   Programing over the summer
  Hi, I have been wanting to create my own game and game engine. I have now experience in coding with C++ or OOP or STL or whatever it's called. I know how to model in 3D modeling software and have a couple good programs. I just want some advice for where to begin(ie books to read programs to learn).Right now I know how to use Blender, Sculptris and some 3D studio max 7 (Iknow way out of date).I have the chance to get a package of the 2010 autodesk with Maya, Mudbox, 3Ds max, Softimage and motion builder. Now should I buy cause I would prefer to not have to spend the money but if it make that much of a difference than open-source software OK. ,Thanks   
Quote:Original post by Rowinish QuickbeamHi, I have been wanting to create my own game and game engine. I have now experience in coding with C++ or OOP or STL or whatever it's called. I know how to model in 3D modeling software and have a couple good programs. I just want some advice for where to begin(ie books to read programs to learn).Right now I know how to use Blender, Sculptris and some 3D studio max 7 (Iknow way out of date).I have the chance to get a package of the 2010 autodesk with Maya, Mudbox, 3Ds max, Softimage and motion builder. Now should I buy cause I would prefer to not have to spend the money but if it make that much of a difference than open-source software OK. ,ThanksThat really depends on what price and license type you are getting.The list prices for most of autodesks software is way too high for most indie developers and educational license tend to not allow commercial use.There really isn't anything you can do with Maya or 3dsmax that you can't do with Blender that is relevant for game development. (The main advantages of the expensive tools is the better renderer,the post render effects and the UI. (If you're used to the Blender UI there is no reason to switch, if you can't work effectivly with it you could get something like MS3D or trueSpace (both are more than good enough and have more traditional UIs);Quote:Original post by SimonForsmanThat really depends on what price and license type you are getting.The list prices for most of autodesks software is way too high for most indie developers and educational license tend to not allow commercial use.There really isn't anything you can do with Maya or 3dsmax that you can't do with Blender that is relevant for game development. (The main advantages of the expensive tools is the better renderer,the post render effects and the UI. (If you're used to the Blender UI there is no reason to switch, if you can't work effectivly with it you could get something like MS3D or trueSpace (both are more than good enough and have more traditional UIs)Well I'm fairly flexible with UIs I can get a hang of it fairly quickly. I would get the educational version of Autodesk because it's $400 instead of $4000. But what should I start on? the engine? I have an idea on what I want the engine to do. I want it to be able to support a lot of particles, is that realistic because I'm not too sure what a engine can and can't do. But the reason I want all the particles is I want to have some really realistic effects like fire and smoke ant water. But If that's not in the realm of possibility than I wanted to make a lot of Dynamic stuff In a moderate sized map that is not too linear.EDIT: Also what are good programs for making maps, characters and writing C++ or whatever(Preferably free) And what's "MS3D"   ;  How many years of programming experience do you have? What is the most complicated program you have made so far?And since you are buying modeling tools, do you have examples of your artwork? What is the most complex thing you have modeled on your own?   ;Quote:Original post by oler1sHow many years of programming experience do you have? What is the most complicated program you have made so far?And since you are buying modeling tools, do you have examples of your artwork? What is the most complex thing you have modeled on your own?Well I've got a year of HTML, CSS and &#106avascript but only 6 months of PHP.I know it's pretty pathetic but Ive made some good codes mostly in &#106avascript or PHP. I made a puzzle with &#106avascript, and a simple database with PHP and HTML. But I've done a lot with HTML and CSS but their not too impressive.And I'm pretty good in just modeling and sculpting not so much animation.My Half -Life 2 Headcrab that I did in Scuptris:Headcrab 01Headcrab 02Headcrab 03Headcrab 04;  Not wanting to discourage you, but the sort of engine you are talking about wanting sounds like the sort that takes many experienced people years, not a summers worth of code for someone with 6 months PHP experience*.As for programming, this site has a very good introduction to game development for newbies, even those with no programming experience:  here.  Having said that, you may want to consider focussing on your artwork - there are very few people who are skilled at both art and programming, they're completely different sides of the brain.  