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Program for creating games yourself. Making a computer game with your own hands. Beginner Game Developer - In common people "Teapot"

If you have come to this site, then you like computer games. Today there are thousands of games in different categories, from simple shooters and solitaire games to complex multiplayer online strategies. And many companies continue to create others, delighting fans with exciting new products. A team of professionals, from programmers to designers, works on every, even the smallest game. It is difficult to get into such teams, even with the appropriate profession. But you are invited and given the opportunity to create a game yourself.

How to play?

You do not need knowledge of programming languages. You will have to work with ready-made templates. They are located at the top of the screen. With mouse clicks, you can select objects and the place of their future placement. The game has only two characters, several types of bonuses, platforms and much more. Actions should take place against the backdrop of mountains. When you have selected everything you wanted to see in the game and find a place for each object, click on the "next" arrow. Now appears on the screen finished game which you can try first. Happened? If you see errors, you can go back.

Here you can play for free online game"Create Your Own Game"

Of course, modern large game projects like WoW or StarCraft are the result of many years of work of experienced programmers, which also require significant financial investments. To take on such a project, you must at least have a diploma, some experience and organizational talents. However, the complexity of the project is not always a measure of its success and does not guarantee the interest of the players. And everyone can try their hand at creating games, albeit less technically complex, but able to arouse the interest of both users and, possibly, large game producing companies. For this, it is not even necessary to have knowledge of programming languages.

First, most modern games are equipped with tools that allow you to change the game world to: draw new and labyrinths, transform the appearance of characters and game objects, even design new missions and tasks. This allows, based on the same StarCraft or 3D shooter, a computer game of its own design, in which it will be extremely difficult original game. There are game engines specifically designed for creating games.

3D Game Maker is one of the most popular engines that allows you to create your own 3D game. Due to the extraordinary simplicity of the interface, a full-fledged 3D game can be created using it in just 10 minutes. Choose a genre created game, determine the number of required levels (the system allows you to design up to 20 different levels), select the main character from ready-made models. The game can already be launched and tested, although work on it, of course, has only just begun. After all, the game is still deprived of the most important thing, that which keeps the attention and interest of the user - the plot. Therefore, it is also necessary to select opponents, think over other necessary details. The cost of this game development is $35 - quite a manageable amount for game creators.

3D Game Studio is the most powerful tool for creating both 3D and 2D games, and programming as such is practically not required. A set of all sorts of template situations, examples and effects gives the game designer a fairly wide palette of tools to realize their fantasies. Natural effects, mirror surfaces, shadows, transparent surfaces - all these attributes can be fully used in the development of game interiors. Ready-made elements of the game interface are also provided to the developer, allowing the user to communicate with the game in a stylish and convenient way. The professional version of this engine will cost $900, but the beginner version is much cheaper - only $70.

If 3D worlds do not appeal to you, pay attention to Game Maker - this gives you boundless scope for imagination, allowing you to create a computer game in 2D format. We select objects, think over their interaction. Images can be drawn in any graphics editor and imported into the system. The game can be equipped with sound effects and signals. The interface is extremely simple and logical, ideal for beginners.

RPG in a week? From scratch? Is it even possible?
I took a risk and I did it.

The Internet is full of information resources available to small, independent (indi) game developers. In one such public forum, in the course of an argument, I had the imprudence to blurt out that if I was given a week of time, a computer with a freshly installed Windows, and a good Internet connection, I could create decent game without spending a single cent on it. No, it certainly won't be able to compete with Halo 2 or something of the same caliber (if I could make a game like this in a week, I'd quit my job a long time ago), but it will be quite interesting and playable.

Tom Bampton, author of the monthly Game of the Day Game Reviews (www.gameinaday.com), said: "Go for it!" Then he added an additional condition - I must do this without using existing game engines. I'm only allowed to use core libraries/APIs.

