Hello to all Gamedevelopers out there. Many of your have already wanted to get into game development but came to a stand still due to the lack of resources.
Please don't post Spam or Thank you posts in this thread since this is meant to be used as a guide for all beginners. I hope you understand this.
My first post will deal with starting game development using external libraries and API's since it doesn't make sense to start coding a killer Game Engine or a Physics engine as your first attempt.
1. For a list of free game engines along with their reviews
look here
2. As far as 3D modelling tools are considered, if you have big bucks you can go for the professional tool 3ds max or Maya. A free 3d modeller is Blender and has the features which match the professional ones (though its a bit tough to learn it).
3. Level editors are also aplenty out there but sadly they require you to pay for using it. A free one is
Deled
4. Good sound libraries are:
Fmod:
http://www.fmod.org
OpenAL:
www.openal.org
5. Network API's
RakNet:
http://www.rakkarsoft.com
Zoidcom:
http://www.zoidcom.com
6. Physics Libraries:
Newton Game Dynamics:
http://www.newtondynamics.com
Novodex:
http://www.novodex.com
ODE:
http://ode.org
Tokamak:
http://www.tokamakphysics.com
As far as my experience and persoanl recommendation is concerned go with
Irrlicht
Reaons:
1. Supports a lot of file formats
2. Has a level editor and support for .NET languages.
3. Has a very active community.
4. You can start being productive in a week or so.
IF you are really up for a challenge and want to do some serious development go with
Ogre ( which is a free professional level engine ). And believe it or not , it has got a book written on it (by Apress ), so if you really serious about it, consider
buying the book.
Performance wise Irrlicht falls flat compared to Ogre but the tradeoff is the level of complexity.
Some comparisions between those two here:
Here
And here
Feel free to experiment with the rest in the same way I did before choosing one since it really serves as a good experience on what you should expect from a Game or a 3d engine.
The only problem I think which game programmers face in game development project is artwork, coz programmign without good artwork sucks realtime.
I will keep on adding resouces as and when I get time.
Hope it helped, bye.
