What is the easiest way to create a game. How are computer games created? Programs for games on the computer. Game Development - Profession or Hobby

Where to start developing your game? Oddly enough, but the very first and obvious point here will be: leave this venture.

Seriously. If you are just planning your path in the gaming industry, your eyes are shining, and you are sure that you know how to make your "", or - do not start.

The development and promotion of games is for the most part not hanging out with friends in nature with kebabs and beer. This process requires maximum efficiency, often forcing not only to say goodbye to all your free time, but also to add a few extra hours per day.

Don't be put off. The sooner you realize that your gameplay is not viable, notice the limitations of the chosen engine, or find out that all this was already somewhere, the better.

At the moment there is a huge number of all kinds of "constructors" through which you can build a simple prototype even without basic programming knowledge. The same Game Maker allows you to assemble a completely playable prototype in a few evenings.

Another important point: don't be afraid to get rid of your failed creations. Expect your first prototype to go to the trash can. The second is probably the same. It is very important to be able to filter out failed ideas as early as possible and not waste team time on them. You can try to return to the ideas and best practices left earlier if you suddenly get a glimpse of it. But don't try to pull out an overtly weak idea just because you've already put some resources into it (be it your time, team time, or outsourced content).

Let's say that you have adequately assessed the strength of your team, wrote a concept, conducted market research, and made a simple but playable prototype. What's next?

Exhibitions, parties and showcases. Show it. Look. Get feedback. Even if we discard relatively large events like Devgamm and White Nights, where indie is now very fond of and willingly give them places for demonstrations, there are a huge number of small indie events.

Game development is hard work, obviously having little to do with playing these very games. But, if you still decided to start developing your project, then try to adhere to the following rules:

• When developing an idea and choosing an engine for the game, it is preferable to look back at the skills and level of expertise you and your team have.
• Put your idea on paper
• Do market research. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your idea. Rate your competitors
• Prototype as fast as possible
• Don't be afraid to "shoot" your unfortunate creation, if necessary, to move on
• Show the concept and prototype. But don't forget to filter your incoming feedback very strongly.

If you want to personally attend new open lectures on the gaming industry and learn a little more about it, then in March you can go to several free open events at the VSHBI at once, the entrance to which is carried out simply by registration:

• March 01: Features of localization of games of domestic developers to other countries
• March 02: Open Day of the Game Project Management Program
• March 15: Team management in the gaming industry
• March 22: Game graphics: basic principles and tools

Hello.

Games ... These are some of the most popular programs for which many users buy computers and laptops. Probably, PCs would not have become so popular if there were no games on them.

And if earlier in order to create any game it was necessary to have special knowledge in the field of programming, drawing models, etc., now it is enough to study some editor. Many editors, by the way, are quite simple and even a novice user can understand them.

In this article, I would like to touch upon such popular editors, as well as, using the example of one of them, to disassemble step by step the creation of some simple game.

2D is understood as two-dimensional games. For example: Tetris, fishing cat, pinball, various card games, etc.

An example is a 2D game. Card Game: Solitaire

1) Game Maker

Developer site: http://yoyogames.com/studio

The process of creating a game in Game Maker ...

It is one of the easiest editors to create small games. The editor is made of quite high quality: it is easy to start working in it (everything is intuitive), at the same time, there are great opportunities for editing objects, rooms, etc.

Typically, this editor is used to make top-down games and platformers (side view). For more experienced users (those who know a little about programming) there is a special feature for inserting scripts and code.

It should be noted that there is a wide variety of effects and actions that can be assigned to various objects (future characters) in this editor: the number is simply amazing - more than a few hundred!

2) Construct 2

Website: http://c2community.ru/

A modern game designer (in the truest sense of the word) that allows even novice PC users to make modern games. Moreover, I want to emphasize that with the help of this program, games can be made for different platforms: IOS, Android, Linux, Windows 7/8, Mac Desktop, Web (HTML 5), etc.

This constructor is very similar to Game Maker - here you also need to add objects, then assign them behavior (rules) and create various events. The editor is built on the WYSIWYG principle - i.e. you will see the result immediately as you build your game.

The program is paid, although for a start there will be plenty of a free version. The difference between the various versions is described on the developer's website.