At first I gave up on this idea. I did not have extra time to take a week off from the development of the current game project at work. But then I thought: to hell with it, because what is a week? In a typical company, such as EA, the workweek is 40 hours. So why not make a game not in a calendar week, but in 40 clean hours? It's already more real - but I didn't want to create another Tetris or Arkanoid. What about role play- one of the most difficult game genres? Is it possible?

I knew it would be extremely difficult. But I accepted the challenge.

In addition, I wrote down in detail what and how I do, described the development progress. I thought it might be interesting for game developers - or at least get entertaining records of how I fell on my face in the mud, if I suddenly fail. All I came up with was a long, rambling record of my hourly activity. I tried to change it in such a way that reading does not cause boredom. How it happened, judge for yourself.

So here's how I created a game in one week from scratch, and with no budget. If you're too lazy to read and want to quickly jump to the end of the story to see what the final product looks like and see all of its bugs, you can download the Windows version of the game here: http://www.rampantgames.com/hackenslash.html

PLANNING
Target
Create an old-school RPG in the style of old games from the early 80s, with a top-down view, such as The Temple of Apshai, Ultima III, and Telengard. The player will move through rooms in a typical dungeon, fighting various monsters with "sword and magic". Gradually, he will improve his abilities by gaining experience, leveling up, acquiring magical equipment.

However, the game will consist of more than just combat itself. The player will also have the option to sneak past the monsters, or negotiate with them. There will be locked doors and chests, and unique features dungeons with unexpected effects. The game will not have long descriptions or dialogues - it will mostly be a typical hack & slash. You will follow the path until you are strong enough to face the final boss, complete the quest, and return home (your starting room) safely.

Development rules

Rule #1: Development time is limited to one week (including 40 hours)
A total of no more than 40 hours should be spent on game development. These will include time spent actually working on the game and thinking about it. Development breaks greater than ten minutes will not be counted. This would be a "perfect" work week of 40 high-performance hours.

A fully functional alpha version will be made in 40 hours. Further finishing, such as the final debugging of the game, the creation of an installer for distribution in the total time will not be taken into account, no new functionality will be added at this stage. Documentation of the development process is also not taken into account.

Rule #2: Only Use Free Tools
With the exception of the software that comes with the Windows installation, only free software is used, if possible open source. The point of this is to show that you don't need expensive (or even cheap) tools to develop a game. Equipment such as a scanner, microphone, and digital camera is not affected by this rule - if you do not have them, we will assume that they can be borrowed from someone.

Rule #3: No Engines, Only Standard Libraries/APIs
The game must be created "from scratch" without using existing game engines. No cheating, and creating a game or any of its parts using game designers or using similar software.

Tools
The code:

Python 2.3 (http://www.python.org/)
Python Win
PyGame (http://www.pygame.org/)
Py2exe - to compile what happens into an executable file for distribution. (http://starship.python.net/crew/theller/py2exe/)

Gimp 2.0 (http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/)
MS Paint (the one that comes with Windows) - to paste screenshots captured with the PrintScreen key (GIMP for some reason refused to do this)
Free textures were taken from (http://www.textureartist.net/textures/index.htm) and (http://www.mayang.com/textures/)

Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) plus my microphone or free ones.

Schedule (Plan) of works
Schedules are made to be broken later, but they are still needed to control progress and lines, and make adjustments as necessary.

Hour 1-10: Basic architecture
Engine design and main components. Get the display of the world on the screen. I have to implement the ability to move the test player around the world, and look at things, and then turn what happens into a game editor.

Hour 11-20: Player options
The implementation of all the main features for the player - moving, attacking, opening doors, death, picking up things and using inventory. Create a wireframe representation of all objects in environment, to test the player's ability to interact with the world.

Hour 21-30: Revitalization of the world
Add artificial intelligence, game events, traps, special effects. By the end of this period, I should have a fairly complete tech demo, including all the main features of the game.

Hour 31-40: Adding content and rules
Get a full-fledged game from a techno demo. Add all additional content. To achieve completeness and balance of game mechanics. Polish everything for which there is enough time, add special effects, animation, etc.

