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Need advice about making a game.

Discussion in 'Getting Started' started by Elektron_111, Mar 11, 2023.

  1. Elektron_111

    Elektron_111

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2023
    Posts:
    3
    Hello everyone,

    Like the title states I just need some advice pointing me in the right direction. I want to know which programming language would be the best fit for the game I'm trying to make. I have almost no programming knowledge other than the basics that I have learned in school some years ago. On my own I started learning python and it seems to be going well, but I was told that I shouldn't use or it's not recommended for games. So I was pointed to Unity.

    For a while I wanted to make a game out of the sport of biathlon. For those who don't know what what biathlon is, it's a sport that combines cross country skiing and rifle shooting. You have prone and standing shoots which athlete needs to take. Depending on the discipline they have to take them several times. A missed shot means either a penalty loop or a one minute added time penalty. Back to the game. I want my game to be a manager type game, where you can either create your own club or manage a pre-existing one as well as manage a national team. So there would be no need for any tactics or anything similar like this. You will get to chose the best athletes to represent your team against the rest based on their stats/for/fatigue/injuries...

    The game I have in mind is very similar to games like pro cycling manager, franchise hockey manager and football manager. Which are all stats based games where you can influence the end result with manipulation of tactics and whatnot. But in my game you wouldn't be able to do that. Once the race starts its all down to the athletes and their preparation. So for the visuals I would probably need 3d, but I really like those circles in football manager. Which means you would have a map and see all the athletes on the course at the current time (or you could skip ahead to when your guys get to the shooting phase). During the shooting phase you will see where your athlete is placing their shots. And that's it. Maybe a podium presentation at the end of the race. But that the whole visuals thing that I need.

    For athletes they will gain exp, which you will then as a player have influence in where they should spend these. On which attributes. Races will be influenced by things such as wind, weather, course condition... During the summer you will have a youth intake which will be depending on the region/population/nation/popularity/club stature... and so on and so on.

    So in gist, the game will simulate all of these things and you will be able to either watch them on screen or just skip ahead and see the final report of the race in your messages. You as a coach will be in charge of "upgrading" athletes, finding new athletes and a few other things that I haven't written like which wax to use on the given course or what type of skis or focusing on training shooting before the next race weekend....

    I have most of the things mapped on how they will work, which attribute influences the other. What happens if you click x or y. What I need now is a language to implement this in. Would Unity be fine with what I'm trying to do? Also you don't have to tell me to start small. I already know that my game won't be made within a year or two probably. I first need to learn the language through exercises. Just like what I've been doing with python.
     
  2. zombiegorilla

    zombiegorilla

    Moderator

    Joined:
    May 8, 2012
    Posts:
    9,042
    If you are using Unity, it is C#, that is the language Unity uses. If you are using something else, you will have to check on those tools.
     
  3. Elektron_111

    Elektron_111

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2023
    Posts:
    3
    That's what I'm asking. Which language would be the best fit for what I'm trying to do? From what I've been told and have read, python has limitations when it comes to implementing games. C and C++ while harder to learn are most commonly used in the gaming industry. However my game doesn't need a whole big world to be created. It would be really similar to pro cycling manager.
     
  4. CodeSmile

    CodeSmile

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2014
    Posts:
    5,533
    You shouldn't be concerned about which programming language (+ game framework) is the optimal (there is no "best") one for the game you are making. You're looking for the optimal programming language that you find fun to learn and play around with.

    You can make the game you described in practically any language and 3d game framework.
     
  5. Elektron_111

    Elektron_111

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2023
    Posts:
    3
    That's good to hear. I had some experiance with coding back in high school where we learned c++, but we only touched the basics, like making calculator and similar stuff. After watching a few videos I picked up python, but several people told me I should switch back to c++. I'm actually kind of shocked how quickly I was able to pcik up certain things in python, compared to when in high school I had trouble remembering things about c++. So I shall stick with python for now, and maybe branch out later. I will try and make this game smaller first to see if I can create it in this program. Cheers.
     
  6. MarkSteere

    MarkSteere

    Joined:
    Dec 31, 2022
    Posts:
    54
    I'm an abstract game designer and a neophyte programmer. I wanted to use a game engine to program at least one of my games for cellphones, which I've already started on. This is much simpler than what you're doing of course. I had a few options but I chose Unity because it's very capable, well established, has a lot of support (i.e., someone probably had a problem very similar to what you're having that you can google). 3D Unity may be overkill for what I'm doing, but that's ok because I will want to add special effects. The Unity Learn tutorials are helpful for getting a feel for it, and then you can go back and refer to them. There's bound to be something in there that relates to what you're doing. I'm only at the point where I can move the pieces legally. I still have to add buttons and menus and AI. I want to add balloons floating upward when someone wins - something that directly relates to one of the tutorials. I probably could have done this with any game engine and language but I feel I made a good choice with Unity. As CodeSmile said, the language doesn't matter that much. To me they're all about the same.
     
  7. arcturus783

    arcturus783

    Joined:
    Nov 12, 2021
    Posts:
    55
    I agree for the most part with what everyone here is saying, it doesn't matter that much which programming language you use, it's about the engine. Here in Unity, C# is the most popular, and has a relatively standard, simple syntax to learn. I believe Unreal Engine uses C++. If you don't want an application but rather a very small web game (like Chrome dino runner), Python would work nicely, although I'd personally recommend a combo of HTML/CSS/JavaScript.