How to make a game?

[Judy Doherty]

My son wants to make a computer game for a school project. I know that there are programs like Shockwave and Director - but does anyone here who is experienced with making games have advice for us? Like more simple programs for him to do this?

Thanks!

Judy

[Joseph]

I would recommend Game Maker (http://www.gamemaker.nl/) for an introduction into game development. It's got a simple point and click interface for making simple games (Pong/PacMan/Space Shooters, etc) and then a really in depth programming language for making advanced games (Doom clones, etc) The new version can also do real 3D with the scripting language, so that's a plus.

I used to play around with it a lot, and it's a great program. It's free to use if you don't mind having a Game Maker copyright show up before your game loads - or it's only $20 to register it. You also get full rights to any program/game made with it - you can sell them, burn them on CD and give them out, whatever. There are a number of professional companies that sell Shareware games made with Game Maker, if you've got the time and the skills it's really a powerful program.

[Randall]

That program sounds like it would have been great when I was a kid. It was video games that drew me to computers in the first place, but you had to know assembly language for all but the simplest of graphics, so I turned in other directions.

Randall

[Wassercrats]

That program sounds like it would have been great when I was a kid. It was video games that drew me to computers in the first place, but you had to know assembly language for all but the simplest of graphics, so I turned in other directions.

RandallComputer magazines were full of fun BASIC programs. I eventually learned 6502 Assembly too, but BASIC programs were enough to get me interested.

[Randall]

I did some Basic programming in those days (still do, if you count Visual Basic and its related mutant offspring), but no games.

I think by the time I had the C64 (which might have been capable of doing graphical games in Basic, I dunno) I wasn't much into games anymore. I was thinking about computer animation instead -- probably in parallel with my interest in moviemaking -- and I actually got to do some of it in college before my interests wandered off again.

Randall

[Wassercrats]

Yes, you could program graphical games in BASIC on the C-64. I created a few that I'll try to resurrect some day. I even had some kind of movie making program, but I'm sure it was nowhere near professional quality. I don't remember anything about it.