Game Development @ VGBA

[mchapra]

Welcome to our humble abode of civil discussion about game development and game design!

This is a thread about discussing development of games as well it is a resource to provide to people aspiring to become game devs, It is also a thread for the general discussion of what makes a good game, what draws in a player, what games do it wrong and what games do it right. This thread is for friendly discussion only, though note: this is not an "ideas" thread. Ideas are cheap, people can come up with ideas all the time. So go share those somewhere else unless you plan to act upon those ideas. This is not a thread for outright bashing games either, we're celebrating game design, not pointing and laughing at who did it wrong and who did it right. If you must point out a flaw, don't be a smug and snide about it.

No, not at all. This place is also for the discussion of proper game design... you can discuss how you like some game's art style the best, how a game presents itself, which tutorials in games are the best, what game has the most fitting and best soundtrack, hell, you can even discuss what coffee mug textures are the best.

So today you woke up and said, "Today, I am going to finally learn how to make videogames and make my dream game a reality."

Well you're in luck, sir or madam(heh, like there are girls here.), I am compiling a list of recommended resources for some of you up and comers who think they have what it takes.

Languages:
Because hey, you must first tell the computer how it should execute certain things. These are not exclusively for game design and are very, very hard and confusing and make you lose your wife and children when you start obsessing over a certain number like one select terrible movie involving Jim Carrey.

HUGE LIST OF FREE BOOKS ON ALMOST ANY WIDELY USED LANGUAGE.


Let's look at some of the more popular languages that are used with game development:

• Python

Python is THE gateway language because of a little guide called "Learn Python the Hard Way". It's simple and easy and it's game API is "pygame"

• GMod Lua

It's Lua for the popular GMod. It's a great way to get into objective programming and Scripting. This can only be used for modding. Tutorials and Guides here.

• Java

Made by a man in the 90s who was fed up of some languages being exclusive, so he build one that could be executed on any sort of operating system utilizing the Java virtual machine. Java is rather powerful, portable and diverse. Tutorials and Guides here. Recommended Book. DO NOT LEARN FROM 'THE NEW BOSTON' HE IS UNHELPFUL AND UNCLEAR.

• C++

It is THE language. Almost everything from games to calculators are programmed on this thing. It's THE professional language widely used by the largest software development firms. Now I can link all the sources for learning this but there are too many, and I've had no experience with them, so sorry.

• C#

Another good beginner language. Uses elements of both Java and C. It is exclusive to Microsoft Windows. Recommended Book.


Now on to the Juicey bits:

GAME ENGINES/APIs/LIBRARIES:

COMMERCIAL:

Name	License	Usage/Intent	Pros	Cons	Platforms
Neo Axis	Commercial: • Free for non-profit use. • Indie licence for < $10000 projects $95/295 (pers/team). • Commercial licence $395/995 (p/t)	Complete game solution.	• Platform independence, including gui, physics etc.	• Indie version has limits to physics capabilities and very limited source access • Win-only development. • Commercial, but no console support.	Win/OSX/Linux
Unity	Commerical: Free $0/Pro $1500 + additions: • Android $400/1500 (basic/pro) • iOS $400/1500 (b/p) • Asset Serfer $500	Complete game solution. Exclusively editor-based, coding through scripts only	• Has support for iOS, Android and Wii.	• Extra platforms very expensive by Indie standards. • No Linux, Web Plugin will not be ported to Linux • No direct API access. • Non-pro versions function- and capability-crippled..	Win/OSX/Web Android/iOS for extra cash Wii for special licence
UDK	Commercial: • Free for non-commercial • 25% of all revenue > $50000	Comeplete game solution.	• Generous license for small-income projects.	• Draconian License	Windows, iOS
Torque 2D (I HIGHLY RECOMMEND)	• Pro licence $99. • Genre kits for extra cash.	Editor-based complete 2D game solution.	• Affordable. • Full source access in licence. • Extensive documentation.	• Torque 3D separate licence. • Non-standard script language "Torquescript". • Additional and 3rd party tools and genre kits costs extra.	Win, OSX; Xbox360, Wii, iPhone for special license.
Torque 3D (DITTO)	• Pro licence $99 • Additional assets, genre frameworks, and editors from $9 to $299 a piece.	Complete game solution.	• Affordable. • Full source access in licence. • Extensive documentation.	• No iOS support. • Torque 2D separate licence. • Non-standard script language "Torquescript". • Additional and 3rd party tools and genre frameworks costs extra.	Win, OSX, Web, Xbox360, Wii
C4 Engine	Commercial: per-seat/per-year licences only. • Basic $100 • Normal $350 • Pro $1200	Complete game solution	• Well-featured. • Full source access with all licences except for basic. • Mature: commercial since 2005.	• Somewhat expensive, all licences per-person. • Developed by one person. • Home-rolled facilities? • Few significant games developed with engine. • Few supported deployment platforms	Win, OSX and PS3 w. special licence
Marmalade	Commercial: • Basic $149/seat/year • Normal $499/seat/year • Pro $3499/seat/year	Complete 2D game solution.	• One-click publish to supported platforms. • Use same C++ code to generate applications for all platforms.	• Expensive licence over time. • Focuses almost exclusively on mobile platforms.	"Supported" • iOS (3.0 and above) • Android (1.5 and above) • Symbian (Symbian^3 and S60 5th Edition) • bada (all versions) • webOS (1.4.1 and above) “Beta” • Win (full-screen and windowed) • OSX (full-screen and windowed) • Win Mobile 6.x • Symbian S60 3rd Edition • Mobile Linux, generic implementation
Shiva3D	Commercial: • Basic €169 • Advanced €1499	Complete game solution.	Supports wide array of platforms.	• Basic version somewhat feature-crippled. • “Publishes to AirPlay”, which doesn’t exist anymore: licence issues?	• Win/OSX/Linux • iOS, Android, HP WebOS • Airplay SDK (Marmalade) • Wii
CryEngine3	20% of the developer’s revenues	Complete game system.	Extreme edge-pushing gfx. AAA focus.	$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$	Windows Engine supports Xbox360 and PS3 +$$$?

