Are you a devoted player of audio games? Is your brain spinning around with interesting and innovative ideas for games that you would like to make if you only knew how to go about it? If the answer to both of these questions is yes... Read on!
BGT is a new revolutionary toolkit which allows you to produce your own audio games from the ground up, without having any prior knowledge of computer programming at all. Who said game development had to be complicated? BGT, which stands for Blastbay Game Toolkit, allows you to spend all your valuable time coming up with new great ideas and concepts, rather than wasting months struggling with never-ending programming guides that don't make any sense to begin with. If you fit into this category of enthusiastic entrepreneurs, then BGT is the perfect tool for you to turn your ideas into stunning reality.
The Process
The process of creating an audio game with BGT is quite simple. First of all, make sure you have a clear picture of what your upcoming game should be like. Plan it carefully, or you will find yourself in a difficult position later on when your game has started to take form and you suddenly don't know what to do next. Don't make this mistake, plan ahead!
Once you have the game laid out in your mind, that's where BGT comes in. Now you may think you need fancy tools and complicated software in order to do anything... WRONG! Essentially all you need is the Notepad text editor and the BGT kit, both of which you already have. On top of this you also need a great deal of enthusiasm, plenty of creativity and several cups of coffee to keep you going.
The games are written in a "scripting" language. Don't worry if you have no idea what a scripting language is, as this will be fully explained in the next section. While you are writing the script it is very important that you stop to test-run the game at regular intervals. This way you make sure that every new feature that you add to your program is working properly, and that the coast is clear for you to move on to the next step.
When you feel that the game is as good as you are able to make it, then perhaps the best feature of BGT will come into play... The compiler. As you know the word compile means putting something together, and that is exactly what the BGT compiler does for you. It takes the game script that you've been working on so tirelessly, and turns it into a standalone executable file with the click of a button. You can then ship this executable file together with all your sounds and the game instructions, and instantly let the world enjoy your creation!
A Scripting Language - What Is It?
The word script should be familiar to most of you, it is the basis for all the films and theatre productions that we are constantly enjoying. When a playwright writes the script for a new play, he or she not only tells the actors what to say but also gives them instructions about what to do on the stage. The BGT language works much the same way, it allows the developer to give the computer simple instructions about what to do. These instructions are then translated into code that the computer can understand, and executed to perform the intended action such as making a player jump over a deadly trap or fire a weapon at a lethal space robot. These instructions are a combination of English words and other characters that, when put together, form complete instructions. These additional characters help the computer to understand exactly what you mean, without taking up too much space. If the script was written entirely in English it would be way too long and it would quickly become unmanageable.
So How Do I Get Started?
Since you already have all the necessary tools, your first step should be to read the "Language Tutorial" section of this help file. Once you have grasped the fundamentals of the language you should proceed to make a few test programs just to experiment, all the while taking a section at a time from the tutorial and learning it thoroughly. Before long you might very well find yourself making the next blockbuster on the market...
Good luck, and happy coding!