After 40 hours: Testing and release of the game
Test and fix the found errors (without adding new features!) Gather everything together and put it on the Internet. Complete documentation.

Hackenslash Dev Diary: Game of the Week

Hour 1 - Wild Design and Base Classes
This hour was spent creating some base classes for the game - and using them in further design. The world will be presented as a sequence of rooms connected by a portal. Everything in the world is based on rooms, just like it was in old adventure games or MUDs. Most of the objects in the game are represented as a "GameObject" that has a position and content (it can contain other objects as well - a map can contain rooms, a room can contain a chest, a chest can contain a sword... and I think a sword can contain several rooms, but we will not do this.)

I create objects creature (creature) and player (Player)
I'm generating a set of attributes for creatures and injecting them into a class. Apparently I'm a nerd who plays too much RPG games. I still don't know exactly how it will look and work game mechanics.
I'm making a room object that inherits from GameObject. A room has a width, a height, and walls - and nothing else at the moment.

Gradually, I begin to understand how everything will work, and make the necessary corrections. I'm not even trying to use PyGame at this stage and the program doesn't show anything but the console. But I feel that all that has been done is great progress!

Hour 2 - PyGame 101
The purpose of this hour is to initialize PyGame, well, and start drawing at least something on the screen. In fact, I spend most of my time reading the PyGame documentation, trying to figure out what's in there and how, since I have little to no experience with PyGame or SDL.

This hour ends with a program that displays a blank screen filled with black. Not impressive. In fact, there is a lot behind this window. There is a game loop, frame switching, multiple class calls, and a lot of idle stubs. But that doesn't make the black screen any more impressive.

Hour 3 - If the walls had ears, I would scold them strongly.
The purpose of this hour is to define the contours of the room with walls, and display this on a still black screen. To do this I need room and I need graphics. You have to spend a lot of time at GIMP, editing textures downloaded from the Internet, so that they turn into suitable tiles. I am creating a texture manager class. And I fill in the sample room structure. I also spent a little more time looking through the PyGame documentation to find anything else I could use to make the job easier.

The hour has passed. I still have the same black screen. There were no walls, and no.

Hour 4 - The hotel has a free room
After struggling with some syntax errors, I was finally able to get the walls to appear on the screen. True, they are displayed incorrectly, they are not in the indicated place, and even with slots between the segments. This is terrible. But with a bit of tweaking and editing, I got what looked like a room on the screen, 10 by 10 squares.

Without a detailed project plan, it's really quite easy to get confused when you've done a certain job and wonder "What's next?" I decided that if drawing one room is good, then drawing two is doubly better.

To store the created rooms, I created a "minidungeon" file.
I'll start adding the logic for "portals" - openings in the walls to go to other rooms (and providing all the offset information needed to display adjoining rooms correctly).

Hour 5 - Hackenslash gets more rooms

I changed the title of the window to "Hackenslash!". Just because it's cool.
I created an object map to store rooms, and a MapMaster class containing several maps.
I added a second room and connected to the first through the portal.
Adjacent rooms are connected to the current one through portals, and are now displayed on the screen.
I fixed some clipping errors so that walls that partially extend beyond the window are displayed correctly.

Hour 6 - during which we improve our drawing skills

Added a door class, and also set up maps for door placement (the door must be common for two rooms). (Edit: Too bad I never used it!)
I created 3 more wall tiles, combined them into one image.
The graphic appearance of the walls varies depending on the type.
I'm making a simple graphic for a top down view.

Hours 7-8 - Spins and exclamations!

I figured out how to rotate bitmaps in PyGame.
I achieved smooth rotation of the test player. Many adjustments are needed to correct the angle of rotation.
I have learned how to use fonts in PyGame and I am creating some classes to display and animate text.
Added a class for automatic processing text as this functionality will be used frequently in the future.

Hours 9-11 - Elements - brrr!

And here again, I need to solve the question "What next?".

