Game-making help!

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  • Game-making help!

    Hey bros!

    I have a question regarding modding/game making, as it seems there are some people here who are into that and I refuse to jump in without being that little bit more... informed ;) I'd love to get creative and start making a game, but I'm expecting I can't "just" make one; I'm a bit puzzled where I should start.
    I want to make a horror game, but a bit more psychological than most; less jumpscares, focus on storytelling that gets under your skin and effective use of scary stuff (not like "oh the dev just opened another ketchup bottle"-kind of scary stuff)
    A few questions about this:
    1. What kind of options do I have when it comes to engines/mods? How are they different to each other? Which one has the most creative freedom? What's the easiest to start off with? (Amnesia CS, Source mod, Unity3D....)
    2. What should I do first? Writing out the complete story, starting with a bit of programming and see what happens..?

    I'll probably try to get some people to help me in the appropriate section of the forum when I have a solid idea of what exactly I want to do, and a general idea of the storyline. For now, I'd love to get some help on these questions. I'm not particularly experienced in programming and modelling, but sound design, writing and a little bit of art design I can handle. And for the people who're probably going to tell me I can't do this: I'm a very patient lad, and definitely not too old to learn ;D

    Oh, and feel free to move the thread or point it out if I'm in the wrong forum section here!
    Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance

    BarrelHunter

  • To answer your question about the easiest engine, I would say Amnesia, scripting is using C++ basic. And the map editor is easy as cake. Can't help you with the storyline but I think picking a Engine should become first, knowing what your capabilities are a priority before you start making a game/mod.

  • Thanks for the very quick reply Flamez3! However, when I see custom stories of Amnesia, most of them look exactly like the original Castle of Brennenburg (apart from some total conversion mods). Same textures, same-ish corridors.. is it also relatively easy to "break away" from the castle set and make your own environments or does that take it to a new level of difficulty? Also, are the other engines more flexible to the point that it compensates for how easy Amnesia CSs are to code (if that makes sense)?

  • I would say they Source engine is alot more flexible then the Amnesia engine, but scripting on soruce is so hard x). On the FG forums, people are making new textures/walls/entites and posting them there. You don't need to make it a full conversion either to implement them. To make them work right all you need to do is include them in the custom story download.

  • The thing about Amnesia CS-making is that you need to be somewhat aware of what it is when you're coding. The mapping part is very easy, but like with most things, may take some time getting used to.

    Source mapping is in my opinion the easiest, since there you have everything in one place, and the HL engine is just so wide and filled with opportunities that if you fuck one thing up, another is invented. The NPC handling is somewhat harder though. In amnesia, the monsters break through the doors that keep them from reaching their goal, whilst in Source, you have to code (not c++) the events and animations that will have the NPC's break through the door. But overall I think Source SDK is the place to start unless you really want to jump straight into amnesia mapping and coding.

  • Once again, thanks for the quick and informative replies. This really helps me!
    Maybe it'd be an idea to try both out, playing around and exploring the basics before making a definite decision.
    For now, I'd prefer to use the Source engine, but I'll just wait and see.

    Thanks for the help, though! :D
    I'll probably drop off a message at the User Creation forum when I'm ready for it, just to see if there are people willing to help!

  • Flamez3 wrote:

    I would say they Source engine is alot more flexible then the Amnesia engine, but scripting on soruce is so hard x). On the FG forums, people are making new textures/walls/entites and posting them there. You don't need to make it a full conversion either to implement them. To make them work right all you need to do is include them in the custom story download.

    You forgot that the Source Engine is a total moron and likes to screw with your work from time to time (random brushes disappearing or not functioning properly , light/shadow being screwed up). Or just corrupt it for the lulz. It is an easy engine to start with but by far NOT reliable. And with reliable terms I mean the before stated. Also , it is only flexible if you snap its neck .... if you know what I mean.