How to get into the dev game (part-time)?

Question

I am doing CS undergrad with the intention of pursuing masters and possibly later phd in neural networks, so this is by far my main area of ​​interest, but I am also good at visual arts and enjoy games, so I want to start some 3D work and games Dev in his spare time. The problem is that I do not know where to start. Does anyone in the dev game area list step by step how should I go along this road? thanks

ps: not sure if this is important, but I have a copy of the xna game studio, so I would rather use this instead of buying something else.

Answer 1

There are several open source games that are currently running (and some are completed) at sourceforge. When I first started learning game programming, I looked at working games and their source. In the end, it will be more informative to look at these things, and not try to start from scratch.

Some of them are even looking for participants if you want to try to help.

Answer 2

Ziggyware has many XNA resources, and there are many ways to make 3D art, such as the XSI Mod Tool and others. You can find many free engines in Codeplex to help you get started, and you can use things like the FlatRedBall engine to help you. Do not forget the Authors Club , which provides a wealth of examples and information on creating XNA games.

Look at these sites, get samples and games and try them, and then choose a simple game to clone (say asteroids or tetris or something else). Then, if you do it pretty well, you can upgrade to 3D. Honestly, I would not recommend jumping directly into 3D, as this is associated with a lot of random actions with effects and such (although there may be a framework that facilitates this). As others have said, learning a lot of 3D math is a good idea, although a structure can process most of the material, such as a mathematical matrix, etc.

Answer 3

http://www.sloperama.com
http://www.igda.org

• get as much 3D math as you can
• do what games you can in your free time, how much you can complete.

Learn by doing and showing that you can see something before completion

Edit:

Some good Ogre and XNA starters, or make your own

In addition, I notice that you said that the time is part-time. In addition to a hobby or volunteer work there is not as much as a “part-time” job, a game that works different from QA testers.

Answer 4

• Do not pay for the framework (well, not for a while). You can start for free with XNA, as you mentioned, or Ogre (to name another free option). Torque is cool and that’s it, but you have to start small.
• Build Tetris. Jokes aside. Think of it as a stretch before a real game. For the first time, it’s impossible to get everything right, so start with a simple bite target.
• Modify existing XNA starter kits. As soon as you work with someone else’s “engine”, you will have a better idea of ​​what you are doing and what you don’t want in your code.
• Look at other lessons. One of my favorites for XNA is here . It is a 3D engine with a robust object-oriented design.

Answer 5

As one of the two Threewave Capture the Flag mod programmers for Quake 3, I can testify that he is working on (and sending) the mod as an incredibly useful introduction to games.

Working on fashion places you next to the production code with all its conventions and warts. It also introduces you to an existing code base, which is at least several hundred thousand lines of code. This teaches that you can search and read code and are easy to work in a team.

You can also work with assets of quality art and deliver a product that attracts attention for you and your small group.

Working with XNA or downloading libraries and chatting on forums is fine, but none of them give you a starting point for a specific product that is already commercially successful.

Half-Life 2 seems like a great starting point these days. A lot of C ++ code, community support and the history of Valve and other studios hiring the best talents from their own community.

Good luck