Rooms need more interesting elements, so you need to make a list of them. I don't know how to systematize them, so I decided to start with the general ones. I have introduced three static elements that can be found in a typical dungeon room: a carpet, a column (a block with the same functionality as walls), and a ladder (allows you to move to a new location)

I decided that elements can take up more than one tile and can be rotated by any degree. (Edit: In retrospect, a very dumb solution - I spent too much time implementing it, but it turned out to be almost useless.)

All in all, I spent about three hours working on the elements, torn between creating graphics and writing code.

Hours 12 - 13 - We need Loot!

I create graphics and code for things. It's amazing how long drawing can take. It is especially annoying when the image looks like the chicken was drawing with its paw, no matter how much effort was put into it.

I've added a lot of stats to items, including their cost, size, equipment slots, and more. They can't be interacted with yet, but at least they show up in the right places in the room.

Hour 14 - Carpets

I'm way behind schedule, what should I do?
The black background seems too ugly, so I paved the floors inside the room with carpets - separate tiles.

After that, it suddenly turned out that I forgot to add a transparent background to the sprites of the player and things. I had to spend a lot of time correcting this oversight.

But the level now looks cool. Well, at least cooler than black.

Hours 15-16 - Click! Click!

I got busy with mouse control and event handling.
Added mouse control. While the movement is jerky, there is no smooth scrolling of the level.
The player can move out of the room, there is no collision check.
I've fixed a few bugs.
Tortured GIMP and created beautiful stairs.
.
It's been almost 17 hours of development already, so I'm starting to get a little nervous. I went 2/5 of the way to create the game - the second "working day" of development ended. What I have already done is impressive, but I understand that there is much more left to do. I have four more hours to finish the core player features and get on schedule. It will be difficult... but I still don't regret spending the extra time drawing graphics!

Hour 17 - Slowly move until we hit our forehead against the wall

Most of the time is spent fine-tuning the graphics and fixing bugs.
Added collision detection and smooth scrolling when the player moves.
The player can now take multiple steps (turns) in response to a mouse action.

Hour 18 - Crossing the thresholds

The player can now go through portals to other rooms.
This causes a cosmetic bug with overlapping walls and floors between adjoining rooms.
Fixed a lot of bugs related to rotation, which made portals impassable.

Hour 19 - Stairway to Heaven, Hell's Menu

My brother volunteered to make music for the game. He made the music for Void War and it worked out pretty well. This reminded me to do sound (and music) playback. It seems to be quite easy to do this in PyGame, so it shouldn't take too long. (Edit: I never found time for this, unfortunately you won't hear a single sound in Hackenslash.)

My next goal is to handle interactions with creatures and objects. I really like how it's done The Sims and Neverwinter Nights, when you want to interact with a game object, a context menu appears. I am planning to implement something similar.

Teaching stairs to move the player to a new room.
I've been poking around the internet and the PyGame documentation a bit, looking to see if there's an open source menu for a similar menu in PyGame. And didn't find anything.
I started making my own menu.

Hours 20 - 21 - What's with the menu?

I continue to work on the menu. The menu can be easily connected to the object, or rather, the object, as it were, generates a menu, which made it easy to implement feedback to handle the player's choice.
I started working on the item menu. It already appears in the right place, and allows you to select some item, but when pressed, it does nothing yet, only the button to close the menu works.

Hour 22 - Fall asleep in progress

I continue to work on things - trying to implement their functionality and teach them to respond to menu commands, including the ability to add contextual information. Now it has little functionality, but still works, displaying information about the running command
I improved the calculation of movement when performing various actions, getting more mobility.

I notice that it is already late, and that I have gone far beyond the hour allotted for this work. If I did not pay attention to the total development time, I would probably sit out until the morning. But since I'm limited on time, an almost wasted hour is really bad news. It's interesting how priorities shift when there's not enough time. In general, I go to bed.

Hour 23 - Battle parameters!

