How to make games on your own, for free. Conor O'Kane cokane.com

or... How to make your own games, for free. Conor O'Kane cokane.com

This presentation is aimed at... ● Students seeking employment. ● You don't have to work for a developer.

This presentation is aimed at... ● Artists. ● Turn your concepts and characters into fully playable games.

This presentation is aimed at... ● Designers. ● Don't just tell people how great your game concept is – show them.

This presentation is aimed at... ● Programmers. ● Turn your tech-demos into playable games.

This presentation is aimed at... ● Testers. ● You want to be respected and get paid more and are tired of playing the same game every day for months on end and can't understand why the artists, designers and programmers didn't make it right in the first place.

The development process 1. Idea 2. Prototype 3. Production 4. Testing and Balancing 5. Marketing 6. Distribution 7. Fame and fortune

Step 1 - Idea ● You should already have lots of ideas. ● Don't be afraid to share them.

Step 1 - Idea ● You should already have lots of ideas. ● Don't be afraid to share them. ● Only got one idea? ● No problem, start with that.

Step 1 - Idea ● You should already have lots of ideas. ● Don't be afraid to share them. ● Only got one idea? ● No problem, start with that. ● Don't have any ideas? ● Become a producer.

Keep a record of your ideas ● Visual thinker? ● Keep a sketchbook. ● Verbal thinker? ● Write design documents. ● Think in C++? ● Write code snippets or tech demos.

Step 2 – Prototyping 2D Engines: ● Torque Game Builder (Windows, Mac, Linux*, iPhone, Xbox 360**) ● Flash (Browser) ● Flixel – pixel engine for Flash ● Game Maker (Win, Browser) ● * Not fully supported ● ** With XNA Creators Club

Step 2 – Prototyping 3D Engines: ● Torque 3D (Windows, iPhone, Xbox 360) ● Unity (Browser, Windows, Mac, iPhone) ● XNA (Win, Xbox 360)

Step 2 - Prototyping Let's see some prototypes

Step 2 - Prototyping Rapidly explore gameplay. Avoid detailed art, unless essential. Experiment now. Is it fun, even without fancy graphics?

Step 2 - Prototyping

When do you go to full production? If it's not fun after 1 week – scrap it. You cannot go wrong with a fun prototype.* *Probably

Relative costs of game engines Game Maker - $25 Torque 2D Indie - $150 Torque 2D iPhone - $750 Unity Indie - $200 Unity iPhone - $400 Flash - $700 XNA - FREE! Prices in US dollars

Relative costs of game engines Wait a minute! if ($cost > 0) { Engine != FREE; Presentation title = FALSE; }

Relative costs of game engines Game Maker - $25 Torque 2D Indie - $150 Torque 2D iPhone - $750 Unity Indie - $200 Unity iPhone - $400 Flash - $700 XNA - FREE!

Relative costs of game engines Game Maker - $25 Torque 2D Indie - $150 Torque 2D iPhone - $750 Unity Indie - $200 Unity iPhone - $400 Flash - $700 XNA - FREE! Unreal Engine 2 - $750,000 for first platform + $100,000 per additional platform.

Step 3 - Production Your game will need: Graphics Programming Audio

Step 3.1 – Production (Graphics Tools) High End 3D: Max, Maya, Zbrush Mid Range 3D: Mudbox, Milkshape Free 3D: Blender High End 2D: Photoshop, Painter Mid Range 2D: Paintshop Pro Free 2D: GIMP

Step 3.1 – Production, Graphics (Programmer art) What if you can't draw? It doesn't matter. Choose a game style that doesn't require complex art.

Step 3.1 – Production, Graphics (Programmer art)

Step 3,1 – Production, Graphics (Programmer art)

Step 3.1 – Production, Graphics (Programmer art)

In order of ascending coolness... Reality Programmer Art Sweet Pixel Art

Step 3.2 Production (Programming tools) What programming tools you use depends on your engine: Flash – Actionscript. Game Maker – Built in script editor. Torque – Torsion ($30) or CodeWeaver (Free!) Unity – Supports multiple scripting languages. XNA – Visual C# Express (Free!)

Step 3.2 Production, Programming (coding for dummies) What if you can't program? You will have to learn. Sorry, there is no shortcut here. …however, programming isn't that hard!

Step 3.2 Production, Programming (coding for dummies) Modern programming languages are very beginner-friendly...

Step 3.2 Production, Programming (coding for dummies)

Interlude – the college question I want to learn (C++, Maya, 3D Studio Max, Flash, etc...) Do I need to attend a course? Short answer: No But you will need patience and motivation.

Interlude – the college question

Google are losing $2 billion a year on YouTube. It is your responsibility to watch as much of it as possible.

Interlude – the college question Seriously though, what about college?

Interlude – the college question Student A (college) Student B (YouTube)

Interlude – the college question Student A (college) Student B (YouTube) Piece of paper (degree)No piece of paper

Interlude – the college question Student A (college) Student B (YouTube) Piece of paper (degree)No piece of paper ~$40,000 debtNo debt

Interlude – the college question Student A (college) Student B (YouTube) Piece of paper (degree)No piece of paper ~$40,000 debtNo debt Gets invited to partiesNo parties

Interlude – the college question How do you know if a course is any good? Ask the graduates or 3 rd years. Don't believe the college literature. Try tsumea.com

Step 3.3 Production (Audio tools) High end: Cubase, FL Studio, Reason, SoundForge Mid Range: Gold Wave Free: SFXR, Hammerhead

Step 3.3 Production (Audio tools) Let's play with SFXR!

Step 3.3 Production, Music What if I can't play music? Try it anyway, it's not that hard. Learn on YouTube. Use royalty free music from the web.

Interlude – the MMO issue You cannot play World of Warcraft and be a productive member of society.

Interlude – the MMO issue

World of Warcraft = Smoking

Interlude – the MMO issue World of Warcraft = Smoking 1. Addictive

Interlude – the MMO issue World of Warcraft = Smoking 1. Addictive 2. Consumes time and money

Interlude – the MMO issue World of Warcraft = Smoking 1. Addictive 2. Consumes time and money 3. You think it's cool, but it's not

Interlude – the MMO issue World of Warcraft = Smoking 1. Addictive 2. Consumes time and money 3. You think it's cool, but it's not 4. Cancer

Step 4 – Testing and Balancing How can you get QA and balancing for free? Forums and IRC. Be prepared for brutal honesty. Lots of people will say your game is crap. This doesn't mean it is actually crap. However, it might be.

Step 4 – Testing and Balancing, Recommended websites TIGsource.com (forum and IRC channel, lots of contests) Indiegamer.com Gamedev.net Shmups.com (only for shmups!) Shmup-Dev.com (again, only shmups) Polycount.com (game art forum) Creators.xna.com (for XNA games) ThePoppenKast.com (mostly Game Maker)

Step 5 – Marketing Nobody will play your game if they can't find it. Competitions. Blogs and news sites.

Step 5 – Marketing

Step 6 – Distribution Make your game easy to find. Make a website or blog. Make your game easy to install and play!

Step 7 – Going commercial For PC/Mac - work with a distributor: Steam, Greenhouse, Big Fish Flash game: Kongregate, Newgrounds. iPhone: Torque and Unity. XNA: Creators club on 360, or Steam on PC.

Questions? Conor O'Kane cokane.com harpooned.org