Hello All,

I've recently launched a new project Game From Scratch that I hope many of you will find handy.

The basic concept is, I am going to be creating a video game and am documenting the process through the entire life span of the project, from the initial design and selection of tools, through development and asset creation, to finally publishing. Along the way I am going to be releasing 100% of the source code and 100% of the assets. My hope is by the time I am finished a beginning developer will be able to follow along and create and publish their own game.

First off, what I won't be teaching is programming. I will provide links and other materials, but you will require a base level of programming ability to follow along. That said, I am gearing things towards beginner so I hope to write simple readable code and will explain things as plainly as possible. Generally I will right in as conversational a ton as possible.


One of the major goals is to do things as cheaply as possible so as many people can follow along. I know piracy is rampant and I will leave the morality argument for a different thread, but if you are going about creating a game you are actually going to sell, then you really want to be legit! As a result, we are focusing on using free/cheaply available tools whenever possible. The current tools being used are available right here. With the possible exception of Photoshop, there are some extremely good free/cheap alternatives available for just about every application you need. Some of them have a bit of a learning curve, but we will help you with that.

Also, the process is intended to be interactive. So if you find something that I wasn't clear about, or you run into a problem post a comment or shoot me an email and I will put together a post or a video if possible.


So, TL;DR if you want to learn the game development process from beginning till end, check out www.gamefromscratch.com.


Comments and suggestions appreciated.

Regards
Mike
Mike[@]gamefromscratch[dot]com

EDIT: To moderators, just realized this should probably have been posted to announcements. Sorry.

I'll be following this. Since I am a noob after all.
Will you be posting in this thread when updates are available? or should I check www.gamefromscratch.com once in a while?
How deep will you go into the programming part? will you make any kind of tool yourself?
If you stop working on this (it might happen) will you let us know?

Will you be doing this alone? or do you have artists to help you? are you going to be your own artist?

I can post major updates to this thread, when I write or release something I am particularly proud of. I would like you to visit the site as often as possible of course but truth is, the best way to stay up to day is probably RSS. http://www.gamefromscratch.com/syndication.axd <-- that is the feed. Truth said though, I personally don't use RSS myself.

As to the programming part, well, I am releasing 100% of the code, and will highlight and blog ( eck, hate that word ) about the most important or key parts. As to tools, I don't currently foresee the need for any tools, but if I do I will do so and release the code. I have to say though, in this regard the toolset I have chosen are pretty robust, especially Unity, so hopefully I wont really need tools.

As to the art, I am a competent 3D artist and a mediocre 2D artist, so modelling I will do myself and possibly texturing. Ditto for all level design, but I won't rule out guest appearances.

Now music... frankly I don't know what the hell I am going to do about the music sections.

What language are you going to use? Looking at your site, I am guessing C#?

Yes C# is the intended language. I am waiting to hear from Unity on their stance using mono since the mass layoff of the mono team, but I am assuming since Miguel de Icaza announced he is forming a new company to specifically develop mono, I am not too worried about C#'s future in Unity. I am however extremely happy I didn't purchase the MonoDroid/Monotouch combo last month!

May I suggest either providing links explaining or explaining yourself the math behind what you do? I find math is my biggest hurdle as I don't come from a heavy academic background. Knowing why you used a certain method to figure out a calculation or maybe alternative formulas that didn't quite fit but you tried first would be extremely interesting to me.

Thanks.

Also, are you working on a 2D game or a 3D one?

May I suggest either providing links explaining or explaining yourself the math behind what you do? I find math is my biggest hurdle as I don't come from a heavy academic background. Knowing why you used a certain method to figure out a calculation or maybe alternative formulas that didn't quite fit but you tried first would be extremely interesting to me.

Thanks.

Also, are you working on a 2D game or a 3D one?

Hello landlocked.

I will be doing my best to describe the math as it is encountered. This is one area often glossed over which is a shame as it is very often the most difficult aspect to understand. That said, sometimes explaining math is hard, exceedingly hard in fact. There are a reason there are a few million pages of instruction on the subject! When this is the case and the subject is beyond the scope of my being able to explain it, I will provide links to places that DO explain it well.

