Starting Dev - Advice, Tips, and Information Ask!

[kgirlffx]

Hello All,

I know this has been asked before. But here it is again.

I'm tired of all the games I enjoy either being abandoned or going in directions I do not enjoy. Won't lie, I'm talking about NTR. Big fan of it, but almost every game that does it rights dies or phases it out. *Please no hate. It's just my thing. Some guys like feet, some like furries, I like NTR. No shade against vanilla.*

But I digress. Point being. I am an author and writer with a PhD in lit and MFA in Creative Writing. I have the writing ability to make a damn good story. I do not have the technical skill . . . yet. I am willing to learn.

So here is the ask: Where should I start?

I would like to make a 3D model game similar to Big Brother. *Not another clone through, don't worry. I want to just have the same general playstyle - with some improvements*

As someone 100% new to code and Dev works, where should I start? Consider me a full noob. I would appreciate any general tips or starting points, but I do have some specific questions as well.

Specifics:

What engine is best for the type of game I want to make?
What programming language should I work on learning for it?
What model software should I look at learning?

Any and all information, as I am sure I do not even know enough to ask what I should be asking, is appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[Deleted member 2130177]

There isn't any way in game development that is considered "the best". Every one of the paths has advantages but also disadvantages as well. In my experience, you should choose the way that suits your best, in terms of programming & modeling.
But I'll answer your question with examples of the most used things on this forum:

• For the engine, if you are planning to do a visual novel most people here use Ren'Py. It is a great engine that uses Python as a programming language. I think it is quite beginner-friendly as there are tons of tutorials and guides even on this forum, but the entry-level is not high at all. When you download the engine there is even an example project that walks you through the basics, so you will be satisfied with this I think.
  For RPG games RPGMaker is also widely used. I used it for some time, for me personally it is a bit hard to get into, but once you learn the basics it is actually quite easy to use. Sure it has a learning curve but for 2D RPG-s it isn't a bad choice.
  For 3D games you have loads of options out there like Unity, Unreal, Godot (however I never saw a game on this forum made with this engine), again your preferences will determine which one you should choose.
• As for the programming language, if you choose Ren'Py of course Python will be your friend, for other games you might come across C#, C++, Java. But inside most 3D engines you have something called "visual-scripting" - with this you can make the logic without actually needing to write any code at all.
• If you are planning to do 3D models I would advise you to learn DAZ3D. Most games here use that, and I can't blame them, it is fairly simple to get into, taking how many models and assets are shared on this forum sorely. It isn't really a 3D model software, in terms of that most of the time you don't make yours on models. Of course, even using assets isn't easy, don't get me wrong.
  Blender is also a really good 3D modeling software, it has a steep learning curve (but it really depends on what you want to do), but the results can be fantastic.
  I rarely see games here that are 3D and aren't made with DAZ. On one hand, this means that it's a bit hard to stay unique but in my honest opinion if you have an idea that you think could turn out to be unique, go for it!
  If I play a game that has a nice story, maybe some nice mechanics, or even just little extra details in it, I will definitely enjoy it !

But again, you have almost infinite paths that you could take. You can make a visual novel in Unity too, or add 3D graphics to an RPG Maker game as well!

As for the general tip, I would say that try to stay consistent! I once heard the phrase that doesn't try to achieve 100% days every day - if you do 1% work every day, in one year it will be 365% So if you do even a tiny bit of game-making every day, you will get everything done in no time!
Also, one thing that beginners tend to do is set the bar too high. Your first game won't be great. Your very first goal should be even just to release a game. This is a very big milestone, considering how many "developers" just stopping the work after burning out...
In my experience planning is a key factor in game development. So don't try to develop a game, like "I will figure it along the way". Yes, it sounds great, that you deep dive into a game instantly, but having a solid plan can save you quite some sanity

Good luck with your developer journey, I hope I could help out you even just a tiny bit !

 

[Rafster]

Have you thought on making a text adventure to start? good CHYOA (choose your own adventure) can be done through Twine+sugarcube. It doesn't need to be the flashy sandboxes you see here, and at most, you'll need to declare a handful of variables to control what the players choose, but that's it. For examples look for the HTML tag here, but disregard the sandbox games unless you want to get your hands dirty programming wise

Now, if you want to get more technical, like dialog boxes, showing images, styling and stuff.... yeah, you'll need to learn HTML, Javascript and Sugarcube to do more than just display raw texts and choices.

