Just joined Unity forums about an hour ago, and I’m downloading 3.1.0 at the moment. Very exciting to see that there are lots of tutorials easily accessible; lots to keep me going for the first few months. I definitely plan on using the video tutorials as much as possible, but I’m more of a “reference book” person. Could you all suggest a few books on getting started in C#/modeling/3DS max/etc? I’m looking through Amazon references, but sometimes it’s best to ask the people in the field directly. So here are my two main questions:
What books would you refer me to as solid reference books for game design/3D modeling/etc?
What books were the most helpful for your first year in game design/3D modeling/etc?
Quick caveat: I’m NOT a programmer/designer/artist, I’m a teacher. I’m interested in developing a MMORPG game as a learning platform for my students, but in order to do that I need to learn a LOT about 3D modeling, game design, etc. This is the beginning of a long term (5 yr) project for me, so I know I’m a long way off. I know I’m a baby learning to crawl here, but gotta start sometime, right? haha
Help me out, one and all! Thanks so much in advance,
Roi, yup I’m a complete beginner, as sad is that is to admit haha. No knowledge about scripting/modeling/game design; the only coding language that I’ve ever worked with is HTML. I know HTML pretty well. I learned LaTex (typesetting program) on my own two years ago, in order to improve my teaching handouts, and this is my next challenge. But that’s coding languages – does that help me at all?
I’m essentially looking ahead towards combining my loves of education/technology/gaming, and trying to blend all three by creating a virtual world/online MMORPG/interactive game that is geared specifically towards learning AP Physics (or A-Levels for the UK, or Higher Level Physics for the IB curriculum) – that’s what I teach.
I’m currently taking courses in scripting/educational theories within Second Life, but still in the early stages there.
Hopefully you have some ideas for me? Thanks for helping me out, Roi!
Man, if you have no experience, first learn flash and action script and java, which is similar to action script.
Then learn c#.
For designing, its better if you learn 2d graphics first and then move to 3d.
Creating MMORPGS is not a one mans job, do not try it now, you will need at least 5 yrs of gaming experience.
Yes you can always try it but the chances are you will quit in the middle, its so vast.
Instead start with 2d then move to 3d - the whole process will make your coding and designing experience better plus you will be able to calculate the time it takes to make games. I am making a 2d platformer using 3d graphics in flash alone, and already 4 months are gone.
If you are bend to create mmorpgs, try Realm Crafter, where you will not need a lot of scripting and modeling, as everything will be available to you. That software will give you an idea, how time consuming creating an MMORPG will be from scratch and equally frustrating.
I have tried my hands on every gaming engine there, not being a programmer makes my efforts look bad, so I learned action script now to create game in flash from scratch.
Wanna learn gaming, get a partner who is either good in programming or designing and meanwhile you learn the skills which he does’t have.
I am writing a book on game development for newbies right now, especially for people like you.
If someone want to learn c# can start by learning c#, no need to have to learn Java or Action Script first. Don’t forget that c# was created as Microsoft version of Java… then evolved a lot from there.
As a matter of curiosity, Wickedsunny,
if you have never developed a game before but you are actually ‘writing a book on game development’
why should Eudaimon, or anyone else for that matter, not try to learn programming, basics of 3d modelling and MMO/RPG game design, spend a couple of years getting the basics sorted and the next 3 years building an indie mmorpg game, maybe with the helping hand or a classroom full of students each contributing something to the game as they learn. They are not talking about building the next AAA MMO.
Just a consideration, I don’t mean this in any aggressive/offensive way. Maybe you are writing a book on game development from the learner point of view?
I found that the easiest route for me is 3d modeling and animation.
Your best bet would be to buy some books.
If you are going to learn Autodesk Maya
Get the following books -
Learning Maya 7: Foundation
Learning Maya 7: The Modeling and Animation Handbook
Learning Maya 7: The Special Effects Handbook
They are Very relevant to the current versions of Maya just with a few UI changes - Plus they are dirt Cheap.
If you want a dirt cheap Modeling app get Milkshape3d - Costs around $35.00 but you can make Commercial Grade quality Characters and Props with enough practice. You can also Animate in Milkshape3d I find it easier though to animate in other programs
He is a total newbie, it will be easier to learn java and actionscript for him than c#. Yes if he is bend on creating a MMORPG, then C# is the way to go.
I am not writing a book on how to make a game, but how to enter game developing, which path to select, which game engines to choose etc (based on the designer point of view). I have enough experience in using all the major game engines available, including torque and unreal.
