TheCrafter

Well, never one to give up I’m still plodding along with this one. Started again from the beginning, as the first try wasn’t working out the way I’d hoped. I’m now close to having a playable beta of the entire first ‘world’ (nine levels). I probably chose an over-complex project for my first game, but, at least I’ve learned a lot. Check out the description and some screenshots at http://www.bloodfromastone.co.uk/games.html

If anyone can think of any decent names for shoot-em-up style games then please let me know! It’s the final hurdle I just can’t seem to get over …

For those asking how to make their own game: first you have to learn a programming language, like C or C++. There are plenty of tutorials online. You will also need a compiler (Visual Studio Express is free from Microsoft) and will have to learn a graphics API of some sort (I used DirectX – there are plenty of tutorials online, try http://www.gamasutra.com and http://www.gamedev.net). You can get all the software you need for free – if you want to program a game for windows then Microsoft make it pretty straightforward by providing all the files you need.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned so far doing this, it’s that girlfriends do not like this kind of solitary geek activity..

At last I’m at the stage where I have a nice-looking, playable but unstable demo, and it’s pretty fun to play so far. Can’t wait to finish most of the coding and then I can move on to level design etc.

Hmm, I have to get a handle on this one… it’s seriously holding back all the other things on my list (except for the really fun stuff).

Is procrastination a result of abject laziness? I don’t think so as I do many things in my life including lots and lots of exercise; but I still put things off, even things I sort of want to do.

I guess it’s just habit.