Wow! Thanks guys for all the options! Several of these seem like they'd be perfect for her.
One that I came across was Gamestar Mechanic. Does anyone have an opinion on it? The thing that attracted me to it is, they are doing an online training series for kids ages 9-14. It's not cheap - $199. But I like the idea of holding her accountable to someone other than her mother and myself. They claim they have "game experts" who work with the kids over the course of 4 Units to help them develop their own game. I'm going to have to make a list of all these and sit down to review them all & narrow it down to a couple of choices and let her pick. Thanks! Paul On Mon, Aug 26, 2013 at 11:55 AM, Eric Turman <i.anima...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Paul, > > I too have a daughter (Giselle) just about your daughter's age --as well > as son almost three years older (Jean-Luc)-- who are interested in creating > games. I'm including the age that Giselle started using the programs to > give you a frame of reference on how accessible the various programs are. > > *Game Maker:* > While it does have some substantial limitations dealing with surfaces, I'd > have to strongly recommend Game Maker; my daughter was making up her own > games with it when she was 7. It is a complete all-in-one tool. There are > also published books (specifically addressing Game Maker) available with CD > content of each stage of development of many games. Game maker abstracts > programming concepts nicely for the young programmer through > parameter-populated iconic program blocks. Once she has mastered the logic, > there are scripting icons that will allow her to do pure scripting. > Spelunky was made using Game maker and the source project is available to > learn from: http://spelunkyworld.com/original.html I have been helping > my son work through these books an independent study course. On a side > note, Jean-Luc has been using Game Maker's editor to design some clever > puzzles as well as contributing to core game mechanics for an upcoming > indie puzzle-platformer that a game designer/programmer friend, Steven > Kiesewetter, and I are working on. (although we are looking to port it over > to Unity due to the aforementioned performance limitations of Game Maker on > lower end hardware.) > > *Kodu Game Lab:* > Another great "engine/frameworks" that my daughter loved using around 5-6 > years old was http://fuse.microsoft.com/projects/kodu This takes an even > simpler approach to game creation by "coding" the behaviors and controls in > picture "sentences" that live under each game object. Kodu does this > through a rotary-branching menu system; Giselle would fly through the > menus, faster than I could keep up with, creating behaviors for in game > agents and player input. It enabled her to code all sorts of games and > stories using just the Xbox controller. Its obvious hook is that is makes > creating 3D games very easy. > > *Scratch:* > MIT has created a fantastic way to introduce programming to children > through a simple drag & drop interface http://scratch.mit.edu/ Giselle > was into this pretty heavily when she was 8 although it never captured > Jean-Luc's imagination. > > *Spore Galactic Adventures:* > This is a straight up game with an editor, but it deserves a mention from > the standpoint that it is very easy to create a variety of creature looks > as well as create stories that can be shared. This has had a hold on > Giselle for few week bursts over the last year. Depending on what your > daughter wants to do with game creation this may be of interest to her. > > I hope sharing some of my family's personal experience was helpful for you. > > Cheers, > > -=Eric > > > > > > > On Mon, Aug 26, 2013 at 8:14 AM, Doeke Wartena <clankil...@gmail.com>wrote: > >> hammer for halflife 1 is quite easy. It would require the dad to set up >> to make sure compiling works and textures are loaded. >> After that you could create a block she can copy and paste and so on >> learn here more and more. >> >> >> 2013/8/26 Andres Stephens <drais...@outlook.com> >> >>> I wouldn't be into 3d if my dad didn't help me get off games and onto >>> doing something "productive" when I was younger! I owe him one. >>> >>> My friend on another forum I use compiled a list of free game engines >>> and classified them roughly on their ease of use. Very extensive, but a >>> good way to start. >>> >>> www.united3dartists.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3687&start=0 >>> >>> Hope you find the right program, or game..... Like little big planet. >>> You can make mini games or custom levels in that. >>> >>> Keep being awesome. >>> >>> -Draise >>> >>> --- Original Message --- >>> >>> From: "Ognjen Vukovic" <ognj...@gmail.com> >>> Sent: August 26, 2013 8:01 AM >>> To: "robw" <r...@casema.nl>, "softimage" < >>> softimage@listproc.autodesk.com> >>> Subject: Re: OT: my 10 year old wants to "make games" >>> >>> Rob that seems quite cool for young children to get into programing. >>> >>> >>> On Mon, Aug 26, 2013 at 2:57 PM, Rob Wuijster <r...@casema.nl> wrote: >>> >>> Hi Paul, >>> >>> I recently came across this: >>> http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/kodu/ >>> http://fuse.microsoft.com/projects/kodu >>> >>> Apparently from 8 and up.... >>> >>> Rob >>> >>> \/-------------\/----------------\/ >>> >>> On 26-8-2013 14:47, Paul Griswold wrote: >>> >>> >>> My 10 year old daughter has expressed an interest in making her own >>> games. As a typical 10 year old she doesn't have the patience to sit and >>> type code out of a book to make a tic-tac-toe game. I think she's still at >>> the age where she needs to see more immediate (and cool) results. >>> >>> So, does anyone know of any online, kid-friendly, game building apps >>> that might at least teach her some basic concepts? >>> >>> The one I'm leaning towards is Scratch, but there are just hundreds of >>> other options out there and I have no idea what's good and what sucks. >>> >>> Anyone have a favorite they'd recommend? >>> >>> Thanks, >>> >>> Paul >>> >>> P.S. if it makes any difference, her favorite game is Minecraft. >>> >>> No virus found in this message. >>> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >>> Version: 2013.0.3392 / Virus Database: 3211/6607 - Release Date: 08/25/13 >>> >>> >>> >>> >> > > > -- > > > > > -=T=- >
