Got a BIG dev question!! please help The right question this time
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Ok here we go, several questions at once may be wrong forum but here i go if anyoue out there could have the BEST suit of game developement software and books what would they be. best language compiler i.e. visual studio(c++) best rendering software i.e. maya, 3ds max, best texture program i.e. photoshop, deep paint.best game design books. and the best of any other software i may have forgot please let me know becouse my college grant pays for this stuff. you could also send email to paladinjake@hotmail.com thanks in advance all this will be used for MMO games like EQ and Dark Age, and FPS like ut2003 or Bf 1942 please help if ya can
"Half of everything you do is 90% mental"
Visual studio is probally the most widely used compiler.
A lot of companies use 3d studio but lately many have been switching to Maya, id for example.
Most companies use photoshop for textures.
Only buy one or two books, most of them are just the same crap over and over.
Good ones include.
Computer Graphics Prinicples and Practice by Foley and Huges
OpenGl (the red book) if you''re going to do openGL stuff
The sdk for directX is about the best reference for DirectX.
A couple of the Game development seris by prima tech are ok.
There is a book by Watt and Policarpo called 3D games real-time rendering and software technology, that is not to bad.
The best place for information is on the web in the form of tutorials and papers.
A lot of companies use 3d studio but lately many have been switching to Maya, id for example.
Most companies use photoshop for textures.
Only buy one or two books, most of them are just the same crap over and over.
Good ones include.
Computer Graphics Prinicples and Practice by Foley and Huges
OpenGl (the red book) if you''re going to do openGL stuff
The sdk for directX is about the best reference for DirectX.
A couple of the Game development seris by prima tech are ok.
There is a book by Watt and Policarpo called 3D games real-time rendering and software technology, that is not to bad.
The best place for information is on the web in the form of tutorials and papers.
SN System''s ProDG Debugger is the best debugger I''ve ever used. Unfortunately it''s only for PS2, GC + GBA.
MSDN is pretty good as a general language reference to have around (and obviously for Windows API reference too).
As the AP said, Visual Studio is the best development environment I''ve used, but get the Visual Assist add-in for it.
The Visual Studio debugger isn''t nearly as good as ProDG, but obviously you can actually use it for Windows development
Oh, and get a good hex editor too. Hex Workshop is very good.
MSDN is pretty good as a general language reference to have around (and obviously for Windows API reference too).
As the AP said, Visual Studio is the best development environment I''ve used, but get the Visual Assist add-in for it.
The Visual Studio debugger isn''t nearly as good as ProDG, but obviously you can actually use it for Windows development
Oh, and get a good hex editor too. Hex Workshop is very good.
Note to those without cash : Bloodshet''s DevC++ combined with GCC 3.2 is a good alternative to VS (6 at least). Plus GCC supports partial template specialisation (which VS.Net doesn''t).
I prefer 3d Max to Maya - I think 3d Max lends itself much better to polygonal modelling whereas Maya targets subdivisional, NURBS and that sort of precision area. If you game is using the subdivisional surfaces (or high
poly count models derived from them - Maya is the way to go). Plus it''s got loads of extras bits and bobs that Max doesn''t. Max is much cleaner and easier to use though (imho).
Best texture program: I''ve tried deep paint (texture weapons) and it''s really good fun, and whilst the demos for it look great I''m not sure I could use it for anything other than a quick prototype texture.
Photoshop is probably required, whether you go for deep paint (et la) or not. Any game dev requires tons of 2d work (not just textures). I can''t help feel that something is lacking in Photoshop 7 (ie that it could be much better) but it''s still the best tool around.
I''m not sure about the size of college grants these days but I think you''ll struggle to get all of this.
My shopping list would be:
Visual Studio (not the student edition)
If you are a beginner to modeling 3dMax, else Maya
Photoshop 7
Of course you could save the money get DevC++, Milkshape, PaintShopPro and still have top tools. If you are a lone gamedev then having the best tools on the market is nice, but you aren''t going to scratch the surface of Maya and Photoshop (if you are learning them together)
I prefer 3d Max to Maya - I think 3d Max lends itself much better to polygonal modelling whereas Maya targets subdivisional, NURBS and that sort of precision area. If you game is using the subdivisional surfaces (or high
poly count models derived from them - Maya is the way to go). Plus it''s got loads of extras bits and bobs that Max doesn''t. Max is much cleaner and easier to use though (imho).
Best texture program: I''ve tried deep paint (texture weapons) and it''s really good fun, and whilst the demos for it look great I''m not sure I could use it for anything other than a quick prototype texture.
Photoshop is probably required, whether you go for deep paint (et la) or not. Any game dev requires tons of 2d work (not just textures). I can''t help feel that something is lacking in Photoshop 7 (ie that it could be much better) but it''s still the best tool around.
I''m not sure about the size of college grants these days but I think you''ll struggle to get all of this.
My shopping list would be:
Visual Studio (not the student edition)
If you are a beginner to modeling 3dMax, else Maya
Photoshop 7
Of course you could save the money get DevC++, Milkshape, PaintShopPro and still have top tools. If you are a lone gamedev then having the best tools on the market is nice, but you aren''t going to scratch the surface of Maya and Photoshop (if you are learning them together)
Please note that Visual C has some restrictions / compilation errors (bugs in the compiler), so you will be restricted in some areas (which you might barely use).
If you plan to develop games without the MFC / Windows GUI I absolutely suggest Dev-Cpp by Bloodshed. It is freeware and a very powerful environment, compiler included. Supports OpenGL / DirectX / Allegro and updates on a quite regular basis (via Auto-update accessible in the menu).
I have been using Dev-cpp for quite a while and I am absolutely convinced of it. It has everything MS VC 6 has, but cut to fit into a GAME development UI.
Indeterminatus
--si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses--
If you plan to develop games without the MFC / Windows GUI I absolutely suggest Dev-Cpp by Bloodshed. It is freeware and a very powerful environment, compiler included. Supports OpenGL / DirectX / Allegro and updates on a quite regular basis (via Auto-update accessible in the menu).
I have been using Dev-cpp for quite a while and I am absolutely convinced of it. It has everything MS VC 6 has, but cut to fit into a GAME development UI.
Indeterminatus
--si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses--
If you don''t want to spend money on software (or use illegal
copies) here''s the opensource way:
Editor: Emacs
Steeeeeep learning curve but once you get the hang of it it
is great, does syntax highlighting, hex editing, hell you
can even read newsgroups with it.
Compiler: GCC (MinGW or CygWin on win32)
Very sound free compiler.
Image: GIMP
Free image editing program, does almost anything and can be
extended (lots of 3d party stuff availeble for it).
3D modelling: not sure
There is Blender, which seems to work nicely (also steep
learning curve though) but i havent been able to make much
sense of its file format yet.
Marijn
copies) here''s the opensource way:
Editor: Emacs
Steeeeeep learning curve but once you get the hang of it it
is great, does syntax highlighting, hex editing, hell you
can even read newsgroups with it.
Compiler: GCC (MinGW or CygWin on win32)
Very sound free compiler.
Image: GIMP
Free image editing program, does almost anything and can be
extended (lots of 3d party stuff availeble for it).
3D modelling: not sure
There is Blender, which seems to work nicely (also steep
learning curve though) but i havent been able to make much
sense of its file format yet.
Marijn
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