   Making a game
  Me and two friends want to start making 3D games on the computer, but we don't really know where to get started. How many people will we need and what kind of people? I know this is kind of a broad question but please try to answer it as best you can.   
  If you have absolutely no clue about making games, then I'd suggest learning making 2D games first.I'm 6 months into learning 2d game programming and I've learned a fair amount, which will eventually help me become a better 3d programmer.Game programming is not something you pick up in a week, you need to be aware that there are many aspects and concepts you need to familiarize yourself with before you can do anything realistic.   ;  Given enough time, you and your two friends can do it all yourselves. This is the likely scenario unless you money to hire people. There are several approaches to making the game:1) you can program it yourselves. This does not necissarilly mean you have to code everything from scratch. There are many free libraries that do many of the routine things that you may need. You and your friends will have to learn to program though. The "for beginners" article on this site has more info.2) use a game-maker style program. There are a few software packages that allow you to create games without programming I don't much about these, however. I'd assume that scripting is still involved so you might have to learn the scripting language. Also you would be limited to what the software will allow you to do. 3) Mod an existing game. Counterstrike is a famous mod of Halflife. Rather creating a new game from scratch, many games allow you to make your own modifications. If you go far enough you can create a whole new game. Again you are limited to what the software does.Any way, you'll also have to create models, textures, music and sound effects.   ;  Thanks for the advice. I was planning on programming everything myself with C++ but I only started to learn it. My other friend is the artist and the other one is the 3D animator. They have already been practicing.   ;  It will probaly take you a year or more to get comfortable with programming then a year or more to get comfortable with graphical programming and game programming. You cant just dive into it, good luck though!   ;  If you are the only programmer in the group, you might want to get more people on the team. And if you are just learning you might want to wait until you are quite farmilier with programming before asking people to join your team.Some people looking for help shout out they want to make a game they only need (imagine a list with everything you need)^2 which will put a smile on most faces, but not all.I don't know about your budget, so you might want to check out some engines like Ogre or Tourque. These provide you with an engine to start off with and you can concentrate your skills on actually making the game.But give yourselves enough time, you'll need it.   ;Quote:Original post by l3monI don't know about your budget, so you might want to check out some engines like Ogre or Torque. These provide you with an engine to start off with and you can concentrate your skills on actually making the game. I strongly suggest you learn to make 2D and 3D games on your own first before you result to using engines like Ogre and Torque. That way you understand how its made and not just how to toss up a game.Also, if you get an engine at some point in time, you can then mod it to fit your needs. This makes it worth your money to go out and buy an engine.Personally though I am not into buying engines because I have no budget at all. Therefore if I really wanted to use an engine, I would use Irrlicht it is open source, offers many things, good documentation, and best of all free.   ;Quote:Original post by GDKnightI strongly suggest you learn to make 2D and 3D games on your own first before you result to using engines like Ogre and Torque. That way you understand how its made and not just how to toss up a game.Learning some basics about 3D programming might be a good idea, but making a whole game first before starting to look at other engines isn't a very effective approach in my opinion. It might be harder to understand the concepts and not get overwhelmed by foreign code, but I guess it's way harder for a beginner to write everything from scratch ;)Another bonus is the frustration is reduced to a minimum, since more people do use the same software and can help you when you encounter problems.   ;  Even though some people say that you need to make 2D games before moving in to 3D, it is not really vital. because I started with 3D first, and Im almost finished with an engine with Half Life 2 style graphics.Cheers,-Zubair-   ;Quote:Original post by zubair_khanEven though some people say that you need to make 2D games before moving in to 3D, it is not really vital. because I started with 3D first, and Im almost finished with an engine with Half Life 2 style graphics.Cheers,-Zubair-I can say that I really didn't go through a true 2d faze myself.  The first thing I made with OpenGL was a 2dpong game done in 3d, just to familiarize myself with it.  I might have been better off doing the 2d first, but it can be done without going 2d first.  The path is different and maybe harder though.  I would recommend to the OP that you DO go with 2d games first.   