Forbidden Dawn, MMOKit, and The Game Institute
by Jonathon Stevens · 08/07/2006 (1:14 pm) · 7 comments
Well, I have a few updates about my current projects that I thought I'd post about. I am no longer developing on the MMOKit for MyDreamRPG. I wish everyone there the best and I hope they can find their path and continue with success.
Forbidden Dawn is pretty mapped out as far as it's design and we've entered the actual development stage at this point. We are still looking for interns and employees, so apply at our forums if you are interested. We've secured a domain name and are moving our site to it very soon with a new design and updated information. Keep your eyes out for it!
A few weeks ago one of my team members showed me The Game Institute which teaches game programming in 'modules.' I have to say this site is an incredible site to learn game development and even touch up on the basics of programming in C++. The classes have been incredibly useful and I'm finally learning the graphics programming side to the engine. This has helped me understand what is happening behind the scenes in TGE/TSE and has even helped our group identify ways to help improve TSE for our purposes.
Forbidden Dawn is pretty mapped out as far as it's design and we've entered the actual development stage at this point. We are still looking for interns and employees, so apply at our forums if you are interested. We've secured a domain name and are moving our site to it very soon with a new design and updated information. Keep your eyes out for it!
A few weeks ago one of my team members showed me The Game Institute which teaches game programming in 'modules.' I have to say this site is an incredible site to learn game development and even touch up on the basics of programming in C++. The classes have been incredibly useful and I'm finally learning the graphics programming side to the engine. This has helped me understand what is happening behind the scenes in TGE/TSE and has even helped our group identify ways to help improve TSE for our purposes.
About the author
With a few casual games under his belt as CEO of Last Straw Productions, Jonathon created the increasingly popular Indie MMO Game Developers Conference.
#2
08/07/2006 (3:57 pm)
Which classes did you take, as I #1 think they were reasonably priced for what you got and #2 thought they were great learning tools. If I wanted a book, I'd buy a book, not enroll in a class. People enroll in classes to get a visual and audible learning tool. 
#3
08/07/2006 (8:17 pm)
I registered for their course, and ended up only covering the books due to lack of time. The book is pretty useful as a reference, though I never joined up in their IRC sessions so I don't think I can add too much more here. 
#4
08/07/2006 (10:05 pm)
If anybody else has used The Game Institute, please leave your comments... I would love to know more from someone who has used them.
#5
08/07/2006 (10:30 pm)
I love the game institute they adress multiple ways of learning and moved at a pace I learned well at. I think they also did a fairly decent job of going over the basics of direct x programing.
#6
08/08/2006 (4:45 am)
I personally followed the tutorials over at Microsoft's Game Dev corner which teach you to make a directx game from the ground up, not a full featured one, but will give you the basics for sure!
#7
08/08/2006 (8:50 am)
The Game Institute is fantastic, ESPECIALLY if your learning to write your own engine or want a more in depth knowledge of how to do so. Their D3D lessons, especially the ones convering spatial partitioning, hierarchical animation, and collision, are invaluable. And the books you got shoud cost more than the course does on their own, they are huge. 
Torque Owner Funky Diver
I was very dissapointed with The Game Institute...