How would i make a Video game? Specifically for Xbox 360

[LatinHacker]

I would like to make video games (Indie), for people to enjoy.

I have a very very basic knowledge in C++, and very very basic knowledge in java. And when i say basic, i mean just barely past the hello world. I am almost sure Xbox 360 games are made with C++/C, simply because they are both related to Microsoft.

However, i do have 1st hand experience with Gaming and i am a hardcore shooter fan. So the types of games i would like to create are mainly shooter games. I would like to start out simple. Then move onto things like paintball, then gradually make my way to actual guns and shooting games; like MW2, or Bad Company 2.

I'm not saying im going to have the same graphics, guns, actions, triggers, and things like that, but i would like to be able to tell my friends, "Hey, that game your playing. Yeah, i made it!"
Yes, i know this is going to be a long shot, and it will take a while. But for the past 1 1/2 years, i have been trying to learn C++. The thing is a see something else and then i completely forget that im learning C++.

I have been taking lessons, believe it or not, on You Tube. The channel is YouTube - antiRTFM's Channel
I am not trying to promote him in any way. I would just like for you to see the way i am learning.

What i am looking for is for someone to tell me what i have to do, What i have to learn, what programs i will need, and for them to point me in the right direction. Thank you for reading this and i hope you have the right answer for me

 

[RST101]

Google is the best one to see for that.

 

[fseal]

Well this is a place to start:

Xbox Development Kit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Edit] Sorry that's old... Google for "XBOX 360 Development Kit"[/edit]

 

[Swifty]

Well to be quite honest in my opinion I would think it would be harder than saying you are going to make video games for the xbox 360. You have to consider the market without a proper Dev team I think those dreams of it are hard to grasp sadly, It depends what you would like to do make Arcade games or start a new series of games I think that making Arcade games would be easier to attain considering the money it would take to start up your own title, I don't think the gaming market would take you seriously without a company name, because I have not seen one single game that has been made without one, Besides those BK racer games. Its tough,

But I wish you luck for the future, maybe if you take up some courses and go to school for it a gaming company will hire you to be an animator or an artist you never know. Just don't give up on the dreams

 

[fseal]

Actually yeah, if you want to get into the indy game market. Making a game for the PC or better yet, the mobile phone market would really be the way to go. Much easier to make and distribute your game than for a console...

 

[sevenofeleven]

If you want to write stuff for the Xbox, there is XNA, not sure if XNA supports C++.
Most of the XNA stuff I have seen uses C#
The C# compiler and XNA Dev kit is free.

If you pay MS $99 and become a premium member you have the ability to put your game on the xbox and debug it on the xbox. Xboxes are not like PCs so you will need to debug on the XBox. Also being a premium member allows you to access demos that regular users can't get. They have a tunnel fighting game like Descent and a robot fighting game that you can download with all the assets and code to make it run. Looking at these demos can help you write your own stuff.

Will need some way to connect your Xbox to your PC though.

That being said, the demos can be hard to understand if you have not been programming a while.
Also doing a first person shooter might be a ton of work and a lot of it is not even coding. Someone will have to do the 3d models, draw 2d overlays etc.

If XNA/C# is not to your liking check out Directx.

There are also frameworks that will allow you to not code everything from scratch. That is good if you want to concentrate on your game. I would suggest doing a really simple game from scratch because you will learn a lot about how a game works. Nothing like hands on knowledge but it could take a while and you may not have the time and patience.

Check out Unity, that could let you write your game with less low level stuff.

All of this stuff will take time to learn and use, I would suggest doing something simple but fun.
When that works move up a level. The best way to frustrate yourself is to go too far too fast.

By the way, making games for mobile systems can be harder because you have to worry more about limited memory and even on how to get the content on the phones.

Good luck on your games.