Can I make a Resident Evil=type game with XNA?

Can I make a Resident Evil=type game with XNA?

• DDressel

  Both. Games of that caliber take even a full team more than a year to do. If it's a single person working on it the time increases exponentially.
  
  

• tayoga

  Hi Peter,
  
  You can do any type of game using the XNA framework. It's just a set of programming libraries you have to use. You can do the same with C++ and the current DirectX SDK... XNA is NOT a point-and-click-game-construction-kit.
  
  It is for programmers, not for graphics artists or designers. You have to learn programming in C# and you have to learn how to use the XNA libraries.
  
  If you are willing to learn programming and game coding, I would suggest making a really simple Pong or Tetris clone first. Otherwise you should don't bother to download XNA and the Visual Studio Express edition. But doing a Resident Evil will take you years...
  :-D
  
  Cheers,
  Sascha.
  
  
  
  

• ExtinctPencil

  You should give TorqueX a look: http://www.garagegames.com/products/torque/x/
  

• A1Programmer

  I've been working with the A6 GameStudio for the past two years and have seen this question so many times. I think there should be a sticky in this forum to address this question as it will be posed numerous times.
  
  First of all let's discuss how long a AAA game takes to make with a team of professionals. First you need an engine. People like John Carmack write engines. The Doom3 engine probably took a few years to create. Then you need models (assets) to fill your engine (world) up. There is usually a team that does this for a year or two. Then the models are animated by the animation team. Then you have artists, level designers, multiplayer teams, testers etc. etc.
  
  Remember, you are filling all of these positions yourself, and you are NOT a professional. You will be learning these skills as you go along.
  
  I'm not saying give-up, but I would recommend starting off small so you don't get discouraged or overwhelmed.
  
  First I would suggest brushing up on C#. This is the language you will need to know to write your game with the XNA IDE.
  
  If you look here : http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/visualcsharp/learning/default.aspx
  you will see tons of beginner videos that will introduce you to the C# IDE and the C# language.
  
  Try creating a small C# app to get used to debugging, testing, versioning and publishing.
  
  Next I would start your DirectX training by doing the following in order (with the XNA IDE):
  
  1) Try to make a box you modelled in an outside program appear on the screen.
  
  2) Try texturing the box and making it appear properly on the screen.
  
  3) Make the box move around the screen in response to input from the keyboard.
  
  4) Place this box inside another, larger box and learn how to handle collisions with the outside box.
  
  I can guarantee with no prior coding knowledge these 4 steps will take you a few months at least to get up and running.
  
  5) Model and animate (walk, run, jump, swim) a biped (humanoid) in a 3rd party modelling program.
  
  6) Import your model into your XNA program and have the humanoid interact with a level. I can guarantee that handling walking up a flight of stairs is much harder than it seems.
  
  7) Program a camera to follow your biped around (3rd person camera). Make sure your camera doesn't get stuck inside of walls and can swivel around your character properly (here is when you brush up on trigonometry SIN, COSIN etc. etc.)
  
  At this point you will know the basic flow of game development and will have learned what can and can't be done by a single person. Re-evaluate the situation and then decide on the scope of your game.
  
  The best thing about XNA will be the user-contribution aspect. You will have lots of people contributing code snippets to help others out. I suspect camera scripts, jumping scripts and many others will be available quite soon.
  
  Start with Space Invaders, not Halo.
  
  Best of luck,
  
  lushdog
  
  
  
  

• Julian V

  By no means was i trying to scare you off. Those were just some things that I had to go through trying to develop my own MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) game.

  Making a point and click game would be so much easier than a resident evil type game.

  But I do urge you to view the C# videos I posted above. You will still have to learn data types and basic Object-Oriented programming techniques.

  It will be fun for you to do this as a spare time project. And the best thing is that you have a forum here to ask questions to get you unstuck and the MSDN (big help file/system) is an invaluable tool to teach yourself as you go along.

  Good luck and most of all have fun,

  lushdog

  
  

• Bjorn EP Backlund

  But he can't put it on the XBox 360 unless he uses GSE, which i think is why he's here to begin with.

  IMO, you can absolutely build a MYST-type game without too much trouble. i'm like you - i'm more concerned with narrative than with physics collisions and trig.

  With a MYST-like point-and-click game, all you need are some pictures. Put hotspots on the pictures that react to user input. Learn how to set and retrieve variables like doorIsOpen = true, bridgeIsDown = false, and bridgeLeverPosition = 3.

