forums for threads started by people in similar circumstances, for instance this one started yesterday.
No, I've done nothing on the game yet. He's done something with his game, where as I've done nothing.
My advice?
The absolute first thing you need to learn is how to glean knowledge from other people's experiences.
Thanks for the advice. It's definitely a good idea.
Before you start programming your own game ideas, its best to start off by making some simple game concepts, like:
rock paper scissors,
crossword,
snake,
packman,
make a few basic games like that so you understand the processes involved, then try to make your game idea. Do it in really small baby steps though, and don't just dive in plan out what your going to do and how first.
If you don't know how to make a basic game like the ones listed above, then start off by just learning the basic building blocks of what language your learning. You can do this through books or internet tutorials (although if your serious about it then I would recommend a book). Then start making text-based games. You could do something where the user enters YES or NO into a console to give an outcome, this only involves "if" and "if else" statements or a "switch" statement, all of which are fairly simple. In addition, this method will be more satisfying as you can produce playable projects. Then start to work out how to make shapes appear on a screen, then how to control then with your keyboard, then collision. Just keep building your knowledge like this.
In a word, design. In two words, design document. The very first step in any successful game project is the design document. It lays the ground work that gives you a road map of sorts on what to do next. It's good that you have started this document but you need to keep going at it. The choices of programming languages, engines, technologies and libraries are normally all based on the requirements of the individual game (unless your a large studio in which case you develop your own technologies, engines and libraries to power the games you make).
C++ is a bit over complicated for new programmers and seems to be getting increasingly less common. This is (in my opinion) because computers are powerful now a days and intermediary languages such as Java and C# simply don't pose the performance issues that they used to. The development process is at least 10x quicker when using Java or C# with premade libraries an engines, the language and virtual machines that power these technologies actually help to overcome any minor mistakes you as a coder may make and in the case of C# it's actually tweaked to windows better than you are likely to do in C++ on your own.
I have rambled enough on Game Dev today so I'm going to keep this one simple, focus more on your design for now. Get your document to the point where people don't have any questions about your project after reading it and you'll be ready to go. Once that portion is completed then you will have a good idea of what you need to get the programming and asset development process' going and it will be much easier to make an educated decision on what language to pursue and where to start.
In a word, design. In two words, design document. The very first step in any successful game project is the design document. It lays the ground work that gives you a road map of sorts on what to do next. It's good that you have started this document but you need to keep going at it. The choices of programming languages, engines, technologies and libraries are normally all based on the requirements of the individual game (unless your a large studio in which case you develop your own technologies, engines and libraries to power the games you make).
C++ is a bit over complicated for new programmers and seems to be getting increasingly less common. This is (in my opinion) because computers are powerful now a days and intermediary languages such as Java and C# simply don't pose the performance issues that they used to. The development process is at least 10x quicker when using Java or C# with premade libraries an engines, the language and virtual machines that power these technologies actually help to overcome any minor mistakes you as a coder may make and in the case of C# it's actually tweaked to windows better than you are likely to do in C++ on your own.
I have rambled enough on Game Dev today so I'm going to keep this one simple, focus more on your design for now. Get your document to the point where people don't have any questions about your project after reading it and you'll be ready to go. Once that portion is completed then you will have a good idea of what you need to get the programming and asset development process' going and it will be much easier to make an educated decision on what language to pursue and where to start.
Thanks! That's definitely the best reply so far. Nothing wrong about the other ones though. I'll follow your advice.
Glad I could help and best of luck to you. Look me up on the facebooks or instant messengers sometime, I'd be interested in following your progress and maybe helping out when possible.
http://www.facebook.com/dan.mayor.56
- or the rest of my contacts -
http://en.gravatar.com/daniwan
Technically, everybody can have a game idea. The thing that sets you apart from the others is putting that idea into motion and execute it. There are so many things to making a game, it would take FOREVER to show it all. Since you are learning how to program right now and probably already have some tutorials for that. I'll show you some basics to 3D modeling (Creating objects for your game). I'm more of a visual person, so I don't like reading tutorials. I usually watch videos, and I had never seen Blender tutorials before watching this video, it helped me tremendously:
">MMB: Click and hold+move mouse to change direction.
