[POLL] Blender+ Unity + Gimp eBook

Hey guys,
I had this idea for an ebook titled: "Create your own 3D Video Game from Scratch without Spending a Dime" or something like that. Anyway it would be about how to make acomplete game using Unity (free version), Blender, and Gimp. It would be for complete beginners who want to make their own little games but don't have much money for expensive tools. I would sell the eBook for maybe $3.99. Anyway do you think this would be a good idea?

 

Learning resources are always a good idea, more the better.

 

LOL. You plan to charge for a book on making games for free? Good luck with that one. Seems to me anyone interested in this would only be interested if it were free. You should probably change the title to "Create your own 3D Video Game from Scratch without Spending a Dime Except for the $3.99 I am Charging You."

 

You haven't made a video game and you going to write a book about making video games? :roll:

 

Now. Now. "Remember: those who can, do; those who can't, teach."
-George Bernard Shaw

 

That is so stupid. I can do programming and I can teach it pretty darn well. I don't do gymnastics, so I can't teach it. Simple as that. Anyways, if you are committed to it and you have A LOT of experience with programming and game design in general, then go for it. If you barely know what a singleton is, then wait a few years until you have created many games (bad or good).

 

Good thing ole Georgie was being satirical and I was being sarcastic.

 

I have made a game. What do you mean?

 

Lol good point. I'm not sure about the title, but you get the idea of what the book would be about. Also there will be contests and stuff where I give the book away for free, like subscribe to my blog and you get the book free, stuff like that. I'm just wondering if there's a need for a book that would teach you how to make games without bothering about expensive software.

 

That was my first thought, too.

My second thought is that you should only contemplate making learning materials for others if you have plenty of professional level experience under your belt - such as a bunch of released commercial titles. (I have no idea if you do, so this is not criticism.) There's already a lot of bad tutorial content out there from the blind leading the blind.

 

I wonder if anyone ever wonders if the the problem here is an inability to teach, rather than lack of relevant subject knowledge. Teaching is a profession you know, and most providers of online learning are amateurs, not professionals (not professional teachers, that is).

 

Everything I need for a tutorial guide in one great resource.

 

There's quite a lot to explain for a beginner... skipping over or assuming they know stuff can make it hard to understand many things, and blender, gimp and unity are all quite complex pieces of software... good luck, but it'll be great if you can pull it off in a user-friendly way.

 

that would be a good combo, but other than the all in one factor, i see no reason why its better than just going and learning each one specifically. it seems like teaching three tools you would need to skim a lot of advanced features and just go over the basics of each, or end up with a really long book.

and lol at learn how to do it for free by buying a book. make the e book free, or have a blog type version with ads. sell a real book for real money.

but it still is a pretty good idea anyways.

 

Well if someone wants to learn to make a game, there are a lot of features of Blender and Gimp that they would not need. So, yes I would skim over some features. Even for Unity I wouldn't go into detail about 2D stuff, because that's not what the book is about.

Yeah, a blog with ads is also a good idea

 

I think it's a great idea, in fact I'm doing something similar myself, not an ebook though (see my sig). The more varied resources the better. Learners often find they prefer one teachers style over another, even if the content is similar. Courses for horses, as they say.

I think the Waterfall/Agile dichotomy applies to learning as much as to Software Development. There are some real problems with the Waterfall model. A more iterative approach seems to work better in practice.

 

I think it is a good idea. That would give new-starters a quick guide of how the process goes.

 

question: will you be giving us free copies??