Questions regarding game development

[jawadrashid]

I work as a web programmer and have Masters in Computer Science from LUMS. I have always been a fan of pc gaming. For few weeks i feel that i might be interested in game development but don't have the time to learn game development full time as working full time as a web developer. I am not new to languages to C++ or Java as i worked on C++ a lot.Plus, i have already made 2d game on iPhone as part of my university course in LUMS as a industry project. I am right now are following some tutorials on gamedev.net to start game development, also downloaded 1-2 books on advice of some articles on gamedev.net and i believe the best way to see if i can see myself as a game developer is devote my free time to learning game development and also make small games also to get acquainted with it. I am more interested in making games for windows platform rather than games for mobiles. Also, i am more interested in role of a developer in game development rather than designing.

Basically my questions are: I have searched on the net but wanted to know is there any institute here in lahore which can help me learn game development(my search on google did not provide me anything)? Secondly, even though i have started reading books for game develpment and following gamedev.net and making games mentioned there is there any other website/resource i should look at to learn game development(I know making my own game will give me best understanding of game development)? Are there any companies in Lahore into windows platform games development?

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[Naminator]

First off, that font color is horrible, I had to highlight to read it.

It all depends on how deep you want to go into game development and what you'd like to make with it. Do you just want a game out there or would you rather be more involved in the development process? You could use libraries and engines like Unity,etc or you could try learning it all from scratch (DirectX/OpenGL). There's online courses at GameInstitute.com if you want to shell out money.

Making your own game alone will not necessarily give you the best understanding of game development. You might spend weeks tackling mundane issues when you could be doing so much more during that time. So yeah, frequent gamedev.net, especially during the development process.

 

[aameeshah]

I wouldn't go too deep into DirectX/OpenGL on my own. Cause I made that mistake already! You will be learning tricks of trade for years (part time) and will only have few demo, learning projects on your hand But maybe nothing complete and publish quality, something you can sell on STEAM, etc. Another big hurdle is getting quality 3D Assets in Pakistan.

So you better should target Unity, Shockwave (Or Flash 11!) for 3D. Do some RAD games and publish on internet for quick glory! No need to make next Crysis either. Web games tend to be simple, short and fun.

Or you can do what I do. Flash Action script 3 is a nice language. Bet you know some as a web developer. Its mostly good for 2D but some 3D is also possible. You can even earn few hundred dollars for something you slapped together in few days using In game Ads and selling game to many flash portals. Worst flash games still do few 100,000 game plays and Good ones will do Millions. Good games made in 2-3 months have potential to earn $1k-50k+. Its also most popular platform for doing Social games and Micro Transactions.

 

[deffury]

It would be a good idea to use some existing game editors like Warcraft3 or starcraft2. It s easy to develop mods and you will learn a few things that are required in a game (sound, level designer, story boarding, etc)

 

[aameeshah]

U can certainly forget about any professional Training/Institues here in pakistan. Cheapest full time degree can be done in Malaysia I think.

And if you are .NET/C# user you can give XNA and Silverlight a go.

 

[ammar26]

There are no professional institutes in Pakistan for Game Development
and if you want to build something ... please don't use shortcuts of existing game editors Rome wasn't built in a day , it will take time but the only way to DRAW THE LINE is to entertain Direct X Programming or OpenGL

 

[deffury]

Look first start with a game editor and modifiy its contents. Once you make it show it to your friends and ask them how much it sucks. This will give you an idea if you are up for it or not

 

[enygmyx]

Hi ,

I would second the opinions expressed by others. Most important is what do you want? Do you want to learn game development as a hobby or as a profession. There are no institutes around which are teaching game development. So either you learn from the web or take a leap of faith and join a company that is doing game development. Unfortunately there is no easy way to do either. I might be willing to help depending on what you want to learn.

 

[jawadrashid]

I am more interested in game development as a profession. Thanks all for giving advice but i have decided to go for mobile game development for now as i have already made 1 iphone game during my Masters for a client a year ago so right now i have revised iphone concepts by watching and following Standford iPhone development lectures and will learn game development along as i make games for iphone. I plan to learn game development on android in the near future also.

 

[umairhaque]

hey dudes he already made a 2d game on iphone if he did not made it with engine then he knows about the opengl work !!!! Yup C# is good for Xna and silverlight platforms and people are saying about engines but try the open source engine because these engines are too costly like unity !! i know unity have a free version as well but if you use pro one time then you will never use free edition !!!

 

[jawadrashid]

hey dudes he already made a 2d game on iphone if he did not made it with engine then he knows about the opengl work !!!! Yup C# is good for Xna and silverlight platforms and people are saying about engines but try the open source engine because these engines are too costly like unity !! i know unity have a free version as well but if you use pro one time then you will never use free edition !!!

The 2d iphone game we created was using cocos2d which is a library based on opengl and along with chipmunk physics for iphone so i don't have knowledge of opengl specifically. I have right now decided to start game development with mobile development and particularly iphone development will move to android hopefully soon. Hope to work on unity for iphone also as i move to 3d games in the future for iphone

 

[umairhaque]

but its better to use cocos3d not final version released yet

 

[lolz]

To be honest I find fitting a character, two enemies, a dynamic background, health bar, quick menu etc in a 50-150mm screen pretty much a feat :$

It requires a lot of tea to be able to do such a thing.