I've read lots of articles about 2D games where they suggest a path for development.

http://web.archive.org/web/20051104034215/http://www.lupinegames.com/articles/path_to_dev.html

There are many different opinions, but I think starting with Tetris is a great way to go. But I have been unable to find a comparable 3D game for starting.

So I ask you Gamedev, what do you think is the best clone/genre/style for your first complete 3D game, and why?

Resident Evil / Mario 64 / Star Fox 64

The best place to start is the beginning as they say and those are the games we as an art started educating ourselves how to handle 3D.

Resident Evil / Mario 64 / Star Fox 64

The best place to start is the beginning as they say and those are the games we as an art started educating ourselves how to handle 3D.

I was thinking about this, and I seem to remember that everyone released a driving game to get a handle on the 3D graphics. That's just Star Fox on the ground. Hmmm...

A good beginning game is a Rubik's cube simulator. It's you, 36 polygons and no way out without actually understanding rotations. (Which sounds like it would be the worst locked room puzzle in an RPG ever.)

My first 3D game has been (of course) an RPG. http://i.imgur.com/OzhAThQ.jpg.

The thing with all of these pathways and timescales and suggested learning curves is that they never take into account an individual's personal interests. For example, if I had been required in the beginning to start out with Pong or Tetris, or to make a 3D racer as my first step in 3D, I would have just walked away from game development in general because those kinds of games simply are not in my area of interest at all. My focus has always been RPGs, and anything that deviates from that has been a side project at best. My advice is to follow your interests, and learn what it takes to make the 3D games that you want to make, not the games that supposed experts recommend you make.

My first 3D game has been (of course) an RPG. http://i.imgur.com/OzhAThQ.jpg.

The thing with all of these pathways and timescales and suggested learning curves is that they never take into account an individual's personal interests. For example, if I had been required in the beginning to start out with Pong or Tetris, or to make a 3D racer as my first step in 3D, I would have just walked away from game development in general because those kinds of games simply are not in my area of interest at all. My focus has always been RPGs, and anything that deviates from that has been a side project at best. My advice is to follow your interests, and learn what it takes to make the 3D games that you want to make, not the games that supposed experts recommend you make.

I wasn't really concerned with just me, but was wondering more for all beginning game programmers. Obviously, there are some types of games that will appeal to the individual more than others, but I was more interested in a game choice that provides the most opportunity for learning without being too difficult for a beginner. We all know how easy it is to bite off too much when just starting out.

My first 3D game has been (of course) an RPG. http://i.imgur.com/OzhAThQ.jpg.The thing with all of these pathways and timescales and suggested learning curves is that they never take into account an individual's personal interests. For example, if I had been required in the beginning to start out with Pong or Tetris, or to make a 3D racer as my first step in 3D, I would have just walked away from game development in general because those kinds of games simply are not in my area of interest at all. My focus has always been RPGs, and anything that deviates from that has been a side project at best. My advice is to follow your interests, and learn what it takes to make the 3D games that you want to make, not the games that supposed experts recommend you make.

Great post :)

JTippetts has a compelling argument for picking something you like, but sadly many beginners don't start small.

I note that JTippetts' goblin project looks like it is now in year 11. That many years, even at a hobby level, disqualifies it from being a beginner project. Over the course of a decade you can move from beginner to veteran.

Most beginners aren't looking for a decade-long project.

"I want to make an MMORPG" is the common refrain in the For Beginners forum. After a brief explanation about what "MMO" means, the next week it becomes "I want to make an Online RPG", then after they post a few times in the online forum and discover it requires work, a few weeks later it becomes "I want to make an offline RPG", then if they bother to follow up, becomes "game programming is stupid. What are good free game makers?" And then a few months after they appeared on the board, they vanish after learning that while playing games is fun and entertaining and a diversion, it is different than making games which requires thought and effort.

My recommendation for beginners is the same as my recommendation for everything: Build the simplest thing that will possibly work. The philosophy has worked well for me for two decades.

Pong is a frequently suggested game because it seems relatively simple. The rules are simple. The design can be expressed in one written page. But for a beginner implementing such a system, it can feel like barrier after barrier. You have game loops that are beyond their experience. You have graphics systems that are beyond their experience. You have input systems that are beyond their experience. You have audio systems that are beyond their experience. You have collision detection and collision response that are beyond their experience. You have game play logic that is beyond their experience. Every new system has a learning curve.

When someone says "I want to make an RPG" that can be good. If they mean to build a tile-based world with animated sprites on the grid with a simple menu system and a simple menu-based action system for everything, that isn't too bad and with the right tools can be put together quickly in the matter of a few weeks. If they want to build a massive 3D world with articulated 3D characters holding 3D weapons each with their own animations, thousands of monsters each with their own animations, with hundreds of thousands of unique dialogue lines and dynamic story lines .... well, that is still an RPG but is something altogether beyond the skills of a beginner.

frob, if I could vote you up more, I'd give that last post a +10.

frob, if I could vote you up more, I'd give that last post a +10.

Thanks, but I don't think it really deserves it.

It is advice you see everywhere if you look for it. It ranges from the KISS acronym to the entire Unix philosophy. Do the easiest thing you can actually accomplish.