I'm modifying (well, actually just getting started) some of the class attributes created in the first hour.
In the upper right corner, I create a panel that will display the player options.
I've optimized this window by turning it into an image that draws faster than fonts. This image only updates when the associated character parameters change.

Hour 24 - Player Menu

I completed the optimizations for the options window.
Created a popup menu that appears when the player clicks on a character.
I created a quick menu for using potions, casting spells, etc.
I fixed some bugs in the menu.

Hour 25 - Before (once) sawing floors and walls

This morning I had an idea in my brain (do I really have such a big brain that it can fit so many ideas?) how to fix the problem of overlapping walls in adjoining rooms (see description of the eighteenth hour). What if I paint only half of the walls? This way there will be no overlap at all, and no complex logic needs to be added to detect and fix overlaps.

I'm starting to work on the implementation of this idea. Unfortunately, in fact, the simplification invented makes it even more difficult to draw the room (in particular the floors), and it may not be implemented as quickly as I hoped. It took about an hour to create and debug this system. But it was worth it.

While debugging the code, I found a few more errors related to the transition between rooms.

BREAK - Crisis!

I just realized that more than 3/5 of the development time has passed, and that there are less than fifteen hours left to finish the game. After looking at the schedule of the necessary features of the game, and estimating that it would take an average of an hour to implement each, I realized that it would take me about twenty-five hours to implement everything. Ten hours ahead of time. The project is officially in jeopardy.

I can't go beyond the time limit. It is also impossible to attract an assistant or buy code / resources, since it is provided that I will make the game in 40 hours by myself. I need to figure out how to work even more efficiently - but I'm already working at maximum productivity. It looks like I have no other choice, I'll have to rethink the functionality, and decide which features to throw out of the game.

Doors: Cut! I really want to make doors in the game. It is a pity to part with this function - especially since I have been working on it for some time. But there is still too much work, such as artificial intelligence. And it will probably take 2-3 hours to get them to work, which I don't have.
Inventory: Simplify! Forget about additional inventory, and the ability to change weapons at will. Everything that is picked up and does not become the current equipment will be immediately converted into money.
Pitfalls: Simplify! I would like to have many traps with interesting and varied consequences for activating them. It's not meant to be. Traps will have a simple visual effect, deal damage and temporarily increase the chance of running into a random monster
Bows (Small Weapons): Cut! The game will only have melee weapons, at a distance you can attack with spells.
Save/Load Game: Simplify! Only the character can be saved, not the state of the world. (EDIT: I didn't do that either!)
Particle System: Postpone! Moved particle system creation to the bottom of the priority list. I doubt they will need to be done. It would be nice to have impressive visuals with spell particles... but it probably never will.
Spells: Simplify! I had a serious concept about spells: they could be found in the form of scrolls, and the number is more than a dozen. It's sad, but there will only be a few spells: Heal, Damage, Weaken, Empower, and Restoration. By leveling up, you can allow the player to enhance spells by increasing the number of magic points.
Animation of monsters and players: Cut! I'm a poor artist to do it fast enough.

When deciding what I won't do (or what I'll put off until later), it's equally important to decide what needs to be done first.

There are a lot of things that are planned in the game that I consider very important - finding traps, secret doors (well, secret passages now), and opening chests. But still the basis of the game is combat. So I decided to focus on it, to make it a top priority. I set a goal for myself, in a hour and a half, my monsters will come to life so that they can be killed.

Great, we figured out the priorities, we continue to develop.

Hour 26 - Let's roll the dice

I'm working on the mechanics dice”, - a mechanism by which an element of randomness will be introduced into the game. Since we don't have a real dice constraint, we can get a random number in any desired range. For example, from 1 to 33, or from 6 to 17. So I can roll the dice, compare what fell with my attack and the enemy's defense. If the rolled number is higher than the defense, the attack is successful.

For example, let's say I have a total attack value of 15. I'm attacking a monster that has 10 defense. My chances are 15 out of 25 (25 =15 +10), or 3 out of 5. So the game will generate a random number between 1 and 25, and if it's higher than ten, I'll win.

