"I want to make a game, where do I start?"

So yes this thread has a very misleading name if you didn't catch onto the quote marks. Truth be told I am creating this post so that I can link to it when we get our daily occurrence of this popping up. I'm no guru, but I think I know enough to be helpful and the feelings of utter confusion are still fresh in my memory from my starting periods, so I can very much relate.

Also keep in mind this is meant to be a brief summary, not a step by step. I also skip over content that's already been covered in sticky's. If you have any suggestions for a content change or if I missed something, please correct me, thanks. :)

Note: if you are new and saying that this is too much to read, you'll be disappointed with how much reading programming involves.
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So, you've got a good idea for a game (or just a desire to make a random one), but you don't know where to start. Rather than saying "Google is your friend" I thought I would provide some direction to get you started on the right path. I'll also give you some tips on getting quality advice from the dev community, as you will (as we all did and still do) need their help.

However, before you jump right in, you need to think about what you're trying to do and how you're going to do it. For some reason beyond me, most people assume that game development is easy. If you are aligned with this train of thought then you obviously haven't tried it. Game development is extremely rewarding, but it is also one of the most difficult things a single person can do by themselves (ie not something like surgery).

We (fortunately) don't get questions like this very often, but a while ago someone asked us if we knew of any book like "How to make GTA 4". There is no such book and there probably never will be. GTA 4 is a product of years and years of hard labor by the collective minds of very bright programmers, designers, audio technicians, producers, ect. It would be *impossible* to cram such knowledge and experience into a readable form. The point is that there are really no shortcuts, it just takes a lot of effort and a willingness to learn.

So do you know what's involved? Are you committed enough to your idea that you're willing to go through the good times and the rough times? Do you, game designer, accept this challenge as your lovely strife? If you say "I do", please continue. :)

So you're here on Devmaster looking for advice. Lets get the obvious things out of the way first. I'll try to put together the most commonly wanted knowledge and answer them the best I can. It wasn't a horribly long time ago since I was a beginner myself, so I remember what it was like to be so confused.

Some commonly asked questions are:

"Where do I start" - well that's a really broad question and one that no one can truley answer without more detailed information.Do you mean on designing the game? Programming it? Looking for resources? How much experience do you have? Do you have a general idea but don't know the specific place to look?

"What are some good resources?" - This one is a bit more straght forward, but it depends on your skill you're starting out with. If you are new to programming, look for Dev C++ (or other popular free compilers) and C++ tutorials. I personally recommend stopping by a book store and picking up an educational book on a subject. Internet tutorials are plentiful and great, but as every other source on the internet, you have to kind of already know what you're doing. Tutorials on websites are, unfortunately, often incomplete and sometimes inaccurate (as in they may teach you bad coding habits).

I'll wrap this up, but if you want to jump into graphics after learning programming, I found this website incredibly helpful when starting out. It's no longer being updated, but the content is still wonderfully written:
http://www.directxtutorial.com/

As for books, this one is fairly interesting as far as novice tutorials go for C++:
http://www.amazon.co...d/dp/1598633600

And this one was very good for those interested in 3D:
http://www.amazon.co...25144850&sr=1-1

(I'm also open for more book suggestions from anyone who has them)

"what engine do I use?" - This is a fairly broad question as well, and perhaps one of the most commonly asked. It depends on your game's design, your technical goals, visual goals, target hardware, ect. If you're going to ask which engine to use (and if you're a real beginner I don't expect you to make that choice completely on your own), try to provide the following information:

1. What is this project for? Professional, educational, hobby? Do you have a time limit and need rapid development?

2. What are your technical and visual goals? Do you want 2D, 3D? Are you going for next-gen or just basic graphics?

3. What type of game is it? RTS, FPS, adventure, puzzle? Most engines have some type of specific genre they were designed to be used for. Most go for making FPS's easier to develop, but there are also many which are easily adapted to (and sometimes set up for) other genre's such as RTS games.

4. Is this a multiplayer game (non-MMO)? If so you'll likely need an engine with networking capabilities as (in my opinion) this is one of the more difficult areas of programming.

