Development Overview
From IndieGuide
In order to create a game, you need a development environment. There are ... (...work in progress... feel welcome to add content yourself)
Contents |
Introduction
Getting started
If you are new to programming, or at least in the area of computer games, you might find it helpful to look at the following steps. No step as such is mandatory, but it outlines an approach or framework you can follow.
- Make sure you decided clearly on what you want to do and with which technology -> Design Document
- Setup development environment on your computer (compiler, VDE, libraries/engines)
- Get an example project working
- Make sure you know exactly what you want to do (on the programming side) -> Technical Specification
- You probably have to read into how to do these things
- Prototype the key concepts. Key concepts both in regards to game mechanics (to test if the basic game will be any fun to play) and technical requirements (e.g. rotating sprites, cool effects essential to the game, etc.).
Development Environments
Compiler
- Visual Studio Express C++
- Code::Blocks
- Dev-C++
- (more to come...)
Target platforms
Your compiler and the libraries you use for your development determine to a large extend what target platform your game can run on. It's as important to be aware of this possible constrain up front as it is to know what platforms you are aiming at. This is not only about whether it's Windows or Linux, but it's also about which versions of Windows you want to support.
It is advisable to prototype and try out the different platforms at the very start. In the long run this is far easier than having to port/adjust/rewrite a largely finished product at the end to make it work elsewhere.
Version Control
- Subversion
- CVS
Engines
Libraries
Deployment
For other people to play your game, you need to give it to them. This is not just true when you game is done and you want the public to get their hands on it, but already at the first moment when it's in a playable form - you want to share it with friends, have it reviewed, playtested, etc. Rather than providing a zip file with everything, you will want to use a convenient installer. Thinking ahead you might consider that your game is going to be patched too, and again you should provide this in an effective means to your users.
There are various tools around, some of them free (really good ones), some commerical. Some of them also deal with the aspect of later updating/patching.
Installer
NSIS (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System)
See also:
Inno Setup
See also:
