[Dev On] Open Up Shop

kedinik

I'm an undergraduate student with aspirations in game design, so next year I'm founding a game development organization on campus. The group will focus on learning how to design and develop games together.

Now, given that I have no experience in actually making games, and that likely no one else in the group will either, each individual will have to spend much of the year learning new technologies.

I'm familiar with the process of game design: create a design document that details every aspect of the game, create an artistic direction with a team of artists, code the game, and revise as necessary throughout development. That's all well and good as theory, but it is clear to me that I lack the knowledge needed to get started.

What would be a free and newb-friendly engine to use? How can the programmers learn the nuances of coding for games, what's a good program for 3d modelling, how can the designers get some practice in designing balanced systems? I must become familiar enough with the answers to all of these questions to guide an inexperienced team through the development process within 6 months, and any advice or thoughts would be appreciated.

krapst78

You'll want to definitely start small. Think in terms of making something like tetris or even simpler. If you can't get the team to make something as simple as tetris, then you'll have a hell of time creating a bigger project.

ToadTheMushroom

Have you considered modding?

A lot of game programmers/designers started there and it will really save you a lot of time.

Unless you have to scratch build it all in which case carry on.

SageinaRage

1. How much coding experience do you, and the people in your group have, and in what languages?

2. Don't even think about 3d modeling yet. Adding 3d into a game is a whole new can of worms.

kedinik

I've taken some classes in C++ and Java, mess around with both of them a fair amount, and I'm in another C++ class right now. I'm working on a NWN 2 campaign, and I've got a handful of friends ready to join who have released 2 complete mods for HL 2.

Shogun

I read in an interview with some game devs that a good way to start is cell-phone games. Not exactly riveting but it could be fun and educational.

SageinaRage

Since you know c++, I'm going to recommend clanlib. It's free, is pretty full featured, and does decent 2d and 3d. I've used it before and have no complaints.

In terms of structure of the group, I'd recommend you try to work in an iterative fashion - that is, work on a series of small accomplishments that gradually improve. Don't start out with a grand scope idea, if nobody even knows how to use the engine yet. Make a small puzzle game, finish it in a month, and you will both know what you're doing better, but also be more motivated once you actually have a finished product under your belt. Nothing saps your will to write code more than knowing that you've worked on this damn program for 3 months and it's not functional at all yet.

Dusda

I'm, of course, going to pimp out XNA to you. Since you know C++ pretty well, picking up C# should be a relative cakewalk. XNA is pretty awesome, and easy to use, especially if you have any DirectX experience. For example, a friend and I made this in less than two days.

If you're interested, check out this XNA thread, since it has more information than I want to spend typing.