3Ddreamer

Hi,

Hi,

 

 

An orderly growth in your learning is crucial for maximum efficiency and saving you years of delay.

 

1) Choose a game engine that allows you to develop a game using one language.

2) You will be using that language for the next 1 to 2 years.

3) Make 3 to 5 simple console type 2D games without a game engine by using your language and targeting the Runtime Environment in your client computer which you use.

4) Return to the game engine of your choice and make 3 to 5 simple 2D games. 

5) Begin making 3D games.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_game_engines

 

Note:  Early in your first few games you should be on track to start and improve your interface making skills, which is one of the fundamentals of game development and critical for user appeal.

 

If you make each game well, adding new features, then this is the fastest path to becoming a skilled game developer as I outlined here.  In fact it is better than Uni but requires stronger character traits in you.

 

Stay at it and have fun the whole way!

 

Hello 3Ddreamer,

 

Sorry if I'm hijacking this thread at all, but I'm also on topic with the OP.

 

I'm also new to programming, I'm guessing I should start learning Python, but I'm interested in what you said and want to make sure that those "2-3" years you mentioned aren't wasted.  No 2-3 years was mentioned, so re-read my post, please.  I did recommend 1 to 2 years with your first language which was chosen by what game engine you selected.  How much total time from start to professional level depends on many factors including talent, time available, difficulty of the technology selected, and so forth.  Your language should be chosen based on the game engine that you select, in my opinion-for almost all newbies. Stay in that language until you get good at it before going deep into your second language in my opinion.

 

As for the list you mentioned, I saw that Minecraft was made using LWJGL, would learning Java and using that Engine be a good first step for a beginner or no?  Yes - Everything on this list would be good for learning purposes:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_game_engines

 

Is there a book or an article that breaks down this whole experience (being a new programmer) better?  Chose a game engine and seek the information from the community forums of that game engine.

 

I'm not sure how the game engine and compiling and programming languages all work together.  I'd just like a simplified introduction or crash course so that I can understand the basics of this world I'm getting my self in to without having to waste time with bad advice or whatever bumps may be in the way.  The development pipeline for each game engine has a unique combination of technology and methods for the most part.  No universal formula exists across all game engines in regard to these matters of pipeline requirements.  Seek the game engine community forums of your choice.  Threads here at gamedev are very valuable in helping you get basics, some having tutorials.

 

Thank you,

Rob

Rob,

Take my advice in the dark red text above here.

The more research that you do by looking for threads about a wide range of game development topics, then the better you will be.  There are really few shortcuts and mostly just digging hard for things.

Research is the backbone of game development, so get used to it.

Clinton

Hi,

Textures from actual photographs (in digital file format such as Bitmap and JPEG) are typically the best to use, sometimes looking exactly like real life surfaces of objects.  Shaders and in particular procedural mapping of textures and shaders have come a long way but will likely never have the consistency of the good image texture mapping by an artist one at a time.  Humans can detect flaws and inferior appearance, but procedural generation of surfaces will never notice the things which the human mind can.  The disadvantage of "live" textures would be that creating many objects or much terrain is much more expensive in labor, time, and cost because each texture must be applied manualy if you want the very best.

On the other hand, I have worked with artists using procedurally generated surfaces which look realistic.  Development of these procedures can be time consuming of themselves but worth it for large scenes with many objects or much terrain.  Many games use both procedural and manual made surfaces, which allows the best technique for each need.

Get used to coding for both procedural and image applications.

Clinton

Hi,

An orderly growth in your learning is crucial for maximum efficiency and saving you years of delay.

1) Choose a game engine that allows you to develop a game using one language.

2) You will be using that language for the next 1 to 2 years.

3) Make 3 to 5 simple console type 2D games without a game engine by using your language and targeting the Runtime Environment in your client computer which you use.

4) Return to the game engine of your choice and make 3 to 5 simple 2D games. 

5) Begin making 3D games.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_game_engines

Note:  Early in your first few games you should be on track to start and improve your interface making skills, which is one of the fundamentals of game development and critical for user appeal.

If you make each game well, adding new features, then this is the fastest path to becoming a skilled game developer as I outlined here.  In fact it is better than Uni but requires stronger character traits in you.

Stay at it and have fun the whole way!

Hi,

Java APIs have been used to create world-class games and simulations.   The graphics area where you have a question is one of the strong areas of this development.  In my opinion it often results in a perfect match of performance and quality graphics.   The shadows, anti-aliasing, shading, bump-mapping, sounds, collision detection, damage model, and input configuration are all strong areas.  It tends to lend itself well to realism and departing from fantasy environments, but I have seen some fabulous fantasy games made in this genre.  Cross-platform, OS and hardware, is built into them which is another consideration for some developers.

