How to get started making games

[ShakyFiend]

All in the title, discuss your favourite software all you amateur/ indie game makers on here. I would love some advice in how to get started making basic games, preferably stuff that will allow me to build up to making quite complex (yet simply based) games, like VVVVV, or super meat boy etc. (Not only interested in platformers but those were the two that came to mind).

 

[SimuLord]

Learn to love Extra Credits. See if you can get Markus Persson's attention (if nothing else, it'll teach you that networking in any industry's all about hustle). Hell, send emails to every game designer under the sun and see if you can get a collection of advice that way.

You'll probably get a whole lot of ignored, but again...valuable lesson in the people side of any industry.

Personally, I'd rather not work in the games industry, but becoming a designer has a lot in common with becoming an accountant. Study your craft, get to know the right people (Ida Vlinorman, Mandil, Samuel Bantien, and Othrelos are the right people), live and breathe what you do...and you'll be successful.

 

[Kashrlyyk]

Read the SDL manual and read C++ books (e.g. "Thinking in C++"), go to gamedev.net.

http://www.libsdl.org/
http://www.gamedev.net/
http://www.mindview.net/Books/TICPP/ThinkingInCPP2e.html

 

[purf]

Unity [http://unity3d.com/] comes to mind. For the big stuff. Bring time, patience and a sufficiently big brain.
Also, Super Meat Boy really looks like a fancy-fied Game Maker [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCOW5Pp8eNU]. I myself played with the latter a bit and for example an Asteroids clone is pretty easy (and fun) to do. (In fact, I'm working on a "game" that utilises this Thrust+Rotation-in-almost-zero-gravity control)

But, yeah, it can't hurt to look into the real stuff, i.e. programming. For a somewhat soft start as opposed to directly diving into c++, try Processing [http://www.processing.org/]

 

[purf]

doublepost. nvm