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Geek Culture / Game Making Learning Curve

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Barry Pythagoras
11
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Joined: 14th Mar 2014
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Posted: 29th Apr 2014 18:25
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I am just thinking about all of the programs that I have had to learn over the years since 1980...

ZX81 Basic
Spectrum Basic
C64 Basic
C64 Assembler
Amiga Basic
Blitz Basic
Deluxe paint
C
Amos
Visual Basic
Photoshop
Coral Draw
Paint
DBClassic
DBPro
Anim8or
ZBrush
Lithunwrap
UVMapper
UVLayout
Polytrans
Fragmotion
FTP Uploader
Ableton Live
Korg Keyboard
Yamaha Keyboard
4 Track Recording
Normal Mapping

That's the sort of learning curve that you had to adhere to from the beginning. Nowadays you can skip most of that.
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The Zoq2
15
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Joined: 4th Nov 2009
Location: Linköping, Sweden
Posted: 29th Apr 2014 19:48
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That's a pretty interesting list, I have had to learn a lot of those myself. This is my list that I have learned since around 2007

Gimp
Anim8or
Google sketchup
Gimp
DBP
AGK
C++
Javascript/html/CSS
PHP
Fragmotion
Blender
FTP uploader
UVMapper/lithunwrap

I probably missed a lot of things (since I had almost forgotten about using amin8or/fragmotion/uwmapper before you brought them up )

It is quite a learning curve for me aswell and I have only been doing this for 7 or 8 years
Then again, a lot of the skills carry over between the programs for me and I wouldn't really have to learn most of them. I could have started with blendera dn skipped aim8or/fragmotion/uwmapper completley for example. And I learned Javascript/php and FTP because of school and not because I needed them for gamedev

Say ONE stupid thing and it ends up as a forum signature forever. - Neuro Fuzzy
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Van B
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22
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Joined: 8th Oct 2002
Location: Sunnyvale
Posted: 29th Apr 2014 21:14
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Damn, I'd be scared to start a list like that!

The ones I'm most glad of are...

DBPro
AGK
PaintShopPro
Rhino3D
GFA Basic(Atari ST)
PureBasic

I am the one who knocks...
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Libervurto
18
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Joined: 30th Jun 2006
Location: On Toast
Posted: 30th Apr 2014 02:09
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QBasic
YaBasic
Dark Basic
Paint.net
Anim8or
Wings 3D
Dark Basic Pro
Audacity
Gimp
HTML/CSS
Emacs

And the very basics of...
Blender
C++
Java
Javascript
PHP

I really need to learn more languages. Well I have a C++ book and a Javascript book on my desk right now.
I like C++ so far but I'm finding learning it very boring, I don't know if it's just this book I'm using with boring examples like calculating school grades. I want to get to the graphics!

Formerly OBese87.
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nonZero
13
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Joined: 10th Jul 2011
Location: Dark Empire HQ, Otherworld, Silent Hill
Posted: 30th Apr 2014 12:00
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Yeah, I wouldn't know where to start. I dropped things, picked them up, dropped them again, picked them up. I learned functions I needed and ignored the rest. It's a bumpy road. In the end I realised that I am not good at sound, despite being a reasonable pianist when I was a little brat. I think because I never did well in theory, I just played. I'm that type of person: I don't read manuals, I just dive into the game and figure out how to play. Same with most things. That's why I still haven't learned Blender; it looks like someone vomited the UI into existence. I will eventually because it is an amazing program and I did enjoy the few things I managed to do on it. The 2D I do isn't too bad for 8-bit console standards. I'm not great but not terrible. Would you believe I began on MS-Paint or "Paintbrush" as it was in ye olde days. So yeah, for me it was totally random, gaining skills-on-demand as I progressed.


You're a bad man!
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Van B
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22
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Joined: 8th Oct 2002
Location: Sunnyvale
Posted: 30th Apr 2014 16:12
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Gah, I like the feature set in Blender, but the UI is absolutely terrible. Thing is, learning to do some modelling is one of the biggest leaps in terms of what you can accomplish on your own as a developer.

That's why Rhino3D is on the list - I got sick of even trying to learn other modelling programs, coming from an engineering background and a lot of technical drawing experience, Rhino3D is more like a CAD program, like one of those 2D CAD programs like AutoCAD and TurboCAD that migrated into 3D, but done properly
Anyone who tells me they struggled to learn a modelling package, I suggest they try Rhino3D... for me at least it all just makes sense, I'd pick it over any other package (Maya, Lightwave, Max), no matter what the cost - I just don't get on with other modelling apps.

I am the one who knocks...
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Barry Pythagoras
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Joined: 14th Mar 2014
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Posted: 30th Apr 2014 16:42
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Blender is awful. Just loading a model is frustrating. why they have to change a simple task like loading is beyond me? The 3 buttons are all jumbled up, and the draggable windows are horrible as well.

Anim8or is the way that things should be done, but Anim8or is progressing very slowly. ZBrush isn't bad.

