Posted in Business Hidden Asset
Pleased to meet you!
Welcome to my little corner of the Internet. Let’s get the introductions out of the way…
My name is Christian Knudsen. I’m 31 years old and live in Copenhagen, Denmark. I’ve been making computer games for the past 8 or so years in my pastime. My most well known game is probably Ascii Sector, a freeware textmode space game. I recently decided to take the plunge and try my hand at commercial game development, and Laserbrain Studios and this website and blog are the first tangible results of that decision. Programming and game making is still not a full-time job for me as I still need bread on the table and a roof over my head, but I hope to one day live off the games I make.
Hostile Takeover is the title of what I hope will be my first commercial game of many. It’s somewhat of a sci-fi game as I’m a sci-fi geek, and it’ll be in good ol’ 2D isometric graphics as I’ve always had a soft spot for that style. Maybe it’s just nostalgia for the games of yore, but I feel something often gets lots in the realism of 3D.
My two all-time favorite games are without a doubt the original X-COM (or UFO: Enemy Unknown as it was called here in Europe) and Wing Commander: Privateer. As I’m a fan of isometric graphics, I of course also enjoyed games like Fallout 1 and 2 and the Syndicate series. I hope to make original games that’ll have a feel of their own, but as with any artistic output, I’m sure my influences will shine through, so if you like the games I like, chances are you’ll probably also like the games I plan to make.
Anyway, that’ll have to do for introductions for now. As to this website, I hope to update it often with development news on Hostile Takeover and probably some off-topic blog entries once in a while if a subject catches my eye or there’s something I want to share.
That’s me. Let me know in the comments who you are and what games you enjoy, so we can all get to know each other!
Comments
Christian Knudsen
The best way to become a game developer is to make games. I’m sure you can get a good theoretical background studying game development at the university, and it’s always a good idea to get a degree, but I really think the best way to learn game making is by actually making them. I can’t give you much advice on academia in relation to game development, since I didn’t follow that path myself (I have an MA in Film Studies and have never really studied anything related to games or programming at all).
As to what the best programming language to learn is, that’s impossible to answer. It’s kinda like asking which language is best for writing a book. :) If you want to work in the industry as a programmer, I’m sure C++, Java or Flash/ActionScript is a good bet. But if you want to be an indie game developer and make your own games, there are so many high-level tools out there now that make it unnecessary to learn a low-level language like C++.
There was a recent thread on the TIGSource Forums that covered this a bit:
http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=26918.0
There a also a bunch of other threads discussing various programming languages on those forums if you search a bit for them. The best way to learn a new programming language is by programming a *very* simple game. Try doing Tetris or Pong. Don’t jump right into making an MMORPG. Start small and learn the basics.
dantjensen
Hi Christian
I am a 29 year old danish school teacher and roleplayer from Esbjerg. I have, as so many people today, a tremendous catalogue of amazing games that I have enjoyed.. including X-COM, the Fallout games, pretty much every D&D-based game (Yay Planescape) as well as the Thief games and a myriad of other games to plentiful to name. I am looking forward to following your development.
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Ryan Archer
Hey Christian, I’m Ryan, I am 16 years old and going to start college in September studying computing. I want to go onto university studying game development and then become a game developer, are there any tips you would have? Where should I start? What is the best Programming language to learn (and also how best should I learn it?) thank you for your time.