Let’s start building a game. 

Game Title:

imageA game title is critical, this is a working title, likely to draw fire from the Angry Birds.  So in the real world I would need a plan of action if I was hit with a suit.  In this case my plan is simply to change the title of the game in case that happens. 

Game Story:

In this game the Dolphins have grown angry over the trash floating in the water.  For the initial level the dolphins have created a weapon that breaks down the bottles into the basic structural components that then dissolve harmlessly.  Later versions would have the dolphins saving turtles from drift nets, fish from eating balloons, and so forth. 

Artwork for the development phase:

  • Overall it is going to look a lot like space invaders, initially
  • The cursor would be a dolphin
  • Background would be aquatic
  • Bottles would be transparent outlines

Engine:

In this case the engine will be one that we build from scratch, in real life you might use an existing engine like the Entity engine or others.  Keep in mind what is free for development or for student use may not be free for use if you are making a profit.  Make sure that you understand the license of any code that you reuse.  In fact if you are using code created using any of the Open Source licenses, why don’t you contact the author and tell them what you are doing.  The author’s of the engine might have some good ideas and updates.

Learning how to do design and programming

I wish I could stay the course and write the material you need, but that would require that I write it and then maintain it.  That is not the way this blog rolls.

So to learn go to http://www.microsoft.com/design/toolbox/ , I think this is a freaking awesome site for getting started or even for the intermediate developer. Make you dress your avatar otherwise you look like a dork.