making games

I gotta admit, throughout my life, I've tried a few times to put aside the desire to make games and take on other interests beforehand, and I've not been successful. So where can I get the tools (maybe dev kits) to make quality games and puzzles?

My first project would be a variation of the Sega classic Columns. I'd like to try to take it on as much as I can without any help. All I need to do is create a different twist to matching colors and shapes to make blocks disappear. I do that, and the rest should be smooth sailing.

I'm just asking because I'm not the most tech saavy guy on the block, but I feel I can still contribute some good ideas for later games. This is by far the best idea for a hobby I've thought of in a while.

As always, I'll listen to any ideas before I get going-which, because of time constraints, may take off as late as next year- it never hurts to brainstorm early.

Generally, there are several elements behind making a game:

1st is game planning and design - this is done on pencil and paper, maybe some rough sketches, presentations and crap, but if you're the only one working on it, you won't have to prepare fancy presentations to sale your idea... you will just need a notepad (pc is fine, or pen and paper)

2nd is programming c++ or something of the like. If you're really good at math, it shouldn't be too difficult to learn.

3rd is digital art and motion of characters and all this.. if it's just a couple blocks like in columns or tetris, you could probably do something with ASCII characters to start with.

4th would be to put in a soundtrack... can be some simple midi or whatever

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There are adventure and game creators out there, where it's kind of point and click or scripting. The problem with the ones I've seen is that they're always limited. I've made my own IF games (lost due to hard drive crashes over the years) because I wasn't a good graphic artist and just wanted to to text-based games, but there are adventure games, where you provide your own artwork for like walking in various rooms, maybe art for objects and such too.

Then, there are RPG makers, some more powerful than others. One of the best ones I saw (although never found time to use) I can't remember its name, but it was limited in how combat was played as well as how many character styles (people, monsters, etc) you could have in the game, and tilesets whatever you want to call them.

I've never seen anything specifically that could give you the freedom to just design a game out of those genres. That doesn't mean that one doesn't exist.

As far as dev kits, they aren't the same as game makers, but they usually make it easier because of rulesets in the kits. Certain devkits may be designed for internet protocols, certain types of programs or games, or to just make it a lot less work to design a game.

Dev kits are also designed to compile games for consoles and handhelds as well. Dev kits are, a lot of times hard to create by hand. So, you see leaked/illegal kits for stuff like the xbox, making it harder to find and download programs to run on it. Pretty much every emulator on the xbox is compiled with the illegal dev kit from MS, just to give you an idea.

People have been working on dev kits from the ground up on systems as old as the sega saturn, with very limited success, to also give you an idea of how hard some things would be to start from scratch.

As far as the PC goes, probably even a gameboy or something, those things would probably be your easiest things to start with. Java-based applications are becoming popular again too.

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I had an awesome IF game called battle simulator 4000, where your character warps in and out of places, travels through time, does various tasks, and even had real text-based combat, death traps too. I had to create all of the dungeons and maps on paper before writing it. Fun times.. wish I still had a copy of it. They don't call em interactive fiction for nothing though. Writing a good, long one is like writing a novel lol.

I appreciate the info. I think I'm covered on most of those categories, but I might need a C programming book as well. I had some good ideas in mind for the first game, but I would rather make it playable on a console instead of only on the PC. We'll see what happens.

It's definitely easier on a PC because to play on a console you need to flash the program onto the ROM chip for cart based and I think you need certain software to make it play on a disc based console. I wish malakai could remember the name of the RPG maker because I would be interested in playing that. Also, I love the Zork text based games. I wish you still had the ones you made so I could play them.

One of the biggest rpg makers is, in fact, called RPG Maker

rpg maker

They have several versions/variations of it I believe, and there may even be some hacked versions out there somewhere.

That maker looks pretty cool! I'll have to give it a try sometime.

I found some cool articles on game making at gamedev.net. Apparently I made the right call starting with a puzzle style project, even if it takes a while.

Inhabitants on Dreamcast (the system I also want to put my project on) looks very well done and would make a good guide to creating a quality homebrew. Haven't played it yet, but I like the art on the screenshots.

As for my own thing, having the PS3 Sega Collection helps. I can get a good idea of what Sega did to put Columns together- title screens, music, sounds, graphics, and basic programming- to make a fun puzzle game with good replay value.

This idea is gonna be good.

Isn't this the same one that released on the PS1? Or was it the PS2?

I'll have to take a look at that gamedev.net web site. You've peaked my interest in this even more.

You know, Columns was a great game. It was pretty simple and still fun. I played it when I was stressed and believe I topped out the levels on it a few times over the years. That game seemed to ease my mind sometimes back then.. lol

Make sure you keep us posted and let us know how you've done your stuff. I'm interested in how you do this.

Will do.

Remember though, this isn't overnight. With all my priorities and time constraints as of late, it may take a while. After all, rushed work isn't usually very good. But don't worry, the board will know what's up. I hope to publish it here as well. (It pays to stay on this board, doesn't it?)

Well, you peaked my interest and I checked out the Game Developers web site. I took a look in the forums and some people recommended using Python or Dark Basic to start with for beginning programming so I chose Python. They have a few good articles/tutorials on the Python website which I have started using. I made a little program that asks you for your name and than replies with "It is nice to meet you, <Your name>". Cheesy, I know, but an accomplishment nonetheless. So far I like the Python software but I have barely scratched the surface.

Well, I have dwelved further into the tutorial and I've "made" and few more programs. Nothing major just some jokes and a "game" which holds a dragon or a treasure. Matt, I suggest starting with Python and this tutorial: http://inventwithpython.com/chapters/. If you are going to use Python (or anything else) maybe we could work together or using.

I'm all for using Python, but I also discovered Game Maker 7 and even the simple version (full version costs extra, so I don't have it yet) has been very user friendly and reliable- a well made piece of work.

I'm not so sure I want to put my first official game on Dreamcast, now that I think about it. GD ROM's are not available to the public, and Sega quit dealing with that media nearly a decade ago. If I'm burning the game to a CD-R, then I might as well go with a CD ROM system like Sega CD or Turbo Duo Super CD. Not a bad start to making quality games.

I have decided to make a game with its own new story, characters, and settings. Add a ton of depth with unlockable original mini games of all types (puzzle, adventure, hell throw in a mini rpg if we can) and a custom game/story/level design with a mapmaker and we got a potential mega hit on our hands. Then the big questions to ask would be whether to make it 2D or 3D, and what console to put this great potential game on.

a quick update

The weekend will be a very busy one, so my game ambitions will have to be put on hold for now till I don't know when. So far, I am getting my feet wet with Game Maker 7 and Python programming.

On the other hand, I'm looking to teach myself some composition for midi tracks. For some odd reason, only my Noteworthy Composer software will work with my midi keyboard. The Proteus X2 I've had for a while keeps giving me the 'streaming error' message, so I'll have to stick with what works for now. Besides, Noteworthy should be enough for more basic midi tracks anyway.

more on the way