@Danimal: I think I know what you mean. I think that the problem, in general, is that we tend to assume that other people would have no difficulty in understanding something that we already know. But there's a lot that one can contribute. For example, you might not fully understand how to make a spreadsheet yet, but you do understand how to modify existing 3d models (like the upgraded minotaur you made) and how to make models from scratch (like that snapa kappa creature you posted a while back). So you could contribute with your own tutorials on how to make and modify 3d models. There's Clint's tutorial on how to make isometric tiles in Blender, and dorkster's tutorial on how to make a Flare map, but there's no tutorials on how to make 3d models.
- An RTS game in which there is a merfolk faction that has water buildings and water infantry. It can be done using an existing engine (MegaGlest or 0ad's Pyrogenesis engine), but it would be a nightmare to balance, since they would be terrible on land and overpowered on water.
- A Baldur's Gate clone. It can be done using the GemRB engine or the Flare engine with some tweaks, but it would have to have a really cool story, and it's not easy to invent one.
- A 4x game. It would be a nightmare to program, especially the AI. I'm not aware of any FOSS engine for 4x games.
Design is definitely one of the most important aspects of a game, right up there with coding, art, audio, and writing (this last point depends on the genre, for example it's important for RPGs but not for Tetris).
The problem with design is that you can't really study it as a career in the same way as you can study the other disciplines mentioned. As far as I know, you can't get an M.A. in game design, let alone a PhD. But even if we think of education outside of universities, like for example ateliers in the case of the arts, there is nothing comparable for the case of game design.
It's difficult to find professionals when there is no formal education to be had, be it a universities or otherwise.
Just to add some stuff: if speed is important to you, then it helps to watch some tutorials on how to use things like keyboard shortcuts. For programs like Gimp or Photoshop, this might not make a huge difference, but for something like Blender it definately does. I would recommend Blender Guru's channel on youtube.
EDIT: BTW, if you're doing pixel art, don't get frustrated if your stuff doesn't look like the works from people you admire. This applies to everything actually, but I feel like it's especially true for pixel art. Despite first impressions, getting really good at pixel art is insanely difficult. Heck, scratch that, getting somewhat decent at it is difficult by itself. Consider a game like Battle for Wesnoth. I can make some decent 3d stuff in Blender, but I have never been able to make a single sprite that even comes close to Wesnoth's quality. Pixel art is deceptively sophisticated. It is often taken for granted, as if it was a "simple" style. It's really not. But it's worthwhile to pursue it as a goal. At least it's one of my goals.
I honestly don't miss Windows one bit. If I need to run something that is Windows-specific, I'll just use an emulator, like WINE for example. At least that's how I run Baldurs Gate / Icewind Dale / Planescape: Torment, etc on Ubuntu.
In that case, I would recomend starting with a small mod, instead of a full-featured game. Use already exiting free / open resources, from engines to 2d art to music and sound. This will allow you to focus entirely on what is arguably the most important aspect of a game: that it's worth playing.
I'm using Blender 2.79 for the creation of each individual tile. Then I use ImageMagick's montage tool for assembling them into a single .png image.
I don't use Photoshop. I did use it for many years way back in the day, but ultimately I replaced it with Gimp, which is the free software alternative to it. If I need a painterly effect, I'll use Krita, which is also free software / open source. But I only use these programs for making more illustration-type stuff. For making tiles, it's entirely Blender.
@rubberduck: looking great.
@Danimal: I think I know what you mean. I think that the problem, in general, is that we tend to assume that other people would have no difficulty in understanding something that we already know. But there's a lot that one can contribute. For example, you might not fully understand how to make a spreadsheet yet, but you do understand how to modify existing 3d models (like the upgraded minotaur you made) and how to make models from scratch (like that snapa kappa creature you posted a while back). So you could contribute with your own tutorials on how to make and modify 3d models. There's Clint's tutorial on how to make isometric tiles in Blender, and dorkster's tutorial on how to make a Flare map, but there's no tutorials on how to make 3d models.
- An RTS game in which there is a merfolk faction that has water buildings and water infantry. It can be done using an existing engine (MegaGlest or 0ad's Pyrogenesis engine), but it would be a nightmare to balance, since they would be terrible on land and overpowered on water.
- A Baldur's Gate clone. It can be done using the GemRB engine or the Flare engine with some tweaks, but it would have to have a really cool story, and it's not easy to invent one.
- A 4x game. It would be a nightmare to program, especially the AI. I'm not aware of any FOSS engine for 4x games.
Design is definitely one of the most important aspects of a game, right up there with coding, art, audio, and writing (this last point depends on the genre, for example it's important for RPGs but not for Tetris).
The problem with design is that you can't really study it as a career in the same way as you can study the other disciplines mentioned. As far as I know, you can't get an M.A. in game design, let alone a PhD. But even if we think of education outside of universities, like for example ateliers in the case of the arts, there is nothing comparable for the case of game design.
It's difficult to find professionals when there is no formal education to be had, be it a universities or otherwise.
Just to add some stuff: if speed is important to you, then it helps to watch some tutorials on how to use things like keyboard shortcuts. For programs like Gimp or Photoshop, this might not make a huge difference, but for something like Blender it definately does. I would recommend Blender Guru's channel on youtube.
EDIT: BTW, if you're doing pixel art, don't get frustrated if your stuff doesn't look like the works from people you admire. This applies to everything actually, but I feel like it's especially true for pixel art. Despite first impressions, getting really good at pixel art is insanely difficult. Heck, scratch that, getting somewhat decent at it is difficult by itself. Consider a game like Battle for Wesnoth. I can make some decent 3d stuff in Blender, but I have never been able to make a single sprite that even comes close to Wesnoth's quality. Pixel art is deceptively sophisticated. It is often taken for granted, as if it was a "simple" style. It's really not. But it's worthwhile to pursue it as a goal. At least it's one of my goals.
Making a swamp tileset, still a work in progress
Ah, cool. Thanks for the link, I'll look into it. I'm following LazyFoo's lessons on SDL but I haven't gotten to multithreading yet.
@rubberduck: great stuff, as usual.
@dorkster: would that imply multithreading? If so, does that mean that c++11 will be allowed? Specifically, std::thread
I honestly don't miss Windows one bit. If I need to run something that is Windows-specific, I'll just use an emulator, like WINE for example. At least that's how I run Baldurs Gate / Icewind Dale / Planescape: Torment, etc on Ubuntu.
In that case, I would recomend starting with a small mod, instead of a full-featured game. Use already exiting free / open resources, from engines to 2d art to music and sound. This will allow you to focus entirely on what is arguably the most important aspect of a game: that it's worth playing.
I'm using Blender 2.79 for the creation of each individual tile. Then I use ImageMagick's montage tool for assembling them into a single .png image.
I don't use Photoshop. I did use it for many years way back in the day, but ultimately I replaced it with Gimp, which is the free software alternative to it. If I need a painterly effect, I'll use Krita, which is also free software / open source. But I only use these programs for making more illustration-type stuff. For making tiles, it's entirely Blender.
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