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chappaai
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What game development software is your favorite?

on Friday, November, 28, 2008 8:09 AM
Say you want to create your first 3D 3rd-person action game for the pc. You have many many years of programming experience in a variety of language, and even more years of experience with graphic illustration, but don't know which of the various developer tools are ideal for the task (I'm sure they all have their individual strengths and weaknesses). I own a few 3-D CAD modeling applications, but they tend to be overly technical (more so than the professional tools I use at work) and I'm guessing the file format wouldn't be compatible with a game.

I've come across a few tutorial websites and bookmarked them, but I was curious what people here might have to say when it comes to selecting developer tools.

What's a good program for creating characters and vehicles, and why? (BTW, discard sprites - coming from a CAD background, I'm totally sold that 3D objects are the best way to go for what I want to accomplish.)

What's a good language for coding the game, and why?

What's the black magic involved with artificial intelligence? Few pc games seem to have it past ADS (attention deficeit) and the hardware is more powerful than the arcade games of yesteryear.

After I get a few suggestion here I'll go research the titles to learn more, but this will at least get me pointed in the right direction from poeple who actually use the software for more than simply writing a review.order abortion pill http://unclejohnsprojects.com/template/default.aspx?morning-after-pill-price where to buy abortion pill


 
zook_one
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Re: What game development software is your favorite?

on Friday, November, 28, 2008 11:51 AM
Do you want to create a game from scratch of create Mods for an existing game engine?

If want to create Mods for an existing 3D game/game engine I can help by providing a bit perspective on what I've been working on.
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[LDSO] LIVING DEAD SYSTEM OPERATORS www.LDSO.net
 
TRON.dll
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Posts: 4,349
Re: What game development software is your favorite?

on Friday, November, 28, 2008 3:39 PM
I can tell you right now, starting out in 3d 3rd person polygon gaming is not a good idea. It's really best to start out with a 2d sprite-driven game. A good program for that is GameMaker, which is what I typically like to use.

If you've already done all that and feel you are ready to go on to 3d gaming, I know the Source engine (used for Half Life 2 and Portal, among others) uses Maya for polygon models. Unfortunately, as good as Maya is, it costs around $1000. You can make levels and mods for source engine games using the "Hammer" program, which should come free with any Valve game that runs on Source engine. There is a program like Maya, called Blender, but I don't know if it's files are compatible with Source engine. Blender, however, does allow for game creation with Python scripting or something like that. I honestly don't have a clue as to how to use Blender, though, but I have seen 3d games created with it. order abortion pill http://unclejohnsprojects.com/template/default.aspx?morning-after-pill-price where to buy abortion pill


TRON 2.0 (PC) name - TRON.dll
I'll play any mode, but I'm best at LC.



PSN - TRON-dll
XBOX Live/Games for Windows Live - TRONdll
-I have a Wii, DS, and 3DS. PM me to exchange friend codes.
 
Cyberwolven
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Posts: 667
Re: What game development software is your favorite?

on Friday, November, 28, 2008 4:59 PM

Say you want to create your first 3D 3rd-person action game for the pc. You have many many years of programming experience in a variety of language, and even more years of experience with graphic illustration, but don't know which of the various developer tools are ideal for the task (I'm sure they all have their individual strengths and weaknesses). I own a few 3-D CAD modeling applications, but they tend to be overly technical (more so than the professional tools I use at work) and I'm guessing the file format wouldn't be compatible with a game.

Well, first if it can export to .obj files it can probably be compatible with any 3D software package. Sometimes you hear about little gridbugs here and there, but it's usually fixable. Your CAD3D software might also export to the native formats so you may be luckier than you think.


What's a good program for creating characters and vehicles, and why? (BTW, discard sprites - coming from a CAD background, I'm totally sold that 3D objects are the best way to go for what I want to accomplish.)

Autodesk Maya 3D, 3DS Max, and Blender 3D are up your alley. I have experience in both Blender 3D and Maya. All three are great software programs. Maya 3D and 3DS Max are the best commercial packages for creating characters and vehicles because they have a lot of functionality. The latest versions of the two are expensive but at least you'll get all the benefits of better ease of use. If you don't want to burn your cash on those two for now get Blender 3D because it has all the functionality and support of a professional package without the price tag. When learning to use the programs once you get used to the UI it's all clear skies from then on.

What's a good language for coding the game, and why?

Most game programmers now-a-days seem to use C++ for everything. I guess it's good because of the fact most people take it as the norm now. People still use other languages though...I'm sure if you have experience already it won't be a problem. As for me, I've been wanting to take Assembler classes.

What's the black magic involved with artificial intelligence? Few pc games seem to have it past ADS (attention deficeit) and the hardware is more powerful than the arcade games of yesteryear.