5. How much programming skill do you have, and what are your needs? What areas do you need help with that would require an engine? If you are good at programming but have little experience in graphics, then an open source engine such as OGRE would be a good choice. You can incorporate the engine in your game to take advantage of its features, and even mod the interior when you feel you're ready (but follow the GNU license of course). If you know very little about programming, then a drag-and-drop interface with scripting might be your best bet. Look into Neo-Axis or Torque just as examples (but warning, do thorough research about Torque before purchasing).

Setting your Goals **Reasonably**
It's almost nauseating how much we get people on here talking l33t announcing their new MMORPG followed with a question like "how do I make one?". Maybe I jump the gun on this statement, but if you are out to make an MMORPG then chances are you know very little about large-scale programming and game development. Of course there's exceptions but I'm talking about the masses here.

You say you have the greatest idea in the world for a game? Ok, that's good and all but analyze what you are trying to make. Does it require next-gen visuals to be compelling? If so I suggest you to rethink your plan. Unless you have made an advanced 3D engine before, you will have no idea of the work that goes into one and no guarantee that it will be successful. Don't get me wrong, although very hard, it's totally possible to make a next generation game by yourself, you just need to know for certain what you are doing first. That said, you can set out to make one, just... don't make any release date promises. ;)

Realistic goals for beginners involve Pong, Tetris, and Mario style games. Pong is easy enough and Tetris, although more complex, can be done moderately easily. Try to make just a simple platformer though and you begin to get a feel for just how much time it takes to make games and how much work goes into making a truly finished one.

Overall though, don't fool yourself. If companies could pump out AAA games for the price of an apartment complex and someone's spare time, I guarantee you they would stop spending hundreds of millions.

Some words of warning:
The dev community has invaluable resources and is a great place for advice, but being new here (or anywhere), you may not realize there's a lot of unspoken rules you just don't break. If you do, it will be very difficult for experienced developers to take you seriously. Most of them are just common sense, but I feel I should mention some of them anyway.

Don't ever say the M word
Every dev forum dweller knows what I'm talking about when I say this. MMO's are probably the most strived for genre of this generation and ironically the only one that is really impossible to make. I won't go deep into it because there are entire 5-10 page threads dedicated to debate on why it's impossible. From what I gather, most of us have concluded that an MMO is possible to make, but impossible to continually host and have it work effectively (unless of course you're a millionaire).

Don't -- speak -- l33t
It's annoying, it's cryptic, its childish and I feel there should be a law against using the word "n00b" in a professional context.
Ifz u wunt too t0lk Lik3 th15, 90 t0 u-toob, n0t h3r3.
(and it took me like a minute to write that, so "it's faster" is not an excuse)

As an additional note, we're not grammar Nazi's, but do try to keep it neat(ish). I'm a terrible speller myself so, just know that we're programmers, not English teachers :)

Don't blame your tools
If you have a problem with working visual studio, DirectX SDK or a bug in your code, don't wrathfully blame Microsoft for making VS unintuitive. Unless it's a genuine concern that is shared across multiple developers who feel the same, you're just talking trash about something you don't understand. You can list the reasons why you don't like the tools and suggest improvement, but don't just call them "bad and useless". That gets you nowhere.

Listen to the gurus
Someday you'll be able to argue and debate with experts, but for now you're in the learning process. I've done this when I was first starting out so I won't point and laugh at the cost of being a hypocrite, but take the experts advice and, unless you see something horrifically wrong, don't argue with them about it. Maybe you'll initially have a valid point, but without in depth knowledge, you're just going to make yourself look like an idiot.

Conclusion: the bright side
What? Good news? Seriously?
Well yes, I think you'll like development and if you do, you'll have the will power to get over the bumps in the road. Making games is creatively rewarding and the challenge is better than any puzzle game you'll ever play. Overall though, just remember that there will be times of horrid frustration and wandering dizziness, but most of the road is a great path and, if you genuinely enjoy doing it, is really just as fun as playing a game.

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So I didn't quite cover everything, but I feel this is an ok start for someone new to development. Hopefully it will be useful to somebody :)

DevMaster - mastery in game development

"I want to make a game, where do I start?"

#1 starstutter

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