pb_destiny

-----Introduction------

Well lets see, you're interested in making an rpg and you want to know how difficult it is, that's a very general question and for many in your case, well… right now you might as well be figuring out the purpose of life. Not to say that you cannot learn some new skills so you are prepared to make a game, you can learn to make a great game using your own ideas, that’s why it’s so important to learn the key points in game development. It's all about time, dedication, patience, maturity, and of course a passion to make games.

---Two Types of People Who Want To Make Games---

What I mean by this is that there are basically two types of new people trying to get into game development. The following are two examples:

--The “ Wanna Be” Game Developer--

The First example is the everyday gamer, who loves playing online games, loves how they are made up and has a great imagination in which he/she than uses to make up their own ideal game, but yet, without the background in game development they will get lost and fail. They may even at first, want to learn some certain skills or find a way to make a game using shortcuts and copycats. They usually believe that they themselves can make a game, and that the process of turning their idea into a game is only assisted by the people with the right skills to do so.

--The "Game Developer" To Be--

The second type of person is someone who has a passion to play games but also has had more of focus on computer-based skills (not including concept art, sound, hardware, the game designing process). These people usually have a passion to use the computer as tool and learn things from it, and have some skills dedicated to a certain past time on the computer that when properly applied and focused, can be use to work in game development. Such things make include programming, networking, pixel art, 3d modeling, animation, graphic design, and so on. Now these types of people can usually be considered a poser or “Wanna Be”, but it’s after they gain some experience in game development and see what it really takes to make a game that they realize if this is something they want to continue doing.

----Two Categories of Game Developers---


--Game Project Leader--

Truth been known, there is basically two situations you’ll be in when it comes to starting a new project, you either are the leader/founder of the project, or you contribute to that development team as a member of project. A game project "Leader" is someone who has a good amount of experience in game development, has mastered some skills and has experience in others in order to help guide the team, and knows how to make an online RPG in and out, knowing all the processes and stages that are involved in the development process. A game project leader must not only have those requirements but should also be very responsible, organized, mature, sociable and able to keep a team motivated and optimistic.


--Game Project Team Member--

Now the other situation is that you are someone who either, is still learning some new skills and benefiting from being there with the team through the development for educational purposes. Or… you are being someone who is part of the team, you usually have one or more well developed skill which you can contribute well the to the team’s efforts, and that is why you are part of this project.

----Next Step - For Finding Your Role----

After you find out what kind of person you are, you can start deciding on what your calling is in game development. In most cases you are still reading this whether you are a "wanna be game developer" or a person who has potential.

So naturally you'll know either by discovering it yourself or in most cases will receive a cold but truthful awaking when you try to get people to make your idea into a game. Now you most likely know if you want to get into game development by now and you probably already have some experience or very basic knowledge of some skills needed. If you do have experience already, do not read this next part, if you do continue on past.

----- How Can I Gain Experience and What Is The Best Thing For Me----

Well in a lot of cases people have always had a passion to make games since they were first introduce to them, its in many young boys/girls dreams to make games, even one of their own. What a lot of people later find out is that they either have lost this interest or find out it's a lot more difficult to create a game than previously believed. That doesn't mean it's unrealistically hard or you have to be born with a special gift.


---Gaining Experience Continued---

This is all about finding what you are best suited for and how you should be developing your skills in that direction. In simpler terms, you can break down game development to two parts, Programming and Computer Art/Graphics Design. Now each branches off into their own sub-categories and can have many different types of jobs and ways they can be applied. Even better is that just because you gain a certain skill in order to get into game development but later find out its not what you really wanted to do, you can still find many ways to apply those skills you've learned in different jobs and opportunities. Now because you can write a whole guide entirely on what every aspect of these two categories are, I'm not going to include those details in this guide. This maybe added in fine detail if the current guide is found useful.


---What Is Right For Me?---

Basically some people are more logical and theory based, while others are more creative and faith built. This means that some people use different sides of their brain more, and have a stronger background in the both subjects. This shouldn’t discourage or make you chose one of over the other, when it comes down to it, you want to do the job you enjoy the most or else you will not continue on the project.