 

[kgirlffx]

Have you thought on making a text adventure to start? good CHYOA (choose your own adventure) can be done through Twine+sugarcube. It doesn't need to be the flashy sandboxes you see here, and at most, you'll need to declare a handful of variables to control what the players choose, but that's it. For examples look for the HTML tag here, but disregard the sandbox games unless you want to get your hands dirty programming wise

Now, if you want to get more technical, like dialog boxes, showing images, styling and stuff.... yeah, you'll need to learn HTML, Javascript and Sugarcube to do more than just display raw texts and choices.

That is good advice, thank you. I am still leaning toward Renply with a very limited sandbox, but something on Twine might be better for a first project. The big sandbox might be good second. Still thinking it over, but good comment. Thanks!

 

[kgirlffx]

There isn't any way in game development that is considered "the best". Every one of the paths has advantages but also disadvantages as well. In my experience, you should choose the way that suits your best, in terms of programming & modeling.
But I'll answer your question with examples of the most used things on this forum:

• For the engine, if you are planning to do a visual novel most people here use Ren'Py. It is a great engine that uses Python as a programming language. I think it is quite beginner-friendly as there are tons of tutorials and guides even on this forum, but the entry-level is not high at all. When you download the engine there is even an example project that walks you through the basics, so you will be satisfied with this I think.
  For RPG games RPGMaker is also widely used. I used it for some time, for me personally it is a bit hard to get into, but once you learn the basics it is actually quite easy to use. Sure it has a learning curve but for 2D RPG-s it isn't a bad choice.
  For 3D games you have loads of options out there like Unity, Unreal, Godot (however I never saw a game on this forum made with this engine), again your preferences will determine which one you should choose.
• As for the programming language, if you choose Ren'Py of course Python will be your friend, for other games you might come across C#, C++, Java. But inside most 3D engines you have something called "visual-scripting" - with this you can make the logic without actually needing to write any code at all.
• If you are planning to do 3D models I would advise you to learn DAZ3D. Most games here use that, and I can't blame them, it is fairly simple to get into, taking how many models and assets are shared on this forum sorely. It isn't really a 3D model software, in terms of that most of the time you don't make yours on models. Of course, even using assets isn't easy, don't get me wrong.
  Blender is also a really good 3D modeling software, it has a steep learning curve (but it really depends on what you want to do), but the results can be fantastic.
  I rarely see games here that are 3D and aren't made with DAZ. On one hand, this means that it's a bit hard to stay unique but in my honest opinion if you have an idea that you think could turn out to be unique, go for it!
  If I play a game that has a nice story, maybe some nice mechanics, or even just little extra details in it, I will definitely enjoy it !

But again, you have almost infinite paths that you could take. You can make a visual novel in Unity too, or add 3D graphics to an RPG Maker game as well!

As for the general tip, I would say that try to stay consistent! I once heard the phrase that doesn't try to achieve 100% days every day - if you do 1% work every day, in one year it will be 365% So if you do even a tiny bit of game-making every day, you will get everything done in no time!
Also, one thing that beginners tend to do is set the bar too high. Your first game won't be great. Your very first goal should be even just to release a game. This is a very big milestone, considering how many "developers" just stopping the work after burning out...
In my experience planning is a key factor in game development. So don't try to develop a game, like "I will figure it along the way". Yes, it sounds great, that you deep dive into a game instantly, but having a solid plan can save you quite some sanity

Good luck with your developer journey, I hope I could help out you even just a tiny bit !

Thank you for all the advice and information. I am leaning toward Ren'Py. Do you think it is worth actually trying to learn Python first and then see about Dev work, or just dive in with Ren'Py and see how it goes?


As for RPG-Maker, I toyed with that some back in the day and it was actually pretty fun. But, I personally don't enjoy RPG_maker games anymore. Then again, most are pretty low effort with very little coding.

Def will look at DAZ3D, but might check out blender too.

Thanks yo, if you think of more I am happy to hear it.

 

[JoGio]

I recommend Renpy since it's very beginner friendly without being too limiting. Best to start with a story that has forked event paths rather than trying to make a sandbox because they're more difficulty to pull off technically and from a gameplay design standpoint.

Sandbox games are great fun if they're done well, but very frustrating if done poorly.

Daz is popular for visuals, but getting a great variety of models will be expensive. Other tools people use are illusion games like AI Girl (AI Shoujo). I found Illusion games to be very easy to modify for custom content if you know how to use Blender.

The other advantage to using Illusion games is that the rendering is done in real-time, so you don't have to wait for an 8-hour render from programs like Daz, only to notice that you made a mistake and must now restart it. Daz is also very choppy even when you're just setting things up.