Unity 3D may look like free but it has some limitations and that means you can't sell the games. So games need to be in open source model. This way profit is likely to be stopped and you'll find rip off users making clones easily. So in order to avoid that you need to upgrade the license be it Unity 3D or UDK (unity development kit).
Another issue is that there needs to be runtime development environment which also requires its presence on client machines. Be it browser game or desktop, without that runtime there is no way it will run the game. SO you should choose alternative game development IDE. IDE which is not dependent on any external or in house plugin for members to download. If that becomes possible with simple C++/Python then i guess there is no issue with the games. So instead of using closed source game development kit, make sure you're more open on customer front and dont stick them with options like runtime environment.
| |
|
Welcome to AstaHost - Dear Guest 
, Please Register here to get Your own website. - Ask a Question / Express Opinion / Reply
w/o Sign-Up!
| |
Replying to Best Software For Creating Games
Topic Summary
8ennett
Posted 28 May 2010 - 04:55 PM
I used FPS Creator heavily before I got in to PHP programming, and intend to return to a few unfinished projects after I've finished my latest php project. I released a model pack for the DX9 version of fps creator which you can view here http://forum.thegame..._...158593&b=24. It proved to be quite popular and is 100% free for download. I used Milkshape to create the models and JASC paintshop pro to create the textures. This is a prime example of how easy it is to create your own 3d levels for your own first person shooter game.
There is a massive community on the forums i've posted above, and many people out there creating their own free model packs for you to use with fpsc and I highly recommend a lot of them. You can ultimately create a game similar to the popular Halo series (only the debate surrounding vehicles and intigration is still very hazy). One person even created a series of mini drones (high quality models and textures too) which can either act as enemies or you can set the to either follow you and attack enemies or control them via remote control. They come with fully animated wheels and weapons and the weapons sit on top of the drones with realistic movement and firing mechanisms.
I was in the middle of creating a sewer pack to release for free to the community as well however I never really got around to finishing it before i moved on to another project. I would have released what I had already however I don't like releasing things unfinished lol
The main thing to remember about creating games is, there is no universal format for 3D worlds. Each game uses a different 3D engine and so it is highly unlikely you will be able to port from one to another. There are several main points that you MUST follow when creating a game, you can't just wake up, decide you are going to make a game then create a 3D world in a modelling program, that never works.
The points that must be followed for creating a 3D game are:
If you are not wanting to create a first person shooter game but instead want to create a 3D world such as World of Warcraft then another great software package is Realm Crafter. It uses the same engine as WoW (Blizzard) and allows you to easily create your own 3D world without extensive programming knowledge. The software is a little unstable but they are slowly working out all the bugs.
If you want to go a little more old skool and not create some great 3D game then I would go for Adventure Game Studio (adventuregamestudio.co.uk). I used to use this a few years ago. It's incredible for create 2D point and click adventure games like the early Sierra games. Also, there is a website called Reality On The Norm that I used to make games for. It is basically a community (which has died a slow and painful death in terms of activity) which adds a new portion to the current storyline. The first game in the series follows a young wizard who is killed in an accident and his girlfriend is trying to solve the mystery of his death. The whole thing is set in the town of RON (Reality-on-the-norm) where the mayor is a decaying zombie ressurected from the dead, the local restaurant is run by an italian chef and his constantly naked brother Guido, the local mad scientist Dr strangelove, Mika the inquisitive journalist, Phil Nihilist the local yahtzeebrand store clerk (brainwashed as are all yahtzeebrand staff), Melt and Drake the Jay and SilentBob of RON, and so many more characters. Fantastic series of games with some amazing storylines and many, many, many games to choose from and play. I recommend starting from the beginning (and don't forget to vote for my games too
).
There is a massive community on the forums i've posted above, and many people out there creating their own free model packs for you to use with fpsc and I highly recommend a lot of them. You can ultimately create a game similar to the popular Halo series (only the debate surrounding vehicles and intigration is still very hazy). One person even created a series of mini drones (high quality models and textures too) which can either act as enemies or you can set the to either follow you and attack enemies or control them via remote control. They come with fully animated wheels and weapons and the weapons sit on top of the drones with realistic movement and firing mechanisms.
I was in the middle of creating a sewer pack to release for free to the community as well however I never really got around to finishing it before i moved on to another project. I would have released what I had already however I don't like releasing things unfinished lol
The main thing to remember about creating games is, there is no universal format for 3D worlds. Each game uses a different 3D engine and so it is highly unlikely you will be able to port from one to another. There are several main points that you MUST follow when creating a game, you can't just wake up, decide you are going to make a game then create a 3D world in a modelling program, that never works.
The points that must be followed for creating a 3D game are:
- Decide what style of game it is you are going to make
- Once you have decided on a style (First Person Shooter, RPG, etc) then you need to choose which engine you are going to use (Blizzard, Blender, Leadwerks, etc)
- Now you need to search for any software out there specifically designed to work with this engine
- Once you have your style, engine and software you now need to select a 3D modelling program to create your models and advanced graphics software that supports alpha channels
- Finally it is HIGHLY recommended that you download the DirectX software developers kit (SDK) from the Microsoft website. This will help you with converting meshes and textures, viewing and testing animations and so on and will automatically provide you with a license to re-distribute DirectX meshes.