About image file formats, bitmaps are a good choice when performance is not an issue, but otherwise with performance critical games then JPEG would be a better choice.  Lossless images add to a big demand in performance in scenes where there are many of them.  For performance demands, then also include shading and in particular bump-mapping. 

A good Java API will make all of these choices available to you.  Third party libraries with well designed editors are another matter for choosing an API, such as terrain editors.

XNA is mature and not dead, which actually makes developing with it easier than if it were still growing.  Just like in human relationships, mature is better !

Monogame is really the way to go, but either way, games made with XNA or Monogame will run for years in people's devices.

Enjoy the development environment for years to come, stop complaining, and start making money with games soon! Construction on the doorway has practically stopped, but the Door is still open! 

Clinton

Once a person actually gets into a company, the combination of terminology and methods at the tactical level are somewhat unique to that company - a corporate culture in effect.  It may take years with such a team to realize the opportunity to become a producer. If a person had the goal to be a producer, I believe that it would be one of the hardest positions to prepare and achieve it.  Reputation would critical.  Heavy emphasis on character traits demonstrated in things such as organizational and communication skills would be paramount, I would think.

Hi,

Also, I'm not a fan of engines, but if you would recommend an engine(for example irrlitch) I guess I'll check it out and maybe try to code on it - it's just this is not really my goal. And speaking of goals - to get a better idea of what I want here are my goals: 

 

How can you not be a fan of game engines when they can save you years and maybe decades in your learning?  Game engines take 5 to 10 years to develop well and a team.

 

Using an existing game development engine is like acquiring horses, training to use them, and putting them to work.  Making your own lower level software is like compounding the difficulty by breeding your own horses from birth, then breeding with other horses, training to use them, and putting them to work. 

 

Everything about your first post shows that you want to build the infrastructure or logistics (lower level pipeline) without having first learned the vehicles (games) which use them.  The attempted shortcut here will actually result in far more time to develop a game engine than if you learned game development first.  Another way of looking at it is that you are trying to develop the rocket launch facility (game engine) before understanding rockets (games).

 

Game Engines List:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_game_engines

 

Learning on a game engine for at least a couple years is a REQUIREMENT if you want to avoid adding years to your confusion. Consider using an existing game engine as school for thought and be dedicated to learning one well. 

 

1) Get better at C++(obviously I would need it for pretty much everything)  This is incorrect perception. Some programmers, game developers, or even game engine developers have published little or nothing for games in C++ and with much success using other languages. You really need to read threads on other languages and look at other game engines not using C++ to balance your research. In the broader picture of things, C++ is not required, but may be preferred by some coders.

2) Learn OpenGL and DX programming (and I'd rather have it low level and not through and engine or whatever)  Here is another misconception. Game engines have interface between the developers and the machine/assembly language as does OpenGL and Direct3D, but game engines vastly increase productivity by a multiple factor compared to raw lower level coding. Using only the graphics APIs will result in much more work to develop a certain high quality game compared to using a game engine. 

 

A better strategy long term is to use a game engine which integrates with graphics API coding (OpenGL and Direct3D) in the development pipeline.

3) Make my own software renderer and raytracer (as an insight in how things work)  In many cases, these two are totally unrelated to the development of certain games.  These methods of implementation are CPU and GPU resource intensive to the point of only being used sparingly in games due to hit on performance.  Indeed, world class games continue to be made with no raytracing or custom made renderers, the majority being the case.  Do you want to add another layer of difficulty and years of delay to your development goals?

4) Try out various physics engines like Tokamak and Ode - best of all understand how they work and write my own just to get the idea about it.  This is like wanting to develop your own boat just "to get the idea about it".   Existing libraries have all major languages covered in physics and it would take you 5 to 10 years in game development, engine development, and tool creation experience before you catch them in the race.  They have a huge head start on you, basically having accomplished what is needed in the way of physics engines.  Odds are that you will never reach them in quality and development friendliness.

5) Learn more on Windows API  This is useless for many (most?) games.  If you want to specialize in Windows game development then there is nothing wrong with this strategy.  If you want your software to be cross-platform in OS and hardware then this is a detour to the desert.



Any constructive advice and criticism are welcome!

I like that you think and feel big.  Lofty goals are generally good to have, but you need to make 5 to 10 games first.  You need to understand the coding of games in order to make the lower level framework that you want, again - first.  You want to make a sea port without first knowing the specifications of the vessels which will use it?  I think not.

