Ok, as the title of this post says, I'm in great need of moral support. I have DREAMED of being a game designer since probably about age 6. I feel very discouraged though. I see you all being barely teenagers writing amazing programs. Myself, I've barely in the past year been able to write a movement engine(That is, character walks around screen, but can't walk through walls, etc..). I feel very flustered. The sad part of all this is that people I know practically revere me as a god when it comes to programming.
I've read tons of tutorials. I know that to program a game you need to plan stuff out. I have KBs upon KBs of plans. And yes, much like every other qb'er in the world, I have an idea for... dare I say it... an rpg... I want to first create an action type game... say something on the order of street fighter. Or Heck, Even Super Mario Bros. But I know nothing about collision detection. I know how to create movement, and am getting better at scrolling, but collision.. nothing. I have also noticed that most tutorials focus on rpgs. I don't believe I'm ready for rpgs. I also see a lack of tutorials devoted to things like gravity (in the sense of a character jumps, and gravity draws them back to earth...)
To make a long long long story short, I need to know how you would reccomend me going about creating a game.
I don't have anyone local that I can buddy up with to help me. (I live in podunk Nowhere USA) I have read so many tutorials over the past 10 years that my brain is jello. I am constantly downloading source codes and playing with them, but to no avail, I just confuse myself.
How have you all taught yourself? What are some good resources? I really do want to do this... Badly. It's my life goal. I can't afford a specialized school. Please Help.
Thanks
I understand your situation, there are lots more tutorials for the basics but very few for further down the line in terms of completeing games. Thats is probably because the ratio of completed games to started game projects is very low.
The best way to learn how to make a game is by just deciding on a simple enough concept and doing it. Specific problems can be easily helped by just posting them here.
Physics in games can be as simple as you want to more complex than you can dream of. Simply you just need to work out what you need in a game to get the job done without going overboard. For gravity in a platformer you can simply check if there is nothing solid underneath the player move them down a block/pixel. There are some tutorials around on the subject, I'll try find them and post them.
Quote:I don't have anyone local that I can buddy up with to help me.
Most of us are in the same position.
Quote:I have read so many tutorials over the past 10....
Just stop reading tuts and start making your own source. Invision a goal, then try to figure out how you would go about doing it. Then try to make the program. If you dont know how to go about it, look up help. Yeah, thats what it is for...
Quote:I am constantly downloading source codes and playing with them, but to no avail, I just confuse myself.
STOP AT ONCE! Use original approaches. Looking at too many examples blocks your mind from making new ideas. Dont worry your idea might be the worst of all, but its still *yours*. Focus for originality. Once you get used to it, you will be able to make excellent programs!
Quote:How have you all taught yourself?
Self learning.
Quote:What are some good resources? I really do want to do this... Badly. It's my life goal.
Look up Help. They are the best.
Quote:I can't afford a....specialized school....
Dont *ever* mention schools. They never teach you "the tricks of the trade". You will learn nothing by going to "specialised schools" or joining some "course". You need to start thinking and developing on your own :-?
You might find my words harsh but thats what I believe in.
Quote:Dont *ever* mention schools. They never teach you "the tricks of the trade". You will learn nothing by going to "specialised schools" or joining some "course". You need to start thinking and developing on your own :-?
He's talking about game-development. The schools specialized for that
do teach you a lot. Of course, that's nothing compared to field experience
Hey man, good to see you joining us! Dont worry, im sure now you are part of the community, and have contact with other QBers, you will start to accelerate your learning and understanding of QB. Contact with other programmers is a very good way to expand your knowledge.
Secondly, Chill man! Programming can take a long time to pick up, depending on the person.
Thirdly, Pace yourself. At the moment, try not to set your sights as high as a game such as street fighter. Attempting a game that complex at your level may just bog you even further down. Try to think up a game that would be fun to create and play, and is slightly more simple. Make a plan for this game, and come to us for any help, questions, queries, etc that you may have. We are always around to help you sort out your problems =) You can even ask exactly how to get started on the certain game you have in mind, and we will help you get started in the game.
One of the main things to learn is new concepts. Learning a new concept or fresh way to do something can make things a hell of a lot easier.
Your knowing programmer, -Dark ;P
ps. Remember, age has nothing to do with it. Dont be frustrated if you see "barely teenagers" making better games. Just know that eventually, you will be making games as good as, or better
Quote:TheBigBasicQ Wrote:Dont *ever* mention schools. They never teach you "the tricks of the trade". You will learn nothing by going to "specialised schools" or joining some "course". You need to start thinking and developing on your own :-?
He's talking about game-development. The schools specialized for that do teach you a lot. Of course, that's nothing compared to field experience
err...i was talking about beginners. When you are a newbie you cant have someone 'teaching' you how make programs. These schools teach you numerous theories and so called 'good programming practices'. But thats all bullshit. Because learning those things will not get anyone anywhere unless
*he* knows how to program. It's like you want to build a skyscraper you need to have a lot of experience in constructing smaller buildings and you get the experience not by learning theories but by applying your mind. In the end you can build a tall builing only *iff*(iff == if and only if) your foundations are rock solid.
Now, when you are an advanced programmer you can enhance your skills by learning as many 'good programming practices' as you want =P.
Learning to program is like learning to walk. No one cant teach you to walk =). Only help, support and guide you.
Last time i checked:
Helping, Supporting, Guiding = Teaching
But it may be diff. in india, teaching = "read the book silly pupils, or i'll hit you again!"
I know what you're experiencing I guess. Almost the same age as you and I know what you mean with preteens making better programs than you. You must learn to live with the fact (just as I do) that some people are more talented in making games.
Just go your own tempo, your own way. one day you will make great games as well. and don't get fooled by nice gfx, many games I saw reviewed, use gfx libraries! future library or they use directqb. this gives them a huge advantage upon non library users like me (some people think that don't using a library is the same as re-inventing the wheel but that's BS to my opinion).
Jusy hold on to your way. stop reading tuts! I did that as well and besides that they are terrible to read, they also don't teach you how to do things yourself. how to invent algoritms. it doesn't matter if your algorithm has complexity O(N^10000) if it's your own algoritm it's much cooler than using a algoritm from a tut that you don't really understand with O(Log N) or some other low complexity
if you have any specific questions on Collision Detection, ask them.