[mchapra]

NON-COMMERCIAL:

Name	License	Usage/Intent	Pros	Cons	Platforms
Panda 3D	Open Source, Modified BSD license	Complete game solution.	• Well supported with several full-time developers. • Disney backing. • Generous licence. • C++ API. • Profiling tools. • Python scripting. • Windows and Linux development. • Focus on pedagogics/education AND commericial-quality games.	• No iOS or Android support. • No console support. • Docs more focused on Python.	Win/OSX/Linux
Maratis	Open Souce (Engine zlib/libpng, editor GPL)	Graphics (rendering, fixed pipeline, shaders, lighting); Physics (Bullet); Scripting (LUA) scripting; input.	• Visual editor. • C++ SDK. • Generous engine licence. • Blender exporter. • Possibly easiest system to export to further platforms?	• Not a full game system: f.i. no network or GUI. • Linux port not complete yet. • No Android support. • No integrated terrain support	Tested on Win/OSX/iPhone and “can be used on any platform”
Delta3D	Open-source LGPL (Editor source under GPL)	Complete game solution. Integrates open-source solutions behind common interface	• Wide platform support. • High portability factor. • Wide range of libraries included. • Uses highly reliable FOSS systems	Lags behind OSG somewhat (3.0 support not done as of Oct 2011)	Fully platform independed, OSG 3.0 supports Win/OSX/Linux/*NIX/iOS/Android/PlayStation
Polycode (SO RECOMMENDED)	Open Source (MIT licence)	2D & 3D Graphics, Audio (OGG/WAV), Network, Physics (Bullet), Scripting (LUA)	• Generous licence. • C++ API.	• Under development. • Limited platform support (in particular no Linux [coming?]).	Win/OSX, reported as compiling and working on Linux with some work
Crystal Space 3D	Open Source LGPL	With the Crystal Entity Layer a complete game system except for networking.	Python scripting.	• No integrated networking. • Inconsistent code naming conventions. • CEL is still under development.	Windows, Linux, OSX (x86, PPC, ARM & SPARC CPUs)
Blender Game Engine	Open Source GPL	2D and 3D graphics. Physics (Bullet), Audio, scripting.	• Python for scripting. • Integrated with Blender for easy handling of graphical resources.	• Under development. • Inadequate documentation. • No individual or central web presence. • No integrated networking. • No integrated input? • Licence consequences due to GNU?	Windows, Linux, OSX
Flixel Framework	Open Source	Flash Based Game API	• Record and play back replays • Powerful interactive debugger • Camera system for split screen • Pathfinding and following • Easy object recycling • Very non-programmer friendly • Extensive documentation	• Collisions are basic hit boxes with little or no control	Any system supporting Adobe Flash.
FlashPunk	Open Source	Flash Based Game API	• Support for complex collision boxes • Detailed debugging console.	• Lacking documentation • No built in physics.	Any system supporting Adobe Flash.

These lists will be updated sooner or later.
IDEs AND EDITORS FOR PROGRAMMERS:
Notepad++ - Supports almost any language.
Microsoft Visual Studio + XNA - Ideal development enviroment for C# and Visual BASIC.
Eclipse - Java optimised IDE.
Code::Blocks - IDE for C++
MonoDevelop - Support for C#, Java, Boo, Visual Basic.NET, Oxygene, CIL, Python, Vala, C and C++.

More content soon.

[mchapra]

Even more content soon if needed. Will delete post if not.

[madoublex]

I was just about to make a thread like this... Not as good though.

[amad2]

Nice one Mub! Has alot of great info and it is sorted neatly and is easy to read. I will definetly refer back to this thread multiple times. Thanks!

[Ronthis the Werewolf]

I normally mess around in UDK, that's pretty much all I do when it comes to game development.

EDIT: Hmm, Polycode seems interesting. I have NO knowledge when it comes to coding, so, I have another project on my hands ^.^

[madoublex]

I normally mess around in UDK, that's pretty much all I do when it comes to game development

I personally prefer Cryengine 3. Very purty and somewhat easy to use.