2. Programs for creating 3D games

(3D - three-dimensional games)

1) 3D RAD

Website: http://www.3drad.com/

One of the cheapest 3D constructors (by the way, the free version, which has a 3-month update limit, will be enough for many users).

3D RAD is the easiest constructor to learn, there is practically no need to program here, except perhaps for writing the coordinates of objects in various interactions.

The most popular game format created with this engine is racing. By the way, the screenshots above confirm this once again.

2) Unity 3D

Developer site: http://unity3d.com/

A serious and comprehensive tool for creating serious games (sorry for the tautology). I would recommend switching to it after studying other engines and constructors, i.e. with a stuffed hand.

The Unity 3D package includes an engine that fully leverages the capabilities of DirectX and OpenGL. Also in the arsenal of the program is the ability to work with 3D models, work with shaders, shadows, music and sounds, a huge library of scripts for standard tasks.

Perhaps the only drawback of this package is the need for knowledge of programming in C # or Java - part of the code during compilation will have to be added in "manual mode".

3) NeoAxis Game Engine SDK

Developer website: http://www.neoaxis.com/

Free development environment for almost any 3D games! With the help of this complex, you can do races, shooters, and arcade games with adventures ...

There are many add-ons and extensions for the Game Engine SDK on the network for many tasks: for example, the physics of a car or an airplane. With extensible libraries, you don't even need a serious knowledge of programming languages!

Thanks to a special player built into the engine, games created in it can be played in many popular browsers: Google Chrome, FireFox, Internet Explorer, Opera and Safari.

The Game Engine SDK is distributed as a free non-commercial development engine.

3. How to create a 2D game in Game Maker - step by step

Game Maker. Adding an object.

Then for the object events are registered: there can be dozens of them, each event is the behavior of your object, its movement, sounds associated with it, controls, points, and other game characteristics.

To add an event, click the button of the same name - then on the right in the column select the action for the event. For example, moving horizontally and vertically by pressing the arrow keys.

Adding events to objects.

Game Maker. 5 events have been added for the Sonic object: movement of the character in different directions when pressing the arrow keys; plus a condition is set when crossing the border of the playing zone.

By the way, there can be a lot of events: here Game Maker does not waste time on trifles, the program will offer you a lot of things:

The task of character movement: movement speed, jumps, jump strength, etc.;

Overlaying a piece of music during various actions;

The appearance and removal of a character (object), etc.

Important! For each object in the game, you need to register your events. The more events you write for each object, the more versatile and with great possibilities the game will turn out. In principle, even without knowing what exactly this or that event will do, you can train by adding them and watch how the game will behave after that. In general, a huge field for experiments!

6) The last and one of the most important steps is creating a room. The room is a kind of stage of the game, the level at which your objects will interact. To create such a room, click the button with the following icon:.

Adding a room (game stage).

In the created room, using the mouse, you can arrange our objects at the stage. Set up the background of the game, set the name of the game window, specify the views, etc. In general - a whole range for experiments and work on the game.

Launching the resulting game.

Game Maker will open a game window in front of you. In fact, you can watch what you do, experiment, play. In my case, Sonic can move depending on keystrokes on the keyboard. A kind of mini-game ( eh, but there were times when a white dot running across a black screen caused wild surprise and interest among the people ...).

The resulting game ...

Yes, of course, the resulting game is primitive and very simple, but the example of its creation is very indicative. Further, experimenting and working with objects, sprites, sounds, backgrounds and rooms - you can create a very good 2D game. To create such games 10-15 years ago, it was necessary to have special knowledge, now it is enough to be able to rotate the mouse. Progress!

Best! All successful game-building ...

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In this tutorial, you will learn in detail how to create a game: work out an idea, choose a toolkit, and organize the development process so that it flows easily and leads to a result.

Hi guys. In this article I will be extremely honest with you and tell you how to create a game yourself. I warn you in advance that making a video game is difficult and very time consuming. And if your goal is not another clone of a snake, Tetris or any other game from a step-by-step tutorial, you will have to put a lot of effort into it.

