Encourage your teen to make video games - the benefits are astounding

Video Game making is a pursuit that involves creativity, visual design, writing, logical thinking, collaboration, and many other skills. It is something that your teenager could get very enthusiastic about and it can be done at no cost whatsoever.

Making video games is not about computer programming

Video game making is no longer the pursuit of the cliched nerdy computer programming types of individuals. There are freely available software programs that take the “programming” right out of the process and free the user to explore the creative potential of making video games.

What skills are developed?

When building a video game a person is building a world and this processs entails a wide variety of skills and disciplines that begins with the generation of ideas then progresses into design of buildings, landscapes and characters. During this process the game maker learns writing skills, storytelling skills, graphic design and architectural skills. Then the game progresses into playability where the game maker will learn logic, flowcharting, storyboarding and even the basics of economics and trade. The process for making a video game is a complete creative cycle that starts with the generation of ideas and ends with the completion of a project.

The Feedback and Positive Reinforcement comes quickly and often

The first lesson learned by a game maker is the lesson of persistence. But this persistence is done in gentle steps with frequent positive feedback. A game maker can have his or her first small game up and running in one afternoon. From there the challenges get more complex and more rewarding. The only limit to the complexity, size and creativity of a game is the limit that the game maker puts on himself.

Scalability, the Learning Curve, and growth

Game making is an extremely elastic pursuit that challenges and develops a person from the absolute beginner to the very advanced. Someone new to video game making can actually have a small working game completed within a few hours and this can be developed and expanded into a very large world with challenges in economics, player interactions, complex design of worlds and cities and more. There is always a new set of things to learn and a new set of skills to learn.

Applicability to the regular career world

The biggest gain in making video games is the gain of learning how to manage projects small and large but game making also brings experience in a variety of creative pursuits from visual design to computer skills, writing, and even music. Your teenager, while learning to make video games, will be exposed to a whole host of different creative pursuits. He or she can get a good look at all these pursuits and even if he or she doesn’t want to be a game designer the skills learned will apply to almost any career path imaginable. And all of this is neatly wrapped up in something your teenager can get excited about.

Game Creation for Teens - Get ready to make fun and exciting computer games, no programming required! Game Creation for Teens shows teens and other beginners how to make their very own awesome games using the Games Factory 2, a simple drag-and-drop game creation system. By the end of the book, you'll have made three amazing sample games and have the skills and information you need to make more games on your own. You'll start by exploring the different game genres and learning how to organize and develop your own game ideas before you begin creating. Then you'll learn about game creation fundamentals such as graphics settings, methods, and features, as well as how to use and record music and sound in games. Once you have the basics down, the book will introduce you to the Games Factory 2, including how to install it, important program terminology, and a walk-through of the important editors and screens you will use next when you create the three sample games in the book. Creating the games will help you explore and test out the functionality of the Games Factory 2 and build your skill set with the program. You'll finish up by learning how to add objects, pictures, and animation to your games to make them more interesting and dynamic, and even how to test and debug your games. Game Creation for Teens provides you with the information and techniques you need to make your game ideas a reality!

Game Programming for Teens, Third Edition - Do you enjoy playing video games and want to learn how to create your own? "Game Programming for Teens, Third Edition" shows you how to design and develop a complete video game from start to finish, no prior programming knowledge required. You'll begin by learning the basics of BlitzMax, a simple cross-platform game programming language that can be used on Windows, Mac, or Linux operating systems. Once you understand how to write the programming code, you'll begin to incorporate all the graphical elements of games including varying colors, loading and displaying images, and creating scrolling backgrounds. Finally, you'll learn how to add sound and music, use keyboard input codes, and even integrate artificial intelligence. New skills are taught step-by-step, and each chapter builds upon the techniques you learned in the previous, so by the end of the book you'll have built your very own fully functioning video game. And the CD-ROM contains all the source code, art and sound files, and demo versions of BlitzMax and the other programs used in the book. So don't just play video games, build your own, with "Game Programming for Teens, Third Edition!"

3D Game Programming for Teens - "3D Game Programming for Teens" is a comprehensive, step-by-step introduction to 3D game programming for both teenagers and non-programmers. Organized into three parts, the book begins with an introduction to the game development industry, the game development process, and game engines including WildTangent. Part two covers JavaScript and Web programming and illustrates multiple concepts including variables, loops, and arrays. The final part of the book brings all of the concepts learned together, as you incrementally build a 3D game as each skill is introduced. "3D Game Programming for Teens" assumes no prior programming experience and focuses on teaching the basic skills needed to build a simple 3D game. Once you have mastered the basics, you can apply each skill to more complex game engines and game building. Helpful definitions, examples, sample code, and a hands-on tutorial approach make the book a simple yet complete introduction to 3D game programming.