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Storm The Castle.com Resources for the Amateur Video Game Designer
Always dreamed of making your own fantasy game for your Xbox? Microsoft has announced their software package for you to make Xbox games on your computer! It's Called XNA Game Studio Express Read more about it What software and books do you need to get started? This depends on what kind of games you want to make and your skill as a programmer; or willingness to learn programming.. Let me break it down for you: This section is taken from the video game design FAQ
There are three different types of software that you should have to get going on video game design. 1. You need software that you will build the video game world in (often called world-building software). This is where you make the terrain, water, buildings etc. There are many different software applications that do this. If you want to get an overview of a lot of these I suggest you go to the DMOZ open directory project and check out Game Development Software Many of these development software suites come complete with lots of textures and models that you can drag and drop right into your game. You can build complete games. 2. You need software to manipulate images and graphics. If you want to have individualized characters and items in your world or if you want a very specific look you will have to draw these items or modify existing items. This means a graphics program. I have been using Paint Shop Pro for years. Paint Shop Pro It is simply, for the price, the best. The professionals use PhotoShop but it is expensive. 3. You need modeling software so you can design and create your characters and items for the game. There are two major programs that you should use for 3D modeling: 3D Studio Max (www.autodesk.com) and Maya (www.alias.com) They are both very expensive but Maya has a special free download for students and learning. Check out the Maya download. Another big player in this field is Lightwave 3D.It is also an expensive program. If you want to just get your feet wet on something simpler you might want to try a program called Milkshape3D (www.milkshape3d.com). Its a good 3d Modeling program that is predominantly used for Quake and Half life and Unreal. They have a free 30 day trial download. Nice article on open software game engines The Storm the Castle Tutorial on making your own video game for free. A step by step tutorial on how to make a video game with this open source software. Complete with pictures and explanations all along the way. You can have a single room game up and running in an hour. I have the program right here for you to download. It is about 30Meg so if you are on a dial up modem it is going to take a while. Right click and select "Save As" Genesis 3D Developer Kit For More comprehensive software, updates and other tools by Genesis 3d go to their home page and then proceed to the download page. Screenshots? Here are some nice screenshots from a genesis3d created game Some good information about the Genesis 3d Game engine
The Reality Factory Resources
Good Thread and information about The Reality Factory Game engine at Garage Games Reality Factory Introductory video on You Tube
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