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I want to create a game....
Chemcal
Member Posts: 32
i want to create a video game, MMO specifically. The problem is, I have very very limited programming expierence. I really don't have much of an interest in learning how to program either. What I do have is a ton of ideas that could and would revolutionize online gaming for both PC and Console gamers. It'd be a game with a target audience of ages 16ish+ catering to the casual to hardcore. With enough variety to please many people for a long time. Quick explanation, it'd be AWESOME~!
Now my problem, how do I start this with out a prototype and not knowing any one to help me develope a prototype. I have barely enough money to pay bills, and no creditentels to form a business. I've submitted some pretty radical letters to blizzard for job oppertunities as well as TrendyNet. Obviously I doubt they'll hire me on for a new game, but trying to put the seeds out there and hoping something will grow from it.
So what do I do, when I don't have the tools? The only thing that is coming to mind is writing everything down I possibly can, from the back end formulas to the end user expierence. Once I do get a 300 page manual completed of my project, how can I entrust these companies don't use these ideas in whole or pieces for their own gain?
Spell checkers not working either apparently :P
Comments
So do I.
So does every other programmer I work with.
We all each have our own ideas.
The difference between us and you? We've spent the majority of our lives learning programming and computer science. Personally, I've written a novel and more software specifications than you could ever fathom. We still don't put our ideas into reality because a) we dont' have the massive amount of time it takes to create an MMO, we like to sleep at least 6hrs a night and b) we don't have the funds to establish server clusters that cost more than our house, our cars, and our life savings combined.
So other than the "nothing" you've already listed. What else do you bring to the table that people might be interested in?
tldr;
Everyone has ideas, many with much more technical and real world experience than you. Your's aren't worth jack. Create it yourself, secure funds yourself, or keep dreaming.
Donev.... I need those TPS reports by Thursday... You got the memo right?
Good luck with the Blizzard appliactions btw.
Be standing by the phone for this guy to call you next week.
I appreciate your cynicism and over all poor attitude. If it wasn't for people as proud and narccisitic as you this world could have very well missed out on world events such as the Nazi regime. I understand you have inadequacies in life and unable to ascertain certain life goals you have set for yourself, I may be pressumptious, but I assume these things would be like getting to level 85 in World of Warcraft and losing your viginity.
Respectfully, I ask you not to post on here anymore. If I wanted to argue with children, I would log into your beloved carebear MMO and do heroics all day. Thank you for input of immaturity and vapid logic.
Well firstly i think pulling "nazis" into this was a bit uncalled for.
And while he may have put it harshly he's right. Having ideas is simply not enough, i have ideas, i know plenty of players with ideas , every scrub has ideas. The question is: are your ideas truly revolutionary? Do you have market data suggesting it's going to be profitable? is it feasable? Unless you can back up your idea very strongly you'll just be considered like one of the many "scrubs" who have ideas. And that's even assuming anyone would bother with you.
Unless you got either cash, reputation or skills in programming most companies won't bother. Your ideas may be great but there are so many people who think they have great ideas that it would be a huge waste of time to listen to all of them. So you have to have something that makes you "special". If you don't well, good luck but don't hope too much.
Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt.
Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress.
I put these letters out there for a hope of some interest. My goal at this time is to develop a 2D side scroller built upon the melee and missile combat. I'm choosing to go 2D for hopefully a simplier design development for myself, the key points can be made this way, and if there is a great interest taken and assistance is availble, some one with stronger intuition could assist me with this. The final product would be a 3D world. I'm literally scouring the internet looking for a C++ tutorial to create a simple game like Mario/Tetris where I can get a quick and basic understanding of motion, controls and numeric variables.
The idea it self is may not be "truely" revolutionary but the combiation of physics, controls, and enviroment is something never done or seen in an online world, and never a combination of in any video game, retro to current. But then we're arguing apples and oranges.
I understand the difficulties ahead of me when coming from a background of electronics and gaming vs programmer and dungeon master. It literally is my dream to create games that have rich worlds and player commeradere while playing at the same time.
It's not hard to find C++ tutorials, but you're not going to find basic tutorials for "simple" games, like what you suggested. While they may seem to be simply made, I assure you that the knowledge and development behind them is far greater than you realize.
Start with learning C++. Learn your data structures: pointers, linked lists, OOP, trees, etc. Once you get through that (about 2yrs worth of college), then start learning OpenGL or DirectX.... whichever suits your fancy. You're going to need a very very good unsterstanding of datastructures, to even be able to render a 2D image in either graphic libary mentioned above. Notice, I said render... not create a game. Once you have a good understanding of how rendering 2D images work, then you will be able to work on more basic things, such as movement and scores. Then when you get done with that, you get to throw away most of that information you just learned and dive into rendering 3D with the help of a graphics engine. I do not suggest creating your own, unless you think Linear Algebra and Calculus 3 is a piece of cake... even if you don't create your own, you're going to need a good understanding of those high level mathematics to even work with a pre-built 3D engine, like Ogre or UDK.