Also, this is a somewhat interactive experience, so If I haven't covered something or poorly explained something, shoot me an email or leave a comment and I will attempt to explain it better. This is one of the big advantages of being a website instead of a book, whens the last time you could ask a book for clarification!

On the other hand I can't explain everything I do, not even 80% of what I do with any hopes of making progress, so to a certain degree I *require* people to raise questions to know what needs to be covered in greater detail. So for example, I will often be releasing code or models without an explanation of why or how something worked ( beyond the comments of course ), so if you see something that doesn't make sense, leave a comment or email and I will cover it in more detail.

And the game will be 3D, but with a very 2D feeling of play.

Moving to Your Announcements.

[quote name='landlocked' timestamp='1305727470' post='4812519']
May I suggest either providing links explaining or explaining yourself the math behind what you do? I find math is my biggest hurdle as I don't come from a heavy academic background. Knowing why you used a certain method to figure out a calculation or maybe alternative formulas that didn't quite fit but you tried first would be extremely interesting to me.

Thanks.

Also, are you working on a 2D game or a 3D one?

Hello landlocked.

I will be doing my best to describe the math as it is encountered. This is one area often glossed over which is a shame as it is very often the most difficult aspect to understand. That said, sometimes explaining math is hard, exceedingly hard in fact. There are a reason there are a few million pages of instruction on the subject! When this is the case and the subject is beyond the scope of my being able to explain it, I will provide links to places that DO explain it well.

Also, this is a somewhat interactive experience, so If I haven't covered something or poorly explained something, shoot me an email or leave a comment and I will attempt to explain it better. This is one of the big advantages of being a website instead of a book, whens the last time you could ask a book for clarification!

On the other hand I can't explain everything I do, not even 80% of what I do with any hopes of making progress, so to a certain degree I *require* people to raise questions to know what needs to be covered in greater detail. So for example, I will often be releasing code or models without an explanation of why or how something worked ( beyond the comments of course ), so if you see something that doesn't make sense, leave a comment or email and I will cover it in more detail.

And the game will be 3D, but with a very 2D feeling of play.
[/quote]
I'm not expecting a dissertation on every calculation or why you use object.x + object.velocity to move an object.

Thanks though. I look forward to reading through your postings.

[quote name='Serapth' timestamp='1305730741' post='4812539']
[quote name='landlocked' timestamp='1305727470' post='4812519']
May I suggest either providing links explaining or explaining yourself the math behind what you do? I find math is my biggest hurdle as I don't come from a heavy academic background. Knowing why you used a certain method to figure out a calculation or maybe alternative formulas that didn't quite fit but you tried first would be extremely interesting to me.

Thanks.

Also, are you working on a 2D game or a 3D one?

Hello landlocked.

I will be doing my best to describe the math as it is encountered. This is one area often glossed over which is a shame as it is very often the most difficult aspect to understand. That said, sometimes explaining math is hard, exceedingly hard in fact. There are a reason there are a few million pages of instruction on the subject! When this is the case and the subject is beyond the scope of my being able to explain it, I will provide links to places that DO explain it well.

Also, this is a somewhat interactive experience, so If I haven't covered something or poorly explained something, shoot me an email or leave a comment and I will attempt to explain it better. This is one of the big advantages of being a website instead of a book, whens the last time you could ask a book for clarification!

On the other hand I can't explain everything I do, not even 80% of what I do with any hopes of making progress, so to a certain degree I *require* people to raise questions to know what needs to be covered in greater detail. So for example, I will often be releasing code or models without an explanation of why or how something worked ( beyond the comments of course ), so if you see something that doesn't make sense, leave a comment or email and I will cover it in more detail.

And the game will be 3D, but with a very 2D feeling of play.
[/quote]
I'm not expecting a dissertation on every calculation or why you use object.x + object.velocity to move an object.

Thanks though. I look forward to reading through your postings.
[/quote]

This is good, as I am by no means a master mathematician, so in many cases, other sources will be a much much much better guide to solving a particular problem. There are a few books that do an exceedingly good job of explaining mathematics in plain English, I will at some point put together a recommended reading list. The ability to describe math in an easy to understand way is a rare skill, so when you find a gem, latch onto it! I do however have a friend who is a professor of mathematics who I can hopefully convince to write a guest spot or two.