Too many people, trying to make their first game, plunged headlong into the engine and abandoned the idea, because it was "too difficult", "I'm tired", "I don't see any progress." In fact, this is just a set of stupid excuses that appear because of the "shot down sight", that is, the desire to immediately make games of a large caliber, like The Witcher or Final Fantasy.

These are projects that whole teams of specialists, teams of hundreds of people have worked on for several years, so even if you really want to and spend your whole life, you will not be able to make the same large-scale product.

Your first game is a workout, a draft, not a masterpiece. Even creating one level of the simplest pixel game can be an overwhelming task at first, and choosing something huge - you simply will not have an idea of ​​where the beginning is, so spend a lot of time on details that absolutely do not matter.

The main task is to create a product that you can play yourself. Don't care if this is a linear platformer in two colors and takes 7 minutes to complete. You did it, you did not lose heart, did not decide to give up everything, which already makes you better, you are not one of those who despaired and gave up!

Let your mom, brother, friends, anyone else play it. They will criticize, because they are used to seeing games as massive projects. Do not pay attention, because, firstly: you yourself created your first game, secondly: next time you will make it faster and better, and, thirdly, you will soon achieve the level of skill that they will all ask for let them play with you.

Your game should reflect your skills. Everything needs to be done sequentially: an idea has appeared - you check the possibility of its implementation - if there is no opportunity, you try to learn - having acquired a skill, you implement the idea. And this should be done every time. Over time, take a look at the Asset Store, perhaps there is already a fragment over which you hump for several days.

Finally, something like a parting word: most likely, you are trying to do development in parallel with your studies or work. Sometimes it will take weeks before you can find the time, but if you really want to be successful in this area, find these hours and increase the number of your skills. Remember, everyone can give up, but not everyone can reach the end.

Today the Internet is full of various tutorials, instructional videos and free software. All this allows anyone who has a lot of free time and an idea to create their own computer game. However, you must also have a clear understanding of the process itself and its sequence.

What kind of game to make?

Most likely from a person who is interested in "How to make a game yourself?" already have an idea. Most often this is some kind of modification of one of the games that he played. Maybe your favorite game is missing something and you decided to add it (think about whether your game has modding capabilities: built-in editor or MOD-tool).

For example, the genre of MOBA games was created in the WarCraft 3 editor (the now popular Dota - appeared precisely due to the editor's wide capabilities).

In any case, the starting point will be the idea. It is with her that you should start.

Idea

But just in case you are thinking "What game to make?" - the article will help you find an idea.

The gameplay component of your game idea will determine the game genre and platform.

Genre and platform of the future game

When choosing a genre, keep in mind that you should start with something short and simple. The first pancake is often lumpy, but if you can bake this pancake, your development muscles will be strengthened and you can do something more next time.

Then decide on a platform. This is incredibly important, as gameplay capabilities depend on the platform. For example, making a dynamic shooter where the accuracy of the shot depends on the reaction and focusing on mobile devices with a touch screen is not a good idea.

Concept

After you have any thoughts, sit down and describe the concept of the game. At first, these can only be theses, which then turn into logically stated thoughts. If you failed to do this, reconsider your idea and get rid of contradictions.

Determine what should attract potential players, that is, its very philosophy. For example, offer to become the sole ruler of a small island country, or to lead a fighter directly from the cockpit, timely switching the necessary toggle switches.

Now to the specifics of your game. Most likely, a lot of experimenters have already tried themselves in your genre, but you still need to come up with something of your own, otherwise there will be no interest in the project. Here's a small example:

Example

Concept: small shop simulator.
Peculiarity: you personally negotiate with suppliers, attract new customers and desperately try to survive in the harsh realities.
Explain what factors affect success, and also talk about the key features of the game mechanics.
Don't try to add items that you don't want to implement. Your game should be something you would like to pay for yourself.
The last step is to put all the drafts in the daddy, and then in the drawer. After a couple of weeks, return to them, since you may lose both desire and passion, and it is better to go through this stage even before the start of the project than to leave everything in a half-finished state.

Development plan

A clear development plan is a solid foundation for your project and a solid foundation for your growth as a game developer

This plan will be the skeleton of your game, so here you should mention every detail, every micro-moment, everything that you consider important. Those who make games alone can do without plans (assuming a lot of experience), but if you don't have a lot of team or experience under your leadership, then everything should be recorded.

