Game design software

back_on_track

I wonder if anyone can help me?

I would like to get some software that allows you to create a game, like a RPG, but that would be suitable for a teenager to follow.

Have no idea if there would be anything suitable?
Any suggestions would be absolutely brilliant, as I have no idea where to start, or what I need to look for in the product.

Thanks for reading.

googler

You want the teenager to be able to follow the game, or the software?

Are you looking to build a game for a teenager to play, or find software suitable for the teenager to build the game?

jaydeeuk1

Does this teenager know anything about programming?

If you know a specific type of game, they will be best to use something called an 'engine'. Its basically a shed load of code someone else has written, like physics, AI, networking, game engine etc, so the programmer can concentrate on the actual game bit, like the story, look and feel.

Have a look at this...

http://unity3d.com/

Or in google type in 'free rpg engine' for something specific.

back_on_track

Googler:
I want to find software that they can follow to build a game themselves. Sorry for not being clear


JaydeeUK1:
No, no programming experience.
If they use an engine, then they don't need any knowledge of programming, is that right?
Will have a look at that link, and search google, thank you.

Hope Im making sense here!
Thanks for replying.

Jason1969

Mission Maker is upposed to be good, not sure how much it is to buy.

Jase

RobTang

http://www.rpgmakerweb.com/ ???

The XNA framework might be a good idea, mainly for xbox and or windows phone, but you can do pc releases (I think, well you used to be able to). Andriod and iOS development are probably better avenues but they are a but more serious

The Unreal engine might also be worth a look into but it may be a bit too much.

The problem is you need a ton of talent to make a game as a sole developer.

jaydeeuk1

If they have no programming experience at all, then they're probably at least a good year or two away from being able to implement an engine in c++ or java (assuming they learn and practice every day and engine is fully featured where code can just be modified), and 5 years or so from coding one completely from scatch - assuming they even have the logical thinking brain required!

A better option...

http://www.rpgmakerweb.com/

Edit - ha, didn't even see the response above!

neilwoods

Even if you could create the code for the game, there is the idea's behind the game, the player interaction, how they move around, the storyline. Then you have the graphic interface, all the artwork.

It's a massive undertaking.

Might be an idea to create a RPG board game first (if they haven't already).

Bodymass

Hi, yeah I've used RPGmaker in the past and it's quite good. There used to be a popular tutorial on how to go about making levels on Youtube, but sadly he deleted his account for some unbeknownst reason (was a Scandinavian fella).

It's pretty good and easy to understand.

Failing that you can use Renpy which is more text orientated and a few examples of games that use this engine have appeared on game giveaway of the day website (the sister site of giveawayoftheday). Sorry because I've been slapped with this huge banner telling everyone I'm a n00b, I cannot post links:

renpy(dot)org
game.giveawayoftheday(dot)com
giveawayoftheday(dot)com

Vera Blanc: Moonlight released free of charge on Oct 15th on gamegiveawayoftheday, uses the Renpy engine.

Alternatively you can use AGS by Chris Jones. It's a programme called Adventure Game Studios and allows you to create your own games (mainly point and click), but I know a lot of people who have had a lot of commercial success with this. The most recent game to use it was Gemini Rue by Wadjet Eye Games. The game got a 9/10 on IGN. Dave Gilbert is a personal friend of mine! Great game and great engine. It's totally free as well.

Just type AGS into google (sorry cannot post links which is sooooo annoying).:(

back_on_track

Thank you all so much for the help. You have given me some really useful info.

:beer: