Greetings!

I am an aspiring game developer and as of right now I have very little information about what I actually want to do, or at least how to do it. What I do know is that I wish to share my situation with this forum and hopefully I will be able to collect some constructive feedback on the matter. At the end of this post I will have a TL:DR version for anyone who is unwilling to read through the finer details of my post but feel they can still help me with my concerns.

To make the back story short:
Back in 2001 while I was still in middle school and entering high school I stumbled upon a game that greatly influenced me and my current gaming sense today. I loved this game with a passion and to this day still remember it as it was then. Come 12 years into the future and now this game is still on the internet. I wont say alive because its well...kind of dead. I have been playing it regularly for a few months now and am saddened by the state of the game. The creator of the game unfortunately quit working on it and now keeps it up solely(is my guess) because there are enough people around who care(roughly 20 regulars and 10 or so who come and go). Mind you this game reached a point(somewhere between 2004-2005) where it had well over 1000 players actively playing it. Unfortunately some bad calls by the creator and stagnating updates brought it to where it now lingers. Being the influence that it was in my youth I wished to recreate the game just as it was back then (or rather, better I would say) but am unsure of many factors involved in the process.

Where am I?
Currently I am very much kind of lost. I have been for the last 4 weeks or so attempting to grasp the language that I feel is appropriate for the given task but am unsure of even this decision as it stands. I have a strong feeling that recreating the game under ActionScript 3.0 would be appropriate given that the technologies the original game(a multiplayer turn/tick browser based war and strategy game) used were Flash for the map, some ActionScript and ASP for the rest. I figured Actionscript 3.0 could be used to make everything and PHP or something similar could be used for the back end/database stuff.

My learning is not going well at all. I seem to fail at grasping anything for my own use. I am also learning at a not optimal rate in my opinion and I feel I could be doing better. This is killing motivation but I refuse to give in yet.Given my perceived slow advancement in learning, should I find someone to teach me or should I remain learning by myself while using tutorials(Just give it more time)?

If I was willing to have anyone teach me, I would want it to be someone who is good at teaching and identifying what is the best method for me to learn. Would ANYONE on here know of a resource or a well known AS3 teacher/hobbyist who might be able to assist, even if I have to consider paying for someone's time, if I can get past this uncertainty it would be highly helpful.

Being stuck in most everything has not stopped me from continuing to plan what this game will be like(Helps that I have a game that I am kind of cloning). So far I have seen several ways to plan a game online and some really interesting game design/development Youtube videos detailing everything that goes into planning a game properly. These were a tad bit technical so I have decided to write detailed notes to myself of what I want the game to do and how. I have a hefty list, organized in no particular order, which I add to regularly and will separate into more concise ideas and groups of ideas once I have some general understanding of where everything should go. Now, should I continue to write ideas while I learn to program or should I be concentrating solely on programming and worry about game design later on?

I also have a ton of time to learn to program(my job only requires I be available to them about 10 days a month), I am very motivated as well but am missing this general sense of HOW. It is truly overwhelming and frustrating to see myself lost in zero progress. I have been advancing FAR too slowly for my taste even with all this free time. How long do you feel it will take me(with all this free time) to grasp enough of this language to begin working on this game once I zero in on a method of learning that works for me? I want to keep my expectations within realistic levels and hence wanted an estimate from people who have taken this journey before.

Finally, I wish to start working on this game soon but am trying to be as realistic as possible. Should I "completely" learn this language by programming other games and THEN move on to making this game? Should I use libraries and other tools to make this game or given its unique nature(never seen a game of this kind that was not strictly text based) should I work on making all my own code from scratch? Once I have a game setup, its testing wont begin until I can grasp any other technologies I need to use. Should I learn these technologies at the same time as AS3 or after the fact?

TL:DR

Hi! I am completely lost and need some assistance. If you want more details please read from the top:
I know of a game, it is dead, would love to recreate it and do not know what my next step is.

I am lost but have been attempting to work on learning my chosen language for this game(ActionScript 3.0).
1. Is this the appropriate language given the technology used on the original game?(ActionScript,Flash, ASP)
2. Would this technology along with PHP be enough to create a similar game? (Multiplayer turn/tick based war and strategy game)

I am uncomfortable about my learning and its current pace:

3. Given my perceived slow advancement in learning, should I find someone to teach me or should I remain learning by myself(Just give it more time)?
4. Even if I have to pay for someone's time, if I did find a teacher, would anyone here know of somebody who they would recommend as a teacher/tutor?

I have been planning this game out with original ideas and thoughts as well as the game I am sort of copying as the guideline.

