Glad to see a thread like this up here-- there's so many folk that dive into it without taking the time to research!
Most people seem to underestimate the sheer amount of work a game takes! It's a pretty extensive and ambitious process that often requires a dedicated team of people. While recruiting forum goers sometimes works, keep in mind that they're under no obligation to work all day, every day, on your game without a reasonable amount of pay. Of course, there's always charitable individuals out there who aren't as financially pressured as graduates!
There's many things you need to know, including:
Creating, animating/rigging/mapping/texturing etc. a model.
Concept artwork.
Environment and level design.
UI
Compose music.
Web design.
Of course, coding.
There's many more, but these are some of the basics. Generally, different people work on different aspects of the game to speed up the process. While it's possible to single-handedly make a game, it does take a lot of knowledge and time (often years) to complete one! I work freelance and I'm often employed to work on small bits and bobs of various games-- primarily artwork/texture/modelling. Even then, it's relatively easy to temporarily employ a professional to work on something you can't do-- or, if it's a simple project, asking for help!
Helpful links:
- Although you can purchase models for the unity engine, there's a plethora of 3D modelling applications online (some are free!). I personally use 3ds Max, AutoCAD and Sculpturis extensively, but each seems to have their pros and cons.
- A good paint program's often required too. Adobe Photoshop CS2's currently 'free' to download (takes a bit of digging around on adobe's site after making an account), but the new version's definitely worth it if you can afford a subscription.
- Although I can compose my own songs, I'm not entirely versed on music software; I've always used a program that came bundled with my keyboard. I'd imagine good ol' wikipedia provides some handy starting points. There's tutorials online and on youtube that offer good guides for songwriting, though this does admittedly require a fair amount of musical knowledge and ability.
- While I've never used the unreal engine, Unity seems to be rather user-friendly. I know so little about coding and managed to travel vaguely in the right direction! As always, there's many guides on youtube.
I admittedly don't know the ins and outs (I rarely contribute more than artwork or a model!) and it's likely more complicated than this by far! Even so, it's a great thread-- had to pop in with some wee odds and ends. ;u;
