SpaceSimCentral

I have to say that since finding this site my life has been better. No, really. Its like a digital oasis in the vast desert that is the internet. A haven from all the nonsense, spam and trolls of the world. I guess they don't like space that much eh...But enough of that. What's happened is its woken up the part of my imagination thats been dormant for years. When I was about 8 years old I tried to learn how to use BASIC on my spectrum to make little programs and games. But the book you got about learning BASIC wasn't really that easy to get my head round at that age, and with no help at all in understanding it from anyone, the frustration got the better of me and it inevitably drifted away. But its back! All the talk on this site about re-makes and retro games etc makes me yearn to do it myself again.So, what does it take? Where do you even start? What software/hardware do you need? How long does it take to even get the basics? In all seriousness, from what I've gathered from reading all the stuff here it sounds like its another 20 years of my life but hey, I don't mind that. If in 20 years I re-make a childhood favorite of mine then it will be worth it. You gotta start somewhere right?Well when you've all finished coughing and choking, you responses would be much appreciated

It depends very much on your preferences and on the result or idea you have in mind. You could for example check out [url]http://www.blitzbasic.com[/url] to start somewhere.I use mainly Unity3d, 3ds Max and Photoshop. No special Hardware.

I have tried a few times personally to make something simple and my downfall is usually time. I get side tracked easy and always in the forums or trying to find new games :)I have been slowly trying to figure out how to use UDK (Unreal Development Kit) and it has been difficult for me. And there is no real 'unreal for real dummies' books out there yet. I have been wanting to learn a language like Python to see if that will help spur me into action. But I think what I need is a very simple concept game that wouldn't be difficult to design and implement. Because I get discouraged easy, especially when I start getting some where and I want to add something to the game I started and then hit a wall on making it happen. I'm sure every indie developer here knows this and in the end it comes down to determination to finish the job.I also started playing with Blender and for someone that has never really modeled anything before I find the interface tough to use because there is so many settings that if you don't know what they mean or do you are just lost on making something the way you want it. What needs to happen is college classes need to be made around these applications that you can take a class or two to learn the basics.

Theres Darkbasic as well http://www.thegamecreators.com/?m=view_product&id=2030Which I think a modified version is used for the Starwraith games.

DarkOne wrote:
I also started playing with Blender and for someone that has never really modeled anything before I find the interface tough to use because there is so many settings that if you don't know what they mean or do you are just lost on making something the way you want it.
I can recommend Wings 3D ([url]http://wings3d.com/[/url] as being a very intuitive 3D modeling tool. It is in the line of Mirai and Nendo which are my all time favorite but unfortunately abandonned 3D tools.

I can easily see how the slow pace of working on a project on your own could bring you to a grinding halt. And the advantage of having just one or two others working on the same project would be just enough to keep the momentum going.

If you're working on your own, try something you could do in 3 to 6 month and have a working version of some part of your game asap. Working with friends is certainly more fun. The hardest part for me doing stuff solo is to do everything, from sketching to modeling to programming to sound. But this way you also learn very much. The best decision I made for Solstice was to use Unity 3D as engine and not to write one by myself, even though I'm more programmer than anything else.

Thanks for the replies Also, most people know that Macs are better for media based stuff, are they alot easier to work with if I did start trying to learn all this stuff? I've debated getting a Mac for some time but when you've already spent plenty on a decent pc its a hard choice to make.

I personally have never been a fan of Mac's , but you could run into some issues trying to find some of those programs mentioned here to work on a Mac unless you use Wine (PC emulator).

Overlord wrote:
Also, most people know that Macs are better for media based stuff, are they alot easier to work with if I did start trying to learn all this stuff?
I think these days were long ago. A Mac could be easier to do end-user tasks, perhaps movies (I do not know), but not game development.Ask yourself on what platform you'd love to see your cool game running. You should consider buying a Mac if your target platform is OSX. For iOS it's a must.Since you're posting here, I believe you already own a computer. Use what you have at hand, first. Remember the days when there was nothing except you and a C64

deepseaweed wrote:


Overlord wrote:
Also, most people know that Macs are better for media based stuff, are they alot easier to work with if I did start trying to learn all this stuff?
I think these days were long ago. A Mac could be easier to do end-user tasks, perhaps movies (I do not know), but not game development.Ask yourself on what platform you'd love to see your cool game running. You should consider buying a Mac if your target platform is OSX. For iOS it's a must.Since you're posting here, I believe you already own a computer. Use what you have at hand, first. Remember the days when there was nothing except you and a C64
Well I've never used a Mac and from what you've said it seems like there would be little point. Suits me fine to be honest, I'll stick to what I know.

Overlord wrote:
Also, most people know that Macs are better for media based stuff, are they alot easier to work with if I did start trying to learn all this stuff? I've debated getting a Mac for some time but when you've already spent plenty on a decent pc its a hard choice to make.
I very nearly bought an old G5 just before Christmas to try it out, but decided to just get a new PC instead
deepseaweed wrote:
Remember the days when there was nothing except you and a C64
Those were great days! Lots of crazy ideas, even crazier games. Without all that, you would have nothing (or very little) today. All the great games and applications you see today all have their roots going back to those heady days. To people (some extremely talented people) sitting in their bedrooms with their C64s/Speccys/Amigas/Acorns and god knows what else, learning as they went and shaping the future, the future you see today. I just wish we could see that explosion of creativity again as the 1980s was to the gaming world what the 1960s were to music.

Geraldine wrote:
I just wish we could see that explosion of creativity again as the 1980s was to the gaming world what the 1960s were to music.

Geraldine wrote:
I just wish we could see that explosion of creativity again as the 1980s was to the gaming world what the 1960s were to music.
I think we seeing that happening again on the Ipod and mobile at the moment, just wish I had one.

Looking at how much game producers and developers actually spend with each game that they come up with, it would be automatic to notice and see that games are really tough to perfect.And even with coming up with a running one, it is no guarantee that everyone would like it. You should start with the main concept. Be it a character or a part of the story, you just have to spend time with writing what it is going to be.