Free game building software

[JAFARR]

I just purchased a copy of PC Gamer's "Big Book of Free". Subtitled "365 Free Games", it also includes some other software links for making games.
Game Maker 7.0 http://tinyurl.com/234g9f
RPG maker 2003 http://2drpg.com
RPG Toolkit [URL="http://tinyurl.com/cizvcq"]http://tinyurl.com/cizvcq[/URL]
Byond http://www.byond.com
M.U.G.E.N. [URL="http://tinyurl.com9cds9p"]http://tinyurl.com9cds9p[/URL]
There are 2 full pages of these and other tools for programming you own games. The ones listed above are free. Some of the others listed have free versions and some have pay for the full version options as well.
The magazine cost me $10 in the grocery store. It says for subscription queries goto www.pcgamer.com

Hopefully this will be useful to some one.

Added: I just checked out the RPG maker site and there is a RPGXP version as well, which I just downloaded. I will make a farther post after,I get time to check it out.

 

[BeRKA]

Interesting stuff!

I hope someone has the time and skill to use this to create a traveller game?

B.t.w. tiny-link to M.U.G.E.N. should be:
http://tinyurl.com/9cds9p

 

[CosmicGamer]

unfortunately, even if it is for free, I don't think we can

 

[JAFARR]

As long as you give credit and do not charge you can probably use some of it to do things like chargen if the software is capable. What you can do is like a space trader game maybe. The character gets a ship like the free trader and has to make enough money to keep up payments.

 

[JAFARR]

Well, after checking out the xp version of rpg maker I found out that it is a $60 program. The 2003 version and previous versions are now free. all the newer ones have to be paid for after 30 days. I went back and got the 2003 version. Further updates to come.

 

[Commander Truestar]

Well, after checking out the xp version of rpg maker I found out that it is a $60 program. The 2003 version and previous versions are now free. all the newer ones have to be paid for after 30 days. I went back and got the 2003 version. Further updates to come.

I am curious how scalable they are.
2K3 should still work in XP though I would not even hazard a guess about Virus..er..vista.
In any case, if I knew I could do a resonably good implimentation of "play via internet" Fifth Frotnier War, and had the time, I would it tech out in 2k3 and then scale it up to XP after making sure what I wanted could be done for free.

Marc

 

[Whipsnade]

Gents,

Would anyone care to briefly explain what these programs actually do?


Regards,
Bill

 

[Commander Truestar]

I downloaded the stuff just after you posted but then my system finally succumbed to a heat expansion crack issue on the mainboard. That is fatal to laptops and I am now just finishing putting together my new box(just got the expresscard today in fact...). I have a few main packages to put together including my HP and lightwave. So once that is done I will take a real tour through the free stuff and see if it is intuitive enough to put out a basic game.
I am "hoping" to finally get some basic implimentation of a player vs player(possibly vs additional players) of The Fifth Frontier War. No "play vs AI" mind you but at least I hope it should provide for a "play via internet" capability.
In the end, I would like to see it:
Provide for at least 1 Imperial and One Zhodani player
(though added players via force division is hoped for)
"Inheriting player commands" via embedded password if a player quits the game
Classic Hexoganal representation of the battle field
Object oriented hexes allowing Fleet Objects and ship objects to be related for both
display and game functions
Providing an automated Orders management engine
Auto-announcing an encounter when opposing forces both occupy a system
Providing an automated combat results engine
Providing secondary utilities facilitatnig reinforcements, repairs, planetary attack, etc..
A possible additional option to open the game to the entire Spinward Marches Sector
to include:
The Trexalon - Collace Cold war as Imperial and Sword Worlds client states draw
the focus and forces of the main combatants
Pinned forces, especially where it relates to forces from Zhodani colonies in Foreven
Sector pinning fleets like thise in the Five Sisters Subsector in place.
A possible Pirates and Privateers engine for random "attack announcements" which
effect repair capability as well as orders transmission and increase if not
countered(which then draws off forces)
A possible Arden involvement as well as support for independant worlds resisting
both Zhodani and Imperial use(such would presumably be a cost in force
reduction until the system world is pacified by troops)

it would be nice to see this even if I am not the developer, and I am making no promises as I have not really taken a good hard look at the packages. It would be nice to get enough of a game system together to make public and then look into their AI....

