Ludum Dare (again!)
In two weeks from now it's time for Ludum Dare! This time I'm telling you early so you all can mark the date 
It's a great exercise because it forces you to actually finish a game.. and you can use any tools you like as long as you make everything within 48 hours.
There is no reason not to join... Who's in?
It's a great exercise because it forces you to actually finish a game.. and you can use any tools you like as long as you make everything within 48 hours.
There is no reason not to join... Who's in?
I've been entertaining the idea of cooking up a small text adventure with Löve for this, although I'm currently feeling a bit out of it. Will see tomorrow, though.
Cool, you should totally do it!
I'll be using Löve too, i find it very easy to prototype quick games with, but it still has a lot of flexibility for more serious games!
I'll be using Löve too, i find it very easy to prototype quick games with, but it still has a lot of flexibility for more serious games!
Can anyone teach me to program so I can try my hand, a possible program course next year seems a little long and might or might not happen.
I would suggest Codecademy on Facebook. I'm currently attempting to learn Ruby right now.
On Facebook...if you think it will work I'll check it out.
Something like Lua/Löve is probably a pretty decent place to start. I haven't used Löve much myself (and didn't enter the LD, alas), but I'm at a stage where I feel fairly cozy about using it, so if I want to do something I haven't tried before, learn-it-as-you-go isn't too much of a hair-pulling experience. It's probably a bit more complicated than learning DinkC, but not too much.
If your primary interest is in creating games, I think that using a platform like that, that is specifically designed for making games, is definitely the way to go. (There are a ton of those, with varying levels of complexity. Ruby, which KrisKnox mentioned, is the scripting language for Game Maker, IIRC?) After you're good with that, if you feel like it, you can move to learning a "real" programming language and it'll be a lot easier then, thanks to the things that you already know.
If you start learning something like C++ from scratch, it'll be a while before you get to the stage where you're actually writing dialogue, or doing anything else that directly relates to a game. As such, it can be a rather discouraging experience of trudging through dung you don't really give a dang about, and it's difficult to motivate yourself through that.
If, on the other hand, you *want* to learn programming in general, that's a different matter. Just google "Learn C++ in 30 days" or something, and start reading. School is a piece of crap. Whatever you can learn at school, you can learn yourself at home in a fraction of the time.
What learning things on your own DOES require, though, is a little bit of initiative and the determination to stick with it. Contrary to popular sentiment, learning isn't fun. (The fun part is succeeding at writing code - not the part where it doesn't work and you can't figure out why)
If your primary interest is in creating games, I think that using a platform like that, that is specifically designed for making games, is definitely the way to go. (There are a ton of those, with varying levels of complexity. Ruby, which KrisKnox mentioned, is the scripting language for Game Maker, IIRC?) After you're good with that, if you feel like it, you can move to learning a "real" programming language and it'll be a lot easier then, thanks to the things that you already know.
If you start learning something like C++ from scratch, it'll be a while before you get to the stage where you're actually writing dialogue, or doing anything else that directly relates to a game. As such, it can be a rather discouraging experience of trudging through dung you don't really give a dang about, and it's difficult to motivate yourself through that.
If, on the other hand, you *want* to learn programming in general, that's a different matter. Just google "Learn C++ in 30 days" or something, and start reading. School is a piece of crap. Whatever you can learn at school, you can learn yourself at home in a fraction of the time.
What learning things on your own DOES require, though, is a little bit of initiative and the determination to stick with it. Contrary to popular sentiment, learning isn't fun. (The fun part is succeeding at writing code - not the part where it doesn't work and you can't figure out why)
What learning things on your own DOES require, though, is a little bit of initiative and the determination to stick with it. Contrary to popular sentiment, learning isn't fun. (The fun part is succeeding at writing code - not the part where it doesn't work and you can't figure out why)
This is SO SO true. Even using Game Maker (which I believe is based off of Delphi, not Ruby. RPG Maker is Ruby I believe) is a tough experience when you are trying to discover why a particular stupid bug is happening or how to do a particular tricky thing. Regardless of language, a difficult problem is a difficult problem. Sometimes though, the problem can't be solved at all because it's a drawback of the game design engine/ language. These are the most annoying bugs possible. The only way is to email the developers / make a bug report and hope they will fix it (fat chance if you're hoping for timeliness)...
This is SO SO true. Even using Game Maker (which I believe is based off of Delphi, not Ruby. RPG Maker is Ruby I believe) is a tough experience when you are trying to discover why a particular stupid bug is happening or how to do a particular tricky thing. Regardless of language, a difficult problem is a difficult problem. Sometimes though, the problem can't be solved at all because it's a drawback of the game design engine/ language. These are the most annoying bugs possible. The only way is to email the developers / make a bug report and hope they will fix it (fat chance if you're hoping for timeliness)...