In India, there are no real institutes which teach proper gaming like in US and I have struggled and struggled to learn everything about gaming in last one decade. I joined an institute which claimed will teach me games but at the end they had no faculty to teach games and asked me to shift to a maya course instead. That time there was no unity, not even many games books and video tutorials like available now days online.
The important part is that he is going to be a teacher, so it wont really matter if the game is complete, bring returns or not, but a person who wishes to enter game developing as a business cannot spend 5 yrs learning to create MMORPGS and then find it wont sell. Game industry is changing rapidly, games like Farm ville and League of Legends are totally changing the way games are made free to play and yet make money out of it.
Even as a teacher he needs to understand how the game industry works.
5 years is a lot of time to invest in learning something. The reason I am writing that book is so that no one wishing to enter game industry has to struggle like me, especially if he isn’t a programmer.
@HeadClot Maya costs approx US $7000. If he gets the learning version for less then it is fine. but for a newbie starting an indie game studio Maya is always out of reach. I would say learn blender, it has its limitations but hell its free.
Learning Zbrush and Blender will help any indie come out with a decent game and earn some cash to setup maya/ max or cinema4d in their pipeline. Zbrush costs about 500 $ and I would say that software is the future of game industry.
If I may, five years will not be enough for one man to create a whole MMORPG. I believe you may want to look into collaborating with others after you have made a few simple games – More or less start 2D and go into 3D aspects. The process of going from 2D to 3D is custom in many areas, modeling, animation, and game development. Working with two axes can be very difficult and adding a third axis without understanding the first two can seem even harder.
I do recommend getting some basic games up for testing purposes and maybe even a small revenue; A twist on Pac-Man or even Pong combined with Kongregate’s ad revenue can help gain money used for books, software, and maybe even lessons. Though I do want to point out that I’m not saying:
Make a poor quality game to use for some small ad revenue (Always work hard on every project, never think of it as uneducational, you will almost always learn something new, and it’s great practice as well)
Making a single game will get you enough money to buy software like Maya ( A single game will not be able to buy software like Maya unless it’s extremely good, and even then your ad revenue would have to be very substantial, instead work out a goal like Nerdook who aims for a game a month without making clones of his previous games.
Thanks all for your comments. Some have suggested to look into freeware software, get my skills up and my basic outline set, and then if it progresses further to go into the expensive programs like Maya. As well as Unity, I’ve been told to look into Blender for modelling, YafaRay for visualisation, Gimp, etc. I’ve downloaded Gimp and the wheels have slowly begun turning.
@ WickedSunny thanks for your honesty … honestly. I’m trying to create a MMORPG not to make money, but to teach from. Unless my game attracts lots of publicity, or I can sell the idea to a major company or textbook publisher (which is doubtful) it will likely be a small game from my hobby. I’ll take a look at 2D/flash/java as well, but I’d like to try out 3D to materialize my ideas.
@ Headclot - Thanks for giving me actual books to look into, this was very helpful. I’m thinking of starting with Unity 3D and then moving over to Maya if I actually reach that level. I purchased Unity 3D Game Development by Example Beginner’s Guide , by R Creighton. Do you have any experience with Unity books?
@ Protomega - Thanks for dropping Kongregate on me … I’ll check that out! And you’re probably right, I’ll need collaborators at some point, but I’m going to try to make a rough sketch first, then maybe send out the call on this forum.
Select Unity as your game engine. If you are even somewhat in doubt now, go try out the others for a while. When you’re done screwing around, you’ll come back here again. It is better that you get that “did I make the right decision” stuff out of your system, you don’t want to start porting your project over to the UDK, Source or any other game engine once it starts getting big, only to realize you want to go back to Unity again after another 6 months. Ok, now that you have wisely chosen Unity, start saving up for that $1500 Pro fee, but download and install the free version in the meantime. You probarbly got 1-2 years at least before you actually -need- the Pro version.
Pick up a coin, decide if heads should be C# or Javascript. Toss it up and see which way it lands. Alright, that will be your first language of choice. Don’t worry, you will learn the second one later.
3a) If it happened to be C#, buy yourself an account on http://www.learnvisualstudio.net/. Grab the C# videos and let Bob walk you around. Download Visual C# Express and play around. Start creating your first function, then later classes, then build small applications that does lots of weird things like printing out the current time on a random printer (should many be attached) while beeping the PC speaker. Play around, have fun, but more importantly stay focused. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking big. If you start defining variables for your game NPCs after watching Chapter 2 - Defining our first Variable then you are focusing on the game, not the language.
