I am very new to game programming (new to all programming, and have done nothing with games), but I am the best my small organization has, so I am going to need to do all the programming and am going to need some help. We are going to use Blender, and anyone who has used it to make a game before and would help me would be much appreciated. Thanks!
My first question is: where do I even start? We have a few blend files and we have all the planning done, but now where do I begin?
Do you want to learn programming, or do you just want to make a game? Many (I'd even dare to say most) people that jump into programming just to make a game don't tend to stick with it (it's a lot harder than people think).
Many people nowadays use pre-coded libraries to take care of the 'hard stuff.' This means you don't have to worry about the implementation details required behind hard stuff like rendering and physics.
By the time I'd finally gained the skills necessary to actually write 'games' (e.g. the hard rendering and physics stuff) I'd gotten pretty much sick of programming in general, changed my major and have a job in a field completely unrelated to programming (just to give you my personal experience).
A good way to see how other people are doing this is to go to gamedev.net and check out the image of the day. Luckily in the past few years it has become increasingly easier and easier to produce stunning games using many free and quite sophisticated game engines and libraries.
I'm not immature, I'm refined in the opposite direction.
I want to learn the programming. I normally wouldn't be making games, but I'm the only one my organization new who can pretend to start to program. I will check out some libraries and see where that gets me (maybe I could get some ideas) but I want to do a bit of the hard stuff. DO you know what blender is?
Making games is hard. Doing it with a game engine is easier then starting from scratch, but it is still really hard. When I first started I wanted to make a fluid solver plugin to a 3d software. Took me one year to make anything else then console programs.
What I am trying to say is that making something as advance as a game before you know the basic is almost impossible.
Blender is a 3d program. One that I dont like very much. Programming and 3d animation has close to nothing in common.
If you want to start making games, start simple.
Try making a program where you try to guess a random number.
Lol, yes, yes I do know what blender is. Have you ever thought about how you would actually take the models you've produced in Blender and actually use them in your own game? That may be a good thing for you to read online about. Simply put, most of your basic questions can be answered from reading a lot online.DO you know what blender is?
I second that. BTW, have you checked out gamedev.net's image of the day yet? You ought to find a game that looks like something you'd like to make and ask them what libraries they'd used to make it, how long it took them, etc.If you want to start making games, start simple.
Try making a program where you try to guess a random number.
Last edited by BobMcGee123; 04-15-2008 at 09:17 AM.
I'm not immature, I'm refined in the opposite direction.
Writng games is much more difficult than writing normal applications simply because it invovles so many different aspects of programming. But it is definately the thing to flex yoru muscles on.
I can make better games on my graphing calculator! It's not that I'm unappreciative, I'm very thankful for your advice, but I might have come off wrong about this, I think I found something out, and it seems that I can manipulate objects with blender without to much trouble. I will get back to you once I do something, then I'll ask for opinions and advice. Thanks a lot.Originally Posted by h3ro
Making the step from manipulating models in Blender to actually getting those models into your engine or game is a HUGE step. I had to essentially write a mesh class that encapsulated a mesh interface in Direct3D. In OpenGL you will likely have to write your own mesh class and your own loader as well.
If you know very little about core 3D principles and mathematics you will be lost when it comes to doing more than just loading the mesh. Don't get us wrong you can make games in your own time but most of us here have come to realize that by the time you actually have the skills to get the job done you usually don't have the time. Making any game is requires an enormous time investment and making a 3D game multiplies that by about a hundred. You can use other engines out there but without understanding 3D it is unlikely you will ever create a game even with the best 3D engine money can buy.
Also if you want to make a 3D game you should have a very very good grasp of C++, data structures, design patterns and anti-patterns, algorithms, optimizations, etc, etc. In short it requires a lot of knowledge to make a 3D game. Most of us here on this board have pretty much been reduced to small tech demos and/or small renderers that do this or that.
I was going to use python so I could utilize blenders game logic things. I will have all the blends made for me by our master blender. (I have no idea how good he really is because I haven't seen much blender, I would have include a blend of his just to show you a bit, but it says blend files are invalid.) I can use the blender stuff to have keyboard sensors, and I can python script the fancy things, so I am confused as to what will be so hard. You keep saying I need to have knowledge about "C++, data structures, design patterns and anti-patterns, algorithms, optimizations, etc, etc.", but I don't know why I would need any of those. Someone please tell me why I'm the only one who thinks this will be easy!
Okay, if you were going to code your own engine you'd need to have the knowledge mentioned by Bubba. Realize most of the people that frequent this site are aiming to code, in C/C++ (not Python or GameBlender's logic bricks) the actual engine themselves. That's how it came across in your original post, and that's what we meant by 'the hard stuff' (coding the engine yourself at a very low level). I was under the impression you'd use Blender as a platform to export models, which you'd then turn around and load into your engine.
Otherwise you are right, using GameBlender's Python scripting and logic bricks is an easy way for people with little to no programming experience to make games.
Also note that Blender in and of itself is for making models, not games. GameBlender is an engine, coded in C++, which encapsulates the logic bricks and Python scripting aimed for making games. This falls inline with what was mentioned before, in that you either need to a)spend a lot of time coding your own engine or b)use a pre-built engine [GameBlender in this case].
Last edited by BobMcGee123; 04-15-2008 at 09:11 PM.
I'm not immature, I'm refined in the opposite direction.
Enthusiasm and lack of experience? Nothing about making games in someone else's engine or in your own is easy.Someone please tell me why I'm the only one who thinks this will be easy!
Do you remember when you first started with 3D animation? You probably wanted to create matrix 4 or lord of the rings 11 as your first project. If not, you have probably seen people who wanted to.Someone please tell me why I'm the only one who thinks this will be easy!
Trying to make a game without knowing how to program is the same thing. Learn to walk before you want to fly
Oh, so you are saying that I should make my own engine now? I see that as a more complicated route... I think I will do this one in blender gaming to get the hang of it.
If it was easy, everyone would do it and noone would pay $60 for a game. Not trying to discourage you, just trying to get you to accept some realistic expectations.
If none of your team have experience with game programming then why not make a mod for an existing game instead? Fair enough you arent going to have quite the freedom as if you were to create a game from scratch, but it would be a whole lot more productive. Your media producers should be able to add all the stuff they make, and it would not involve anywhere near as much coding. It would also be a good experience for you to see how much is involved in making a game, as well as (to some extent) how it is done.
If you havent made even a simple game yet then I predict one of two outcomes: If you are lucky you will screw up early on and give up. If you are unlucky you will keep at it for several months until you realise that you are only part-way through it and your code is a hideous mess, then you will give up. Sorry to sound like such a pessimist; thats what happened to me. I still have an unfinished RPG and an unfinished strategy game. If I ever get back to either I will be starting again from scratch. For something big you really need experience and a well thought out design to start with. Thats one of the reasons I generally don't attempt big projects anymore.
