Best way to start coding indie games?
Best way to start coding indie games?
Hey, folks! My son (currently 15) is interested in getting into game development. He's taken a class in Python in school and enjoyed it, but I know Python won't be enough. I don't think he's interested in ever making big, AAA games, but more along the lines of Undertale (which was made in Game Maker Studio) or Bug Fables (Unity).
There are just so many choices and so much content out there that I don't know where to start. Do you have any suggestions for which language(s) to learn or software (like Game Maker Studio) that you've found helpful? Thanks!
Godot is really lightweight and the scripting (gdscript) is similar to python. It can be a bit rough around the edges but is my go to when making small games.
The documentation is pretty good,but nowhere near as available as something like unity. If I can't find something in the docs,I've been using https://www.phind.com/ to generate a snippet which does a pretty good job of getting me going.
I'm by no means an expert,but if you have any questions feel free to reach out and I'll help if I can!
You can build visual novels in Ren'Py, which uses only Python, but that might not be what you're looking for.
I know you have a lot of opinions on this, so I'll recommend something different: Gamejams. They are a great way to flex that skill, try new things, and be a part of a group all at once. And another tip from another amateur game developer: Use Itch.io for sharing work.
Godot is opensource and uses a scripting language pretty similar to Python.
That's two votes for Godot -- we'll take a look into that!
Adding this here so you'll see it, but Humble Bundle has a huge python book bundle going on right now.
I 2nd GoDOT, but I also recommend the Learn Python books from No Starch Press, they have several books for kids & learning while making games.