This is an extremely simplified version of the things you're going to need to know, before you can even start working on a game in C++. C++ is not a user friendly language and is quite a bit harder to start than say C# or Java. Even as a programmer who does most of his work in C++, I still prefer C# or Java over C++ any day of the week.
Ofc, there are quite a few small game engines out there with their own scripting languages or ones that utilize LUA. If your goal is to create a game, or a prototype, I would suggest finding a 2D Game Engine that uses LUA Scripting. LUA is a great, in depth, scripting language used in some way by probably 95% of professional games.
Yes, I was harsh above. Why? Because I've seen people like you ever since I started thinking about becoming a programmer and most of you have never taken a step to make something of it.
Dreams = No Where
Dreams + Hard Work * 10 = Everywhere (of course then, Dreams =/= Dreams but Dreams = Goals)
Either think of me as an asshole or think of me as an alarm clock. Whichever you choose........ really makes absolutely no difference to me. If all you can do is make fun of what you don't know about me, while claiming to put in applications that game companies will literally throw away and scrounging to make ends meat, while I make $75k/yr (outside NYC and CA) doing what I love...... then well... you might want to start figuring out yourself before figuring out a programming language.
Meh, keep your dreams I guess. I'll take my goals over them any day.
You really need to get off this holier than thou attitude. The person that taught me the basic foundation of computing and computers was one of the highest ranking employees of Cray computers during the 80's and the main Technical Suport when in those days it meant traveling across the world to trouble shoot and fix super computers. Between the years of 2005 and 2007 studied programming at the local college, and taught me that's what I do not want to do. Instead branched off of the business I was working for supporting small specialized medical clinic and their network structures, and worked primarly with website and web design. I went back to school last year to study cisco products and obtain a CCNA. Unfortunately 3rd semester I was forced to drop out for personal reasons.
Can I program.... Yes.... Do I enjoy it, absolutely not... Unfortunately I've lost more information than I retrained, and in that school the focus was on, JavaScript, Java, PHP, SQL, and Perl, not till after I left did they begin to offer a CPP class.
I really don't understand what your yearly gross income has to do with anything relevant on this thread either. I don't feel the need to measure E-Peens.
What I want is advice.... apparently, I already knew the steps to take and this has just been an ugly display of your dismay at others who wish to achieve something greater than what you're capable of yourself.
About 60% of my last post was advice. I gave you step by step learning process, whether you know Java, PHP, or Perl or not. You still have to learn those foundations in C++, as they don't really apply to Java, PHP, or Perl much... if at all.
The people I know who do Java and nothing but Java, can barely even read C++. It's like me trying to read COBOL.
Dont worry about this guy telling you you cant do something. Now as for the making of an MMO, yes its hard, yes it takes time but by no means is it imposible or rediculously expencive as you seem to think. Will this guy be able to afford to make a game the size of WoW? No definately not but if hes got the excess time and dedication then thers no reason he cant make something on the level of
http://www.quelsolaar.com/love/index.html
http://www.minecraft.net/
Now granted on the extreme scope of any modern day MMO but that does not change the fact that both are done on a very limited budget by people with little experience. Hell even EvE possibly one of the most successful Inde ventures to date. As far as getting a job with blizard on just having ideas? What he says here is true GOOD LUCK with that. People spend years in the gameing field playtesting etc just to get a CHANCE at getting an internship with a company like blizard.
What you have overlooked also is that you do not need C++ programming expertise to make a game anymore there are several decent game engines these days that take code in java, c# etc and work very well. As for engines dont be lazy do the research yourself and find the one that suits you. as for tutorials....
If you have the cast to spend on helping these AWSOME guys
http://www.3dbuzz.com/vbforum/content.php?212
They have an entire series that started a few months ago on how to build an MMO game with an engine called Unity. Its not free as i said but they have many other free resorces to help you brush up on your programming skills if you wish.
And if you want to start out a bit simpler with the same engine
http://www.burgzergarcade.com/hack-slash-rpg-unity3d-game-engine-tutorial
a step by step guide to programming a RPG.
As for advice to the OP stop being lazy all of this info is freely available just do a google search. If you plan to go through with a venture like this dont expect everyone else to do the work for you.
It's not having an idea that matters. It's what you do with the idea that makes a difference. Starting on the threads is a good beginning, but i'll wager you'll make headway with discussions like this at a local technical college, or university, vs these boards.
Remember, people will pull you down when they get a chance. Don't let it happen.
KillerTwinkie - That one guy who used to mod mmorpg.com's forums.
If you look at who made an MMO you wil notice hundreds of names alot of them having nothing to do with programming or investing. If you want to get into the MMO making field but do not have money to invest or any desire to program then I suggest you look into the various fields that companies use to develop such things and work towards that goal.
Maybe your idea has merit..maybe its great.... But to be blunt nobody will listen to you until you have experience or money...welcome to life.
it's a truth, the only way to get an idea into a game would be to have the skill.
I gave up when my own budget and bills overshadowed any hope of learning even visual basic, and thats pretty bad.