Hey Toucharcade people!! My friend and I wish to create a game during the summer. The problem is that we barely have any experience with programming, and barely have any supplies(I will be getting a macbook air during the summer. Wait. Should i get the macbook air or another laptop?I don't have that much money though). Also, we're both only 13. So basically we're like 2 noobs trying to achieve an impossible dream. So my question to you guys is what programs, computer languages should we learn(to create the game)? I will be creating the music(I am familiar with all types of instruments. Have been playing violin for 9 years and mom is a piano teacher) and my friend the art(No skill...). What programs should we use for both of them? We understand the hard work ahead of us but are willing to try it. If this succeeds we can get into a good college and create even better games.
Unity3D or UDK. And you Two should start in Summer and not expect to finish it during Summer. It`s a long Way so good Luck.
In order to achieve your dream, you are going to have to become some of the most dedicated people in the word. You are going to have to deal with a lot of hard work and a lot of disappointment. If you don't take disappointment well, save yourself the trouble and DON'T DO THIS. Making games is a really satisfying job, but it's not easy, and it's definitely not a fast way to make money. You're probably considering this because you feel like you have really good game ideas. The honest truth is that your ideas barely matter. The things that do matter are: 1) How well you can execute any game idea 2) How well you can advertise your product 3) This is the important one: How lucky you are. You and your friend would almost definitely make way more money mowing lawns or washing cars over the summer. Having said that, if you're really determined to do this, the best advice I can give you is to do your research. Don't just ask people on forums -- even if they are industry forums, you never know who's giving you answers. Check out the websites for various game engines, pick one you like, and then get cracking on any and all tutorials you can find. Start with the really simple stuff. There are some good sites out there that house free domain graphics you can use for testing, but when you're ready to make your own, download an editor called GIMP, and... once again, start with the tutorials. GIMP is sort of kind of almost as good as Photoshop, and it's mercifully free. When you two have enough programming and art knowledge to make a game, again, start with something painfully simple. Make your own version of Pong or Pac-Man. Add a few small features to your favorite tutorial. If you jump head-first into trying to create the coolest game you can possibly imagine, you are going to get stuck very, very fast. Good luck!
Since neither of you have a programming background, I suggest the tinker method of learning how to program. Grab the free version of Unity for either Mac or PC and one of the free game projects (the Angry Bots game that comes standard is an amazing demo or you can download a bunch in their built-in Asset Store). They also have some great step-by-step tutorials, too. Then just play with the existing scripts or change settings in the editor. Replace or edit the existing textures with your own artwork. Replace the sound effects and music, etc. If you just spend an hour or two each day doing this in your free time, things will start to click. And there's all kinds of free learning or resources on the net for Unity as you get more comfortable and want to formally learn programming in either main language that Unity supports: Javascript or C#. And for your first game project, RevolvingDoor has it right: do an extremely simple project first, and complete it. Then polish the crap out of it. The real secret to success on the app store is polish and marketing. One way to start marketing early on is to blog about your project and get people to follow you on Facebook and Twitter. Why Unity? I think it's the best of breed solution right now for games. With the proper license, Unity will build for iOS, Android, Xbox360, PS3, Wii, PC, Mac, web, and even Flash. So you develop it once, and can deploy it with relative ease to pretty much any game platform. One other development environment for 2D that is promising is Corona. (You can do 2D in Unity, but it's strength is in 3D.) I don't care for Corona's annual subscription model, but it's pretty easy to tinker with one of their many example projects and learn a great deal in short order. Corona uses the Lua programming language which is fairly simple but good enough to make great games with. And if you learn any of those three languages (Javascript, C#, or Lua), you will also be set for a career in programming. Good luck!
Thanks. I've talked to developers and have reached the conclusion of starting on extremely simple games such as tic tac toe. I believe that 3d would be too hard for me at this age so I will just go with 2d. (Although I already got Unity when it was free for a month) Currently I am learning javascript. Sorry 2 questions: 1. What program should I use for creating music? 2. Should I buy a macbook air or save up for a macbook pro?
Garage Band is excellent and it comes with either Mac. You can plug in MIDI instruments and create great music. People have developed with the Mac Mini, so either laptop will work. Depends on your situation and preference: the Air is more portable, but the Macbook Pro will build/compile faster. Can't go wrong with either.
If you are going the 2D route, I can recommend http://www.cocos2d-iphone.org/ Quite easy to use and a lot of tutorials. I started somehow from the same situation but a bit older on years. Basic Java and PHP knowledge and then diving into iOS development with cocos2d - resulting in some apps for the moment.
cocos2d is awesome. Great community support, and plenty powerful for doing 2D stuff. Seriously, start making a very simple doodle jump-type game, completely flesh it out (menus, sound FX, etc) and release it on the app store. Don't expect that anyone will buy it, for the obvious reasons, but you will definitely get a rush to see something that you built from scratch available for sale and most importantly, the hindsight that you have seen the entire process through from start to finish. The experience will give you a much clearer idea of how to do the same thing all over again, although with a more complex project - and you'll obviously have a much better gauge of your abilities and how to do everything that is required. Also, you will probably have a ton of fun
Thanks everyone!! I appreciate all the help and support that you've given me!! @jogo I am considering cocos2d @headcaseGames I would like to release my games, however it costs $99 a year to do(correct?). I do not have the money to do so.. Took me 2 years just to get enough money for the macbook. I will probably start paying when I have more experience and "get serious"
I would recommend Stencyl http://www.stencyl.com/ It's free, can be run on Windows or on Mac OSX and requires no coding experience. There are heaps of other users that can help you get started. It's a great way to learn game design and get started on the core concepts of games programming. I taught it to Year 9 students this year and in a few lessons and they had playable games up and running. If you got enough of your game functional, then you could worry about the money require to buy macs, a developers account and other costs.
