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Which software for games?

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  • Software
  • Games
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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August 13, 2013 5:08:17 PM

I want to become a game developer for big companies and maybe even make my own company. Any advice for which software to use to make games? Which software do developers use? Also could you give me some websites to go on to learn about this stuff, and what courses I would need to take in high school and university, that would also help. I am 14 and want to learn this kind of stuff. I don't know much about it yet, but I love games and would like to make games for a living. I am also planning on getting a PS4 soon and Sony made it very clear that the Ps4 is developer friendly; " Made by developers, for developer", so I was thinking I can make my own indie games and post them on PSN and make some money. Any help would be appreciated.

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August 13, 2013 5:13:06 PM

Dylan1999 said:
I want to become a game developer for big companies and maybe even make my own company. Any advice for which software to use to make games? Which software do developers use? Also could you give me some websites to go on to learn about this stuff, and what courses I would need to take in high school and university, that would also help. I am 14 and want to learn this kind of stuff. I don't know much about it yet, but I love games and would like to make games for a living. I am also planning on getting a PS4 soon and Sony made it very clear that the Ps4 is developer friendly; " Made by developers, for developer", so I was thinking I can make my own indie games and post them on PSN and make some money. Any help would be appreciated.


You should start studying code and using stuff like Blender, Photoshop, and there are a bunch of game making tools for beginners. The UDK has a fantastic userbase with incredible documentation. but you're 14 I don't think you understand how long and intense making games can be. It's hard but worth it. Get friends who can draw well and who can help program. C++ and C# along with JavaScript will take you pretty much along the path that you want to go.
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August 13, 2013 5:19:07 PM

Dylan1999 said:
I want to become a game developer for big companies and maybe even make my own company. Any advice for which software to use to make games? Which software do developers use? Also could you give me some websites to go on to learn about this stuff, and what courses I would need to take in high school and university, that would also help. I am 14 and want to learn this kind of stuff. I don't know much about it yet, but I love games and would like to make games for a living. I am also planning on getting a PS4 soon and Sony made it very clear that the Ps4 is developer friendly; " Made by developers, for developer", so I was thinking I can make my own indie games and post them on PSN and make some money. Any help would be appreciated.


Game development is quite possibly one of the hardest design fields to get into. Not just professionally with respect to obtaining employment, but in the amount of work required to be good at that job. Unfortunately it's not something which you can simply dive into and become an expert right away. That said, I applaud your decision.

As far as high school courses go, take any computer science and computer engineering courses that you can. Some schools don't offer these, which is very unfortunate. I started taking CS and CE courses in grade 10. When I was in the 11th grade I had a class in which the summative project was to design and build a game in Visual Basic 6. I learned quite a bit from that! Other requisite courses are physics, mathematics (mainly algebra, geometry, data management, statistics, and basic calculus), and English Linguistics. Professional writing is a huge bonus, but that topic is very rarely taught in high school.

You may also want to pursue some out of class stuff over the summer, but avoid summer camps unless you feel like relearning how to type.

As far as post secondary studies go, your best bet for game design is either a dedicated game design program, or a software engineering degree. My own school offers a Software Engineering and Game Design program which is pretty nice.
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August 13, 2013 11:15:01 PM

Thanks guys that helped alot. 1 more question. Which software a do game developers use
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August 13, 2013 11:16:12 PM

I meant softwares
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August 13, 2013 11:22:37 PM

Visual studio I think for some projects.
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August 13, 2013 11:24:07 PM

Thanks
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August 14, 2013 12:21:38 AM

Dylan1999 said:
Thanks guys that helped alot. 1 more question. Which software a do game developers use


There's tons of different pieces of software used to develop any one game.

3D modeling and motion capture is done through a variety of programs including 3D Studio Max, Maya, and Blender (free if you want to check it out)

Sound, art, and cinematics are done through a slew of Adobe and Apple products. Audacity is a good free audio editing tool. Gimp is a good free photo editing tool.

Programming (I presume this is what you're most interested in) is done through a variety of Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) which vary depending on the target platform.

Java programming is typically done in NetBeans or Eclipse.

Unity3D programming has its own IDE.

Most native Windows and .NET programming is done in Visual Studio. Visual Studio is a premium piece of software but Microsoft has made various Express editions freely available for non-commercial use (with exceptions for products sold over the Windows store).

If you want to try your hand at Visual Basic grab "Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows Desktop". It's available from Microsoft here. Unlike the full version of Visual Studio you may not be able to use certain features or target certain APIs but this is well beyond the scope of introductory programming.

I highly recommend starting out with Visual Basic. It's visual, so you can easily see results from your code and there are tons of good tutorials for it. Eventually you'll want to graduate to C# or even C/C++
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August 14, 2013 12:25:22 AM

Games are made on game engine
Unity 3d is very popular with lots of tutorials on you tube
But before that you need to understand the coding concept and object oriented programing
this is the game developer side
other path is game designer side
in which Photoshop and other similar software are used
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August 14, 2013 11:34:10 AM

pell380 said:
Games are made on game engine
Unity 3d is very popular with lots of tutorials on you tube
But before that you need to understand the coding concept and object oriented programing
this is the game developer side
other path is game designer side
in which Photoshop and other similar software are used


their were no links or paths
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August 14, 2013 12:06:20 PM

Dylan1999 said:
pell380 said:
Games are made on game engine
Unity 3d is very popular with lots of tutorials on you tube
But before that you need to understand the coding concept and object oriented programing
this is the game developer side
other path is game designer side
in which Photoshop and other similar software are used


their were no links or paths


I don't think he meant path as in an internet link, but rather as a career. "Game Developer" is a bit of a broad designation which can imply a lot of different occupations, each which requires a different skill set.

AAA titles such as CoD, Battlefield, and Assassin's Creed are produced by game studios that employ dozens to hundreds of people. Such titles usually take between 2 and 5 years to produce with varying levels of staff commitment along the way.

Of these dozens to hundreds of employees, here are a few different occupations which may be classified as a Game Developer:

- Engine programmers. These are the guys who work on the guts of the game, mainly on the code paths. Nothing that they do has anything to do with the outward presentation or theme of the game. Rather than designing space lasers and cool swords they spend their time figuring out how to do things like streamline the loading of assets into memory, clipping invisible objects from the scene before it's rendered, and synchronizing the various subsystems which drive the IO and game logic. Strong knowledge of mathematics and low level programming are a requirement; a post secondary engineering degree or mathematics degree is also often a requirement.

- Asset designers. These are the guys who design the levels, space lasers, swords, 3D models, sounds, etc... Programming knowledge is generally not a requirement (except for scripting). Two entirely different games can use the same game engine (such as the famous Unreal Engine) and differ only in assets. Good artistic and spatial skills are a requirement.

- Concept artists. Very important at the beginning of a game's design phase. Concept artists literally paint and draw visual ideas to give the asset designers something to start with thematically. Theme clash is a good way to ruin a game. Good artistic and creative skills are a requirement.

- Game Designer. The king of the hill. Game designers are responsible for laying out the presentation of the game, pacing and elements of the game, and how the gameplay elements mesh together. Game designers don't usually work hands on in large studios; rather, they create design documents that are then passed on to the engine and asset staff. Ability to create accounts on forums is a requirement, high school diploma recommended but not required.
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