Develop games for a couple years before you go trying to make a framework.

Hi,

this topic is for 3d tutorials and resources only!

PIXEL 2 LIFE is an extremely worthy resource to include in your list:

http://www.pixel2life.com/tutorials/bryce/modeling/

Look at the 3D Graphics category, which includes tutorials in the threads, at the left column of the home page.  Its seems that tutorials about all the most common and powerful 3D programs is there.  There is a zillion tutorials in other graphics categories, too, such as 2D.

Clinton

Hi,

Making a 2D game engine should only be considered a novelty hobby or learning project.  To make a professional quality 2D game engine, you really are only reinventing the wheel and spend a good 5 to 10 years doing it when you could be making marketable games and making money most of that time!

Hi,

Hungry for more?  Good.

Okay, you got a good amount of information here to get you started, but I have to say that you really need to grab tools, brushes, shaders, gradients, or whatever you can find and experiment with them. I know that some artists don't like to search for new tools or experiment with a lot of them, but it really is a part of the business at least to some extent.

A major part of developing art skill is much independent exploration and experimentation.  After doing this for years now, I rarely need to ask a question because I go and grab tools and learn their strengths and weaknesses.  You will with this strategy find ways to make characters that looks better to you than those examples eventually if you reach some level of artistic independence. For now it is good that you ask for help.

Some tips:
 

1) Work quickly in most areas of the art

2) Erase and redo parts however many times that you need

3) Be bold and aggressive most of the time with technique

4) Review history file of your work periodically to learn from your progress

5) Experiment rapidly on a test layer overlaying the art on a regular basis, including the use of new brushes

A)  Characters should all be each unique as practical in the game or scene yet have a common theme connecting theme if possible

B)  People expect the cartoon nature of this genre, so really work it with some caricature aspects, even in the color choice being a bit exaggerated.

C)  Better to have simple but clear boundaries rather than complicated or fuzzy ones, because the human mind intuitively prefers a solid distinction dividing areas

D) Keep the character free from attention grabbing parts which are below quality of the other parts, a common challenge for up and coming artists

I really like gradient brushes, which have made shading the textures much easier for me.  Remember that erasing, including varying the opacity/ transparency of the erasing,  is an important technique toward the end result of your brushes.

Oh, Yeah!  Lighting is so important.

After revisiting this thread, rouncer, I feel that now would be perfect timing for you to expand your capabilities and horizons with tablet drawing.  Wacom is a good brand but several other good ones are out there.  Your art passions only need focus, so the tablet tool to help you get that concentration is just what you need at this time.               

Hi,

Some ways to eliminate or reduce pixilation:

1) Use a higher resolution image file.

2) Incorporate an image file less prone to pixilation in the vector category instead of rasterized.

3) Build the game to handle compressed images, then start with increased size in the creation phase and compress to the correct size for import into the game.

4) See if game performance would let you use lossless images such as BMP.

5) Create procedural images with shaders.

I wrote this to maybe cause you to reconsider your image implementation.  Are you ready to grow?

Hi,

For big or complex models like characters or vehicles, I build all or almost all the 3D in Wing3D because it is very intuitive to me, fast, and no cost to you, by the way.  Often I do the UV mapping and a base texture in Wings3D as well.  Most of the texture manipulation I do in GIMP after that. Next I Export/Import to Blender or 3ds Max for materials, shaders, and animation. 

My workflow is the fastest and best quality which I have discovered with years of experimentation.  I can now do a model 2 to 5 times faster than some of my colleagues and usually with higher quality. 

Collada experience is good to have in your portfolio, too.  There are game engines which are good with Collada between the 3D program and the game engine for animations and so forth.

Everybody should have Java Runtime in their computer and if not then get it.  Updating your Java Runtime Environment would be a good idea, too.  Windows OS users should look into this especially because Microsoft does not aggressively support. ( Throat clearing here  )

Java is quite powerful, regardless if the programmer likes to use it or not.  If you can effectively learn to program with precompiling or Just In Time (JIT) compiling when appropriate, then you have very good performance competitive in the league with the best out there. The Java system is built for cross-platform implementations to be as easy as possible, which is much of the reason why billions of devices run it.  By contrast, Microsoft makes you jump through hoops and you still fall short with Common Language Runtime of the .NET Framework in full cross-platform implementation (Saying this to show advantage in using Java).  Sure there is OpenGL in any case, but with Java Runtime Environment one stage of work is eliminated.

Look into jMonkey, by the way.