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Hi there, first off, fpsc is a remarkable product, I mean the fact that you can just create stuff with the absolute minimum programming knowledge is pretty cool. Anyway when I was growing up the first person shooter was my favourite genre for gaming. I've played a good range. Doom 1-3, Duke Nukem 3d, Half Life, Half Life 2, Quake 1-4, Shadow Warrior, Red Faction, Return To Castle Wolfenstein, Halo 1-3 pretty much everything. Now I'm only eighteen years old and developing a cool game like the titles I've mentioned has been a big dream for many months now. My main problem is that it's kind of a hobby which I don't know how to umm... well start. My programming knowledge of the well know languages like C++, Basic, Java etc. is minimal, and by minimal I mean that I can just about write an executable to print out some text on the screen. I know the structure of how games work. They're powered by an engine which I believe is usually written in C or C++ languages. Anyway I've looked at so many books on programming, engines, DirectX Opengl etc. etc. and ya know what I don't even know what to look at, so many languages, so many engines, so many confusing words, code dammit I just don't know what to give my free time to. So back to the main point. Have any worthwhile, playable and exciting games been developed with the FPSC and should I work with this engine or hit the the books on a particular area. Thanks a lot guys.

Firstly welcome to the forum.

If you think you'll create a game anywhere near Doom, Duke and the others then you'll be disappointed with FPSC, don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic gaming engine, just not a very powerful one.

The best place to start would be the official community guide I've compiled; check the links in my sig, also look in the Showcase forum in the "The Best of the Best" for some outstanding games.

Good luck.

well that's a shame, fpsc looks pretty nice when all the graphical features are checked, such as full shaders and full light mapping. I do believe that fpsc could be developed further. So far all I can really do is design some levels. Well that's just boring. I know for a fact thaat good games require something unique, like interesting models, decent effects etc. Also I really don't see why fpscx10 is so depedent on hig end graphics cards. Games like Quake 4 and Doom 3 pushed the Directx 9 hardware too it's limits and managed to result in a much nice, cleaner graphical display where as fpscx10 really lacks the difference. I am dissappointed but I haven't fully given up on the program. I really do think that it shows potential, maybe if the developers could you kow progress it further. Oh well, only time will tell. Thanks for the reply.

It is possible to get some great looking results. It just takes a ton of patience and well... more patience and some talent. If you find something that you think is possible in FPSCreator, just give me a shout.

Forget C / C++ and trying to decide which of the thousands of 500 page manuals to start wasting your time reading just so you can write a bunch of code to see a textured box spinning around.

Stick with FPSC, work with it and learn to develop within its limitations whilst still looking to push them where and whenever possible.

Try the mods and FPSC X10. Speaking of which your missing the point of X10. Sure it might not be the visual step up you were expecting but its pretty good. Full scene bump and specular mapping, dynamic shadows for characters, water, bloom, refraction and ragdoll physics. Not to mention soft particles and reflection mapping which are yet to be implemented. What FPSC X10 really does deliver on is performance with its gpu instancing and multi core support it actually makes full use of whatever hardware specs you care to throw at it. 50 enemies on screen with full ally support is always impressive to witness.

If your not in a position to purchase a directx10 system, download EFX mod and you'll be happy enough for the time being.

I agree with Nickydude, you wont be making games like Doom or Nukem with FPSC. Why? because in time you'll be making games way better.

I'll guarantee if you spend 6 months reading a C++ manual with visual studio or 6 months learning how to develop with FPSC. You'll be 100% closer to your dream of making a good quality first person shooter doing the latter.

It's your call just don't beat yourself up to much if you go down the coding path then go back to FPSC and realise how far along your game could have been by now.

Then it's all you will end up doing.Dude it took me a few months to learn to modeling and I'm cashing in on that right now.I don't need the extra special effects rain or super duper soft super particle atom splitting headache causing shaders that needs 20 different textures that need to be just right for the right effect.

It would have been nice it may be limited from a graphical point of view.However there are neat tricks and stuff that you can do to improve any game.

A quick question some thing that I have always wondered about.Even being limited what would a unmodified X10 engine game look like if doom or Half-life 2 was made with it.It would have looked much different but I tell you what it still would have been great commercial game because it takes a professional to make that sort of game.Becoming that good is not going to happen over night nor is it going to happen by building levels with stock content.

You are going to have to get your hands dirty I'm afraid.

Just a tip moaning about it is not going to get you any where

FPSC definitely has potential if you're willing to accept limits of the engine and find clever workarounds for the things that aren't brain-dead simple. If you've really got some moxy and code-slinging skills you can even attempt to mod the source (check out the AirMod, Ply's Mod, EFX, Lemur and S4Mod threads to see what I mean).

I've worked on commercial (one million plus seller) FPS titles with engines having similar constraints in many areas. So, it's good practice if you are considering going pro at some point because unless you are working for a top-dog AAA developer the fact is that you are going to have to deal with constraints of some kind. Check out the BOTB thread in showcase to see what some forum users have achieved. It's good inspiration and can help show you what's possible without relying on state of the art eye-candy. The troubling thing about your OP is that you rattle off names of really well known titles with insane budgets and huge teams. What you can achieve on your own and with FPSC can result in a splendid hobby experience or a decent pitch demo if you're willing to invest the time but don't expect to point and click your way to a AAA, AA or A title.

Like I implied before, FPSC is a fantastic proving ground. If you can produce something interesting and unique with it, you'll get a lot more valuable, real-world-ish game development experience out of your time with the product than you might have gotten if you focused on tech d'jour shaders and what-not. It's all about putting aside idealism and embracing pragmatism.

That said, I truly believe it is very possible to produce a solid B-grade game with the product and even an underdog hit with FPSC. One of the problems with the FPSC community is that the really talented developers are often perfectionists which means titles wth commercial potential rarely go commercial and get scrapped for new projects, rinse and repeat.

Just my .02 YMMV

FPSC is probably the best engine out there to start out with. You aren't going to make the next Halo, but if you put a lot of time and patience you can make a pretty decent game. You won't make a best selling commercial game. Heck, you probably won't even make a commercial game lol. But FPSC is the way to start out.

Here is a list for you to look at,

FPSC Model Pack 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17
EFX Mod 6
Game Starter
Butter Cutter
Lyte FX


You need to have:
geforce 6 or obove GPU, or for amd 9800xt or obove
scripting knowledge for fpsc (for .fpi)


Order to do it all:
1- buy and download the FPSC model packs, EFX Mod, Game Starter, butter cutter and lyte fx.
2- design your game on paper (min 10 levels)
3- build it in fpsc (do not lose interrest)
4- think of a game name and company name
5- OPTIONAL: post pictures and info of your game all over the web for a chance of a games company aquiring/buying it.
6- make a website dedicated to your game and use banners to pay for site production.

hope this helps