A clear timetable for when to start programming or drawing the very first art can only be owned by you, so I share with you general moments, the violation of which can be set aside a few weeks ago, or even make you abandon the idea of ​​creating your first game.

1. Your plan should be for a month, no more. So trust your intuition and start simple. It's better to finish early than not meet deadlines.
2. Once you realize that this product cannot teach you anything, put it on the shelf and forget. You can test your skills by starting a similar project from scratch.
3. Even the best developers strive to become even cooler, so every new game should start with the thought "I'll do better than last time."
4. Don't ignore planning. In the development of any project, small "force majeure" occurs, and it is almost impossible to predict them, so it is easier to simply take into account the time spent on their elimination in the schedule. Planned 8 hours? Feel free to turn them into 12.
5. Design is one of the last things a budding game developer should think about. Your job is to “build skills,” so spend your weekend introducing a few new mechanics (unfamiliar to you before) rather than drawing.
6. Break your plan into several pieces. Reaching these milestones does a good job of increasing motivation. If you can't keep up with the weekly requirements, simplify the overall plan.
7. Do not set yourself too abstract tasks. Instead of "Working out the character", write "introduce new shooting mechanics" or "change the appearance during the impact" - it is much easier to achieve clear goals.
8. Send yourself no email every Monday. They should contain all the actions taken over the past week. By comparing all emails for the month, you can clearly see the progress.
9. Spend at least an hour a week playing with your product. Ultimately, no one can make YOUR games better than you.
10. After spending two weeks without working on a project, you will be confused and lose the thread, which will force you to start all over again. It is at this point that most people give up and abandon the idea of ​​creating their own game.
11. Killing time for sound and creating an atmosphere in your very first game is incredibly pointless. The main thing is to develop gameplay, because there are masterpieces consisting of ordinary moving pixels.
12. If you've been doing something for more than an hour, and you still can't do it, get help. Why spend a week marking time because you were ashamed to create a topic on the forum?
13. Let others try your game. Yes, criticism will immediately pour in, but you should not pay attention to it. Even the projects of leading studios are often muddied, but that doesn't stop them from continuing to make masterpieces, right?
14. You do not have unlimited resources - so you need to set realistic, achievable goals for yourself.
15. Once you've polished your first game, immediately find a few new ideas and take on a fresh project. Remember to apply what you have learned before.
16. Check out.

Let's move on to creating a table of contents. Oddly enough, the plot is almost completely ignored here. The main thing is to write down all aspects of the game mechanics and explain how they work. Basically, it is the table of contents that forms the basis of the manual for the game.

Now we supplement each thesis of the table of contents with a detailed description of every little thing, and we do it as clearly as possible, otherwise problems with implementation may arise.

Finally, you need to show your plan to everyone you intend to involve in the development. Perhaps, some ideas will not work, or you will be offered more comfortable alternatives. Having received a clear idea of ​​his part of the work, an experienced specialist will immediately make a few comments.

Choice of development tools

The engine is the heart of your game, choose responsibly, read the article

It will be easier for a beginner to take a ready-made engine than to develop his own.
Each engine has its own characteristics. Some will force you to learn programming, and in some - you don't even need to distinguish a procedure from a function, they have visual programming tools.

If we give an extremely broad classification, then the engines can be divided into two types: for two-dimensional projects (GameMaker: Studio, RPG Maker XV) and for three-dimensional games (Unity, Unreal Development Kit and Source)

Check out some of the official video tutorials and try doing something in the engine yourself. If this task seemed too much to you, try to cooperate with a programmer, some guys may be inspired by your idea and help in finalizing it.

Prototype

The next stage is the test version. Sound and graphics do not matter here, the main thing is that all functions work exactly as you intended. By the way, please be patient, because you will have to make changes until you start enjoying the gameplay.

Also, be prepared for the need to create a finished prototype from scratch. Right there you calibrate the controls: it should be as convenient and intuitive as possible. Otherwise, the player will go to look for the exit button in frustration.

This phase is about refining your gameplay design. The phase of searching and trying different options.

