Hello everyone, My brother and me are looking at getting into the game development world and need some tips for starters like us. Our main thing right now is pieceing together the programs we will need to get started. Although we cannot spend much money on this so cheap/free programs would be best. I am not totally sure what all will be needed, but i have a list of what i am thinking we will need and what we have/plan to get so far. Game Engine: Torque (Indy Version) Plan to get. (Is there better for the same price?) Graphic Art: Adobe PS 6.0 and/or PSP 7+ (Plug-ins suggested? Which of these two would be better? We have access two both full versions) Sounds and Sound FX: Haven't really looked for a program for this any suggestions? C++ Compiler: Heard there were a ton of free ones, but i have no idea what would be best any suggestions would be much appreciated. 3d Design: Gmax by Discreet ( I love the looks of 3ds max, but can in no way shell out that kind of money ) Model Design: Not totally sure what would work good for this also not sure if you need a seperate program for skinning?? Ok well that's about all we have thought up so far. Anything we left out? Any input at all is very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
I believe that these pages should be helpful: Development Environments Content Creation Tools The above pages list a variety of tools (both free, and commercial) that you'll be needing to get started. You'll also need to choose a library, and if you're looking for something free, cross-platform, and easy to use, I would recommend SDL from personal experience. Good luck! (PS. To the moderators: Perhaps this thread should be moved to the "Indie Basics" forum?)
Forgive me for making assumptions since you didn't specify your level of knowledge or experience in this field, but if you don't know much (if anything) about programming or 3d (modeling or coding) I think you may be jumping in over your head. Maybe you should simplify and get your feet wet first. I think the quickest, easiest way to get started is with a paint program (PS, PSP, whatever) and BlitzMAX or BlitzPlus doing 2d games. Going to 3D or getting into C++ would complicate things tremendously when right now you should concentrate on the basics like getting something on the screen and moving it around, building a basic game loop, tracking game objects and handling their interactions, handling player input, etc., etc.
I'd reiterate what Diragor said. Also, for free, (and quality) utilities, You could go with the open source community, using the GIMP and Blender. I also use Open Office for word processing. If you've ever used photoshop, the GIMP is very similar. Blender is a 3D modelling package. There are Linux, Windows and MacOS releases of both programs. www.gimp.org www.blender3d.org Those are what I use, anyhow.
Thanks Thank you all for your replies. Ryan thanks for the links. Looks like i got some reading to do also thanks for the heads up on the libraries. Diragor yeah i didn't really think about stateing what i've done and such as i was just looking for tips on what tools to get. Really i haven't had a much experience with programming except for what i did in Second Life. Which i was told was similar to VB style, but not a tool for learning it. As for the 3d stuff second life has helped me a little bit, but really i think i've learned the most from making maps for half life. Granted i don't have them anymore as that was a few hard drives ago and really don't play the game that much, but when i opened gmax a lot of things still look familiar. I have had some experience with photoshop as i used to make signatures for people on other forums and making textures for second life. I haven't really thought about doing anything 2d for some reason it just feels to restricting. Plus i like to do things the hard way. I seem to learn better that way . I do appreciate the information and comments though it does give me something to think about. As for C++ I thought i read that with Torque you wouldn't need to be that good at it to make it work for you? Maybe i am wrong i dunno i've never used it. Surrealix thanks for the information as for GIMP i am not sure what you mean? Is it a program that's like PS? Or works with it? I have PS 6.0 full version on this computer and my brother has PSP 7.0 i believe full version. (not sure his version number exactly just guessing). As for blender, thank you very much i completely forgot about that i heard that before. I will for sure check into that. Anyone else have comments? Or ideas for programs i don't have listed or will need? Thanks to all you that have giving me input so far. It's so nice to be on a forum where people react somewhat fast without seeing flames or "noob" being thrown around. Keep'em coming
If you're so keen on 3D, and don't have that much programming experience, could I suggest simpler programming packages such as Blitz3D or DarkBasic Pro? They can do the job pretty well.
It does sound to me that you are a little under-prepared to start on a indie commercial game, I would suggest starting with something small or a clone to get your feet wet. However, I could be reading into your post incorrectly and you could be ready to go, just looking for advice. Here's mine: Go directly to Amazon.com (or your favorite bookstore) and buy The Indie Game Developers Survival Guide. Here's a link. I would suggest Photoshop, because it has become a part of me and I like to support them, although PSP is much cheaper and I've heard other people swear by it. I would also suggest getting sound effects from soundrangers.com and finding a third party to do contract work for your music. We used J-squared and they were great. Hope it goes well for you.
From what you've posted I'd also recommend blitz3d. Torque will be too difficult as a starter engine for someone without experience in c or c++
Thanks for the added replies. robleong I'll for sure check into those thank you. merc_fx Thanks for the heads up on the book. As for the starting small. Really what we are trying to do right now is get all the items we will need to make something. Learn those then work from there making smaller things and moving our way up. Main reason i am asking for tips on tools is so we can get used to these and be able to work up our skill at using them. Yea i was thinking PS myself as i have come very familiar with it. Also thanks for the sound site that should help a ton. Thanks again for responses we really appreciate it.
My understanding is that Torque can be configured almost entirely through scripting, if you are trying to make a Tribes-like game. The further you go from Tribes, the more likely it is that you will have to modify the engine code. If you're interested in using Torque, I would suggest that you check out the book 3D Game Programming All in One by Kenneth C Finney: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/159200136X/qid=1109045133/ I've heard really good things about this book, especially on the GarageGames boards where it is considered the missing manual for Torque. See if you can find the book in a local library, or read a few pages in the bookstore. This will let you see if Torque is going to be too much for you to handle at your current level of C/C++ knowledge.
The GIMP is a stand-alone program, but having re-read your original post I realise you already have a decent 2D imaging program. Sorry about any confusion I caused.
Milieu Thanks for the link. Yea i remember reading something about that book being a must have with torque. If i get torque i'll for sure get that. Ricardo Thanks for the information i just got the demo for that and will be checking it out over the next 30 days. Surrealix All is well not too confused I just wasen't sure what it was until now. Thanks for clearing it up.
If you would rather spend time writing games instead of learning DX, OpenGL, and other API's, I would strongly suggest you consider one of the compiled BASIC's out there. My personal preference is PureBasic, but Blitz is pretty good too (especially for 3D.) PureBasic is written in 100% assembly, it makes very small and fast executables, currently has a pay-once-get-lifetime-updates policy, does not require any run-time libs (it compiles against the native Win32 API), and it's cheaper than most other offerings ($80). Anyway, check it out. You will spend less time messing with you development environment/tools and more time writing your game. As for graphics programs, I don't know how you can be on a small budget and even consider Photoshop. Granted it is the industry standard, but the name says it all, it's best suited for working with photos which it not something you will be doing a lot of when writing games. I started using PaintShop Pro about a year ago and have never looked back, I love it. PSP is just as capable as PS but is more geared towards image *creation*, from scratch if necessary, and the price is affordable at $120. As for 3D, use Blender if you want something free. Otherwise you don't have too many choices for under $1000. Personally I use a program that was born on the Amiga and has been around a long time: Realsoft3D. I like it, and again the price is right: $600Euro for the full version. My $0.02. Matthew