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| Nelson Mandela |
Behold the power of the internet and welcome to the age of self-teaching and learning. Are you thinking about creating your own games or game engines? Unsure about how to get started? Worried that you don't have the time, resources, patience or money? Well, you have come to the right place! This page provides everything from online eBooks, Tutorials, Starter Kits and so much more! Add this page to your Favorites and your Bookmarks as the ultimate reference. With this page, you don't have to spend weeks, if not months, searching over the internet for specific libraries, algorithms and other resources needed to develop a game.
If you find any additional resources that you feel should be included on the page, click on the Contact tab located at the top to email me. It is my hope that this page will be of help to anyone and all the struggling indies out there. Whether you are a hobbyist, student or a developer working in the industry, we are all in this together. Most of all, I want to show you, to encourage you, that all the code you need to create a fully functional game and or game engine is out there, in books, on the web, free, within your reach.
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
BOOKS
GENERAL COURSES
GAME STORY, DESIGN & PRODUCTION
Learn the elements of great game design and the importance of developing a unified approach to gameplay in the initial design stage. Craft the components of a game together to develop a finely-tuned experience. Learn how to implement design standards and gameplay mechanics in a way that best serves the needs of the project. While supporting new innovative concepts is one of the responsibilities of a Producer at a game studio, for a well-designed game, you will need to understand the precise balance of story and gameplay.
GAME ART
Artists are redefining the limits of what games are capable of displaying visually on screen. They are shaping the future of one of the world's fastest growing forms of entertainment. Get creative and explore the skills to give you a foundation in understanding content creation for both 2D and 3D games. Learn to develop well-versed 2D and 3D asset creation for game development. You will learn a variety of software tools to gain the necessary skills for 3D modeling, texturing, lighting and animation.
GAME PROGRAMMING
Bring your artwork to life by learning and understanding the development side through game programming. Learn the languages and tools necessary to develop and program both single and multiplayer games for consoles, personal computers and mobile devices. The level of sophistication involved in game development is continually advancing. This section provides resources to help you develop critical thinking, problem solving, and analytical skills when it comes to programming games. You will learn to program tools and graphics, networking for online play, the math and physics which bring worlds to life, artificial intelligence for opponents, and user-interfaces.
MUSIC & RECORDING ARTS
Learn a variety of software tools to produce audio for your games. Whether it be creating sound effects, music or dialogue, this section will help you develop a broader understanding of audio skills. Taking your ideas and translating them onto a recorded product can be a powerful experience.
WEB DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
Unlock the secretes of web development in all of its forms by designing, coding and publishing web-based content for a variety of formats. Learn how to make dynamic and engaging websites using the most current tools of the trade including: XHTML, CSS, XML, Flash & ActionScript, server-side languages, database structures, and JavaScript. Expand into the realm of mobile devices and learn how to develop content for cell phones. In addition, learn how to create web-based games that are playable on desktops, mobile phones and tablets.
Convert Videos to Gifs
Video Screen Capture Programs
Places to Sell Your Game(s)
ITCH
STEAM
Sites to Email About Your Game
With everything that I have covered, nothing is perfect. Many people ask me which tools are better. In my opinion, the tools don't really matter. Its not a question of which game engine is the best but rather which tool is the best for you to use and for your game. Its a matter of which tool you feel more comfortable with. It's a matter of preference. There are people who have made successful games starting with nothing from scratch and there are tons of successful games made with all sorts of game engines.
If you find any additional resources that you feel should be included on the page, click on the Contact tab located at the top to email me. It is my hope that this page will be of help to anyone and all the struggling indies out there. Whether you are a hobbyist, student or a developer working in the industry, we are all in this together. Most of all, I want to show you, to encourage you, that all the code you need to create a fully functional game and or game engine is out there, in books, on the web, free, within your reach.
INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION
- Books - This is a collection of inspirational and motivational books
- Videos - This is a collection of inspirational and motivational videos to help boost your self-confidence and achieve your goals
- The Will 2 Succeed
This is an emotionally charged account of my life's journey in game development of how I strive to go after my dream of turning a life-long hobby into a career. I share my honest reality of what's really involved in making video games. Scarcity and having little to no money starting out forced me to get creative and the internet became my greatest asset. With self-discipline, a positive attitude, and hard work I continue to persevere and transform my mistakes, failures and setbacks into my greatest comebacks. Through my real life experiences, it is my hope to inspire future generations by learning from both my successes and my mistakes in order to give them the hope and self-confidence they need to go after their dreams. It is my goal to show them that they can push past pain, demolish fear, and reach their full potential. In the age of the internet, being poor and having no budget is only temporary with so much knowledge and information available to us which is actually good for making games. So regardless of your upbringing, how you were raised, what your parents did or didn't give you, or how somebody treated you, I am living proof that even without a degree, anyone can turn their imaginations into reality.
BOOKS
- IT eBooks - At this site, you can download [Security, Web Development, Programming and Computer Science] eBooks. For hard-copies you must purchase.
- what-when-how - An online resource for in-depth information and tutorials on many topics.
GENERAL COURSES
- Books - This is a collection of books covering a variety of general courses.
- Video Tutorials - This is a collection of video tutorials where you can learn a variety of general coursework.
GAME STORY, DESIGN & PRODUCTION
- Story & Design Resources - This page provides a collection of in-depth eBooks, articles and videos on writing stories for games, crafting fun experiences for players and more. Learn what it takes to be an efficient game designer
GAME ART
Artists are redefining the limits of what games are capable of displaying visually on screen. They are shaping the future of one of the world's fastest growing forms of entertainment. Get creative and explore the skills to give you a foundation in understanding content creation for both 2D and 3D games. Learn to develop well-versed 2D and 3D asset creation for game development. You will learn a variety of software tools to gain the necessary skills for 3D modeling, texturing, lighting and animation.
- Game Art Resources - This page provides a collection of in-depth eBooks, articles and video tutorials depending on the specific software and tools for game art content creation. You will learn how to create both 2D and 3D content to suit any game.
GAME PROGRAMMING
Bring your artwork to life by learning and understanding the development side through game programming. Learn the languages and tools necessary to develop and program both single and multiplayer games for consoles, personal computers and mobile devices. The level of sophistication involved in game development is continually advancing. This section provides resources to help you develop critical thinking, problem solving, and analytical skills when it comes to programming games. You will learn to program tools and graphics, networking for online play, the math and physics which bring worlds to life, artificial intelligence for opponents, and user-interfaces.
- Game Programming Resources - This page provides a vast collection of in-depth eBooks, articles and video tutorials for programming both 2D and 3D games.
MUSIC & RECORDING ARTS
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| Devout Sound Design |
- Music Resources - This page provides a collection of in-depth books and video tutorials depending on the specific software and tools for creating both sound effects and music for your games
WEB DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
- Web Design & Development Resources - This page provides a collection of in-depth eBooks, articles and video tutorials depending on the specific software and tools for creating websites. You will also learn how to create web-based content.
Convert Videos to Gifs
- Zamzar - a free online file conversion website which supports a wide rage of formats
Video Screen Capture Programs
- Fraps
- Bandicam
- Snagit
- OBS Studio
- Any Video Converter - This tool allows you to convert videos into any format. Its helpful especially for the huge AVI video file sizes Fraps produces at high quality settings.
Places to Sell Your Game(s)
ITCH
STEAM
- Steamworks.Net - This is a C# Wrapper for Valve's Steamworks API. It is designed to be used from both Unity and standalone C# applications such as XNA and MonoGame.
With everything that I have covered, nothing is perfect. Many people ask me which tools are better. In my opinion, the tools don't really matter. Its not a question of which game engine is the best but rather which tool is the best for you to use and for your game. Its a matter of which tool you feel more comfortable with. It's a matter of preference. There are people who have made successful games starting with nothing from scratch and there are tons of successful games made with all sorts of game engines.
