Hi Marvin and all,
Yes, there is an accessible game developers list and it is found at
http://www.usagamesinteractive.com/lists.php.
You can subscribe to it by sending a blank e-mail to
developers-subscr...@usagamesinteractive.com
and reply to the subscription verification e-mail.
As far as getting started goes you will want to learn a programming
language such as C++, C-Sharp, Python, whatever. I don't recommend using
Visual Basic 6 primarily because it is out of date, is no longer
supported by Microsoft, and requires a bunch of older runtime libraries
to be installed manually on newer Windows versions. Although, if you
have your heart set on Visual Basic I recommend Visual Basic 2005 or higher.
After you are comfortable with a programming language you will need to
learn how to program your games using a software developer kit such as
DirectX, LibSDL, PyGame, etc. Software Developer Kits such as DirectX or
LibSDL are used to program input, audio, and graphics support for games
and is very important to know. However, this is just the beginning.
I want to mention here often there is much more to creating games than
just knowing a programming language and a good SDK like DirectX. There
are specialized techniques or methods for doing things such as
programming AI. An AI can be as simple as an if, then, else type simple
logic to something more complex and interesting like fuzzy logic. This
is a specialized field of programming you might want to research at
length in order to design a better artificial intelligence for your game
characters.
Another field of study that is helpful in programming games is math and
physics. Obviously, for card games like Solitaire, Black Jack, and Poker
you don't need to be a math or physics major to create good games.
However, if you want to create something like Microsoft Flight Simulator
you are going to be dealing with some fairly in depth math and physics.
I'm just using this as a comparison on how math and physics can become
extremely important depending on the genre or type of game you intend to
create. Therefore the better you are in these two fields the better and
more realistic games you can create.
Finally, there is the game's story to consider here. Most of us want to
write games, and even if we have the programming skill to create them we
might not be so good at coming up with a good story. The game's story,
in my opinion, is just as important as the programming required to
create it.
For example, in recent years there have been several top selling
mainstream games like Doom, Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, etc that began
as video games and later became movies. I'm not suggesting anyone here
has to come up with a story quite that good, but only that putting some
thought and effort into a good story line will make the game more
apealing to others. If you want to sell games an apealing story line
might interest others in buying and playing your game.
While using an existing story line such as Harry Potter, Star wars, Star
Trek, and so on is highly popular and apealing that is also potentially
a serious problem. Copyright laws are fairly strict on that matter and
how much copyrighted content you can get away with using largely depends
on if the copyright holder finds out about the infringement, and weather
or not they are willing to enforce it legally if they do. I'm guessing
many won't, but you never know.
HTH
---
Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org
If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org.
You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at
http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org.
All messages are archived and can be searched and read at
http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list,
please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
