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Oy
My 9 year old wants to learn how to and then make a computer/video game.
So. Unity or Unreal? Other?
I know zip about games. No interest whatsoever, but my kid...
This is what he sent me:
Trying to go in a jungle in a haunted house and In a temple of dreams
With enemies like ground trolls and fire bats
And crystal spiders
For the jungle
The haunted house has pumpkin spirits and candycorn cowboys
As for the temple of dreams there are crystals to dream for anything of the players choice
All of that adventure to save mom
From being possessed by a demon
Which game engine would be best for that sort of game? An adventure with candycorn cowboys and fire bats.
'Cause we gotta rescue Mom.
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It seems the kid has a nice story for the game, but what about graphics? music? and most of all - programming knowledge? All those nice engines do not have them for him...
Skipper: We'll fix it.
Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this?
Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
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Unity has 3 languages, C# the most common (UnityScript/Javascript, and Boo), and has many tutorials online + documentation and how tos, etc., and comes with VS 2017, but I think you could get it with out 2017.
I would use this.
You mention nothing of his programming skills, so I am going to assume we are putting the cart in front of the horse here. Still, if he is willing to take baby steps and learn, then Unity is the way to go.
FYI - Blizzard Games Hearthstone was done in Unity and a handful of popular games on Steam were done in Unity as well.
Many epic 3A games do not use Unity, but rather use the Unreal Engine, etc., and/or roll their own 3D engines.
Unity is getting better with every release. It has a good asset library (free, $$) so you don't need to be a graphic artist to get going with game design/implementation.
Edit: There are some nice articles and tech blogs on this site having to do with Unity game dev.
UNITY 3D – Game Programming – Part 2[^]
This one is almost 5 years old but has a lot of links to info, etc.: So you want to be a Unity3D game developer?[^]
and the obligatory MSDN article: Unity - Developing Your First Game with Unity and C#[^]
modified 5-Nov-17 7:24am.
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Yeah...he has no programming skills whatsoever. Says he wants to learn...but only in the context of making a game.
I downloaded Unity, opened it up and said No Way.  Maybe. MAYbe, I will look at it again, but it's doubtful.
I think he'll have to start off with Scratch or GameMaker. We don't live in the same country, so teaching him something too complicated is unlikely.
But I may send him to Code.org for a start.
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GenJerDan wrote: I think he'll have to start off with Scratch or GameMaker.
I have been told you can't go wrong with GameMaker. I have not used it myself, but I have heard and read nothing but good things about it. 
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Check out Playmaker for unity, that might be more the speed you need to start with.
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There are two kinds of people in the world: those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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Honestly I have the same problem. My 8 year old invents levels upon levels of his super complicated game thinking in details how different monsters will kill you. I tried to bring him to think of something simple which we can do together but seems that's not that interesting after all. I don't know anything about game making either so I tried to sell him Kodu[^] - with partial success.
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For that age, isn't RPG Maker (wikipedia) better suited than an actual game engine? I guess Kodu fills the same role?
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I would definitely not advise to use a real game engine. Kodu is aimed at teaching programming and is free.
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Now that you mention it, RPG Maker is paid, I never knew that. I got it in a game making magazine ages ago and had a blast. there's no actual programing required (you can use the scripting language, but it isn't necessary) you just draw maps by selecting squares with pieces from the toolbox, create npc and dialogs via a mini editor, etc...
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Another platform worth considering is Scratch.
I helped my niece create a game in scratch and I was fairly impressed by both what it could do and the tutorials and support around it.
Scratch is nice because it feels like programming with Lego blocks - it's very visually while being faithful to programming concepts.
If I had more time I would probably use scratch myself just for fun.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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GuyThiebaut wrote: Another platform worth considering is Scratch.
My son has played with Scratch and liked it at first, but fell out of favor with it, once he found out that he can't create the games he likes to play, with it.
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Unless you already have, I would introduce him the 5th edition D&D books. He can get together with his friends, learn how to be a DM, and have a whole lot more fun, in my ever-so-humble experience. The books would make a great Christmas present!
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In US I think it's more like this:
Dead Alewives D&D - YouTube
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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Now that's just sad
If the brain were so simple we could understand it, we would be so simple we couldn't. — Lyall Watson
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> go north
You stand in front of a dense jungle, the air is filled with the sounds of birds. There is a spooky-looking house to the east.
> go east
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> Run away. Run away fast.
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F-ES Sitecore wrote: > go north
You stand in front of a dense jungle, the air is filled with the sounds of birds. There is a spooky-looking house to the east.
> go east
Aaah, Adventure, 1979 vintage! (That is when I got to know it)
I still have vivid memories of crawling around in a maze of twisting little passages, all alike. Discovering that glittering treasure chest. The hairy little dwarfs throwing their stone axes at me. And that deep, resounding voice declaring that "Unfortunately, you are now dead. I can resurrect you, but it will cost you a hunded points" ... No later game has had graphics and sound effects even remotely similar to this one.