  Build a small system to display feedback to the user, like a little text box at the bottom of the screen. You can link this up to audio files later if you want voice acting. Build a small system for inventory management. That's where you'll want to learn arrays.

  Finally, think about your control scheme. This type of game is a natural on a PC, where you can sweep the cursor around the screen with ease using the mouse. It's not so elegant using the XBox 360 controller, as i'm sure you've seen sweeping the cursor around the overworld map in Oblivion.

  When you said you wanted to make a game like Resident Evil, we probably balked because of everything that was involved. But game themes are disconnected from their mechanics. You can build a Space Invaders clone where your ship is a guy with a shotgun and the invading hordes of aliens are actually zombies.

  You'll have a Hell of a time recreating the gameplay mechanics of Resident Evil. But you wanna make a zombie game More power to you!

  Use your braaaaaaaaaaains!!!

  - MrSock

  
  

• Anthony M

  pajamo,

  I think Flash might be a good entry point for you. You won't be able to create something as big as Resident Evil, and it definitely won't run on your 360, but it's just about the easiest way to create slick, interactive graphic experience without having a programming background.

  Search for "flash game" on Amazon, and you will find several game programming books targeted at the introductory level. Most will walk you through the process of creating a simple platformer, or a puzzle game, or an Asteroids clone. If you're really committed, start by writing up these kinds of examples, and then modify and add things until you have a unique creation.

  Good luck. If your main interest is in telling a story, rather than learning to program, all of these routes may still be somewhat frustrating. If you feel that you have a well-developed idea that would translate into a strong game concept, consider finding a few other people to pitch the idea to. An indie game has a better chance of success if you have a small team that includes someone with a strong programming background, someone with a design background, someone who can do sound effects and music, someone who can design levels and characters. This doesn't have to be four different people, but it is typically more than one.

  
  

• yeos_lee

  I don’t know why you guys are being so rough.

  There are engines out there that you can download.

  My favourite universal engine is TriBase. Sure you have to know how to use this but you got books for that.
  

  Most of the time those books to learn how to write games have a CD included with an engine in it.

  Learning to render and moving objects including drawing them (3D with milkshape or gamespace) will take just 3 weeks to a month (then you have the basic and overview of how to write a game but not the game). There are very good books out there just to write games for beginners.

  I would consider starting with a 2D (with sprites) game first. You will have it finished much faster and wont give up to early.

  Believe me.. You will give up writing a 3D game by yourself.

  
  

• Zac Boyles

  Wow, this looks to get more and more complicated. I'm tempted to just make a point and click from game the other program.

  Question: I downloaded XNA express but per their instructions do I need to download C # too And then.. is that it I down load two programs (XNA and C#). Does it matter which I install first

  I basically, have a dell PC 900mhz operating with XP.

  Thanks for everyone feedback. Most helpful. :)

  
  

• Raihan Iqbal

  May I then suggest: Adventure Game Studio
  It's a drag & drop way of creating adventure games and may be enough to do what you have planned. There's also a scripting language involved in AGS but it's a lot simpler to master then XNA libraries and C#.
  
  Hope this is of any help for you.
  
  

• GDigrego

  Well, that was humbling.

  Thanks for the links and advice.

  However, what if I want to make a simple point and click adventure With static pics and no character to move around like Myst

   I'm primairly interested in creating a strong narrative for  game. So, I don't need fancy 3D graphics.

  Still, what you say makes me nervous since I haven't been to computer camp since I was like 12... ie 24 years ago...

  
  

• Donaghy

  Why do Resident Evil take years Or you mean that with one person take a lot of time
  

• fbiots

  **Getting errors while posting, sorry in advance for double posts**

  By no means was i trying to scare you off. Those were just some things that I had to go through trying to develop my own MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) game.

  Making a point and click game would be so much easier than a resident evil type game.

  But I do urge you to view the C# videos I posted above. You will still have to learn data types and basic Object-Oriented programming techniques.

  It will be fun for you to do this as a spare time project. And the best thing is that you have a forum here to ask questions to get you unstuck and the MSDN (big help file/system) is an invaluable tool to teach yourself as you go along.

  Good luck and most of all have fun,

  lushdog

  
  
• Can I make a Resident Evil=type game with XNA?