New but old

[Billieb]

Many, many moons back I sold a computer program, a game where you would train and race horses. That was in the 80's, I think, it was so long ago now. I learned to program on my Sinclair spectrum in an evening, moved onto my Amstrad over the next year and wrote many more programs. I sold another two games to developers, both crap. I decided to make a program under the windows platform, learn c++ and such like. I started but life is just too short. As you can guess I am old, I mean very old, but I want to write a game now..an adult game, I kinda think I have the stories to tell.

So, as I talk too much let me cut to the chase. Where do I start, Maybe a suggestion for some free software to learn concepts, tutorials and such like. I watched a game 'Dating my daughter'. Is that a mixture of programmes or all built under one piece of software. I have been looking at Daz3d, is that any good? thanks in advance for any help or signposts to where I need to be. Kindest regards.

 

[Cohibozz]

for VN game i think the best start is renpy and daz3d. if u want u can use also unity or other engine but i think if u have some skills in programming like c++ with renpy u can start early to produce.
i'm doing my game now and i've started as u form 0. i'm studying daz3d anr renpy and building mt game with help of guys in this forum (awesome).

 

[anne O'nymous]

As you can guess I am old, I mean very old,

As I can guess, you're around my age, and I'm not the oldest here. So, please, remove this "very old".

Where do I start,

Well, it depend of what you want to do and how you want to do it. It also depend of your effective knowledge. You talked about what you knew 25/30 years ago, but not about what you know now. Because of your comment about DmD (which is a basic script program) I assume that you didn't really stayed in touch with coding.
You mentioned C++, so Unity can be an option. It use C#, so you'll need some updates, but less than if you hadn't a single clue about how C works and what POO mean. You can also look for Ren'py. It's not a bad start if effectively you're rusty and not really aware of moderns paradigms.

Maybe a suggestion for some free software to learn concepts, tutorials and such like.

In this case,

You must be registered to see the links

is the place where your journey start.

I watched a game 'Dating my daughter'. Is that a mixture of programmes or all built under one piece of software.

DmD use Ren'py, a free engine wrote in Python and mixing Python and its own script language. It's actually the most used engine, partly because even someone with no coding knowledge can achieve to use it with more or less success. In the same time, the engine is way more powerful than it look (a Ferrari hidden behind a Beetle). So once you retrieve your old habits, you can go further without changing the engine.

I have been looking at Daz3d, is that any good?

It's probably the better compromise between power and easy use, when it come to rendering 3D scene. But it's not the only option available. Here again, the Bloo guide is the place were to start.

 

[Billieb]

for VN game i think the best start is renpy and daz3d. if u want u can use also unity or other engine but i think if u have some skills in programming like c++ with renpy u can start early to produce.
i'm doing my game now and i've started as u form 0. i'm studying daz3d anr renpy and building mt game with help of guys in this forum (awesome).

Thanks Cohiboz.. good luck with your journey

 

[Billieb]

As I can guess, you're around my age, and I'm not the oldest here. So, please, remove this "very old".




Well, it depend of what you want to do and how you want to do it. It also depend of your effective knowledge. You talked about what you knew 25/30 years ago, but not about what you know now. Because of your comment about DmD (which is a basic script program) I assume that you didn't really stayed in touch with coding.
You mentioned C++, so Unity can be an option. It use C#, so you'll need some updates, but less than if you hadn't a single clue about how C works and what POO mean. You can also look for Ren'py. It's not a bad start if effectively you're rusty and not really aware of moderns paradigms.
Thank you Anne for your extensive reply, I will check out "Boo" as suggested, but I am still old.......... Kindest regards




In this case,

You must be registered to see the links

is the place where your journey start.




DmD use Ren'py, a free engine wrote in Python and mixing Python and its own script language. It's actually the most used engine, partly because even someone with no coding knowledge can achieve to use it with more or less success. In the same time, the engine is way more powerful than it look (a Ferrari hidden behind a Beetle). So once you retrieve your old habits, you can go further without changing the engine.




It's probably the better compromise between power and easy use, when it come to rendering 3D scene. But it's not the only option available. Here again, the Bloo guide is the place were to start.

 

[DreamLab Studio]

As I can guess, you're around my age, and I'm not the oldest here. So, please, remove this "very old".

HAHA, I have to agree on this point. Next year I'm changing my age's first digit to a 5 so don't think you are only surrounded by a bunch of teens here. LOL

My only coding experience has been some minor BASH scripting and a few months of studying both Perl and Python for studying Linux so I wouldn't even call it serious programming. Based on what you said your experience is I don't see you having any problems with using RenPy which is basically Python.

For creating images I've been learning Daz Studio as I prefer the look of the images compared to other popular programs. I've also researched it a lot and so many people seem to suggest it as the 'Go To' program for 3D.

I'm also using RenPy as I have some Python experience and I like the layout of the games they make. The basic menus and game function is pretty easy to understand for players and since it's so popular a lot of players can quickly jump into your game and start enjoying it.

I've said this before but I think the best thing for me learning more about RenPy is to download a game I've played that's done in RenPy, since you played Dating My Daughter that's a good choice. The use the UnRen program to unlock it so you can read through the .rpy files and see how it's coded.

You must be registered to see the links

In the /game directory start with "script.rpy" and you can see what variables are created and follow the game and see how images are called in, how choices are presented to the player, and how to jump between sections of code.

Or course RenPy has their online info site and you can also check YouTube for videos of how people do things in RenPy which can help as well.

Most of all, don't worry about your age, it's not like you can wait till you get younger, right? Let's show people that those of us who remember when MTV first went live (and was good) can do. :eazyHype:

 

[Billieb]

HAHA, I have to agree on this point. Next year I'm changing my age's first digit to a 5 so don't think you are only surrounded by a bunch of teens here. LOL

My only coding experience has been some minor BASH scripting and a few months of studying both Perl and Python for studying Linux so I wouldn't even call it serious programming. Based on what you said your experience is I don't see you having any problems with using RenPy which is basically Python.

For creating images I've been learning Daz Studio as I prefer the look of the images compared to other popular programs. I've also researched it a lot and so many people seem to suggest it as the 'Go To' program for 3D.

I'm also using RenPy as I have some Python experience and I like the layout of the games they make. The basic menus and game function is pretty easy to understand for players and since it's so popular a lot of players can quickly jump into your game and start enjoying it.

I've said this before but I think the best thing for me learning more about RenPy is to download a game I've played that's done in RenPy, since you played Dating My Daughter that's a good choice. The use the UnRen program to unlock it so you can read through the .rpy files and see how it's coded.

You must be registered to see the links

In the /game directory start with "script.rpy" and you can see what variables are created and follow the game and see how images are called in, how choices are presented to the player, and how to jump between sections of code.

Or course RenPy has their online info site and you can also check YouTube for videos of how people do things in RenPy which can help as well.

Most of all, don't worry about your age, it's not like you can wait till you get younger, right? Let's show people that those of us who remember when MTV first went live (and was good) can do. :eazyHype:

Thank you for your sound advice and kind words