Damage dealt is calculated in a slightly different way. I added "armor" to the defender and "damage" to the attacker. I generate a random number from 1 to their sum and then subtract the armor. If the result is less than one, no damage is dealt. Otherwise, it is equal to the result. Thus, if a monster with 10 damage attacks a player with 5 armor points, the game will generate a number from 1 to 15, from which it will subtract 5, what happens is the damage dealt.

This explanation and description took longer than its implementation.

At the end of the hour, I reduced the size of the dungeon display area, now the part of the window on the right is completely devoted to the user interface, this change gave a slight increase in performance. I also made sure that the player's movement does not depend on the frame rate.

Probably everyone who played computer games at least once thought about creating own game and retreated before the coming difficulties. But the game can be created quite simply if you have a special program on hand and you will not always need knowledge of programming languages ​​to use such programs. On the Internet, you can find many game designers for both beginners and professionals.

If you decide to get into the creation of games, then you definitely need to find yourself software for development. We have selected for you programs for creating games without programming.

Game Maker is a simple 2D and 3D game creation software that allows you to create games for a wide range of platforms: Windows, iOS, Linux, Android, Xbox One and others. But for each OS, the game will need to be configured, since Game Maker does not guarantee the same operation of the game everywhere.

The advantage of the constructor is that it has a low entry threshold. This means that if you have never been involved in game development, then you can safely download Game Maker - it does not require any special knowledge in the field of programming.

You can create games using a visual programming system or using the built-in GML programming language. We advise you to study GML, because with its help games come out much more interesting and better.

The process of creating games here is very simple: creating sprites in the editor (you can download ready-made drawings), creating objects with different properties and creating levels (rooms) in the editor. The speed of game development on Game Maker is much faster than on other similar engines.

Unity 3D

One of the most powerful and most popular game engines is Unity 3D. With it, you can create games of any complexity and any genre, using the same visual programming interface. Although initially the creation of full-fledged games on Unity3D meant knowledge of programming languages ​​such as JavaScript or C #, but they are needed for larger projects.

The engine will give you a lot of opportunities, you just need to learn how to use them. To do this, you will find tons of training material on the Internet. And the program itself helps the user in every possible way in his work.

Cross-platform, stability, high performance, friendly interface - this is just a small list of the advantages of the Unity 3D engine. Here you can create almost everything: from Tetris to GTA 5. But the program is best for indie game developers.

If you decide to put your game on PlayMarket not for free, then you will have to pay the developers of Unity 3D a certain percentage of sales. The program is free for non-commercial use.

And back to the designers! Clickteam Fusion is a program for creating 2D games using a drag'n'drop interface. Here you do not need programming, because you will collect games piece by piece, like a constructor. But you can also create games by writing code for each object.

With this program, you can create games of any complexity and any genre, preferably with a static picture. Also, the created game can be run on any device: computer, phone, PDA, etc.

Despite the simplicity of the program, Clickteam Fusion has a large number of diverse and interesting tools. There is a test mode where you can check the game for bugs.

Clickteam Fusion is not expensive compared to other programs, and on the official website you can also download a free demo version. Unfortunately for major games the program is not suitable, but for small arcades - that's it.

Another very good program for creating two-dimensional games is Construct 2. With the help of visual programming, you can create games for various popular and not so popular platforms.

Thanks to a simple and intuitive interface, the program is suitable even for those users who have never dealt with game development. Also, beginners will find many tutorials and examples of games in the program, with a detailed explanation of all processes.

In addition to the standard sets of plugins, behaviors and visual effects, you can replenish them yourself by downloading from the Internet or, if you are an experienced user, write plugins, behaviors and effects in JavaScript.

But where there are pluses, there are also minuses. The main disadvantage of Construct 2 is that export to additional platforms is carried out only with the help of third-party programs.

CryEngine is one of the most powerful 3D game engines out there, with graphics capabilities that are superior to any other similar program. It was here that such famous games like Crysis and Far Cry. And all this is possible without programming.

