You can Make Games! : Game Making tutorial for Everyone
Well, this is my first tutorial Post on this Blog ( Hoping to do more soon). Writing a Tutorial has proven to be much more difficult than i thought. Its easy to learn and do something , but it requires hell lot more effort to make it understandable to others. By writing this tutorial i don’t mean that i’m an expert in the game designing field, but i thought it would be helpful to share some of my ideas (which are susceptible to change in future, as i’m learning too) regarding Game Designing and my experiences with it. This Tutorial is about making games in general, not an in depth or advanced Tutorial.
Today, anyone with a computer and some basic knowledge can make games from their home (& maybe make Money too). Yet why haven’t everyone not making games (not even trying) ?. Its like asking, why people who have pencil & paper at home are not making drawings. So its kind of a creative process, an Art. Just like drawing a picture, sometimes you think of an idea & sketch a picture, or you just sketch something & later turns it into an idea. Game Making is , in my experience, is much more similar.
So why make games ?
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Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine, and at last, you create what you will – George Bernard Shaw
Why make games when you’ve lot of other important things to do and learn ? Game making is a highly rewarding (not to forget, highly taxing), creative process that can make you think, let you explore the vast territory of interactive entertainment. Why people create Awesome Wallpapers, 3D Animations, Short Films, Photography. Some for money, some for just a hobby, some for the sake of it. You can make games in your leisure time as a hobby, or just for fun or for money. Its great feeling to see your games played by your friends and family, that’s made by you (which makes it special, although not quite a Blockbuster title).
Get an Idea/ Make a Plan
Honestly saying, I don’t clearly have any clear cut advice for this part. This phase depends upon you, your thoughts and your lifestyle. Anyway, having an idea about the game you would like to make, think about it all the time, plan it on paper (if your’e kind of organized Planner kind of guy/girl) or scribble it on a paper or visualize everything in your mind. Sometimes just start make something and it may (not always) eventually turns into an idea. Sometimes some ideas came to you as though it was waiting for you. Maybe you may get some ideas by playing some game, from what you see, or what you feel. Nobody can predict a Eureka moment. It just happens.
Choose a Game Making Tool
Game Maker Studio
When doing a painting it isn’t much of a concern whether you use a pen or a pencil or oil paint or digital painting. But whether you could convey your deas through the medium you choose to prefer. The same logic applies here, in game designing too.
You can make game with pencil & paper (eg: Tic-tac-toe). You can make game with Wooden Blocks & Rubberbands. Game making doesn’t necessarily mean making games for a computer/console/mobile phone. Look at little kids playing with toys. They make their own games with things.
To come to the point, there are a lot of game making (often free) tools available on the internet. Each has its own pros and cons, but is primarily designed for making easier to design games without much learning about the system & coding things. Check out stencyl, game-editor, gamemaker, Multimedia Fusion to start with. Advanced stuff later.
Create or Get some Graphics
paint.net free graphics program
Game is all about the Visuals (though not always true, but it has the most significant part. The other aspects add to the taste of visuals). You can make game with simple circles and squares or you can use some free graphics you found elsewhere. Either you need some simple tools to create the simple images or to modify various images for your game (eg resizing it , changing color etc). You can check out open-game-art if you likes to use external resources for your game, or you can use sofwares like Paint.net, GIMP, Inkscape etc for making your own art assets.
Sounds & Music
What makes a game more alive than the appropriate sound fx and awesome music. They turn your game onto next level. Use tools such as SFXR, Audacity to create sound effects and for editing sounds, or get free sound from the internet (openGameArt has so many free sounds & music). For music i usually go for Incompetech.com, who offers royalty free musics (feel free to donate).
Keep Experimenting
Game making is a field of infinite possibilities and has room for indefinite experimentation. Be active and don’t give up even when things doesn’t work properly, game doesn’t look cool as EA games and such. Game making is sometimes boring and tiring, as with all kind of creative works. If you could get over it by hard work and patience, end reward would be so gratifying. So keep your creative spirits high and let the ideas Flow.
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