Never tried Rhino. Not even looked at it yet.
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The Zoq2
15
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Joined: 4th Nov 2009
Location: Linköping, Sweden
Posted: 30th Apr 2014 17:41
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Anim8or was a really great tool to learn the basics of modelling for me and I did go on with using it for a long time before I finally got around to learning blender. I agree that the blender UI is terrible but it's something that you get used to IMO. Atleast for the basic modelling that I do.

I wish i was better at doing textures though. A lot of times I get the urge to do some modelling but in the end I just give up because my textures are so bad that the model actually looks worse when I put them on I guess it's the same reason that I can draw relativley well until I start trying to color my drawings

Say ONE stupid thing and it ends up as a forum signature forever. - Neuro Fuzzy
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easter bunny
12
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Joined: 20th Nov 2012
Playing: Dota 2
Posted: 1st May 2014 09:11
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Blenders UI isn't that bad, it's just vastly different to any other modelling package out there, so you have to re-learn everything


Audacia Games - Facebook - AUTOMAYTE 2.1, AppGameKit one click deploy to Android
"When you've finished 90% of your game, you only have 90% left"
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Barry Pythagoras
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Posted: 1st May 2014 12:10
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That's not all that's wrong with it. It is illogical to use.
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Quik
16
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Joined: 3rd Jul 2008
Location: Equestria!
Posted: 1st May 2014 19:22
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Milkshape 3d was the first 3d package I learned. Also tried Wings 3d, XSI, quite some sculpting packages, including modo and Rhino3d - never fancied em, learned that Ooold freeware 3ds max version, then got the student version of 3ds max and stuck with that. was forced to learn Blender in school - will have to pick that up next year aswell, which I dont really mind (good to be flexible). got Zbrush and stuck with that as far as sculpting goes.
Learned C++ and Javascript, learned Unity 3d too.

so, after 5 years of delving in 3d i've learned this ^^ and probably much more to come.
(no i cant use modo3d and rhino, but the other ones I have delved enough in to know my way around)



Whose eyes are those eyes?
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Barry Pythagoras
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Posted: 1st May 2014 21:55
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ZBrush becomes more amazing every update. It could become more adapted to real modelling, and then it would be the only modeller you need.
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BMG
18
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Joined: 20th Feb 2007
Location: Working hard/hardly working...somewhere
Posted: 1st May 2014 23:49
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Since I started doing this sort of thing from around the age of 11/12, I was pretty happy to make an FPSC script! I'm only just starting to get into Unity and other coding...

Gotta love a bit of Blender, don't get why people don't like it, I learnt the basics in a day or two...never could get into Milkshape or others.

Other stuff:

Wings 3D (Still use it sometimes)
3D Game maker (My first foray into the Game creators' stuff)
Zbrush (Still rubbish at it)
Xcode (Terrible program imo)
Adobe Photoshop, Premiere, After effects, Flash, Lightroom
Final cut
Sibelius
Logic Pro
Fruityloops
Audacity
Paint.net
Gimp

And many more I can't remember the names of...

New video! http://youtu.be/BdcITzLBjxU

And a blog, full of game-related things: http://gradebmedia.blogspot.co.uk/
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Quik
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Location: Equestria!
Posted: 2nd May 2014 00:04
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Quote: "ZBrush becomes more amazing every update. It could become more adapted to real modelling, and then it would be the only modeller you need."

Well, as it is now, it is basicly the only modelling package I need = P for anything organic atleast



Whose eyes are those eyes?
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Barry Pythagoras
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Posted: 2nd May 2014 00:33 Edited at: 2nd May 2014 00:45
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It's rare for me to make organic models as my games are usually mechanical. But I am making some witches, so ZBrush is being used properly for the first time by me. I have usually used it just to clean up a model a bit. I find it extremely easy to use. So easy that if you make a mistake you can either use undo, or just start again, because starting again is quick. I do find that I get some triangles sticking out sometimes, I don't know how to fix them.
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Seppuku Arts
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20
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Joined: 18th Aug 2004
Location: Cambridgeshire, England
Posted: 5th May 2014 02:22
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Hmm

Klik N Play
The Games Factory
Dark Basic Classic
Anim8or
Dark Basic Pro
TrueSpace 5
Cinema 4D 6 CE
Paint.NET
Torque Game Engine
Hexagon 2
Carrara 5 Pro
Visual C#/Mono C#
Unity 3D
Dark GDK.Net
Visual Basic
Visual C++ (basic stuff)
Irrlicht & irrlicht lime
Dark GDK
Silo 2
Visual Web Developer - ASP.Net webforms and mvc


Of course this is excluding many things I've experimented with and I'm not proficient in everything on the list but are all things I've spent a certain amount of time learning to assist me to where my coding and content creating skills are now.

Wish I was still working on a game creation project, but figured I'd put effort into one particular area of coding to improve my prospects to avoid the jack of all trades, master of none mentality.

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