Where can I find a program to make my own games?

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I think going to school for it would be a complete waste of time. I want to teach myself. I want to make educational games, not "shoot 'em out" games. What program do I use?

Clickteam's Multimedia Fusion used to be pretty good - I guess it's a bit dated now, but they have a version 2.0 out. It mainly involves dragging and dropping objects - just as capable of educational game making as making the other kind.

Adventure games might be your thing if your aim is education. The software below is all free and open-source too.

Adventure Game Studio - Make retro LucasArts-style point-and-click adventure games
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/

Wintermute engine - AGS on steroids, some experience needed.
http://www.dead-code.org/

I could imagine you can make sim games as well.

Well I guess there is a difference to self teaching and formal education.

Self teaching will teach you things like real world tools, you will get into making stuff right away. Its like starting in the middle and slowly filling everything out.

In formal education they can be really slow to get into the actual fun programming or creation stuff. However they are good at teaching the reasons behind doing things, also importantly how to make good documentation.

Unless you make some really good games by yourself I would think you would have a lot of trouble getting a job in the field. As a hobby though there isn't really a problem

However before making anything I would strongly suggest having a design document. It can be simple, it just really needs to explain the concept of the game, what you want it to do and how you want to implement it. Relevant concept art or pictures, menu screen appearance, game controls, etc should be included.

Even as a hobby a design document is extremely useful, it helps you keep the game on focus and stops you losing sight of the big picture. This document can be by hand or typed really, as long is it describes the goal and presentation of your game.

Also you will probably need to make custom art for your game eventually, knowing how to do this would be very helpful.

I can't help with any software, don't use game making programs myself but I hope this advice helps

http://www.microsoft.com/express/

Yeah, I can say from experience in artwork that a design document--it can be formally typed, or a notebook, or doodles, or whatever--will really help you focus, especially if this is an indie hobbie. Getting all your ideas out on paper will bring them weight and tangibility, and make them easier to organize and move while you work.

Flash is an extremely powerful program with a lot of depth, which is easy to pick up, but gets more and more complicated when you do the Action Scripting (programming.) It's also very expensive if you buy it retail (unless you can get an educational discount) so I wouldn't make the investment unless you're sure. Honestly, I'd use the free programs first and get a solid alpha running, and then if you want to truly kick it up a notch, buy Flash and move it into that format for the more professional finish. There are lots of books you can pick up to help yourself learn quickly; Macromedia Flash for Dummies is a simple start, and after that you can move on to learning the Action Script.

Good luck though.

I love the simplicity of the Commodore VIC-20. All you have to do is learn Basic and you can design your own games. The unexpanded VIC has 3583 Bytes available to the user, which is more than enough for the aspiring programmer.

You can find more info about the VIC here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_Vic_20

This is the online community for the VIC:
www.sleepingelephant.com/denial

This is an emulator for the VIC-20
www.viceteam.org

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

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Well beyond what people have already linked there is also

link

Research, look up a bunch of different programs and see which one best suits your needs. You know what you want better than we do. You could possibly also ask this question in the computers section of these forums. Some people there may have a better idea of what you are looking for.

Development is a skill, not a product.

What platform do you want to develop for? PC? Mac? Consoles? What kind of games? 3d graphics yes or no? Which language do you want to start with?

I suggest you start by getting a programming for beginners book, and by downloading a free dev environment/compiler. Visual Studio Express is pretty good.

It is only then, when you start looking into it, that you'll realize how absolutely huge the field is and how much is there to learn. People's entire careers and livelihood are centered around programming.