3b) If it happened to be Javascript, pick up a Javascript book (sorry, I don’t have any recommendations). Preferably a for Dummies book or some that starts easy. Read it. Twice. Do the examples that comes with the book, not just read about them. Modify them. Twist them. Make the Hello World program say other nasty things instead. Have fun!. Done with the book? Buy another one. Read it. Twice. This time out loud on your roof in the nude.
After you have let the programming language sink in a bit (it takes time to digest), fire up Unity. You will be presented with lots of dials and meters and buttons and stuff, and if you click on something there will be even more of them! Don’t worry though, just go to Youtube and watch one of the many hundred Unity tutorials. Download them (using third party software), put them on your iPhone/iPad/Android device and carry it around. Got 15-20 minutes to kill at work? Watch it! Start playing around and make some weird demos. There is a TON of new concepts to learn and not all of them are intuitive or can even be explained. Just make sure you never stop having fun. When you are comfortable with how Unity works (hard to ballpark any timeframe but let it sink for several months at least) it is time to start creating your own game assets. This does not mean you should stop doing stuff in Unity though, divide your time equally and where you are having the most fun.
3d modeling? Blender is the only viable option for most unless you want to spend a ton of money. If you go for one of the big packages (3dmax, Maya, Lightwave etc.) then www.3dbuzz.com is your friend. For anything else there is Youtube (and quite possibly other cool websites with good tutorials).
2d graphics? I suggest you burn Gimp to a CD, take it with you out in your garden, set it on fire and bury it. There, done with it. The drawing engine is good, the interface is a piece of crap, and Photoshop - although costly - is not overpriced in most countries. Except for here in Norway… As for tutorials, there are so many Photoshop tutorials on the web that they are almost > pornsites.
Music/Dialogue/Sound Effects: Cubase is your friend in need indeed. Get the Essentials version if the budget is tight, but buy yourself a good soundcard (no Creative ****). m-Audio, Presonus, external cards that either work on Firewire or USB. You will thank me later when you showcase your awesome game and the voiceover is audible. If recorded through a simple mic on an onboard soundcard, even the most sensual and beautiful voice can sound like someone shaving a wet cat inside an oil drum.
Oh well, like I said, my 2 cents And never let anyone tell you that you “can’t do it”.
3dbuzz in currently in the process of a HUGE mmorpg development course that will cover a lot and i mean a lot of mmorpg development not just basic scripting but an in depth look at the entire development process it should be kicking off soon keep your eyes peeled…
@Darth - thanks for telling me about the courses in 3DBuzz. Likely the MMO course is a bit advanced for me at the moment, but I’m looking into their other courses. It was exactly what I was looking for, thanks!
thanks to all for your great help! I’ve started on multiple fronts:
Downloaded Unity, learning the program
Signed up at 3Dbuzz.com, working through videos there
Lynda.com is an option for learning Maya, 3Ds Max, etc, but costly
Reading through training books, listed below
For those that may come in the future and have the same trials and tribulations of starting 3D game design, there are two beginner books for Unity which I’m working through currently, and I would recommend:
A couple of non Unity specific books you might want to consider:
Level Up! by Scott Rogers - Great overall game design book
3D Game Environments by Luke Ahern - A little outdated but walks you through the creation of a Jungle scene and a Modern City
Maya Studio Projects by Michael McKinley - More environment and prop work that can be completed in anything
Animators Survival Kit by Richard Williams - Pretty much the end all be all for animators
For C# I agree with AlienChild’s recommendation of learnvisualstudio.net. Also once you get used to C# check out the Burg Zerg RPG tutorial here in the forums.
I use InkScape for most of my art as I prefer its tools but Gimp/PS are still needed some.
3D Buzz pretty much rocks for learning videos for everything you will want (Modeling and Unity)
If you have Mac machines it is hard to beat Cheetah 3D and 3D coat for the price (around $300 total) and the integration with Unity.
Also don’t overlook online shops for assets. Renderosity has some great assets for cheap. I’m not a fan of The Game Creators engine but they have a lot of sound effects and other items that can be used as place holder sounds.
Hey, there’s this service ‘Pandora for Books’ aka BookLamp that may be helpful to teachers, to getting started books as well as change how we decide what to read - New BookLamp service is like Pandora for books. (: Reported by Mashable, readers can now obtain greater ROI at reading time through user-generated reviews that avoid the stench of marketing copy. Readers will even have a powerful matching algorithm at their disposal which should open up worlds of new content. This is also a cool concept that is something an author might like.
I’m currently taking courses in scripting/educational theories within Second Life, but still in the early stages there. The drawing engine is good, the interface is a piece of crap, and Photoshop - although costly - is not overpriced in most countries. Except for here in Norway… As for tutorials, there are so many Photoshop tutorials on the web that they are almost > pornsites.