Oh boy, if I could only explain...instead here's a website that might do a better job:

Game AI Page



Another note before you go. You will also need a Game Engine to put together your new game(Unless you want to program one yourself ). Here's the
wiki link:Game_Engine

There a link to a list of game engines near the end for you to check out. That way you can figure out which one for a FPS would work best for you.

I'm cold and calculating. Don't press my buttons.

 
chappaai
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Posts: 0
Re: What game development software is your favorite?

on Friday, November, 28, 2008 7:18 PM
Thanks for the replies. Any thoughts about something called DarkBASIC? I know C++ already and I think it's maybe better than DarkBASIC?

I'm not interested in creating mods for an existing game. I'm also not so sure about using an existing game engine. (Wouldn't that be a bit like "same game, different characters"?) I have the aptitude and programming experience for "an independent program running loose in the system".

I've spent more than $1000 on software for other projects, so I'm not so much interested in the price as in what it can do. That's not to say, though, that price is no issue - why pay $1000 for unneeded extras when $500 might be adequate to get the job done?

I've heard Maya mentioned at a few sites, and also something called Milkshake 3D. The 3D CAD software I own would probably work for vehicles (assuming compatible file formats), but due to the angular nature of CAD drawing versus "skin" modeling in other software it might not be up to the task of creating human characters.

Thanks for the links, Cyberwolven. I'll read up on them this weekend. Now it's off to start repainting a kids room.


 
TRON.dll
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Posts: 4,349
Re: What game development software is your favorite?

on Friday, November, 28, 2008 8:42 PM
All I know about DarkBasic is that this was made with it:

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TRON 2.0 (PC) name - TRON.dll
I'll play any mode, but I'm best at LC.



PSN - TRON-dll
XBOX Live/Games for Windows Live - TRONdll
-I have a Wii, DS, and 3DS. PM me to exchange friend codes.
 
Mr. Sinistar
Sector Admin

Posts: 1,642
Re: What game development software is your favorite?

on Friday, November, 28, 2008 8:49 PM
chappaai Wrote:Thanks for the replies. Any thoughts about something called DarkBASIC? I know C++ already and I think it's maybe better than DarkBASIC.

DarkBasic is very similar to BlitzBasic, a language made just for video games. There's even a 3D equivalent, Blitz3D.

I've used both Blitz languages and I personally reached several "milestones" with them, but only made one complete videogame. And it was mostly stolen code from a tutorial (with a hell of a lot of tweaks).



OPEN SOURCE TRON PROJECT


"what the hell is a limux.."

- Gattorcar (a user on YouTube) April 17, 2007

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chappaai
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Posts: 0
Re: What game development software is your favorite?

on Saturday, November, 29, 2008 7:19 AM
TRON.dll Wrote:All I know about DarkBasic is that this was made with it:

http://website.lineone.net/~planetride/lightcycles.htm

This is what re-motivated me to take my game idea out of the dusty closet in my brain and see about finishing the game. That game is very nicely done but falls short in a few places that I would have done differently or better. (I wish I could see the source code for this game. Not to copy or pirate, just to see how it was done. In my opinion, it's the best lightcycle game on the net, and I've downloaded all that are available.)


 
chappaai
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Posts: 0
Re: What game development software is your favorite?

on Saturday, November, 29, 2008 7:41 AM
Cyberwolven Wrote:
Your CAD3D software might also export to the native formats so you may be luckier than you think.

Has anybody tried Google SketchUp for objects? I've downloaded that with some sample Tron files for studying and it looks like it would be adequate for the task. Thoughts about it?

I researched Maya 3D and I think it's more program than I need. Just as when I was shopping for 3D CAD software years ago, AutoDesk had one available they'd license or sell for a bank vault, and then there were others costing less than $200 that were more than enough to fulfill the tasks at hand.

Blender looks very promising and might be what I decide to go with.

Most game programmers now-a-days seem to use C++ for everything. I guess it's good because of the fact most people take it as the norm now. People still use other languages though...I'm sure if you have experience already it won't be a problem. As for me, I've been wanting to take Assembler classes.

I coded in Assembler when I was in high school. It was VERY fast in execution, but also a LOT more difficult to code. I've seen C++ come up at a number of gaming sites and it's one of the languages I use a work (among Perl, Python, Cadence Skill, Java, and various flavors of Basic) and I think I'm liking it best so far for the Tron project since it's compiled code rather than interpreted code. I'm still researching DarkBASIC as a possible option.

Another note before you go. You will also need a Game Engine to put together your new game(Unless you want to program one yourself ).

Well, after reading up on game engines it turns out they're not quite what I thought they were. This may be an option, it may not be. On one hand, it would simplify a lot, but if at the cost of not being able to see on-screen what I see in my head then it wouldn't matter much. In any case, the game will require stability. Nothing irritates me more while playing a game than a software crash, which seems to happen most often when you're doing really well and have the highest score.
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