Graphics and sound

Decide right away what color spectrum you want. If this is a simple 2D platformer where everything is teeming with pixels, then it makes sense to hire an orchestra and a whole team of graphic designers - a waste of time and money. At the same time, you should not skimp on resources if they are really necessary for the full expression of your idea. Feel free to combine other people's ideas. The only prohibition is copyright infringement.

Here you need to sketch out the rough art. By the way, it is not necessary to be able to draw, because most indie projects use pixel art due to its simplicity and popularity. If you still decide on a three-dimensional project, then you will have to hire professionals to create complex character models.

Finally, create some pieces of the game universe. These are concepts of what a level looks like, or how characters interact outside of gameplay. It's time to bring your ideas to life!

Blender is a simple and free editor for creating 3D models.
Photoshop is indispensable for processing 2D images, and also does an excellent job with textures.
net allows you to quickly create pixel art.
Sounds, along with graphics, create a sense of atmosphere in your game. At your service is a huge set of ready-made sound libraries for free programs, and the missing melodies can be recorded at home, the main thing is to get a microphone.

Refinement

Play what you've created as often as possible. This way you will be able to notice all the roughness. Learn one rule - either modify the element to perfect condition, or delete it. For example, if the gameplay of the level seems too monotonous to you, try making it more varied.
Constantly check the philosophy of the game to avoid the moment when the project turns into a pile of incoherent levels and characters.
Refine the graphics and sound - the process is very time consuming, but the atmosphere depends on it.

Testing phase

Having received the preliminary version of the game (do not confuse it with the prototype), proceed to the search for bugs and errors. It will be better if you find them, rather than potential players on the very first day after the release.

Focus on points that are out of character with your style of play. For example, go to the parts of the map that are not involved during the main gameplay. Testing sometimes takes longer than the development itself, and its speed depends on the number and professionalism of testers.

If there are an incredible number of bugs, fix the biggest ones first. Therefore, start searching for them as early as possible - this will give you more time to make changes. Also, invite friends and acquaintances to play. A look from the outside will allow you to notice many nuances that you yourself would never have guessed. Plus, it's absolutely free.

Release

Organize a promotional campaign: stir up interest on social networks, order reviews for game bloggers, don't forget about the site with a forum, because fans will need to gather somewhere!
Select your distribution platform. It is unlikely that you want to immediately invest in hosting or dedicated servers, so pay attention to popular sites like Steam, GOG, Humble, Play Market and the like. Remember that the owners charge a certain percentage of the cost, so this issue requires a detailed study.
Don't forget to support the game even after the release. Keep fixing bugs, releasing additional content, or jump right into the sequel!

In the article, everything is presented in a very thesis, but at the same time it gives a general idea of ​​the full cycle of the game's release. You shouldn't count on millions of dollars in earnings, because games are, first of all, creativity.

Many may not believe in you. What is really there: for sure, there will be a couple of evenings when you want to abandon everything, but do not give up. Remember: a really good product takes a lot of time, money and your nerves.

P.S.

If you have any questions or need help - write to the forum section, I receive notifications - I will always answer and help in any way I can.

Probably everyone who played computer games thought about creating their own game at least once and retreated in front of the upcoming difficulties. But a game can be created quite simply if you have a special program at hand, and you do not always need knowledge of programming languages ​​to use such programs. On the Internet, you can find many game builders for both beginners and professionals.

If you've decided to get into game making, you definitely need to find yourself some development software. We have selected programs for creating games without the need for programming.

Game Maker is a simple 2D and 3D game maker that lets you create games for a wide range of platforms: Windows, iOS, Linux, Android, Xbox One, and more. But for each OS, the game will need to be configured, since the Game Maker does not guarantee the same game work everywhere. The advantage of the constructor is that it has a low threshold of entry. This means that if you have never been involved in game development, you can safely download Game Maker - it does not require any special programming knowledge.

You can create games using the visual programming system or using the built-in GML language. We advise you to study the latter, since with its help the games come out much more interesting and of better quality. The development process itself is very simple: creating sprites in the editor (you can load ready-made drawings), objects with different properties and levels (rooms) in the editor. The speed of game development in Game Maker is much faster than in other similar engines.

