How to create video games?
After so many years playing and so many hours invested in different virtual worlds, many gamers began to consider creating video games. It is an instinctive, inevitable question, born of the unconditional love we have for this beautiful universe. Is it possible to create video games? Do I need to study something? Are there programs to create video games? In this article we will try to explain to you the most elements related to the art of creating games, so that you can evaluate if you have the tools, the time and the necessary knowledge. Just remember that, like any other project you’re considering, you’ll need dedication and hard work to achieve your goals.
Do I need to know to programme?
The correct answer would be a resounding yes. However, this knowledge is not entirely exclusive when creating a video game. Knowing about design or programming will help you a lot to execute different technical actions. Moreover, much of the video games created by fans could be considered much more creative than sophisticated.
So how to create a video game? Because several programs facilitate the creation of video games from your own home or office, so it is no longer a prerequisite to create your tools or to be part of a large developer. These programs to create video games are quite intuitive, and with a little practice, you can manage them very well.
Of course, it is essential that as you create a video game, you read and inform yourself about different technical aspects of the process. It’s not about you becoming a programming brain, but it would significantly improve your experience to know basic concepts that facilitate your tasks when creating video games.
Programs to create video games
The gaming world is so vast and specialized that knowledge flows naturally within it. The so-called indie Games have gained strength over the last few years, especially thanks to the emergence of video games programs that greatly facilitate this type of work.
Some fans with extensive programming knowledge have brought to life beautiful video game engines. Of course, the big development companies have, in turn, enabled some platforms that have quickly positioned themselves as reference tools in the creation of video games.
In this section, we will teach you some of the most prominent historical and influential ones within independent initiatives. Pay close attention and take note of the following programs to create video games.
- Unity 3D
One of the programs to create the most popular games within the industry. Launched in 2005, this video game engine is characterized by its versatility and the ability to operate on Windows, Mac and Linux.
Like all tools for video game creation, Unity 3D has paid and other free resources. If you are not an expert, we recommend that you try to create free video games and practice until you know the tools offered by this program.
Unity 3D has a reasonably intuitive system and pretty good graphics delivery. As its name indicates, it allows us to program video games in three dimensions, a question that can be a little complicated if they are our first approaches to this entertaining but complex world.
In addition to useful graphics resources, it also has excellent sound and video quality, as well as timely ease when rendering the content.
- Mugen
The popular program aimed at creating Mugen fight video games was released in 1999 by Elecbyte and turned out to be quite a success in the gamer world. It continues to operate for the same initial purpose, which is to create fighting games for more or less ancient platforms. MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows and GNU Linux are the operating systems on which they can run their products.
MUGEN is not mentioned in this list because of his high technological relevance, but because of the importance, he had in the development of independent video games. Through this program to create games, you could create completely personalized characters and put them to fight under the dynamics of classic wrestling video games.
Your references most obvious are games like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and King of Fighters. If you have time to take a look at MUGEN and figure out how to create an old-school PC video game, it will do you good to understand basic things about the world of the video game maker.
- RPG Maker
As its name suggests, this program to create video games is specially designed for programming RPG games. It has existed since 1997, and countless titles have emerged from its video game engines.
The version currently in use is the RPG MV whose refinement compared to previous versions is quite evident. It has an enormous amount of programming and design resources, as well as a high-quality video and sound.
The only major drawback of the RPG Maker is that as time progresses, its tools become more challenging to use. This is mainly due to the fact that the creation of video games has become a reasonably specific activity and the engines used to adapt to that context.