Here you will find a very large set of game development tools, as well as tools that designers need. You can quickly create sketches of models in the editor, or you can immediately on location.

The physics system in CryEngine supports character inverse kinematics, vehicles, physics of solid and soft bodies, liquids, tissues. So the objects in your game will behave quite realistically.

CryEngine is, of course, very cool, but the price for this software is appropriate. You can get acquainted with the trial version of the program on the official website, but only advanced users should buy it, who will be able to cover the cost of the software.

Game Editor is another game builder on our list that looks like a simplified Game Maker builder. Here you can create simple 2D games without any special programming knowledge.

Here you will work only with actors. It can be both characters and "interior" items. For each actor, you can set many different properties and functions. You can also write actions in the form of code, or you can simply pick up a ready-made script.

Also, using the Game Editor, you can create games for both computers and phones. To do this, simply save the game in the correct format.

Unfortunately, you are unlikely to create a large project with the Game Editor, as it will take a lot of time and effort. Another disadvantage is that the developers have abandoned their project and no updates are expected yet.

And here is a competitor for Unity 3D and CryEngin - Unreal Development Kit. This is another powerful game engine for developing 3D games for many popular platforms. Games here, as well, can be created without using programming languages, but simply by setting ready-made events for objects.

Despite the complexity of mastering the program, the Unreal Development Kit gives you great opportunities for creating games. We advise you to learn how to use them all. Fortunately, you will find plenty of materials on the Internet.

For non-commercial use, you can download the program for free. But as soon as you start getting money for the game, you need to pay interest to the developers, depending on the amount received.

The Unreal Development Kit project does not stand still and the developers regularly post additions and updates. Also, if you have any problems when working with the program, you can contact the support service on the official website and they will definitely help you.

Kodu Game Lab is probably the best choice for those who are just getting started with 3D game development. Thanks to a colorful and clear interface, creating games in this program is interesting and not difficult at all. In general, this project was developed for teaching schoolchildren, but still it will be useful even for adults.

The program helps very well to understand how they work and what algorithm for creating games. By the way, you don't even need a keyboard to create a game - everything can be done with just a mouse. There is no need to write code here, you just need to click on objects and events.

A feature of Code Game Lab is that it is a free program in Russian. And this, mind you, is a rarity among serious game development programs. There is also a lot of educational material, made in an interesting form of quests.

But, no matter how good the program is, there are also disadvantages here. Kodu Game Lab is simple, yes. But there are not as many tools in it as we would like. And this development environment is quite demanding on system resources.

3D Rad is a rather interesting program for creating 3D games on a computer. As with all the programs mentioned above, it uses a visual programming interface that will please novice developers. Over time, you will learn how to create scripts in this program.

This is one of the few programs that are free even for commercial use. Almost all game engines either have to be bought or a percentage of income is deducted. In 3D Rad, you can create a game of any genre and earn money from it.

Interestingly, in 3D Rad you can create a multiplayer game or a game over the network and even set up a game chat. This is another interesting feature this program.

Also, the designer pleases us with the quality of visualization and the physics engine. You can customize the behavior of hard and soft bodies, as well as make ready-made 3D models obey the laws of physics by adding springs, joints, and more to them.

With the help of another interesting and colorful program - Stencyl, you can create bright and colorful games for many popular platforms. The program has no genre restrictions, so here you can bring all your ideas to life.

Stencyl is not just application development software, but a set of tools that makes the job of creating an application easier, allowing you to concentrate on the most important thing. There is no need to write the code yourself - all you need is to move the blocks with the code, thus changing the behavior of the main characters of your application.

Of course, free version the program is quite limited, but still enough to create a small and interesting game. You will also find a lot of educational material, as well as the official wiki encyclopedia - Stencylpedia.

This is just a small part of all existing programs for creating games. Almost all of the programs on this list are paid, but you can always download a trial version and decide if it's worth the money. We hope you find something here for yourself and we will be able to see the games you have created soon.

