Best site to start on games design?

Soldato
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I'd like to get into game design, does anyone know of a decent engine i can start on? Maybe something from the UT series?

I have a C++ kit engine and guide, but its about 9 years old so i'm looking for something more up to date.

To put it bluntly i want to design and learn about all aspects of a game, characters, surroundings, sound, lighting, etc etc.

Could anyone point me in the right direction please?

Thanks.
 
Soldato
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Rincewind said:
what sort of game, if it's FPS, then UT2004 or Half Life 2 have good devkits, if it's an RPG i'd say oblivion but i got stuck...


Yeh most likely FPS at the moment, but i'm open to anything especially stuff with a decent learning curve.
 
Man of Honour
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For a beginner have a look at the Torque Engine, its a fairly basic engine, uses c++ and has its own quite simple scripting language

Being a games programmer myself, feel free to add me to msn or email me if you wanna talk more

Email in trust and msn is there too i think
 
Soldato
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Steedie said:
For a beginner have a look at the Torque Engine, its a fairly basic engine, uses c++ and has its own quite simple scripting language

Being a games programmer myself, feel free to add me to msn or email me if you wanna talk more

Email in trust and msn is there too i think
what games have you worked on mate.
 
Associate
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used darkbasic a little, made a space invaders rip-off

dark basic isnt too bad, has its own compiler and debugger

anything is a damn steep learning curve though

good luck man
 
Soldato
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Saying you want to be a game designer is a bit general. What area do you want to focus in? I suggest you try and get involved with a mod team (although this can be almost as difficult as actually getting a job :rolleyes: ) as either a programmer, modeller or mapper. Not many people can successfully be a jack of all trades.
 
Soldato
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Psyk said:
Saying you want to be a game designer is a bit general. What area do you want to focus in? I suggest you try and get involved with a mod team (although this can be almost as difficult as actually getting a job :rolleyes: ) as either a programmer, modeller or mapper. Not many people can successfully be a jack of all trades.


Yes your right, but i'd like to start off with a little of everything, it probably sounds harder, but it will help me make my mind up on what kind of area i'd like to be in.
 
Soldato
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Psyk said:
Saying you want to be a game designer is a bit general. What area do you want to focus in? I suggest you try and get involved with a mod team (although this can be almost as difficult as actually getting a job :rolleyes: ) as either a programmer, modeller or mapper. Not many people can successfully be a jack of all trades.


Infact being a jack of all trades is probably worse.. We have to turn away hundreds of applicants every week becuase they know littles bits of everything but arnt great in any of them. So i would serisouly try and specialise, and with next gen you can be even more specialised..

IE.. we have a new employee who mearly does multimap textures, ie all the scratches on the cars in burnout on the 360. So not the colour textures, just the worn effects for when you hit the walls.. Its very single minded work but if your good at it.. its very useful.
 
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Soldato
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I'd personally go for Unreal Engine.
(honestly nothing to do with the fact I have been mapping for unreal 4 years)

The editor ships with the game(s) and is really easy to use. So thats level design covered.for the animaation/modelling you'l have to be using a 3d app like 3dsmax/maya. Unreal also is a great game to code for, it uses UnrealScript which is basicly C++ with a few things added. Quite easy to follow what is happening (although I'm no good at scripting)
 
Soldato
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PinkFloyd said:
I'd personally go for Unreal Engine.
(honestly nothing to do with the fact I have been mapping for unreal 4 years)

The editor ships with the game(s) and is really easy to use. So thats level design covered.for the animaation/modelling you'l have to be using a 3d app like 3dsmax/maya. Unreal also is a great game to code for, it uses UnrealScript which is basicly C++ with a few things added. Quite easy to follow what is happening (although I'm no good at scripting)
That sounds like advice to follow. It'll give you a good opportunity to find out which parts you like the most. And imo UnrealScript is a good way to learn some important programming concepts if you decide to go down that route.
 
Soldato
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PinkFloyd said:
I'd personally go for Unreal Engine.
(honestly nothing to do with the fact I have been mapping for unreal 4 years)

The editor ships with the game(s) and is really easy to use. So thats level design covered.for the animaation/modelling you'l have to be using a 3d app like 3dsmax/maya. Unreal also is a great game to code for, it uses UnrealScript which is basicly C++ with a few things added. Quite easy to follow what is happening (although I'm no good at scripting)


Thanks a lot, pretty much the answer i was looking for :)

Thanks peeps.
 
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The Source engine very good. Probably the best documentation I have ever seen.

Quick Category Navigation
Modding Creating, organising and releasing your Source project.
Level Design Maps are the cornerstone of Source, where it all comes together. Learn about all aspects of producing them here.
Choreography (FacePoser) Make Source's characters come to life with its uniquely powerful choreography technologies.
AI AI controls the behavior of all but the simplest of NPC actions and Source makes using or creating it easy.
Material System Textures and shaders are combined in Source to create materials.
Sound System Documentation on Source's software sound system.
Modeling Everything you need to know about modeling for Source.
VGUI Valve's proprietary GUI mimics Windows' and works both in-game and on the desktop. Used for HUDs, 3D cameras and more.
Programming The nuts and bolts of any MOD, programming is what makes things different.
Tutorials Need help trying to use a particular Source feature? Check here.
Technical Miscellaneous technical aspects about the Source engine and Half-Life 2 programming.
Glossary Explanations of common terms.
Third Party Tools Non-Valve developer tools.
 
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