Hi, Allan & Thomas. While the list below is quite comprehensive, don't let it scare you off.
In my opinion, the number one driving force behind developing games is the GOYA principle, i.e. "Get Off Your Ass" a.k.a. motivation. The rest will fall into place as necessary and often on a need-to-know/use basis. Remember, necessity is the mother of invention. Have the desire, then acquire some vision, temper it with innovation and imagination, and match the tools of the trade to accomplish all of the above. If you're wanting to hobbyist your way into it at first--often, a good choice--pick up a copy of Visual Basic 6 and the DirectX 8.1 SDK and read through the documentation, eBooks, play with it, whatever is necessary. Btw, good luck in finding the 8.1 SDK, but people still do have it and use it. If you need it, drop me a line privately and I'll drop a CD in the mail with it and the DirectX 9.0C SDK stuff as well. Once you're proficient enough at writing the games, throwing up a basic website is within the same realm and will naturally follow. A lot of people are put off with the thought that a Ph.D. in Advanced Mathematics is required to write games. Absolutely untrue. As with anything else, mathematics are tools of the trade. There are often ways to accomplish the same things using simpler tools than going the most concatenated and complex way to accomplish them. The end product is what sets the mathematicians and the artists apart. And, there are plenty of formulas for physics, vector and matrix maths, and the like on the 'net to be perused. You are almost certainly guaranteed not to be at a loss of access to this sort of information. Sound effects. Get what you can from the 'net, get creative and make some of your own, and know that individual sound effects are not copyrightable. That opens up a lot of possibilities. Need a space ship sound? Record a few sweeps of a vacuum cleaner, shift the pitch downward, and add a little flange or chorus and normalize the waveform and there ya go. Experimentation and play is the best way, IMO. Personally, I use Cool Edit Pro 2, but I'm also sighted and so don't have to consider the accessibility issues that you may. AI is a means to an end. Again, necessity and invention. And, if all else fails, read a book or take a course in developing accessible games. More about that mid-2006. *grin* 'til then.. play, play, play.. - James -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Thomas Ward Sent: Wednesday, December 28, 2005 12:26 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: audyssey: game company question Hi, Allan. I think this one is quite alright for the game list as this is a game related topic. Here is the things you would need to get a game company open. 1. Knolege of a programming language like C++, C#, Visual Basic, etc... 2. A compiler for your language of choice. 3. A knolege of the programming api you will need to use for your games such as: DirectX, OpenAL, SDL, etc... 4. Some knolege in several related fields such as trig/calculus, physics, artificial intellegence, encryption, etc.. That list can be quite large as game programming is beyond a normal application. 5. Purchase yourself a good collection of sound effects to begin your games. At least search the net for some unlicensed ones if you don't have money for licensed sounds. 6. A good sound editer like Goldwave or Soundforge. You will need them to clean up and modify effects to your liking. 8. A web site, and any other related materials like a shopping cart, some company to process orders if the games are for sale, etc. I think these requirements are pretty basic ones. There are other things, but that is the basics. I don't wish to scare you off, but I wouldn't be honest if I told you it was all easy. Fact of the matter for a beginner it is pretty hard. There is allot of work involved in learning DirectX input and sound, learning how to make your AI react in somewhat a humanlike way, lots of math for calculating distance and targeting vectors, learning to save and load games, etc. There is just allot that goes in to writing a game. Then, even after your first title is done you need somewhere to upload it to for download, and if it is a commercial title then you need to come up with a registration system as well as a shopping cart. Hth. allan thompson wrote: > Hello, > I was wondering about this question for a long time and I hope some of you game company owners could help answer it. What does one generally need to start a game company in the USA , especially for the blind and visually impaired. Could someone give a basic rundown of what it takes? > My appreciation in advance for any input. > If this is considered off topic here is my email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > thanks again, > allan > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > to leave send a blank Email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > You can contact the list owners/moderators by Emailing [EMAIL PROTECTED] > to go nomail send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > change "nomail" to "normal" to resume messages. > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > to leave send a blank Email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] You can contact the list owners/moderators by Emailing [EMAIL PROTECTED] to go nomail send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] change "nomail" to "normal" to resume messages. Yahoo! Groups Links ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. 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