J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

My middle lad, Ed aged 7 (8 next week) is big into this games and is very advanced with his games, he is even cultivating the long hair and nocturnal tendencies, I like my games but dont get the time, he wants to get into creating his own mods or whatever, big into Half Life 2 at the moment so whats the best way for him to get started, I honestly think he will nail it very quickly and end up going into the industry, he is a natrual for it !

Hanslow

What sort of mods? Levels, graphics, full on expansions? The latter will require the SDK and some development tools.

For levels and graphics mods, you should be able to find plenty of tools via google. Just search for something like "Half Life 2 Level Editor" and that should get him going if it's just new levels he wants to create.

Should a 7 (soon to be 8) year old be playing a 15 rated game ?

ScoobyDriverWannabe

http://www.hl2mods.co.uk/mp.asp
http://www.hl2mods.co.uk/sp.asp

the above to links contain lists of half 2 mods. Most are still in the development stages.
If you click on the links to the various mods you will see that most of them are always on the look out for designers, coders etc to help. But i think at his current age and experience he may have trouble finding some one who will give him a chance. But im sure from those sites he will find tips aswell as posibly gaining some help from other game moders.

If he already has HL2 which it sounds like he has, if you open steam and click on play games, then scroll to the bottom of the list where it says tools he will be able to download SDK (software developers kit). Here is a link where he can find help using the SDK http://collective.valve-erc.com/.

There is a mod makers guide book available called the mod makers guide which can be found here http://www.hl2mods.co.uk/goodies.asp.

I think the best way for him to get started would not be creating a new mod but starting by creating maps for games such as CS and HL.

messiah

A few years old now, but the level editor that came with Tomb Raider Chronicles is very good - comes with a shed load of levels to disect, and there's tones of 3rd party tools for it and very big user base on www.tombraiderforums.com

specialx

cue SN user Chrome he works for the company that made timesplitters 1,2,&3 he does backgrounds etc.

I'm always asking him silly questions and saying it must be cool to make games!!


it's not all fun apparantley but good look to your son.


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J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Cheers for all the info, will follow all those links, as for an 8 year old playing a 15 rated (HL2) game, yes I know he probably shouldnt be but he really enjoys it and play Half Life quite a while ago so it sort of follows and we resisted for ages and only bought it 3 weeks ago to quell the mithering, it is a bit more realistic than HL and my wife has expressed her concerns but we are kind of stuck with it. With Half Life 2 its kind of violent but its against a known foe who although realistic in detail isnt an actual person, we wouldnt for example let them play the Grand Theft Auto series or Undying (to scary), they also play Halo and that is fairly savoury compared to the likes of GTA, his problem solving is quite impressive and I put that down to gaming, he would be on it all day if given the chance so we do limit it.

Hence why I want him to pursue it (along with going out and playing with his mates) but from a more creative angle because if he gets started at 8 he will be banging out some top levels by ten !

Hanslow

Go for it chap, good to have parents backing you all the way. I still remember my mum shouting me down for tea cos I spent too long on the computers

I was only saying the rating thing in jest, hence the . I have no kids so have no leg to stand on

chrome

you rang?

there are two main 'types' of games developer; artist and programmers.

mod guys are often bedroom coders.

these days the art side is ultra competitive..

best thing you can do; if he is arty- get an evaluation version of maya or max for your PC.
get him to learn that and express his art that way.

if he's more of a coder type, then get him some 'C++ for dummies' type books..

as for being a designer?...
they are like hens teeth. most designers are coders who are better at talking the talk than coding (in my experience)
artists almost never sidestep into a desinger role unless they can code.

If he just has a nack for designing spaces and areas- try leaning him towards becoming an architect! FAR more money and long term prospects in it!

I wasnt smart enough to make it as an architect..
so I ended up doing levels
pays the bills and lets me do my thing...
all imho.

good luck to your son

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Chrome, cheers for that, going to get him into it over the winter, the pasty little bugger can go outside for a few weeks !

He is only 8 but does seem to be getting the hang over it, he even wont get his hair cut, proper geek in the making !

messiah

Do 3D studio still release the GMAX edition? It's the freebie edition aimed at game modders. download is about 50mb IIRC...

messiah

Found it.

http://www4.discreet.com/gmax/