If you are not wanting to create a first person shooter game but instead want to create a 3D world such as World of Warcraft then another great software package is Realm Crafter. It uses the same engine as WoW (Blizzard) and allows you to easily create your own 3D world without extensive programming knowledge. The software is a little unstable but they are slowly working out all the bugs.
If you want to go a little more old skool and not create some great 3D game then I would go for Adventure Game Studio (adventuregamestudio.co.uk). I used to use this a few years ago. It's incredible for create 2D point and click adventure games like the early Sierra games. Also, there is a website called Reality On The Norm that I used to make games for. It is basically a community (which has died a slow and painful death in terms of activity) which adds a new portion to the current storyline. The first game in the series follows a young wizard who is killed in an accident and his girlfriend is trying to solve the mystery of his death. The whole thing is set in the town of RON (Reality-on-the-norm) where the mayor is a decaying zombie ressurected from the dead, the local restaurant is run by an italian chef and his constantly naked brother Guido, the local mad scientist Dr strangelove, Mika the inquisitive journalist, Phil Nihilist the local yahtzeebrand store clerk (brainwashed as are all yahtzeebrand staff), Melt and Drake the Jay and SilentBob of RON, and so many more characters. Fantastic series of games with some amazing storylines and many, many, many games to choose from and play. I recommend starting from the beginning (and don't forget to vote for my games too
).jimmo12
Posted 28 May 2010 - 12:53 PM
I would recommend using something free but informative to learn the basics, if you need an engine or software try Source or Unity.
used both of them, loved them
if you are more experienced in 3d modeling try maya and 3ds max, both work fine for that.
if you're an expert then I would recommend Blender, free but very advanced
and if you're goo enough your game will be perfect in every way.
that's how I did it anyway, this was my advice.
Jim Out
used both of them, loved them
if you are more experienced in 3d modeling try maya and 3ds max, both work fine for that.
if you're an expert then I would recommend Blender, free but very advanced
and if you're goo enough your game will be perfect in every way.
that's how I did it anyway, this was my advice.
Jim Out
John Heinl
Posted 01 March 2010 - 08:06 PM
Depends on what types of games you are aiming for. If you are trying to go for full wedged console games, that I do not think one solid program will do the trick. Though, if you are looking to make a simple computer game of sorts then there is a program called Game Maker (it's free) that can do it for you. The games are pretty simple, but like I said if that's what you are going for then that will do the trick
8ennett
Posted 29 January 2010 - 05:56 PM
If you want to make FPS (First Person Shooter) games then I suggest FPS Creator
It's great for novices and amazing for advanced users. I use this quite a lot and have released several games myself. I've also released quite a few model packs on the forums which have proven to be very popular, the best probably being a complete pool hall set, including the segments used to make the building itself.
There are tonnes of free models, loads of pre-made model packs you can buy from the company or you can just make everything yourself.
To quote the about page on the main site:
Over three years in development FPS Creator sets a new benchmark in the game creation market by providing an easy-to-use yet highly flexible editing environment. As its name implies this is a tool for creating action-packed FPS games with no programming or 3D modelling knowledge required.
Using an intuitive and visual Windows interface you literally paint your game world into the scene. A vast range of 3D elements are included allowing you to paint hallways, corridors, gantries, walls, doors, access tunnels, ceilings, lifts, transporters, stairs and more. Segments intelligently attach themselves to each other - paint two corridor pieces side-by-side and they'll snap together seamlessly. Switch to 3D mode and you drop in on your scene for pixel perfect placement of 3D entities. Place a light-switch on the wall and it'll intelligently control the dynamic lighting in the room.
Key Features
* Create First Person Shooter games quickly and easily
* Use intelligent building blocks to create game levels
* No programming necessary
* Open design allows for endless possibilities
* Import your own media (sounds, 3D models, textures, shaders)
* One click and FPS Creator builds you a final stand alone exe file
* 3D Engine supporting Direct X9.0c
* Virtually every single aspect of the game is controlled via script files you can edit
* 90+ page manual, fully searchable and printer ready in PDF format
Hundreds of 3D Objects included
We appreciate that not everyone has the skill to create their own 3D content before starting to build a game - which is why FPS Creator comes with two theme packs: Sci-fi and World War 2.
There are over 300 segment building blocks included, over 500 entity objects (such as desk lamps, health packs, crates), 62 different fully animated enemies, 36 weapons and 66 different AI scripts to control them all.
The manual also includes guides on importing your own media to create prefabs, weapons, segments and entities. You don't have to use the 3D objects we have given you, adding your own is quick and easy. Changing the textures the models use is just as painless, so you could take one of the supplied barrel models and re-texture it to create any number of them all in your own style.