Get good at modelling (your existing stuff looks good, though there's no telling whether that took 2 hours or 2 weeks to do) and try get in that way.  Find a coder and team up with them (as I said, very few people are good at both, so most coders are just as eager to find a good artist as you are them), get them to do the engine and you can produce the resources.Yet another option is just mod - make levels and models for existing games (assuming you aren't already).  Just as the coders progression goes pong->tetris->pacman->mario etc, an artist's goes weapon->level->tc etc (not exact - I'm not an artist).As I said, if you still want to go down the coding route, take a look at that link and see if any of it makes any sense at all to you, if yes then that's as good a start as any.* For the record, HTML and CSS are not programming, they are format descriptions, just like making a document in word is not programming - I consider making that distinction an important step in any new coder's life (as everyone starts out believing it's coding).   ;Quote:Original post by Y_LessNot wanting to discourage you, but the sort of engine you are talking about wanting sounds like the sort that takes many experienced people years, not a summers worth of code for someone with 6 months PHP experience*.As for programming, this site has a very good introduction to game development for newbies, even those with no programming experience:  here.  Having said that, you may want to consider focussing on your artwork - there are very few people who are skilled at both art and programming, they're completely different sides of the brain.  Get good at modelling (your existing stuff looks good, though there's no telling whether that took 2 hours or 2 weeks to do) and try get in that way.  Find a coder and team up with them (as I said, very few people are good at both, so most coders are just as eager to find a good artist as you are them), get them to do the engine and you can produce the resources.Yet another option is just mod - make levels and models for existing games (assuming you aren't already).  Just as the coders progression goes pong->tetris->pacman->mario etc, an artist's goes weapon->level->tc etc (not exact - I'm not an artist).As I said, if you still want to go down the coding route, take a look at that link and see if any of it makes any sense at all to you, if yes then that's as good a start as any.* For the record, HTML and CSS are not programming, they are format descriptions, just like making a document in word is not programming - I consider making that distinction an important step in any new coder's life (as everyone starts out believing it's coding).Thanks so much, and actually the model took me around 45mins to make, probably longer if I was just making it up. I atleast wanted to have a basic understanding of the code. So are there any books you could recommend to me and also a good place to find a programmer :) thanks again it really enlightened me. ;  With all due respect, and also not to discourage you, but you dont sound like you are ready to create a game (engine). "I have now experience in coding with C++ or OOP or STL". This doesn't make any sense. C++ is an (OOP) language, OOP is a programming paradigm and STL is a library. Furthermore, 6 months of PHP experience probably isnt enough. I mean, it IS a programming/scripting language (depends on how one uses it), and one can use it to learn about coding basics, such as loops and functions, and maybe even a bit of OOP! But it is rather impossible to learn about fast, optimized code, a more strict style of coding, memory management, etcetera.It is certainly not my intention to insult you in any way, I just want to explain to you that it might be a bit too early to start making a game, let alone an engine. My advice to you is to first pick up a good book, lock yourself up for a couple of weeks, then try to understand the language. Then you can move on to making some simple applications. And finally, you could start working on a game.Edit: typo[Edited by - Forsith on June 6, 2010 2:06:53 PM];  I'd say your best bet would be a mod (if your willing to spend that much money on modelling then you sound more artistic that a programmer). Why not try modding halflife 2 then, sounds like you have it from the headcrab (which looks good btw). I believe all the models can be made with the autodesk software you listed (not sure about blender).It really does sound like too much work for what you want. I currently use Ogre3d for graphics, PhysX for the physics and OpenAL for sound (along with lua scripting). There's free software for doing all the assets (blender/gimp/audacity) so you can buy some books with all that money :P. I like the combination and it works pretty well but it is a fair bit of work to get it all working together. One book that has helped alot is Game Programming Complete, I strongly suggest it.   