Unity 3D

One of the most powerful and most popular game engines is Unity 3D. With its help, you can create games of any complexity and any genre, using the same visual programming interface. Although initially creating full-fledged games in Unity 3D meant knowing programming languages ​​such as JavaScript or C #, now they are only needed for larger projects. The engine will provide you with a lot of possibilities, you just need to learn how to use them. To do this, you will find tons of training material on the Internet. And the program itself helps the user in every possible way in his work.

Cross-platform, stability, high performance, user-friendly interface - this is just a small list of the advantages of the Unity 3D engine. Here you can create almost everything: from Tetris to your own GTA 5. But the program is best suited for indie game developers. If you decide to list your game on PlayMarket for a reason, you will have to pay the Unity 3D developers a percentage of the sales. And for non-commercial use, the program is free.

And back to the constructors again! Clickteam Fusion is a drag'n'drop 2D game creation software. Here you do not need to know programming, because you will assemble games piece by piece, like a constructor. But you can also create games by writing code for each object. With this program you can create games of any complexity and any genre, preferably with a static picture. Also, the created game can be launched on any device: computer, phone, PDA, etc.

Despite all its simplicity, this program has a large number of varied and interesting tools. It has a testing mode in which you can check the game for errors. Clickteam Fusion is not expensive compared to other programs, and you can also download a free demo version on the official website. Unfortunately, the program is not suitable for large games, but for small arcades it is just that.

Another very good program for creating two-dimensional games is Construct 2. With the help of visual programming, you can create games for various popular and not so popular platforms. Thanks to its simple and intuitive interface, the program is suitable even for those users who have never dealt with game development. Also, beginners will find many tutorials and examples of games in the program, with a detailed explanation of all the processes.

In addition to the standard sets of plugins, behaviors and visual effects, you can independently replenish them by downloading from the Internet, or, if you are an experienced user, write plugins, behaviors and effects in JavaScript. But where there are pluses, there are minuses. The main disadvantage of Construct 2 is that the export of projects to additional platforms is carried out only with the help of third-party programs.

CryEngine is one of the most powerful engines for creating 3D games, the graphics capabilities of which are superior to all other similar programs. It is here that such famous games as Crysis and Far Cry were created. And all this is possible without programming. You will find a very large set of game development tools here, as well as the tools that designers need. You can quickly create sketches of models in the editor, or you can directly at the location.

The physics system in EdgeEngin supports inverse kinematics of characters, vehicles, physics of hard and soft bodies, liquids, tissues. So the objects in your game will behave quite realistically. CryEngine is, of course, very cool, but the price for this software is appropriate. You can check the trial version of the program on the official website, but it should only be bought by advanced users who can cover the costs of the software.

Game Editor is another game builder on our list that resembles a simplified Game Maker. Here you can create simple 2D games without any special programming knowledge. Here you will only work with actors. It can be both characters and objects of "interior". Many different properties and functions can be specified for each actor. You can write actions in the form of a code, or you can just pick up a ready-made script.

With Game Editor, you can create games for both computers and phones. To do this, simply save the game in the correct format. Unfortunately, you are unlikely to create a large project with the Game Editor, as it will take a lot of time and effort. Another drawback is that the developers have abandoned their project and updates are not expected yet.

And here is the competitor for Unity 3D and CryEngine - the Unreal Development Kit. This is another powerful game engine for developing 3D games for many popular platforms. Games can be created here without using programming languages, but simply by setting ready-made events to objects. Despite the difficulty of mastering the program, the Unreal Development Kit gives you tremendous opportunities for creating games. We advise you to learn how to use them all. Fortunately, you will find plenty of materials on the Internet.

For non-commercial use, you can download the program for free. But as soon as you start receiving money for the game, you will have to deduct interest to the developers, depending on the amount received. The Unreal Development Kit project does not stand still and the developers regularly post additions and updates. If you have any problems while working with the program, you can contact the support service on the official website and they will definitely help you.

Kodu Game Lab is probably the best choice for anyone starting out in 3D game development. Thanks to the colorful and intuitive interface, creating games in this program is interesting and not difficult at all. Initially, this project was developed for teaching schoolchildren, but it will still be useful even for adults. The program is very good at helping you figure out how they work and what algorithm for creating games. By the way, you don't even need a keyboard to create a game - you can do everything with just one mouse. You don't need to write any code here, you just need to click on objects and events.

