Where to start as a indie game developer?

But, but... I want to argue (;_;)

language and software comes after idea for the game. technically you can choose those before as well but that will probably make your life harder :D

Edit: Also here was a pretty good discussion

I'm not an indie developer but you can start with the easy to use tools like game maker or rpg maker or something similar. They're not difficult, you don't need to know programming languages, and there's tons of tutorials on them all over the place. Thanks to how easy to use it is you can quickly make a game and try out the mechanics and stuff to find out if it's actually fun and to practice putting your ideas to work. It's easier than spending tons of time coding just to find out that it doesn't represent your idea all that well.

• What platform is the best? The one your idea fits better.
• What software do you need? The one who's easier for you to use.
• What language is the best? The one you know, but C++, C# and JavaScript are future-proof.

If I have to give you a general tip of what to learn, it's this: forget about coding, learn art, learn narrative, and learn marketing and entrepreneurship.

Well, I'm not a pro, but here's my opinion.

1. I'd go for PC. Easy to test and it's much better to present the game on various sites.
2. Unity is great for begginers and advanced users. The ammount of tutorials is huge and the engine is pretty good and easy to present.
   Also, Blender for 3D models, easy to learn. Gimp / Photoshop for graphics, huge ammounts of tutorials.
3. I've been using Unity's java scripts, but I won't tell which of the three supported languages is the best.

winning strategy right here: just slap together most incomplete crap game you can come up with thats not really a 'game' at all and offer free keys to everyone that votes yes to get you a greenlight. profit.

Unity is quite easy engine to use. Also it's free.

make a crappy simulator game in a free engine

Try here for some decent software to look at.

Unity is definitely a good engine to use. It is relatively simple to pick up and get started with and there is a lot of documentation and help around if you get stuck. It is also flexible enough that you could do pretty much any type of game you wanted if you have the skill. You can use C# scripts in Unity (which personally I'd recommend over their javascript and python based options) which also seems like a fairly widely used language elsewhere if you want something that might be useful later.

First and foremost, have a thick skin.

Well, try something for android. It's pretty easy to develop for(simple games that is), and it's even easier to get your game on the market :)

English is the best language. As to your question, I would start by developing a game.

Unity is a good starting point I think. They have a free version so you can try it without breaking the bank.

If you want to try out Java, I think libGDX would be the best way to go. Completely open-source and cross-platform. You can use the same code base for desktop, Android and iOs.

I recommend Esenthel Engine which I'm using, as both my first engine and starting point. Especially if you're using C++ which is best languages in performance.

Plus, it's very cheap subscription based, there's demo as well, although you need to subscripted for 11.40$/month if you want to start doing real game.

Also try check out GameDev for tips, tutorial or more engine choice.

You need a good story before everything. You can start doing games for android or pc. I recommend you to use UDK (Unreal Development Kit). It is good, easy to manage the tools and really cool looking for graphics. You will also need to have a couple of money saved to reach your goals and to survive in the development.

My tip is if you want to develop video-games, change your degree to something related to video-game art or programming. Can be people on the college or university who you can meet related to that and create a team to start something cool. You can get more help there than asking here. If you can get a team will be way better. I Imagine that create a good videogame alone is a pain in the @ss for the first time.

MY BEST TIP: If you don't know nothing about game engines, or game art design. Or the development of a videogame. I will strong recommend you to abandon this idea mate :(... will be struggling for you trying to develop a videogame without experience on UDK or at least on Unity. As I read your post, I saw that you are on Informatics, you probably already know a little bit of this stuff. The key if you already have experience, is to bring a really good story to the table.

Best luck!

PC is probably the easiest platform to develop games for but it really depends on the game.

Unity, 3ds Max, Substance Designer, Substance Painter, Photoshop, Acid Pro for music (all of which are expensive).There are other free programs similar to these but none of them really compare.

C++ but that will take year(s) to learn, go with C#, Java, both of which come with Unity free.

Unity is by far the best choice for indie developers, the community is huge, the asset store has tons of free stuff and professional assets for relatively cheap, cross platform development and best of all, the Pro version is only $1500 with no royalties. Whereas, I've heard anyway, UDK charges 25% of sales plus fees or $30k upfront.

Coding is usually a good start. :^)

Unreal enginge 4 !!!

As a lightweight alternative to Unity, Phaser is a cracking little framework if you're interested in making truly cross platform mobile & desktop games. People have poo-poohed JavaScript quite a bit already, sillily suggesting it's just for websites, but Canvas can be very powerful.

• What platform is the best?

Depends on what kind of indie games you're building. In general, you're going to stick to either Windows or Android, seeing as it's practically free to develop and test for the two.

• What software do you need?

If you're a complete, total noob, try GameMaker. Unity is a bit more advanced. If you have a bit of cash both Unreal and Cryengine can be licensed for stuff. Modeling can be done in Maya, texturing in Photoshop/Illustrator, etc.

• What language is the best?

For Android, you'll be working in Java. For Windows you'll be working in Assembly if you're hardcore, but C and Visual Basic also work.

(edit: formatting)