School of Interactive Design

This seems to be a large group of tutorials on how to work with various elements of game design, probably mostly for iPhone/android, but also Wii, PC, Mac, etc. Anybody have any experience with them? Rants or raves? Thanks in advance.

Quote: beachbumbabs

This seems to be a large group of tutorials on how to work with various elements of game design, probably mostly for iPhone/android, but also Wii, PC, Mac, etc. Anybody have any experience with them? Rants or raves? Thanks in advance.

I just saw this. What are your goals? Card game demos? Finished Products? How much programming experience do you have?

wow, $1500, hmm... there are all kinds of resources to get started for free. You can even pull up much of the html and javascript(js) code on WOO to look over as you learn, though some of the games are Java plug-ins and you can't see that code (java and javascript are not really related). That said, I have no personal experience with the game engines they're promoting. You might be able to get a lot of leverage out of them, but if you're looking to make gaming demos, they're probably not quite the toolset you're looking for.

Without knowing exactly what's on your mind, I would suggest starting by learning some html and javascript. Javascript is the language of the browser/web and can be applied to a wide range of concerns. You can also easily share what you create by simply creating a web page with your html/js content. In my mind there are really 2 paths here, one where you use just a little html to get a canvas on the screen, and then use js to draw on it. The other path is trying to make heavier use of html elements to place things on the screen and accept user interaction. I started with the first path, which is ultimately more flexible (esp where moving animation is involved), but I've been moving towards the second where it's applicable because I think it's easier.

side note: my personal preference is coffeescript, which is translated into javascript. Some people who know js don't see it as being enough better to bother learning, but when I got serious about js, I was already aware of coffee's existence, and went ahead and learned it from the start, and I'm glad I did.

Anyway, let me know what you're thinking and I'll try to point you in the right direction.

John

John,

Thanks very much for the discussion! I got a coupon for a year of unlimited tutorials and assistance for $99, and decided to go for it (as you note, they claim their regular price is 1200-1500). So far, I think I'm getting my money's worth. They teach GameSalad (a 2D game engine), Maya 3D, Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop for graphics, and Unity3D. (If anyone else wants to consider using the coupon, I can pass the link; PM me.)

I'm a beginning Java programmer, whose mentor had me doing base exercises, which I will be continuing, and I'm pretty happy with my progress there so far. (He doesn't believe in grabbing large chunks of other people's shareware unless you know how to write it yourself, which also leads to greater creative expression and flexibility). However, I have 3 gaming ideas I want to demo while the companies are looking for content, so this appears to be a good way to put working game apps together as a marketing tool while I'm learning to build things from scratch.

I figure the pros will do their own programming, but the visual is what sells it to them for further development, as far as I can tell. Using those tools, and assuming I catch on to the platforms, I should have my first working demo in a couple of weeks, maybe a month.

I will look at coffeescript some; perhaps it's a useful thing for me to learn, perhaps a distraction. But any further advice would be welcome, thanks!

Quote: beachbumbabs

I'm a beginning Java programmer, whose mentor had me doing base exercises, which I will be continuing, and I'm pretty happy with my progress there so far. (He doesn't believe in grabbing large chunks of other people's shareware unless you know how to write it yourself, which also leads to greater creative expression and flexibility). However, I have 3 gaming ideas I want to demo while the companies are looking for content, so this appears to be a good way to put working game apps together as a marketing tool while I'm learning to build things from scratch.

I figure the pros will do their own programming, but the visual is what sells it to them for further development, as far as I can tell. Using those tools, and assuming I catch on to the platforms, I should have my first working demo in a couple of weeks, maybe a month.

I will look at coffeescript some; perhaps it's a useful thing for me to learn, perhaps a distraction. But any further advice would be welcome, thanks!

Sounds like you have things under control. Just to be clear, coffeescript translates to javascript, not java, so if you're focused on java, don't jump track. In terms of visuals, stock photo sites like istockphoto.com is great for those like me who aren't that artistic, and is probably good for artists too in terms of convenient source material.

While I agree that learning the basics is probably a good idea, I would use whatever tools you can find to create the product you want. For me, the line is always, can I legally sell this, and if you're writing your own demos, all you're really trying to do is show someone your idea, so I'd pick up any open source library, or other tool, you can find to get the job done. Things are hard enough without creating artificial constraints. But that's just my 2 cents.

For instance, I think there's a java library out there that wraps up hand scoring algorithms for you so you don't have to recreate that wheel. I haven't used it and I don't know how well it's packaged up for use, but I'm not sure you really need to understand a hand scoring algorithm to write a poker-like game demo.

Anyway, good luck. Let us know how it's going from time to time. I'll try to remember to check in in case you I can help, but I don't write that much java if that ends up being the route you go.

How goes the classes?

Slow, but not their fault; I have too many irons in the fire, and too little experience in writing apps to cherry-pick the lessons - it's all new information. Hope to have a workable demo by beginning of January. Thanks for asking!

Quote: beachbumbabs

Slow, but not their fault; I have too many irons in the fire, and too little experience in writing apps to cherry-pick the lessons - it's all new information. Hope to have a workable demo by beginning of January. Thanks for asking!

wow, sounds like things are going well if you're gonna have a demo in January.