A nice feature of Kodu Game Lab is that it is a free program in Russian. And this, mind you, is a rarity among serious game development programs. There is also a lot of educational material, made in an interesting form of quests. But, no matter how good this environment is, it also has disadvantages. Kodu Game Lab is simple, yes, but there are not as many tools in it as we would like. This development environment is also quite demanding on system resources.

3D Rad is a pretty interesting program for creating 3D games on your computer. As in all of the above programs, it uses a visual programming interface, which will delight novice developers. Over time, you will learn how to create scripts yourself. It is one of the few programs that is free even for commercial use. Almost all game engines either need to be bought or a percentage of income deducted.

In 3D Rad you can create a game of any genre and make money from it. Interestingly, in 3D Rad you can create a multiplayer game or an online one, and even set up a game chat. This is another interesting feature of this program. Also, the constructor pleases with the quality of the visualization and the physics engine. You can customize the behavior of rigid and soft bodies, as well as make ready-made 3D models obey the laws of physics by adding springs, joints, and more to them.

With the help of another interesting and colorful program Stencyl, you can create bright and colorful games for many popular platforms. It does not put any genre restrictions, so here you can bring all your ideas to life. Stencyl is not just an application development software, but a set of tools that makes creating an application easier by allowing you to concentrate on the essentials.

In this case, there is no need to write the code yourself - all you need is to move the blocks with the code, thus changing the behavior of the main characters of your application. Of course, the free version of the program is quite limited, but still it is enough to create a small and interesting game. You will also find a lot of teaching material and the official wiki encyclopedia - StencylPedia.

This is just a small part of all existing game creation programs. Almost all of the solutions discussed in this list are paid, but you can always download the trial version and decide if it's worth spending the money. We hope that you will find something for yourself here and soon we will be able to see the games you created.

This article will tell you what is still needed to create a computer game. If you are tired of general advice, look through this document and you will surely find something useful in it. The material is intended for beginners and is of no interest to professionals.

Freedom or money

Do you want to create a computer game? I hope you have already resolved your doubts. Based on the fact that you are now reading this text, I dare to assume that yes. Therefore, I suggest you ask yourself another, no less commonplace, but no less important question: why do you need this? The answer to this question is already less obvious, and I will try to help you find it. It depends on it, first of all, what kind of tools you will use.

And if you think about it, there are two options for the answer.

Option one. After reading an article in your favorite magazine, hearing an enthusiastic story from a friend or flipping through the Internet forums, you realized that a mere mortal could assemble a game and immediately became infected with this idea. Thus, you write the program out of pure enthusiasm for yourself, your beloved, presentation to friends, or, in extreme cases, for free distribution on the Web. That is, commercial distribution is not initially expected. In this case, you can not especially embarrass yourself in the choice of development tools. I do not urge you to switch to using exclusively pirated software. Just keep in mind the fact that many large companies - developers of popular software - turn a blind eye to such use of their products. The "try and buy" principle generally fits into their ideology.

According to the second option, you, on the contrary, are just looking for a way to earn more and have decided that the creation of gaming programs is the long-awaited bird of luck, your chance to step from rags to riches. It should be noted that very often the second option follows from the first. Having created a really high-quality product and constantly improving it, you decide to charge a fee for its use. In this situation, you no longer have such a wealth of choice. One way or another, you will have to purchase licensed versions of the programs, otherwise problems will naturally arise. So, willy-nilly, you will have to evaluate your financial capabilities. In order to avoid misunderstandings, I had to raise this topic here.

Now let's think about what is still useful for us to write the Game.

Flash and game designers

Flash is a unique program that has no competitors in its niche, mainly due to its broad functionality. Using just one product, you can be a programmer, web designer and artist at the same time. Games created with Flash are slightly easier to distribute than "real" games. But you won't be able to put together a serious project on a flash. If you are a lone programmer, then Flash can be almost the ideal solution for you, saving you time and money. But if you work in a team and want to make the Game, and not an interactive cartoon, I highly recommend paying attention to more specialized products.

