4 ms·

I tried to explain the details to my son, but he's just disappointed that he can't play a game he liked. He wants to buy a Windows computer and is saving up for

by davidw 5y ago

I tried to explain the details to my son, but he's just disappointed that he can't play a game he liked. He wants to buy a Windows computer and is saving up for it. Trying to get him interested in writing a bit of code, which to me is more fun in some ways than playing games, without pushing it too hard, and so far no luck.

ehnto 5y ago
Have you been framing the coding as a way to make games? Basically the only reason I'm here was because I thought making games would be rad, then I realized programming on it's own is pretty rad, and then eventually adult life showed up and it was a natural step to make it a career.
ye_olde_gamer 5y ago
Maybe let him try modding existing games? Steam's community workshop pages are thriving, especially for easily modded titles like Bethesda games. Back in the day, Warcraft III had a built-in script and level editor and people thrived on making mods and entire new types of games with it (murder mysteries, tower defense, battle royale, DOTA...). It's how I got my start as a coder, modding games that I enjoyed without the boring pressure of "business logic". I think Fortnite itself has a creative mode with limited logical programming: https://www.firetechcamp.com/course/build-an-escape-room-in-fortnite-creative-mode/ https://www.firetechcamp.com/course/build-an-escape-room-in-... Proper modding support is supposed to arrive soon: https://www.pcgamer.com/fortnite-creative-mod-support/ https://www.pcgamer.com/fortnite-creative-mod-support/
- davidw 5y ago
  Cool! Any other games like that that people can recommend? Bonus points if it's fairly easy to get started.
  - ye_olde_gamer 5y ago
    I think there's a slight distinction to be made between "games that have built-in low/no-code content editors" and "games that can be modded via an SDK, but you have to code". The former are good for any creative kid (or adult!) and don't require you to learn a programming language, just logical thinking (as in logic gates/flows). The latter, depending on tooling, can require everything from simple Lua scripts (a common game modding language) all the way up to learning UnrealEngine or Unity. Games with built-in content editors: * Warcraft & Starcraft series (oldies but goodies) * Fortnite * Minecraft * Neverwinter Nights series * Divinity: Original Sin series * Age of Empires series Code-moddable games: Too many to list, see here: https://store.steampowered.com/tags/en/Moddable/#p=0&tab=TopRated https://store.steampowered.com/tags/en/Moddable/#p=0&tab=Top... In particular I'd check out Warcraft, Neverwinter Nights' DM mode, and the DOS editor for a good sampling of what the industry can offer. They are a great stepping stone to actual programming, with triggers, conditionals, and other flow control structures all wrapped behind a veneer of fantasy gaming. (edit: sorry for potato formatting. no idea how HN handles text formatting)
  - Nexxxeh 5y ago
    Overwatch's workshop might be a fun introduction.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- Panqueca_do_mar 5y ago
  Modding Minecraft is what lead me to be a full-stack developer today
ye_olde_gamer 5y ago
Side note, but fun fact! Fortnite, the uberpopular battle royale game, is actually itself a mod of the original Fortnite (now called "Fortnite: Save the World"). Originally a tower defense game (you build structures and traps to defend your base against invading alien zombies), some Epic & Unreal Tournament developers decided to fork it into a PvP (competitive player-vs-player) battle royale game instead, loosely based off Player Unknown's Battlegrounds. It became a surprise hit, propelling Fortnite from "niche DIY tower defense game" to global pop-culture phenomenon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortnite_Battle_Royale#Development https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortnite_Battle_Royale#Develop... (edit: this was reposted... old comment was in the wrong thread)

by davidw 5y ago

ehnto 5y ago

Have you been framing the coding as a way to make games? Basically the only reason I'm here was because I thought making games would be rad, then I realized programming on it's own is pretty rad, and then eventually adult life showed up and it was a natural step to make it a career.

ye_olde_gamer 5y ago

Maybe let him try modding existing games? Steam's community workshop pages are thriving, especially for easily modded titles like Bethesda games. Back in the day, Warcraft III had a built-in script and level editor and people thrived on making mods and entire new types of games with it (murder mysteries, tower defense, battle royale, DOTA...). It's how I got my start as a coder, modding games that I enjoyed without the boring pressure of "business logic". I think Fortnite itself has a creative mode with limited logical programming: https://www.firetechcamp.com/course/build-an-escape-room-in-fortnite-creative-mode/ https://www.firetechcamp.com/course/build-an-escape-room-in-... Proper modding support is supposed to arrive soon: https://www.pcgamer.com/fortnite-creative-mod-support/ https://www.pcgamer.com/fortnite-creative-mod-support/

davidw 5y ago
Cool! Any other games like that that people can recommend? Bonus points if it's fairly easy to get started.
- ye_olde_gamer 5y ago
  I think there's a slight distinction to be made between "games that have built-in low/no-code content editors" and "games that can be modded via an SDK, but you have to code". The former are good for any creative kid (or adult!) and don't require you to learn a programming language, just logical thinking (as in logic gates/flows). The latter, depending on tooling, can require everything from simple Lua scripts (a common game modding language) all the way up to learning UnrealEngine or Unity. Games with built-in content editors: * Warcraft & Starcraft series (oldies but goodies) * Fortnite * Minecraft * Neverwinter Nights series * Divinity: Original Sin series * Age of Empires series Code-moddable games: Too many to list, see here: https://store.steampowered.com/tags/en/Moddable/#p=0&tab=TopRated https://store.steampowered.com/tags/en/Moddable/#p=0&tab=Top... In particular I'd check out Warcraft, Neverwinter Nights' DM mode, and the DOS editor for a good sampling of what the industry can offer. They are a great stepping stone to actual programming, with triggers, conditionals, and other flow control structures all wrapped behind a veneer of fantasy gaming. (edit: sorry for potato formatting. no idea how HN handles text formatting)
- Nexxxeh 5y ago
  Overwatch's workshop might be a fun introduction.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
Panqueca_do_mar 5y ago
Modding Minecraft is what lead me to be a full-stack developer today

ye_olde_gamer 5y ago

Side note, but fun fact! Fortnite, the uberpopular battle royale game, is actually itself a mod of the original Fortnite (now called "Fortnite: Save the World"). Originally a tower defense game (you build structures and traps to defend your base against invading alien zombies), some Epic & Unreal Tournament developers decided to fork it into a PvP (competitive player-vs-player) battle royale game instead, loosely based off Player Unknown's Battlegrounds. It became a surprise hit, propelling Fortnite from "niche DIY tower defense game" to global pop-culture phenomenon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortnite_Battle_Royale#Development https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortnite_Battle_Royale#Develop... (edit: this was reposted... old comment was in the wrong thread)