--Programming--

Now I can’t exactly tell you right now that you will be better suited for the programming part of game development or the graphical part, but I can tell you how to find out for yourself.

Online tutorials, guides, and articles can introduce and teach you how to program.

Other sources are books, which you can get at your public library, local bookstore or online bookstore like chapters or Amazon, or even download e-books. There are also online courses offered as well.

All of this can be obtained through research on a search engine or you can gain a lot of useful knowledge from online communities like gamedev and onrpg.

--Art/Computer Graphics--

Now in the case of computer graphics the resources are usually the same (Online tutorials, guides, and articles) but you have many different types of game art you can focus on.

There are many different aspects of game art you can look at learning even such that do not directly involve a computer. Concept art is all done on pen/pencil and paper and is important because it is part of the pre-development stages as part of the game design. You can also look into learning Pixel art, which is done using simpler but accurate pixel art design programs (example Microsoft Paint or Graphics Gale). There is also animation, 3d modeling, texture designing, level design, mapping, graphic design, and even more.


----Continuing On The Path In Game Development----

Now that you do have some basic experience or you are learning and developing your skills, you are on the right path for making a game. As you learn more about your own abilities and skills and improve, you will be able to meet a certain standard and quality which will make you eligible to game projects. Once you are here you can even apply to these projects as someone learning or wanting to gain experience, or you may even be able to join the team as full fledge member. The main point is that the more experience you gain the better and joining Independent game projects is a great way to improve and develop your skills even farther. All I can say now is good luck to you and hope you may have gained something by reading this.


One Thing I'd Like To Add: A common misconception is that making a 2d game is much easier than 3d. I'd like to say that's not true as each have their own difficulties and challenges, in some cases I even heard the opposite. In both cases a lot of work is required to make each style of game and none should be underestimated as easy or easier.


:cool:


Written By pb_destiny

Contact me by e-mail at fast_traxx@hotmail.com for questions.

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HopeDagger

Thanks a lot for your contribution, pb_destiny.

The only thing I'd recommend is a bit of grammar cleanup (I noticed a few phrases that felt out-of-place), and a bit of a spiffy-up on the formatting. (ie. bold/underline titles, etc)

*stickified*

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pb_destiny

Thanks for the sticky Hope, I spent the time to make some grammar/spelling changes, I havent really made the guide look fancy with graphics as there isnt much to use, instead I made it as clean as possible.

Enjoy, hope it helps some people

-PB

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Tocs1001

*claps*Bravo*whistles*

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Baron

One Thing I'd Like To Add: A common misconception is that making a 2d game is much easier than 3d.

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This is an interesting statement. In my opinion (after working with 2d MMORPG engines fairly extensively - currently develop for a 2d MMORPG create known as Eclipse) building a 2D game isnt any harder nor any easier then building a 3D game. Id say that acquiring graphics for the game is simpler with 2D then 3D if you know good chipset sites. But 3d games are usually simpler to build expansive environments in.

Overall though as long as you know what you're doing beforehand and arent building your entire world on the fly, can see what you want to achieve and have the passion and determination to stick with it you can produce quite reasonable results going in either direction, 2d or 3d.

The main difference lies in how good you are with graphics. Some people can carve out a model much more quickly and efficiently then they could draw tiles for a 2D game that fits their needs.

The major problem with both of them still comes down to time though. It just takes ages to make MMORPG's. Dont think its a one month throw together job that will be a success. Think 3+ minimum before a playable beta if you're building most of your own content and are releasing something decent.

dokius

Great article! I love this article!

Ithink you did an excellent job putting this post together. Cause I don't think people understand how much hard work is put into a game.:smile:

joegio13

BASTARD!!! You called me a wannabe!!!!

Deceth

Great article!

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pb_destiny

Thank you for your support. If you have any more questions, feel free to email me at fast_traxx@hotmail.com, as I am no longer a very active member on onrpg and may miss some of your private messages for a couples months.

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Darkhell153

Excellent job, you really hit the hammer on the nail.

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