ClickTeam Fusion 2.5 (the Five Nights at Freddy engine) is a "no code" game engine where you define interactions between the different game parts with essentially a big spreadsheet - your son may be able to tinker with it and realize his ideas in it easily.
Ask HN: 9-yo son wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?
341–350 of 391 posts
Re: Ask HN: 9-yo son wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?
#342Understand 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…
NOTEBOOK
NOTEBOOK
NOTEBOOK
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THe ONLY successful devs who've built shit you touched, common: PERSONAL NOTBOOK.
Make them write.
What makes a successful comedian: WRITING.
NOTEBOOK is the most underrated Human Tool.
If you want to be an author, CREATE. WRITE.
Re: Ask HN: 9-yo son wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?
#343Understand 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…
> YOUR SON DOES NOT WANT TO LEARN TO CODE Maybe he does, but he doesn't know it yet. Do not force him, but you can show him. That's actually how I got into coding. Like every kid, I wanted to make a game, but progressively, I found that I had more fun coding than actually making the game. In the end, I went in so many tangents I didn't complete my game, but who cares? Everyone is different. Maybe he just wants to ima…
He might. When I was around that age, I had an Atari that had a feature where you could write your own code. I think it was sort of a version of basic.
I made primitive games. They weren’t much more than shapes and colors and sounds, but I was able to make it do things. And that was before there was an internet where I could find help. I didn’t know anyone who had ever written a line of code.
I think one might be surprised what a 9 yr old boy could do these days programming.
Re: Ask HN: 9-yo son wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?
#344With my son we hooked a python API to minecraft, you can then write some kind of bot. He really had fun with it. Being able to see things in a 3d world he knows with 2 lines of code is what got him hooked. He learned python to build things, not to learn to code. I think you should use a platform with immediate results like this and forget about coding. There is also dreams on ps5 which is great. Try to find a way to…
this is only for the raspberry pi version of minecraft, right?
No, you have mods to make it work on the java version. I had to tinker a bit and use an older version. I am sorry, I do not remember all the details. But I think you need to install a bukkit server and use a mod.
Re: Ask HN: 9-yo son wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?
#345See if you can make it in Roblox they have lots of easy to use tools it's pretty robust
Re: Ask HN: 9-yo son wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?
#346Give him a pen an paper to lay out the rules of the game - it’s great practice to sort out the tasks and elements required to design a game and/or program - slowly introduce him to programming simple stuff like minesweeper and game of life… if he holds interest he will work his way into a game engine. Kids think a game is saying - it should be 3d and jumpy/shooty with a pink weapon that makes a ‚preff‘ sound… use this motivation to show them what planing - working hard towards a goal means. Lots of good lessons.
Re: Ask HN: 9-yo son wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?
#347There is a piece of software called FPS Creator which I used when I was much younger to make 3d shooter levels, and it does not require coding. You can drag and drop assets, and there is existing scripted behaviour for enemies and doors, etc.
I see that company still makes modern equivalents https://www.thegamecreators.com/
But my general recommendation is to maybe start with something which is more of a 3d sandbox and level editor. That gets you the 80/20 value.
Re: Ask HN: 9-yo son wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?
#3481. There are drag-and-drop systems that teach kids to program. MIT App Inventor, Scratch, and Alice come to mind.
2. Look for tutorials you can follow on YouTube and after several hours of your following it, show gim the tutorials. If you do not invest the time you will either give him links to BS artists, or (s)he will have a question you can not answer.
3. Ask questions as your learn using several generative AI chat bots. Show him the ine that works the best. Some will do OK, some will be awful.
Source: I'm a computer teacher.
Re: Ask HN: 9-yo son wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?
#349If it has to be 3D, Roblox is probably your best bet. There is a book Coding with Roblox Lua in 24 Hours: The Official Roblox Guide that is a good start. But for ages 9, it is going to be a steep learning curve.
If he is flexible, I would highly recommend starting with the Scratch programming language. You can make decent 2D games and there is a lot less cognitive overhead.
Re: Ask HN: 9-yo son wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?
#350I'd disregard people who claims your son doesn't want to code (Unless A. they know him personally and B. they've actually asked him).
I would introduce him to Udemy.com tutorials, such this one, where you learn to build a clone of the game Agar.io (www.agar.io) -- https://www.udemy.com/course/socketio-with-websockets-the-de...
I'd also search Udemy.com for the terms "game" and "3D game" and explore its catalogue of courses in the Skill Category "Game Design": https://www.udemy.com/courses/design/game-design/