The problem with an interest in game development isn't learning a language, it's getting the assets to build an actual game. Sure, you can pick up some amateur graphics here and there on the web, but it will either be illegal to use them or not suit your particular project.
So there you are, code in hand, but nothing to show for it on your screen. That, in my opinion, is the biggest hurdle to overcome. This is why I would suggest using something like RPGMaker or Dink (though this is more like modding...) as a stepping stone. RPGMaker also uses Ruby as its scripting language for those who are into that.
So there you are, code in hand, but nothing to show for it on your screen. That, in my opinion, is the biggest hurdle to overcome. This is why I would suggest using something like RPGMaker or Dink (though this is more like modding...) as a stepping stone. RPGMaker also uses Ruby as its scripting language for those who are into that.
For me, I believe my game developing started out with RPG Maker (when I was quite young!) and quickly turned to Game Maker and Dink Smallwood. From there I started checking out some languages such as the various C iterations and Python. I didn't get particularly good at the aforementioned languages before I decided to just stick with Game Maker. And that's what I've been using since then (other than my occasional dive back into DinkC).
The problem with an interest in game development isn't learning a language, it's getting the assets to build an actual game. Sure, you can pick up some amateur graphics here and there on the web, but it will either be illegal to use them or not suit your particular project.
The programming itself is also a huge asset. For example programming a big game project such as an RPG or a game like Civilization can be a massive amount of work, not even including any graphics or other assets. This is true even when you start from a base engine. This is why the top programmers in big companies get paid a lot. Whether or not the programming is really hard for a particular project mostly depends on what kind of project it is. Programming intelligent real-time AI can be very hard for some types of games for example...
The problem with an interest in game development isn't learning a language, it's getting the assets to build an actual game. Sure, you can pick up some amateur graphics here and there on the web, but it will either be illegal to use them or not suit your particular project.
The programming itself is also a huge asset. For example programming a big game project such as an RPG or a game like Civilization can be a massive amount of work, not even including any graphics or other assets. This is true even when you start from a base engine. This is why the top programmers in big companies get paid a lot. Whether or not the programming is really hard for a particular project mostly depends on what kind of project it is. Programming intelligent real-time AI can be very hard for some types of games for example...
Kyle: That's only a hurdle quite late in the game making process, though. You can just use placeholder art until then. I don't think most budding game creators ever make it that far...
If you just want to make games, without learning scripting I would recommend Construct 2. You can make a game after watching a 10 min tutorial. It's that easy.
If you are interested in coding LÖVE is a great place to start. Lua is a very simple scripting language and is used for scripting in many game production and löve gives you tools to very easily handle graphics but still gives you a flexibility that game makers like Construct doesn't
OH! I finished my game. You can play it here:http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-29/?action=preview&uid=20066
If you are interested in coding LÖVE is a great place to start. Lua is a very simple scripting language and is used for scripting in many game production and löve gives you tools to very easily handle graphics but still gives you a flexibility that game makers like Construct doesn't
OH! I finished my game. You can play it here:http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-29/?action=preview&uid=20066
I finished my game.
Very cool!
Very cool!
Yo, IPD. I played your game. It had this meta-effect on me that I totally wasn't expecting. Like before long I was just mindlessly holding the right key and hitting down a few times over and over. Like I wasn't even actively telling myself to do it anymore. It was just happening. It had a really good narrative too.
Neat game. Maybe a tad *too* abstract for the theme, I felt, but a fascinating dive into the psyche of a wage slave.
And as someone on the Ludum page mentioned, "twist ending".
I thought the man was going to shoot himself at the end.
And as someone on the Ludum page mentioned, "twist ending".
I thought the man was going to shoot himself at the end.1. I'm not one to question game logic, but does he ever sit down or does he love standing except when he sleeps.
2. I thought it was a pretty good game, but it could of used more since the time limit was 48 hours and this seemed like it was made in about an hour if you could map things with sprites and such, but it did touch me a little {not in the bad places, mostly} because it made me think of a girl I like, though she lives in the same town/school district
3. On a personal note I have started my semester at Codeacademy and I now want to be a dropout [jk] while I try to learn about Ruby, maybe another one sooner or later.
2. I thought it was a pretty good game, but it could of used more since the time limit was 48 hours and this seemed like it was made in about an hour if you could map things with sprites and such, but it did touch me a little {not in the bad places, mostly} because it made me think of a girl I like, though she lives in the same town/school district
3. On a personal note I have started my semester at Codeacademy and I now want to be a dropout [jk] while I try to learn about Ruby, maybe another one sooner or later.
Glad you guys like it! 
I ported it to the web, so you can now play it in your browser if you are too lazy to download stuff! http://linlin.synology.me/alice2/
I ported it to the web, so you can now play it in your browser if you are too lazy to download stuff! http://linlin.synology.me/alice2/