Marc

I just purchased a copy of PC Gamer's "Big Book of Free". Subtitled "365 Free Games", it also includes some other software links for making games.
Game Maker 7.0 http://tinyurl.com/234g9f
RPG maker 2003 http://2drpg.com
RPG Toolkit [URL="http://tinyurl.com/cizvcq"]http://tinyurl.com/cizvcq[/URL]
Byond http://www.byond.com
M.U.G.E.N. [URL="http://tinyurl.com9cds9p"]http://tinyurl.com9cds9p[/URL]
There are 2 full pages of these and other tools for programming you own games. The ones listed above are free. Some of the others listed have free versions and some have pay for the full version options as well.
The magazine cost me $10 in the grocery store. It says for subscription queries goto www.pcgamer.com

Hopefully this will be useful to some one.

Added: I just checked out the RPG maker site and there is a RPGXP version as well, which I just downloaded. I will make a farther post after,I get time to check it out.

 

[Ishmael]

Marc,

I don't know if this would help, but it is hex-based and it seems that it can handle a good number of your requirements.

http://xconq.sourceforge.net/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/xconq
http://sourceware.org/xconq/

its pretty flexible and can probably even be used to 'run' a meta-game universe of sorts to make a sector or two dynamic; maybe even economics and tech advancement, if one is clever with the set-up.

its open source and can handle multiple players and is very customizable
its a hex-based form of Empire

 

[Space Hamster]

Gents,

Would anyone care to briefly explain what these programs actually do?


Regards,
Bill

These are game SDKs (Software Development Kit). They provide a framework for game development through a library of function that the developer can call to do stuff. This saves the developer a lot of time as it is work that is already done. One of the major features of these SDKs is the pipeline. The pipeline is sending the images to the screen buffer. This eliminates the developer from needing to know very large amounts of math.



To anybody interested in getting into this type of thing.

While these SDKs do save a bunch of work, there still is much more work that needs to be done. If you have never programmed before then you might want to learn how to program first. This is not something you download and whip out in 20 hours. I have been programming professionally for about 15 years now (not games. I do business apps). I started programming as a hobby.

If you are interested in learning to program then I recommend trying C# from Microsoft. They have a free developer environment for you to learn in. It has all the functionality that you would need. You can download it from here. http://www.microsoft.com/express/vcsharp/ There are plenty of resources on the web for learning to program in C#. This would give you an idea if this is something you would consider fun. There is a lot of problem solving in coding. Bugs always need to be located and fixed. This tends to turn off many new programmers.

C# is much better to learn in than C++ as it is a push to Rapid Application Development (RAD). You do not need to manage the memory and string manipulation is much easier in C#. Some of the Game SDKs are for C# as well.

 

[Commander Truestar]

C# is much better to learn in than C++ as it is a push to Rapid Application Development (RAD). You do not need to manage the memory and string manipulation is much easier in C#. Some of the Game SDKs are for C# as well.

hehe

When I went to college they taught me FORTRAN and PASCAL. I even studied ASM on an IBM 360/370 with a card reader input >
And not even "Visual". While I like the idea of visual languages by MS, they are time savers too. It saves you the work of setting up your basic forms and strutures(menues, etc..). But considering that the windows environment is nothing more than an extremely complex visual basic program....

no, I just have so many projects nipping at my heels right now. I would just really like to see a graphic based form of FFW out there.
The more I think of it, the more I think a better implimentation would be a game board that ties to the user's email such that it can receive emails generated by the other players and update the board. Then it could generate emails that the player's email client can send.

In that way the intial implimentation would be a play by email board game that could then have live player controls added. Of course, that depends on that the dev kit provides in the way of "this tool set is easier to use than that one".

Marc

 

[Commander Truestar]

Marc,

I don't know if this would help, but it is hex-based and it seems that it can handle a good number of your requirements.

http://xconq.sourceforge.net/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/xconq
http://sourceware.org/xconq/

its pretty flexible and can probably even be used to 'run' a meta-game universe of sorts to make a sector or two dynamic; maybe even economics and tech advancement, if one is clever with the set-up.

its open source and can handle multiple players and is very customizable
its a hex-based form of Empire

Yah see...

Now you're just backing me up even more because now i need to compare one dev kit to the other... Sigh.

Marc