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Ask HN: 9-yo son wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?

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Re: Ask HN: 9-yo son wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?

#171

Post by kingkongjaffa »

aleph_minus_one wrote: post #169
fn-mote wrote: post #42

Understand that you're not going to finish what you start. Do things that are fun. Keep a notebook of ideas. Talk about plans and what you want do. Spend time with him. Even if almost none if it ever makes it into code, the imagination part will be going wild. Look at what he's really doing. He doesn't want to CODE. He wants to make a game. Like every kid. Emphasize the creative part just like he wants. Do things on…

> He doesn't want to CODE. He wants to make a game. Like every kid. [emphasis mine] Well, I as a child (say: 6-8 old) was really rather thinking deeply how a suitable way (what programmers would call "data structures" and "programming abstractions", "design of a programming languages" - but of course on a child's level) might look like so that the computer can "understand" and precisely execute my game ideas; my game…

Yeah I was about 9 or 10 and an techy relative was trying to teach me binary while I was playing command and conquer red alert on a windows 98 machine.

And I was thinking how does code translate into something like red alert. I didn't have anyone to guide me to fill in the dots at the point though and it was just before internet was common everywhere and before google was a household name in England at least to me.

Re: Ask HN: 9-yo son wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?

#173

Post by jvmboi »

Your situation is very tough because you want to encourage this but also you have to be realistic and that's what your kid probably doesn't want to hear.

I always try to get across to my daughter of seven that you can't scale a mountain in one step just as you can't eat a cake in one bite and that trying to do that is guaranteed to be a miserable experience that's going to put you off the activity forever.

I don't think I've quite managed this yet but if I was you I would try to convey that a 3D game is a master level achievement that, while totally possible eventually, you simply have to work up to. And then maybe somehow pivot him into Scratch, Gamemaker or other such tools where he can start learning in a playful and fun way.

Re: Ask HN: 9-yo son wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?

#175

Post by F-W-M »

rmetzler wrote: post #137
arcastroe wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was ten years old, I played a lot of web games built on Flash technology and asked my parents how I could build my own. My parents sat me down and taught me the very basics of how to code. I didn't learn very well from them, but they also bought me a textbook and I learned great from that. By age 12, I had recreated a lot of the games I was fond of, pacman, snake, space invaders, etc. Maybe the bar was lower f…

Yeah, when I 10 or 12 years old, I found a book with simple games in Basic. I had fun copying from it and learned a bit of programming. My daughter is currently more interested in playing existing games instead of creating her own. I would probably look into how to create something in Roblox if this would fit for the game.

Modding her favorite game could proof a entry drug to the industry.

Re: Ask HN: 9-yo son wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?

#176

Post by swiftcoder »

This seems to be in the complete opposite direction of other suggestions here, but the majority of my pre-teen gamedev experience was in the StarCraft I and WarCraft III map editors. These days the StarCraft II map editor would get my recommendation.

Why? Because you start from the base of a working game, and incrementally add the specifics of your desired gameplay. In other engines you'll start with more or less a blank slate, and not only is that intimidating for newcomers, but it also comes with a large delay between building something, and being able to interact with the result.

The Blzzard map editors are incredibly powerful. They've spawned multiple entire genres (Tower Defense and MOBAs both originated as custom maps).

They have an accesible scripting system that is kind of a blend between a visual and a text-based programming language. They have an extensive content library built in, so you don't have to learn 3D modelling before you get started on gameplay...

Re: Ask HN: 9-yo son wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?

#177

Post by throwaway71271 »

I think making a pico8 game is cool, there are many many guides for shmup games or rogue like games or adventure games, also lua is quite fun to learn, and there is a lot of fun in coming up with the assets for the game, making sounds and etc.

https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=pico8+tutorial

Another option is to make a Roblox game, their studio is very accessible and the scripting is quite straight forward (e.g. if you step on this object it moves)

I have spent 2 years teaching my daughter and I thought python and pygame are nice, but we made lots of other games, and lots of turtle based generative art (you can also get some basic game ideas from there, like snake or tictactore or whereiswaldo):

https://github.com/jackdoe/programming-for-kids/blob/master/...

I think the curve of excitement is quite steep at start, and then it gets super boring, so if you can reduce the scope as much as possible, and manage to get to some playable state its amazing, if you use godot or some other engine you can make the game playable on web so he can share it with his friends its really nice.

Re: Ask HN: 9-yo son wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?

#178

Post by nottorp »

Ok this is where I'm going to whine about those 8 bit computers that booted to basic. They were perfect for 9 year old me - i just needed to be shown how to put pictures on screen and read the keyboard and then I went wild on my own.

>Joke aside, what can I do? This sounds like a great project for us to explore together and hopefully he can grow interest in software design and development.

Don't think so. Find a simple framework and let him experiment on his own. It will be very hard for you to abstain from teaching him everything you know and overwhelm him (source: various attempts on teaching my daughter everything i know :)

Personal opinion: scene graph (even if 2d) based frameworks that are targeted at amateur game developers, like gamemaker, are too complex and dedicated to productivity not ease of use. A beginning kid may be better served even by ... SDL. If you don't try to teach him metaprogramming and advanced data structures and just let him write BASIC in C++.

Edit: Oh I missed the 3D part. As others said, maybe convince him to start smaller. Or get him to do a mod for a 3d game with good tools...

Re: Ask HN: 9-yo son wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?

#179

Post by adastra22 »

fn-mote wrote: post #42

Understand that you're not going to finish what you start. Do things that are fun. Keep a notebook of ideas. Talk about plans and what you want do. Spend time with him. Even if almost none if it ever makes it into code, the imagination part will be going wild. Look at what he's really doing. He doesn't want to CODE. He wants to make a game. Like every kid. Emphasize the creative part just like he wants. Do things on…

I was going to post about game engines worth exploring to get this project off the ground (bevy, Godot), but then I read this post. OP, this guy gets it!

Re: Ask HN: 9-yo son wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?

#180

Post by vanpet1985 »

I was the same 9 years old back in the 90s waiting to do 3d games, except my dad was not à technical person at all, so I was on my own. My memory is: - 3d math was too complicated and not fun. - a 3d game requires lots of 3d models/assets, which I wasn't able to create, buy or find. - I still was able to follow à tutorial about directX to rotate a triangle with rainbow colors: not satisfying, I wanted to do games. - What solved my frustration was Flash. Easy to understand and to make finished games (for a 9yo, we're not talking masterpieces) - Today, making a 3d game is probably within reach using an engine such as Unity or Godot, and downloading free assets.

As a parent, don't do much more than exposing him to available options. If he's smart, he'll find a way to make a game. It only took me 20 years and a full career.

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