5. Should I continue to write ideas and deal with the game design aspect of the game or should I concentrate on learning programming?
6. Given the amount of free time I have(I only work 10 days every month) and with what little information I have been able to provide you, how long will it take me to learn programming well enough to start this project and how long will it take me once I start?(Opinions)
7. Should I "completely" learn this language by programming other games and THEN move on to making this game?
8. Should I use libraries and other tools to make this game or given its unique nature(never seen a game of this kind that was not strictly text based) should I work on making all my own code from scratch?
9.Should I learn any other technologies I will need at the same time as AS3 or after the fact?

I apologize that I could not shorten this any more and if i am breaking any number of rules(spoken or otherwise).

Cheers,

IR

Why didn't you tell us the name of the game? I am really curious which game it is.

Actionscript/PHP are fine for this project. The only real advantage to Javascript/HTML over Actionscript is that there are more vocal people in its camp, and it makes it easy to port to non-flash devices (ipads and iphones for the most part). PHP/language-name-here will work for the backend.

As far as getting up and running with either language, Actionscript might be easier just because Flash has all the graphics baked into its libraries from the get go.

It might be helpful to know the type/goals of your game project, then people might be able to give you a better idea of what the roadmap you want to take is. There is no "one-way" to make a game, just tailored paths for certain kinds of games.

My only other advice to you would be to start small, and be humble. AAA studios take months to complete a game, web-games often run on teams of developpers, and solo-indie devs often are looking at year(s) of startup time, so don't try to build Rome in a day.

That was such a long response too... it saved none of my response. How sad. I will repost later I guess. Apologies.

<p></p><blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="BeerNutts" data-cid="5012901" data-time="1356033914"><p>My initial suggestion: Go through the last 4 pages or so of this forum (For Beginner's) and read the topic related to this one. You will find many data points that cover the issues you have asked. There are about 3 posts of this kind PER DAY, and people get tired of answering the same questions over and over.<br />
<br />
If you still have questions after looking over other posts, then post the specific question here.<br />
Good Luck!</p></blockquote><p></p><p></p><blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="black_darkness" data-cid="5013026" data-time="1356056705"><p>Why didn't you tell us the name of the game? I am really curious which game it is.</p></blockquote><p></p><p></p><blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="DareDeveloper" data-cid="5013064" data-time="1356083082"><p>I personally think it is ok to ask this question ... it is pretty specific and not covered that well.<br><br>
Why not maintain a thread and/or blog here at GameDev.net and regularly ask more specific questions?<br>
Slow progress probably means that there is something wrong with the way you think about the development process/steps/technologies.<br><br>
I know the hard part is knowing which questions you should have at this point. But maybe some people will follow the progress and provide the input you need.<br><br>
The game should be played in a browser ... and it is a multiplayer game!? That is advanced stuff.<br>
Try to break it down ... isolate the topics that you need to learn and start with simpler projects that way.<br>
If you start working on the big project right away you will probably rewrite it completely several times after some kind of "revelation".<br>
But be careful not to get sidetracked.<br><br>
I guess Flash/ActionScript/Flex is a good choice for a browser game. These days you might be able to use WebGL (or just Canvas) and JavaScript if you want to learn something more modern.<br>
PHP should be fine for the server side as well.<br><br>
Start sandbox projects for each technology ... as well as a simple one where they work together.<br><br>
Guess you should write a little more about where you are stuck exactly ... or if you are not stuck: write about what you think you figured out already so that people can tell you if you are on track.<br>
That information is important for question 6.)<br><br>
For an estimation of how long it takes one programmer to create the game ... it would be important to know more about the game.<br>
And can you create the content? Do you know an artist?<br><br>
What about your future? Is the project a stepping stone into the industry? Or is the game supposed to be your career?<br>
Maybe there are better technology options depending on the answer to those questions.</p></blockquote><p></p><p></p><blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="bassy" data-cid="5013242" data-time="1356123547"><p>Actionscript/PHP are fine for this project. The only real advantage to Javascript/HTML over Actionscript is that there are more vocal people in its camp, and it makes it easy to port to non-flash devices (ipads and iphones for the most part). PHP/language-name-here will work for the backend.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>As far as getting up and running with either language, Actionscript might be easier just because Flash has all the graphics baked into its libraries from the get go.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>It might be helpful to know the type/goals of your game project, then people might be able to give you a better idea of what the roadmap you want to take is. There is no "one-way" to make a game, just tailored paths for certain kinds of games.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>My only other advice to you would be to start small, and be humble. AAA studios take months to complete a game, web-games often run on teams of developpers, and solo-indie devs often are looking at year(s) of startup time, so don't try to build Rome in a day.</p></blockquote><p></p>

I'm just going to say, even if this forum used stock HTML, your code would be filled with errors.

I just used the quote tool I guess I did something wrong.