Learned game programming for 3 years, don't know how to program games.

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26 comments, last by rwtwm 10 years, 7 months ago
This is a third edit of this post.
So thanks everyone for being supportive. I now realized that my problem wasn't programming at all. It was that I couldn't see my finished game in my mind, and this made it really hard to start making a game. I couldn't start programming it because I didn't really know WHAT should I program. But now, I will first try to put my vision of the game on paper, make detailed description of what every part of game should contain, and only after that, I will start the actual programming.
Special thanks to user "latch", for being supportive and helping person :)
“There are thousands and thousands of people out there leading lives of quiet, screaming desperation, where they work long, hard hours at jobs they hate to enable them to buy things they don't need to impress people they don't like.”? Nigel Marsh
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For me you doing fairly well. Three years is not long.

How to make terribly good looking and playable game is hard question,

So, you say you got the skills right? Then do something more complex and much more different. A top down rogue-like, something like Realm of the Mad God. Then add whatever you think you can do and could make things more interesting, story, character customization, etc.

Not everything you make has to be unique and alone in the world, you do can (and its probably a very enlightening experience) to grab any game that you like and try to come up with something that you'd like even more.

Started the rogue-like, now you're halfway and you're bored and think the code is a mess? Maybe its too big, start anew, with something smaller. You're gauging what you can do alone, what you know already, if you can effectively use it, and what else you can learn. You already finished a game and published it, that's quite the milestone there!

That's where you can draw inspiration from, and once you can at least tap on what you can really do, then things will start flowing. That's my opinion.

"I AM ZE EMPRAH OPENGL 3.3 THE CORE, I DEMAND FROM THEE ZE SHADERZ AND MATRIXEZ"

My journals: dustArtemis ECS framework and Making a Terrain Generator

First, Profannity does not help, So drop that Sh@# !

Maybe You should try a simpler language or try just using text until you get the hang of things. Focus on the instructions of something simple and build from there.

You already have a simple guessing game. So you can get user input and do Comparisons ( If A = B then "Correct" else "Guess Again") Try something Simple, with a small amount of rules. Just basic rules, No graphics, keep score and Build on that game by increasing the rules until you get a workable game.

Based upon your above writing, you are probably pulling your hair out, ( If there is any left ) trying to think of something.

How about American style BaseBall. Pitch the ball, swing or not. Hit or Miss, Out or On Base , Single, Double, Triple Or Home Run. Make it 3,6 or 9 innings.

Try That.

Your Brain contains the Best Program Ever Written : Manage Your Data Wisely !!

First, Profannity does not help, So drop that Sh@# !

Maybe You should try a simpler language or try just using text until you get the hang of things. Focus on the instructions of something simple and build from there.

You already have a simple guessing game. So you can get user input and do Comparisons ( If A = B then "Correct" else "Guess Again") Try something Simple, with a small amount of rules. Just basic rules, No graphics, keep score and Build on that game by increasing the rules until you get a workable game.

Based upon your above writing, you are probably pulling your hair out, ( If there is any left ) trying to think of something.

How about American style BaseBall. Pitch the ball, swing or not. Hit or Miss, Out or On Base , Single, Double, Triple Or Home Run. Make it 3,6 or 9 innings.

Try That.

Thank you for the advice, I will try to swear less.

I'm not pulling my hair out, and you didn't read my post till the end. As I said, I already made 2D OpenGL game for android. And now I'm ever writing my own kernel and bootloader for my x86 PC. So programming is not the problem.

And I completely understand why you didn't read it till the end. Heck, even I didn't read it second time to check for errors. It's too long. I'm going to edit the post, to cut to the chase.

The thing is, that I don't have an idea about game design. And my question was, maybe someone know some good books, or websites that could teach me game design, level design and all that stuff.

Thanks in advance

“There are thousands and thousands of people out there leading lives of quiet, screaming desperation, where they work long, hard hours at jobs they hate to enable them to buy things they don't need to impress people they don't like.”? Nigel Marsh

Thanks, TheChubu.


You already finished a game and published it, that's quite the milestone there!

I guess you are right. That is quite the achievement.

“There are thousands and thousands of people out there leading lives of quiet, screaming desperation, where they work long, hard hours at jobs they hate to enable them to buy things they don't need to impress people they don't like.”? Nigel Marsh

I don't see a Game Design discussion here - moving to The Lounge.

-- Tom Sloper -- sloperama.com

Well, in your original post you did say, and I am paraphrasing, Skip to the end which started with -----------------

So, maybe I am not understanding........ What about Game Design is it that you do not Know? Is the Problem that you do not know how to make your own game ? A game that know one else has ever done ? Or that you can not translate it to the computer ?

Your Brain contains the Best Program Ever Written : Manage Your Data Wisely !!


I don't know what is the problem.

i do.

your problem is you're a coder first, and a gamer second.

to be a good game developer, you need to be a gamer first, and everything else second.

You're developing skills and code assets, but with no inspiring target in mind.

You should be able to envision the finished game in your mind before you even turn on the PC. that vision is what should make you want to build games, not because its a cool job / fun hobby.

That inspiring vision is what should drive development. What kind of game to make, what kind of engine to use or build, what tools and skills to learn, what code to write.

Without that, you're directionless. And without that, you never get away from the technical means of making games (building level editors) and actually start BUILDING games (using them to make that cool game).

You need to put the game first, and development second. Sounds like you've developed the skills to make games. now you need to learn how to design cool games. Unfortunately, that's more of an art type talent (like writing) than a technical skill (like coding). If you find you simply have no gifts in that area, then you'd probably be best off teaming up with others to help develop their visions. OTOH, to a certain degree, game design can be learned like anything else. I was a hard core wargame and RPG player for a decade before i even started programming. Those experiences helped a lot when it came time to design my own games.

Norm Barrows

Rockland Software Productions

"Building PC games since 1989"

rocklandsoftware.net

PLAY CAVEMAN NOW!

http://rocklandsoftware.net/beta.php

Take inspiration from games you enjoy. Try to understand exactly what makes you enjoy those games - analyze them and break them apart into their basic components. After that, see which of these components would fit well into your game. And most importantly of all, prototype these ideas to really see if they work.

Unfortunately there are few resources on this topic that go into such details as level design, obstacles, player movement, etc. The best thing you can do is analyze other games and see how the developers did such things.

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