Nowadays it is very difficult to find a person who has not played mobile games, remember at least the classic "Snake". But have you ever thought of creating your own game, in which there will be your own heroes, invented only by you?

In order to start creating even the simplest mobile game you need to have certain skills. What exactly is required?

• You need to think over the script, maybe even write it, show it to friends or family. After all, what's the point of starting creation if there is no plot yet?
• I want to note right away that creating a game without programming skills is a rather long, complicated and tedious process. Although, with the knowledge of the latter, nothing will change much, the process will not become more fun. Be patient!
• And finally, you will need software, or rather a game designer, perhaps even more than one. Which one to choose, I will tell below.

What is a constructor and how to choose the right one?

This is a program that was created to make life easier for users. But it also has one more purpose - the designer should provide the ability to create applications not only for people with certain programming skills, but also for those who have no idea what it is. That is, with the help of the designer, anyone can create their own game.

How to choose the right designer? Oddly enough, but you need to start choosing it, focusing primarily on your knowledge - from programming skills to the level of proficiency English language. If your first point is zero, then I recommend choosing programs for beginners, they are easier to use. The second selection criterion is the required functionality. This is where we need our precisely composed script, we need to read it again “from cover to cover” and understand how difficult it will be future game. The more complex the project, the more "gadgets" you will need to use, which means that the designer must be more powerful and more professional.

Below I will give some examples of the most common constructors that professionals advise beginners.

Construct 2

This application has been deservedly included in the TOP of the list of software constructors for many years in a row, because it makes it possible to create games for almost all possible platforms and in all genres. The Construct interface is as simple as possible, but there is no Russification yet. A set of tools sufficient to create any two-dimensional game. Another plus is that it is not necessary to buy a license for the program, you can easily get by with the functionality that is offered in the free version.

Download: Construct 2
Video tutorials on Construct 2

Stencyl

This builder is also designed for beginners who do not understand programming. It is perfect for creating simple 2D games and will provide an opportunity to launch a project with a decent graphical interface.

In addition, if you still have at least some knowledge in the field of programming, then Stencyl will give you the opportunity to write your own code into the blocks. A set of tools will allow you to create games of almost any genre, but the functionality is more tuned to create “shooters”.

The program is free, but if you want to convert your creation into formats that a personal computer “understands”, you will have to buy a licensed subscription, and this is undoubtedly a minus, because this subscription is not cheap, it costs almost $ 100 a year. Well, if you see yourself in the future as a professional creator of mobile games, then get ready to pay $ 200 a year, this is how much the program will cost with the ability to save the project in the format of mobile operating systems.

Download: Stencyl
Video tutorials on Stencyl

Unity 3D

I think that many people have heard this name and seen this logo on the screens of their mobile devices. The thing is that the company that produces software for creating games is also engaged in the release of applications of its own design.

Unity 3D is the most powerful builder for creating 3D applications. The level to which you can take your project is decent (just look at the screenshot above). This is not a processed image, but a real screenshot of a game that is not yet finished! Agree, as for a mobile game, this is a very high level.

But such a result will require already certain skills. Although the program is positioned as an application for beginners, it is rather more designed for amateurs and professionals, because to work with it you will need basic knowledge of programming and 3D modeling. And of course, in Unity you can create a project of any complexity and any genre, the set of tools is simply huge.

Download: Unity 3D
Video tutorials on Unity 3D

How to use constructors?

There are no specific instructions for creating a game. It all depends on the genre you choose, your skills and, of course, on the program with which you are going to do all this. In this regard, I recommend that you, as a starter project, try to do something that has already been done by more experienced people, YouTube to help. This will help you get comfortable in the game development environment, understand how the main tools work, and possibly change the scenario of your development.

When you make a “trial” project and decide exactly on your own, choose a program, then look on the Internet for videos about the constructor that you will use.

Do not be afraid to experiment, look for information on the Internet and try. Only in this way will you learn and develop. Good luck with your masterpiece.