Hello, for years I have been a hobbyist making my own games (mostly first person shooters)and have really been doing it for nothing other than my own enjoyment. I'm mainly into first person shooter games but there are so many out there that all different genres and storylines have pretty much been covered. Recently I played a basketball game which if i do say so myself was pretty horrible which got me thinking why are there not as many sports games out there being created? Seems like the only basketball games out there are by huge players in the gaming industry like EASports. So I decided to tinker with the idea myself. However, I was quickly halted in my tracks.....where do I start? There are tons of info out there for creating FPS, RTS, RPG, ect but NOTHING on creating a 3D basketball game. Any ideas where I might start? engine wise? thanks

Hmm... It is an interesting point that there is not a lot of development in the Indie Scene for sports themed games. It may be that it's hard to sway gamers from the big guys (EA, 2K Sports) or simply that no one has really tried yet. I think it would definitely have to be a niche game though. Perhaps approach the game with a very unique art-direction (cartoon-style) or add some other hook such as a meta game.

I can't really think of anything that is already out there engine-wise.

I don't think there's anything special about the sports genre; any general 3D engine should suffice. For example, Pespi Footvolley is made in Unity. Since the indie version of Unity is free it's worth looking into. Other popular 3D engines are most likely feasible too, depending on what you want to do.

As for why there's few indie sports games in popular sports, it's probably because they're well catered for by the big companies. If you want the latest rosters for your favourite televised sport, you need the official licensed game. If you don't care for the latest rosters, you can usually pick up the licensed game from a couple of years back for dirt cheap.

There are indie sports games out there though, but they're for the niche sports or for fantasy creations, or they focus on a different aspect of the game (like a player management sim).

Thanks for the replies. I'll definately look into unity

Ya I found a ton of text sports simulation games that cover the management aspects of sports. I'm huge on those games and play a ton of online leagues, however I'm pretty pleased with those games (Out of the Park baseball and DDS Pro Basketball) and dont really see an area of improvement. They seem to cover all the features you could ask for.

However, the recent EA College basketball game and the fact that 2k no longer makes College Hoops sparked an idea in my head. Not sure how realistic it is to match them graphically but there are tons of features and little things that could be hit upon that I would like to incorperate into a game. EA's Live engine they use for NBA Live and NCAA Basketball would be great.....however i doubt they let me use it :)

FYI sports games were pretty booming in the 16-bit era (early-mid 90s), with some true gems and alternative play styles available. Games like NBA Jam and Mutant League Football and Hockey show some ways you can take a sport and innovate to make it really interesting. Perhaps there would be more of a market for creative sports games in the indie market.

As for sports game engines, the suggestion to use Unity is good but that is in no way a complete sports game engine. :) You'll probably have to build the game pretty much from scratch.

NaturalMotion, the creator of the Euphoria SDK e.g. digital muscle synthesis, is looking to break into the football market with BackBreaker. It looks like a good game too.

But at any rate, it shouldn't be too hard to make at most a minimal basketball game. The main problem I see would be finding a person to model all the animations you need; making the AI would be no small feat either. If I were you, then I'd keep it simple at first and expand on it as you think of/study more information to include.

For some inspiration you could check out this video of an indie

">Handball Simulator done with the OGRE rendering engine.

I really was wanting to make a realistic rendition of ncaa basketball. I'll start messing around with the idea and see where it takes me.....cpu ai will probably be my biggest task.

thanks again for the replies