Question:
Which software do I need to professionally create video games?
501st Commandos
2015-10-18 05:46:18 UTC
Hi, I would like to get into the video game profession and get a job working in a big company in the future.

I would like to get started by getting some professional software on my home computer and using it to practice making 2D and 3D computer games from scratch.

I would like to literally make EVERYTHING in the game, the graphics, the designs, the environments, the animations, the sound effects, and the actual gameplay.

I am assuming you would need different software for each of these different things. However; I am unsure which softwares would be best for me. I want them all to support 2D and 3D games and be both useful to a novice and to an advanced user.

Also, do I need to use certain software with other software? I wasn't sure if there was any compatibility issues or anything like that?

I don't don't mind paying abit of money for the software either, as long as its not hundreds of pounds I would consider it.

Thanks
Three answers:
Flexon
2015-10-18 06:27:01 UTC
Well you can't learn all at once. Anyhow, when it comes to graphics and game engines there is basically two different approaches a company can use:



1. Create your own game engine.

2. Use an existing one, such as Unity 3D, Unreal Engine or CryEngine.



To make your own game engine (or develop an existing one) you'll need some serious programming skills, you'd probably learn C++ and Direct3D or OpenGL, and a lot of other stuff. To the sound of it developing game engines is not what you want to do (it's going to take you months or years to create even a simple game engine for 3D graphics, especially if you know nothing about programming).



I'd recommend you learn an existing game engine such as Unity 3D which is very popular among indie game developers.



To create models and animation you use something like Autodesk Maya, 3Ds Max or Blender. Of the three, Blender is free, but Maya and 3Ds Max are probably used a lot more in big gaming companies so you might want to learn one of them if you want to work professionally with it. If you're a student you can get a student license for free.



The things you can do in these software includes modelling, UV layout, texturing (although you'd probably use Photoshop or something like that to create your textures), rigging and animation. All of which is necessary to create game characters, and each of these steps take a long time to learn. You'd probably spend a few months learning any of these software to go from a concept to a good animated model.



There is also concept artists which kind of helps the modeler in creating reference pictures of the characters and environments.



So when you have your models and characters you can put them in the game engine. You then also need to program the game logic. This is often done in some scripting language used by the game engine, but could also require some more serious programming depending on the type of game. Then you need to do level design and so on.



There is a lot of other things I didn't mention as well. But start by learning a 3D modelling software and a game engine and you'll have plenty to do already.



If you decide to learn 3Ds Max or Maya, I'd recommend you to look at Digital Tutors video tutorials. You pay a subscription fee every month to access the videos but they have very good videos for beginners, where they teach you every step in the process. I learnt 3D modelling and animation by watching their Maya tutorials.
?
2015-10-18 08:43:28 UTC
Unfortunately, the programs are going to cost a penny especially if you want all of them. It would be more important to understand and learn the subject matter and then you can apply it to many different programs. Different companies use different software but it you know how to create the stuff you can apply it using any software.



Graphics

- Cinema 4d, Maya, Blender (Free)

- Photoshop, Illustrator, Gimp (Free) (for 2d and supplementary graphic work)



Programming

- Any software for the programming languages C++, C# and Java. Java is mainly used for mobile gaming.

- Microsoft's XNA suite is a great point to start and it's free last time I checked. It's was created by MS to help with game programming for the Windows platform.

- Eclipse is for java and I believe it is free. Android Works is a powerful Android development suite.



There are gaming development books that will guide you through the entire process of developing games.
no1home2day
2015-10-18 05:50:10 UTC
The first thing to consider is whether or not you have had any programming experience, and second is whether or not you have the imagination to design a game that is new and fresh.



Since you're talking about making a game "from scratch", a strong foundation with C-Sharp would be a good place to start, but if you're thinking of writing web-based games, you should also include Java and other web-based programming languages, of which there are quite a few.



Not knowing your background, and not knowing which direction you plan on going, it's difficult to give specifics, but good luck with your endeavors.


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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