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[GamingVsLife]

Hi everyone. What's the easiest, fastest and not too cutting on result quality way/language to make games? Do you guys have any advice?

All I know is that I can make games for multiple platforms in Java but at the cost of hard syntax? Java seemed harder to me than other languages, i even spent few weeks trying to code game in java and googling tutorials and i achieved nothing lol. I think this is not best language for games.

Thats why I am looking for some easy language to code 3D games. Any opinions or tutorials appreciated

[Foxwarrior]

Unity is the least hipster way to make games. All sorts of people use it, from indies to AAA studios, and there's plenty of documentation on how to use it from all sorts of places. The unity asset store has decent quality standards in terms of assets you download actually being usable in a game (compared to, like, downloading some free models on sketchfab at least).

[fluffrabbit]

Unity is the most popular, but I don't use it. I share OP's sentiments about Java's difficulty. C is significantly easier, but it requires laying a lot of the boilerplate yourself, so it's not a quick way to make 3D games. 2D games with SDL, no problem. C++ is a little quicker for 3D stuff, but still requires boilerplate unless you're using a framework such as Panda3D. There are lots of 3D frameworks for C++, not so many for C.

On a related note, have you tried Kotlin? It looks like it has improved syntax over Java while still retaining compatibility with Java classes.

[Daid]

Unity is your best bet.

But there is neverca "best" method. It is always a compromise. Unity generally comes out well in that compromise. If you are still learning to program, use this. Nothing beats it.

Javas "write once runs everywhere" promise is a lie. And generally per :mockangry:forms not that well for game dev.

I use C++ and I advice against that. It is difficult and error prone. But i want my stuff to run on the raspberry pi, which rules out many usual solutions.

[fluffrabbit]

If you have something against proprietary software, I would advise against Unity, and if you value your sanity, I would advise against its open source alternative, Godot.

C++ is a shit language. In terms of practicality, however, compromises have to be made.

I feel more comfortable programming than using some shitty 3D game editor because they all seem to be terrible. There is one exception I won't name, babby's first FPS engine, but I only really understood it because it was tile-based.

tl;dr ignore what's popular. In terms of practicality, resource-light hand-spun game engines tend to work okay.

And one more thing. I'm not a hipster nor an engineer, just an independent game programmer who likes real hands-on stuff. Unity is like a hipster breadmaker for wannabe tech startups to post GIFs on Twitter. Real programmers like to see all the gears and wires.

[InfiniteStateMachine]

If you are making a pixel art game with a small/moderate scope then I recommend haxe/haxeflixel. I absolutely love it for small projects.

Probably wouldn't be so great for larger projects because the library is very opinionated.

[michaelplzno]

I mostly just berate people on twitter till they make a game for me.

[FoustemeZ]

Hi everyone. What's the easiest, fastest and not too cutting on result quality way/language to make games? Do you guys have any advice?

All I know is that I can make games for multiple platforms in Java but at the cost of hard syntax? Java seemed harder to me than other languages, i even spent few weeks trying to code game in java and googling tutorials and i achieved nothing lol. I think this is not best language for games.

Thats why I am looking for some easy language to code 3D games. Any opinions or tutorials appreciated

Libgdx is good framework for Java but theres still no much reason to use it. Nowadays people use game engines as it really simplifies the work to the point where beginners can create entertaining 3D games. I'd say Unity is the easiest 3D game engine. The only problem is that all the tutorials are videos, there are not many text guides. This is a good one:
https://gamedevsuccess.com/game-design/
This is good too:
https://catlikecoding.com/unity/tutorials/
Unity is really good engine honestly

[D410]

I would probs say Unity or Unreal Engine. It actually depends on what type of game you wanna make though.

If you're going for a more RPG themed game then I would probably say use either Unity or GameMaker Engine.
But yeah. Good luck. 

[fluffrabbit]

Yeah, I would say don't use GameMaker. Why is this forum full of children?

[ｂ∀ ｋｋｕｓａ]

Yeah, I would say don't use GameMaker. Why is this forum full of children?

& Aren't you childish judging people on the engine they use?
A lot of successful games were released with gamemaker (Undertale, HyperLightdrifter, Nuclear Throne etc..).

An engine is just a tool.

[fluffrabbit]

You're right, I should just go back to DarkBASIC.

At all levels, you are going to have a specialty that corresponds to your mindset on a scale of sciences (engineering) to arts (cooking) to fine arts (painting). If you are of the fine arts persuasion, you might find yourself doing GameMaker independently and doing concept art as part of a team. You're still a valued member of society regardless.

[Superb Joe]

glad we could come to an understanding about whether or not its childish to make toys

[Foxwarrior]

Game Maker can be a bit less annoying to program in than Unity, there are more times where you can just type the things you want to have happen in code instead of jumping through elaborate hoops to utilize the many random subsystems Unity has. And it's better than writing your own engine if you actually want to make a game people can play, instead of making a collection of gears and wires that's nice for a programmer to think about.

But Unity is unfortunately the most practical balance between not being too annoyed by design decisions made by engine designers, learning transferable skills someone might think about paying you for in the future, and actually getting the game created in a reasonable amount of time.

[fluffrabbit]

And it's better than writing your own engine if you actually want to make a game people can play, instead of making a collection of gears and wires that's nice for a programmer to think about.

Yeah, it's hard to think of a successful indie game that was developed with its own engine.

[ThemsAllTook]

Yeah, it's hard to think of a successful indie game that was developed with its own engine.

Of just the games I've played myself recently, The Witness, Return of the Obra Dinn, and Celeste all come to mind. Minecraft is another reasonably obvious one.

People have been making games in every available tool for pretty much the entire history of game development. A few big engines happen to be disproportionately popular right now, but I wouldn't expect that to last. There are pros and cons on both ends of the spectrum. Working around limitations in a high-level tool can be just as much work as inventing your own technology to do the job.

Use whatever you're comfortable using. There's no universal answer.

[Golds]

What's the easiest, fastest and not too cutting on result quality way/language to make games? Do you guys have any advice?

It depends on your goals.

Unity is a big one (Pokemon Go, Inside, Ghost of a Tale, Kerbal Space Program, Super Mario Run). So is Unreal, which more non-mobile focused AAAs use, and Epic (Fortnite, PUBG, Life is Strange, Mortal Kombat, Code Vein, Psychonauts 2). Godot Engine is the up and coming open source alternative that keeps looking better and better: https://godotengine.org/showcase.

Lots of indies focused on 2d use Game Maker (Hotline Miami, Nuclear Throne, Minit, Downwell, Catacomb Kids, UFO 50 etc) And then there are a few using Multimedia Fusion 2 (Baba is You, Nifflas, Environmental Station Alpha), or Construct (Iconoclasts). Some who used XNA a decade or so ago are now using MonoGame (Celeste, Fez was MonoGame I think)

There are strengths and weaknesses to each one, and each has their tradeoffs. Unity is the most popular at the moment, with them touting that 50% of all games are now made with the engine. MonoGame, like Unity, is also full on C# (a great language), which pairs well with Visual Studio Code as a code editor for either.

If you wanna do 2D, Game Maker is probably the best and easiest all-in-one package to get started with, or maybe Construct.

For 3D, Unity or Unreal, take your pick (Kine was made entirely with Unreal Blueprint scripts, no C++. for example), but Unity will have the most resources online due to its popularity, but then again, the engine is changing rapidly.  If you pick up Unity, make sure to grab the assets, ProBuilder, for quick in-engine 3d modeling, and the Postprocess Stack, for easy graphical effects.

Later on, if you want to dive deeper into 3d asset production as a solo dev, check out Blender. If you want to go for your own 2D sprite based stuff, check out Aseprite, though many use Game Maker's built-in sprite editor.

Yeah, it's hard to think of a successful indie game that was developed with its own engine.

Noita: https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1025695/Exploring-the-Tech-and-Design

@Thems, Return of the Obra Dinn is Unity

[ThemsAllTook]

@Thems, Return of the Obra Dinn is Unity

...oh. Whoops! Could've fooled me.

[Daid]

@Thems, Return of the Obra Dinn is Unity

...oh. Whoops! Could've fooled me.

Well developed games are well developed games. No matter the engine. KerbalSpaceProgram is using Unity, but does a lot of things to work around limits of the engine. Obra Dinn ignores a lot of the default facilities of Unity, customizing not just rendering, but also collision handling.


Now, the downside of using an "off the shelve" engine isn't even the limitations. But more the defaults. Your game can quickly feel like all the other games build on the same engine. For many games you can quickly "feel" which engine they used, and that usually makes them more "bland".

[ProgramGamer]

Just

you know

remember to actually make the game

says me, a person who hasn't worked on their project in several months