More Features
* Fully Windows based editing environment
* Complete Physics System under your control
* Internet and LAN Death Match style games supported
* Classic FPS game experience
* Create multi-level games (up to 50 levels)
* Visual Waypoint editing, enemies can follow multiple waypoints
* Built-in game optimisation profiler analyses frame rates, poly counts and more
* Easy editing of game element's settings
* Game elements include, weapons, ammo, enemies, picks ups, lifts, teleports, ladders, trigger points
* Game menu editing facilities
* Pick up weapons from dead enemies
* Optional Pixel shader support
* AI scripting language for total freedom to customise
* Set texture quality and effect levels
* Cube mapping effects
* Automatic 3D Universe construction
* PVS - Portal visibility system (for fast rendering of scenes)
* Automatic Light Mapping (quick and full)
* Small game files are easily swapped
* Map segments "click together" - you can literally draw your levels
* Dynamic and Static lights illuminate your game
* Animated decals for fire, smoke, water, blood splats, etc
* Keyboard short-cuts to most popular commands for fast development
* Players can hold up to 9 different weapons at once
* Guns include optional sniper zoom mode
* Crouch, Run, Lean left / right, Jump and full mouse-look available
I LOVE this software tonnes, and when I bought it there was a special offer on (not sure if its still on now though) where I paid $20 for the software (which they mailed to me) and I got the first 7 model packs for free too.
You REALLY need to try this software out if you're wanting to get in to game design!
It's great for novices and amazing for advanced users. I use this quite a lot and have released several games myself. I've also released quite a few model packs on the forums which have proven to be very popular, the best probably being a complete pool hall set, including the segments used to make the building itself.
There are tonnes of free models, loads of pre-made model packs you can buy from the company or you can just make everything yourself.
To quote the about page on the main site:
Over three years in development FPS Creator sets a new benchmark in the game creation market by providing an easy-to-use yet highly flexible editing environment. As its name implies this is a tool for creating action-packed FPS games with no programming or 3D modelling knowledge required.
Using an intuitive and visual Windows interface you literally paint your game world into the scene. A vast range of 3D elements are included allowing you to paint hallways, corridors, gantries, walls, doors, access tunnels, ceilings, lifts, transporters, stairs and more. Segments intelligently attach themselves to each other - paint two corridor pieces side-by-side and they'll snap together seamlessly. Switch to 3D mode and you drop in on your scene for pixel perfect placement of 3D entities. Place a light-switch on the wall and it'll intelligently control the dynamic lighting in the room.
Key Features
* Create First Person Shooter games quickly and easily
* Use intelligent building blocks to create game levels
* No programming necessary
* Open design allows for endless possibilities
* Import your own media (sounds, 3D models, textures, shaders)
* One click and FPS Creator builds you a final stand alone exe file
* 3D Engine supporting Direct X9.0c
* Virtually every single aspect of the game is controlled via script files you can edit
* 90+ page manual, fully searchable and printer ready in PDF format
Hundreds of 3D Objects included
We appreciate that not everyone has the skill to create their own 3D content before starting to build a game - which is why FPS Creator comes with two theme packs: Sci-fi and World War 2.
There are over 300 segment building blocks included, over 500 entity objects (such as desk lamps, health packs, crates), 62 different fully animated enemies, 36 weapons and 66 different AI scripts to control them all.
The manual also includes guides on importing your own media to create prefabs, weapons, segments and entities. You don't have to use the 3D objects we have given you, adding your own is quick and easy. Changing the textures the models use is just as painless, so you could take one of the supplied barrel models and re-texture it to create any number of them all in your own style.
More Features
* Fully Windows based editing environment
* Complete Physics System under your control
* Internet and LAN Death Match style games supported
* Classic FPS game experience
* Create multi-level games (up to 50 levels)
* Visual Waypoint editing, enemies can follow multiple waypoints
* Built-in game optimisation profiler analyses frame rates, poly counts and more
* Easy editing of game element's settings
* Game elements include, weapons, ammo, enemies, picks ups, lifts, teleports, ladders, trigger points
* Game menu editing facilities
* Pick up weapons from dead enemies
* Optional Pixel shader support
* AI scripting language for total freedom to customise
* Set texture quality and effect levels
* Cube mapping effects
* Automatic 3D Universe construction
* PVS - Portal visibility system (for fast rendering of scenes)
* Automatic Light Mapping (quick and full)
* Small game files are easily swapped
* Map segments "click together" - you can literally draw your levels
* Dynamic and Static lights illuminate your game
* Animated decals for fire, smoke, water, blood splats, etc
* Keyboard short-cuts to most popular commands for fast development
* Players can hold up to 9 different weapons at once
* Guns include optional sniper zoom mode
* Crouch, Run, Lean left / right, Jump and full mouse-look available
I LOVE this software tonnes, and when I bought it there was a special offer on (not sure if its still on now though) where I paid $20 for the software (which they mailed to me) and I got the first 7 model packs for free too.
You REALLY need to try this software out if you're wanting to get in to game design!
