kaz3nzakis

How to start making a game?

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Hello. I'm new to this forum and game development. I really want to make games so I got a book called A Theory of Fun for Game Design by Raph Koster on recommendation, but I would really like to start doing something tangible while I read it. Is there anything I can do?

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There are a lot of options.

Imagine a very small game that you would like to make. What might it be like? That information can help with a recommendation. 

The simplest engine I know of is one that makes a 16-frame point-and-click game.

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There are two ways to approach this.

 

One approach is to grab something like Unity and play around with the default project, figure out what you're comfortable with, replace some assets, etc. See what you can build without too much effort, work out what parts of the development process you're most comfortable with (scripting, 2D, 3D, physics, etc). This is the fun approach ;)

 

The other approach is simple (and necessary if you have a larger project in mind). Plan everything. Plan until you get bored of planning. Figure out how much of that you like as well. Work out what engine suits your needs ahead of time. Storyboard any plot elements you want to work in. Figure out what assets you need, and who can make them, etc. It might seem overwhelming but a lot of this is simply note-taking that you can do anywhere; on the move, at home, in the garden, etc. Downside is it's not as "fun" :)

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I bought the same book when I wanted to start making games and had a similar feeling. I want to make a game while reading this. I didn't have any experience at all so the thought of making anything was my main motivation. 

 

After some one searching I landed on these tutorials:

 

https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=3251.0

 

It offers a very detailed step by step on going through game maker. I'm not sure how well it holds up to the new GM however. While this wasn't the perfect way to practice some of the things I was learning in the book, it did reinforce the reasons the tutorial maker (Derek Yu - Spelunky fame) gave for decisions he makes. Also in the end you have a good beginning for a scrolling shoot em up that you can play with indefinitely. 

 

I hope that helps and enjoy the journey. 

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16 hours ago, clyde said:

Imagine a very small game that you would like to make. What might it be like?

Maybe a shmup or sliding-/15-puzzle game.

15 hours ago, Gorbles said:

There are two ways to approach this.

One approach is to grab something like Unity and play around with the default project...

The other approach is... Plan everything.

I have around ten game ideas I've thought and wrote about for many years now so I would like to start playing around tbh.

 

16 hours ago, theschap said:

After some searching I landed on these tutorials:

https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=3251.0

I hope that helps and enjoy the journey. 

Thanks!

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Unity has a tutorial that would be tge beginnings of a shmup. I did it years ago and liked it a lot. It took me about 10-15 hours as someone who knew nothing.

https://unity3d.com/learn/tutorials/projects/space-shooter-tutorial

 

Puzzlescript seems to be the sokoban maker of choice, but I've never used it.

http://www.puzzlescript.net/Documentation/documentation.html

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Yeah I would suggest doing tutorials as well. If you do go with Unity, they do have a load of tutorials on their site, and I suggest at least checking out the Interface & Essentials section before getting started on the shmup one.

 

This is the first chapter.

 

 

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One great piece of advice I was given when I first started out was to avoid doing too much 'prep' type of work. Reading books is fine, as is daydreaming about game design and reading articles and forums, but none of that is actually making a game, and it's easy to fall into the trap where you expend your creativity juices in your own head with nothing to show for it

 

Honestly, I'd grab something easy like GameMaker and just follow a tutorial from start to finish. Make something, anything, then tweak it here and there and make it even better.

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On 7/21/2017 at 4:39 PM, WARP DOGS said:

One great piece of advice I was given when I first started out was to avoid doing too much 'prep' type of work. Reading books is fine, as is daydreaming about game design and reading articles and forums, but none of that is actually making a game, and it's easy to fall into the trap where you expend your creativity juices in your own head with nothing to show for it

 

Honestly, I'd grab something easy like GameMaker and just follow a tutorial from start to finish. Make something, anything, then tweak it here and there and make it even better.

 

I agree with this. There is no way to do things perfectly your first time through (or ever, really), so just make a thing. Looking back later, you will know what you could have done better, but you wouldn't have that wisdom without that first messy project. 

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I personally couldn't echo the advice above enough! I am very good at researching a topic, hoping that I will be completely prepared for whatever situation may come up. I will do this for days/weeks/months... for fear of messing something up when I finally decide to do it if at all. I do this still in regards to many other things in life, but once you realize nobody knows all the pitfalls of a game project they are undertaking, and it's a learning process for people of all levels it becomes much easier to just jump in and see what happens. There are some things you can only learn by doing it, and no level of planning will make it easier or better after a certain point.

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