---
In 1979, inspired by Adventure, our university lecturer tried to manage 25 Computer Science students, organized as five teams, in a joint effort to develop a game engine, as The Great Project of our second year as Comp.Sci students. We learned a lot about how coordination of different task forces may fail  , but also how difficult it is to make a truly "new" game. Just replacing the treasures with other kinds of treasures, and making the path turn left instead of right, doesn't make a new and exciting game. We gravely underestimated the required complexity of such an engine, to make it suitable for creating varied games.
Those who provide such game engines today of course know very well about the (required) complexity and richness, lying not primarily in the implementation but in the functions provided to the game developer. Until you truly master a complex set of offerings (and that might take years, even as a full time worker on it), it is difficult going much beyond replacing treasures with new ones, and changing the direction of paths. Or something else at a similar level.
What I try to get through: A kid may easily become very frustrated over how little he manages to make. His dream was to paint the new Mona Lisa, and all he makes is a simple children's drawing... It really IS difficult making a good game, regardless of tools!
---
When I was a dad, we chose other tools (well, game engines were not available then): For our first "books" (at age 7-8), we developed the story together, as a bedtime activity: I wrote down the new chapters as we made them up, and the next days we went through it making adjustments and edits. When she was ten, she wrote some wonderful stories on her own, and at fourteen her stories impressed even adults. (Unforunately, she never wanted to make a career as a writer.)
The (mental) cost of making a text story is a lot less than learning to master a game engine. You have much more freedom, not limited by a tool. The only tool required is simple: A text processor. The chance of success at a medium level comes much earlier and is much greater.
So if it is at all possible to maneuver the kid into devloping an enitre story in text form, based on his idea for a game, that could be an immediate step that could lead to a great feeling of success for several years - maybe with the pronounced goal to later develop it into a game. But as a ground work, make exciting, well developed stories in text form.
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I suggest starting out with GameMaker:
GameMaker | YoYo Games[^]
I checked it out years ago, it has a free trial and is only $99 for a dev license if you decide you want to continue dev after trial.
If your son becomes an amazing game maker then for $299 you can get the advanced and publish games on XBox and PS4 which would be very cool.
Check it out. GameMaker is a nicer,gentler intro to game dev.
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An old article I had read that seemed interesting is this[^].
As mentioned by others earlier, I agree Unity 3D could be a good game engine to start... but as a 9 year old, I'm not sure if your child would have the patience to learn the kind of programming required. I guess with your help it could be fun.
I am a game programmer and I can tell you it might be a lot of fun for you as well if you try and help your kid learn game development.
If you want to get started a little quickly here are a couple of sites that give you free 3D model and animation downloads. Download FBX format since it can be directly imported into unity:
Mixamo[^] - I have tried this for my learning and it is very good.
Fbx 3D Models - Free 3D Fbx download[^] - Some of the models are nice, but mostly quite un-optimized.
Based on what you posted it seems your kid is writing a story, more in the domains of game design.
Again, as someone mentioned above, game development involves a lot of domains, like Design, Programming, Computer Art (2D, and 3D), Concept art (sketching).
Gamasutra[^] is a nice site with a lot of generic game development articles. Some might be a little dated... especially programming related articles but a lot of concepts are still valid.
Specific links:
Design:
Gamasutra - The 13 Basic Principles of Gameplay Design[^]. I had liked the points discussed here when I had read it.
So, You Wanna Be a Game Designer?[^]. Found this from a google search just now... The author makes some very practical and important points.
Art:
Like I mentioned game development can involve both the fine arts and (necessarily ) computer art.
3D art is made using mostly 3DS Max[^] or Maya[^].
A free option is Blender 3D[^]. This comes with it's own game engine, but I have never used the game engine.
All of these are quite complicated and not sure if a 9 year old will have the patience.
Programming: https://www.codeproject.com
"It was when I found out I could make mistakes that I knew I was on to something."
-Ornette Coleman
"Philosophy is a study that lets us be unhappy more intelligently."
-Anon.
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I think GameMaker is a good suggestion. Other than that, have you looked at RPG Maker? Sure, it's a lot more restricted than GameMaker, let alone Unity or Unreal, but it's also a lot easier to handle for a kid, I think, and it requires very little in the way of actually programming. It also has a lot of built-in assets that can be used to make a game.
I have fond memories of messing around with it when I was younger. Back then, there was a pretty big community, which also provided free spritesheets, music and other assets - don't know how it is these days.
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I'll take a look at it. Thanks.
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If you get him started on GameMaker one of the best things you can do for him is to give him the link to
Tom Francis's Youtube Channel
He has made some excellent games using GameMaker and is very good at describing how to do it.
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