Now regarding all kinds of game constructors. My friends, using them is pure lame. They (the constructors) lack the versatility of Flash, without providing any benefits in return. With the help of a constructor, you can do only what the creator intended, while translators like Delphi or Visual C ++ allow you to solve any programming problem.

My advice to you: stop using game constructors and immediately switch to "serious" products.

Debriefing

I hope I dissuaded you from using all kinds of flashes and directed you to the true path of the creator of games, if not, return to the previous section :)

And now it's time to figure out what we still need in the difficult field of game making. First, you need a personal computer, no matter how trite it may sound. Without him, sorry, no where. Secondly, a head capable of thinking, analyzing and a little imagination will definitely come in handy. And the last required attribute of a programmer-game-maker, of course, is a translator. About him something dear and will be discussed further. In addition to the required set, you will need other programs like a graphics editor, but more about them later.

Choosing a translator

Notice that I haven’t said a word yet about choosing a programming language. There are a great many of them, and theoretically almost any will be suitable for writing a game. You can write games in BASIC and FORTRAN, and, pardon the expression, on the wall in the outhouse. Here it is important to decide what you mean by the word "game" and what kind of game you want to make. The device of modern graphics games is fundamentally different from all sorts of even-odd and others like them. A word puzzle that works in text mode is also called a game. And for this very reason, among the indispensable attributes of a game creator, I did not mention a graphics editor. Personally, under the proud phrase "computer game" I imagine a colorful show with dynamic action and the obligatory presence of graphics. To write such games, DirectX was created and such games are sold today in thousands of copies.

I pay such attention to this issue because play is a very vague concept and it is important to decide from the very beginning what exactly you want to do.

Have you decided? Then you can safely move on to choosing a translator, or, to put it simply, a development environment. Note that I do not recommend choosing a programming language, but a translator. This is due to one simple reason. The programmer doesn't work with C or pascal. It uses Microsoft Visual C ++ or Borland Pascal. It doesn't matter which language you will program in. Ultimately, what you can create is largely determined by the capabilities of a particular translator. I recommend opting for the already mentioned Visual C ++, Borland C ++ Builder or Borland Delphi. The presented translators are sold in several editions. I do not recommend taking the most sophisticated super pro version. Basically, the difference between different editions lies in the number of visual components and auxiliary utilities available to the programmer, which is not essential for creating games.

Game engines

Assembling a game from standard visual components is not the most beautiful solution. Following it, you lose acceptable performance and deliberately limit yourself in opportunities. However, writing a game "from scratch" today is also not accepted. DirectX libraries have been created to simplify the creation of gaming and multimedia applications. With many advantages, including high performance, programming in "pure" DirectX has one serious drawback - the high complexity of development.

And therefore, a lot of so-called "game engines" based on DirectX and greatly facilitating the programming process were created. Do not neglect, but also do not abuse their use. It would be funny if the standard Windows solitaire was written on the DirectX engine and required a 3D accelerator in the system to work.

The most sophisticated engines are sold for big money and their distribution is strictly limited. Fortunately, there are many free engines available on the Internet. For example, if you are using Delphi and are new to programming, I recommend LCI Creator and DelphiX to you.

Choosing brushes

A few words about graphic editors. To create any decent graphics in Paint'e, you must have a remarkable talent and unlimited free time, so I recommend going a more civilized way. Of course, Photoshop is an expensive thing, but it will definitely come in handy. Another well-established program is Corel PhotoPaint. For processing 3D models, I recommend 3D Studio Max, which is almost the de facto standard in the field of 3D graphics.

Associated funds

And finally, I would like to mention, so to speak, secondary tools used in the game development process and worthy of your attention. Here I will not be verbose and will get straight to the point. After some success, you may find a program for creating installation discs useful - InstallShield Express is the best choice for a novice developer. Use InstallShield DemoShield to create a product presentation and create a CD wrapper. I don't even stutter here about the means of making music and other such things. Music for games today is rarely created by themselves, but downloaded from the Internet, especially for novice developers. The main thing is that the source is not too famous. One of your main assistants is the Internet. Do not neglect visiting On-Line forums and conferences.