Quoting John Romero - one of the co-founders of id games, and, of course, DooM, which was a revolution in its own day.
He makes a point that I think is well worth repeating, especially in this forum, where a lot of new people expect to do some pretty amazing things in no time at all. You can hear it from the man himself: Link
Game development is still software development, and the ability to create good software (which is a skill that takes years to fully develop) is essential for creating good games.
I recommend watching the entire interview for further insights, and some id history (which I would claim to be equally insightful). There are 4 parts overall, the first can be found here, the other three should be easy to find from there.
To get the full effect, I would also recommend reading “Masters of DooM”, which is one of the best stories ever told, with many useful lessons.
And of course, I would recommend playing DooM, because even years later, there is something almost magic about it.
There is a point here when it comes to taking years to become experienced in Game development and then taking years to make a really big game even if you’re just using the BGE.
Sure, you can wip up some BGE demos with logic bricks without spending a lot of time learning, but it can take a lot longer to make good and full use of the python API and the logic brick system alike to the point where you can make a large game.
The big advantage to using blender is the integrated environment, where you can just test your game within the creation framework.
However, you still have to be the one to program all behaviors, and that’s still a considerably large task, even for smaller games.
As a tool, blender helps, but you have to keep things in perspective: it takes an army of professionals to create a AAA game in something like 3 years, so for a single amateur to do the same, or come close, is very unlikely.
So, the overall point: Expect to spend years before you reach a place where more complex things become possible.
You’re all absolutely right. Therefore, I don’t understand people who say they want to make a game which is alike an AAA game. If you work alone it is really impossible.
But I think you can do it with the BGE but you really need a large team and all working 9 hours each day.
I disagree with that. I saw demos of games developed by one person, that look just amazing. It is not impossible, but really really hard. There are some Game Creation Artists out there with incredible talent. They do work hard on their projects, I’m pretty sure, and the results are better than cool.
Want to see an example: look for the youtube video of Eskil Steenberg’s LOVE
I’m pretty sure he used his “years” very well (compared to my results).
I know, I have just a little bit exaggerated with this sentence. But still such talented people are very rare and most importantly they have a lot endurance which I think that is the most talent.
I was always one to support the “nurture over nature” argument - meaning that for any level of skill, there is a level of effort that can be exerted, by any individual, in order to attain that skill level.
However, with extremely talented individuals like Eskil, it’s easy to have doubts about that -> maybe that’s just one of those levels that some people, like us, simply won’t be able to reach, no matter how hard we try.
He might just be a freak of nature, like John Carmack.
(compared to my results).