8 replies to this topic

[Kovu]

Hi all
I'm new to this forum, and read some interesting stickies (thx starstutter).

A few years ago I started to develope some skills in game development.
I don't mean coding, I'm talking about Sound, art, sprites, 3d modeling, animating 2d-3d, webdesign...

The programs I learned with are goldwave, sound pro, Photoshop, 3Ds max, Flash, Dreamweaver, After effect..

So as you can see I had made a step by step goals to reache higher and higher, from easy to difficult. I took my time enjoying to learn step by step how to create from game sounds to 3d animation..
To be honest it's been a while with 3d animation, last time I tried it again my character was walking backwards but my modeling skills are still good ^^

I've been in two development mods, both sadly died because coder went MIA, and the other one lack of communication between the dev's.. One was a game based on bleach the other on naruto.
After that I thought I'm going to learn how to code, so I downloaded UDK development kit
And followed a tutorial on how to create a Level. After I completed that tutorial I found a tutorial how to create a pause menu... I SOOOOO felt in love with coding!!!! Most people who loves playing video games will never realize what I realized! a ''simple'' pauze menu is NOT so simple! seriously it was easier to create a level . But the satisfaction of finishing just that is undescribable!
So I had a ''taste'' of what coding is, in the end I didn't complete my project, not because of difficulties or lack of interest but back then I had trouble maintaining my own life let alone my project .

I also encountered some coding in creating a website from scratch and building a phpbb3 forum.
Now that you know a little of my past experiences I can tell you my new goal..

I'd like to make a MMORPG... just kidding probably someone already took a gun out

No, I would love to be able to set my first goal into something like Ninja Saga (facebook app)
Ofcourse I'm not planning to make the exact copy or even better, i'm not even planning to put it online or whatever, I would like in the end to have build a story based fighting game.

So is it good to use flash builder for this, or am I completly wrong
What software do you suggest? (what's the price?)
Is my goal impossible in your opinion (why?)
Did I bore you (I'm sorry )

Things to know:
- I wouldn't mind to start off with something like punch and kick game
as long as the things I learn can push me towards my goal..
- I'm very patient when it comes to learning something new.
- I don't give up easily
- And I'm definitly not taking this lightly

Somethimes all it takes is a little push to the right direction..
wich i'm hoping to get from here

grts,
Kovu

[TheNut]

Flash Builder (formally Flex Builder) is one way you can go about creating those kind of games. It's purely programmer driven unlike CS Flash, which is more or less catered for designers. I'm personally not a big fan of Flash though. When I last used Flex, their libraries were quite buggy and had massive memory leaks. Still, it's programmer friendly enough to get you into 2D game development.

An alternative technology that is both free and better (IMO) is Silverlight. You can download Visual Studio Express and the Silverlight SDK free of charge. You get a state of the art IDE, a feature set similar to and improved on compared to Flash, and tons of free video tutorials to get you jump started. The experience you gain working with a language like C# is also more transferable than using ActionScript, so you make yourself more marketable.

A third technology is to use HTML 5. I would personally take this route as it is the future. Both Silverlight and Flash are going to phase out. The problem however is there is no decent IDE. I still find Notepad++ the best in this regard, or it's Linux equivalent vim You can choose to work with the Canvas element directly (recommended) or you can render SVG/Image DOM elements as needed.

[Kovu]

Hey Nutty,

Thx alot for the fast reply and the useful info!

Well it's not your personal choice but you've sugarcoated option °2
It sounds more userfriendly than option °3 for beginners..
Maybe I'll keep HTML5 for in the future, afterall I'm not in a hurry 2 change the world .

Again, thank you.

[fireside]

Another thing to look at is FlashPunk. It's basically a game library built from the free flex library. Flash is still a little more accepted than Silverlight. You can check out a lot of free flash games at Kongregate.com. The game you are attempting wouldn't really be a beginner programming game. Something like asteroids would be more of a starting programming game. It doesn't really matter which language you pick, they are all fairly easy to learn and once you learn one, the others will be easier to learn. Although, it would be a good idea to wait just a little bit longer on html5.

[Kovu]

Hey fireside,

thx for your suggestion, I think I'm going to try out Silverlight first, it seems to have an advantage on actionscript based programs..
About it being a 'non-beginners game', I know it's a difficult type of game, But I rather aim high and accomplish only 5% of what I aimed for
than accomplish 100% with a game like asteroid and loose my motivation..

When I first started with modeling I aimed for a character, the end result was a hand
That's just how I learn.. Aim high end low.. If I aim asteroids.. I'll probably end with pong

[fireside]

Quote

That's just how I learn.. Aim high end low.. If I aim asteroids.. I'll probably end with pong

Almost everyone starts out that way. I did. It took me forever to actually finish a game. When I did, it was a fairly simple game for a contest. The reason smaller games are better, in my opinion, is that you get used to making a menu, levels, scoring, simple collision,and sound effects. Things that will generally be in most games. If you start a difficult project, you usually never get to those things before you give up. It works the opposite of what you are saying. Once you finish that first one, it becomes easier to plan a project that you will actually complete. It took me years and years to actually finish a project. I kept saying it didn't matter, but there's something about actually completing something. I still don't finish very many because I'm always learning a new engine, a new modeler, whatever, but I do try to keep my project size down to something I know I can complete. Another reason I think a simple game is better is because it's easier to add things of your own once the framework is set up. A good game keeps adding elements that slowly make it more difficult and interesting. If you start trying to make a complex game, you are probably going to copy someone else's methods.

[Cyberuben]

fireside, on 17 March 2012 - 11:12 AM, said:

A good game keeps adding elements that slowly make it more difficult and interesting.

I guess that's why Minecraft got so popular? They keep updating the thing.

[Kovu]

You're probably right, to get a little basics in my first try I should try for a very small game.
But how I was planning to approach this was to learn step by step. for example I aim for Ninja saga, not the game in its whole but
what is in the game: Start window/ character creator/ battle system/ shops/ story etc..

I take my time in learning how to make a start window, It'll probably take a very long time to learn this, i'm sure of it
but when I finished that I'll go to the next step, etc.. I'm not planning to only follow and copy tutorials, I'm planning to understand why
that code is needed why exactly that value etc..
I'm one of those people that when I loose or somehow did something wrong that ruined my progress while learning I don't mind, it gives me a chance to start over and understand even better
and mostly the results are always better.. This is what keeps me motivating because i can test myself what i've learned.. That's why I know I'm really patient when it comes to working with complicated programs ^^

The same back then when I used UDK, I aimed for something like unreal tournament and ended with a level and a pause menu. some will think that's lame but I was really satisfied with what i've learned
like creating a lvl with a cube giving it structure/texture/lightings/adding character's starting point/respawnpoint/ a pausemenu for multiplayer so that the background doesn't freeze like in console games..

Personally I don't really think it's a bad approach (for me that is) because that's how I learned all the other programs..

[zynithra]

Sorry for the hijack, but I thought Silverlight is no longer being developed? Probably not worth looking any longer in to as MS scrapped it.