How to make a PC game

Are you a big fan of video games of all sorts and love to spend a lot of your free time trying to overcome the many levels of the various PC games at your disposal? Have you fallen in love with the gaming industry so much that you think you have some interesting ideas to apply to a title of your own? Perfect, you’ve come to the right place.

In fact, I’m going to give you some basic information on how to create a PC game . Put simply, what you are reading is a sort of starting guide for taking the first steps in this intricate world. Getting to the finish line won’t exactly be a walk in the park, but you don’t have to worry: if you answered affirmatively to the questions I asked you at the beginning, it means that the passion is there.

This is a fundamental factor to actually be able to accomplish your goal, entering the independent sector (or why not, finding some reality able to “host” your ideas). In any case, whether you are here to aim high or just to have some fun with the tools available, below you can find all the relevant information. I just have to wish you good reading!

Index

• Preliminary information
• How to make a free PC game
  • Unity
  • Unreal Engine

Preliminary information

Before going into the merits of how to create a PC game , I think it is of fundamental importance to make some clarifications.

Making a video game is not at all simple : in fact, many different professionals are involved . On the other hand, just take a look at the often mammoth credits that appear on the screen after finishing a triple A title to understand the enormous amount of work required .

Furthermore, the pivot around which the gaming industry is based is creativity . Any area in which the latter is involved is in some ways unpredictable : to be clear, an independent pearl could unexpectedly come out able to sell many more copies of a title on which millions of dollars have been invested.

This is the beauty of the world of the Web and the development of technology, which nowadays actually allows anyone with a bit of skills and a lot of passion to be able to create a video game that can become a global success. All this without having a large budget .

The independent panorama is in fact more intriguing than ever: just think of some incredible success stories related to indie titles for PC and beyond. To give you a concrete example, I will examine what happened with Valheim , a game released in early access on Steam in 2021.

Developed by a small Swedish software house called Iron Gate Studio , the game has sold around 7.9 million copies in a few months (data updated to June 30, 2021, the title was released on February 2, 2021). A resounding success for a game made by 5 people and published only on PC.

Of course, behind the startup there are investors like Coffee Stain Studios (who said Goat Simulator ?) And The Games Incubator , but you understand that the budget available was certainly not that of a triple A title .

There are also many more independent success stories. This is certainly an interesting time to develop a PC game (as I have also highlighted in my in- depth analysis related to the figure of the game designer ), but I want to remind you that following this path is not easy .

For this reason, the tutorial you are reading does not in any way presume to explain how to make a title to be placed on the market , but simply aims to direct those who are delving into this world for the first time towards potentially interesting tools .

There are not a few who want to immediately develop a “done and finished” title, but it is good to remember that video games represent a complex and multi-faceted medium , which obviously requires time to be properly “explored” . Of course, a guide could be created in which to show someone how to develop a “pre-built” game, but it would have little use, as it is then up to the author to put his creativity into play.

In this context, I therefore think it is much more interesting to show you the excellent possibilities currently offered by the world of videogame development, letting you get in touch with tools and guides that could actually get you off on the right foot, taking you one step closer to your goal.

Then you will have to be the one to put yourself at a good pace, study , read books, follow courses (there are excellent ones, even online, on platforms like Udemy ), compare yourself with other aspiring developers on forums and sites like Reddit and do a lot, a lot practice !

How to make a free PC game

After explaining to you what the purpose of this tutorial is, that is simply to direct you to the right tools and make you understand what are the actual possible ways to reach your goal, I think it is time to take action, analyzing the main ones free programs that allow you to make PC video games.

These are graphics engines that can be used on both Windows PCs and Macs . Clearly, to work smoothly you will need a fairly high-performance computer. In any case, you will find the minimum and recommended requirements for each software on the respective official websites and in the in-depth guides about their use that you will find linked below, and which of course you will have to consult if you want to move from theory to practice and take the first steps in world of video game development.

Unity

If stories like the ones I mentioned in the preliminary chapter have excited you, you will be happy to know that the program used to make many successful indie games is available to everyone for free: it is the Unity graphics engine .

Yes, you got it right: the basic tool used to develop highly successful titles like the ones mentioned above is actually usable by everyone . This is a great lesson: nowadays, potentially anyone has the program to make a very successful video game.

What really makes the difference? The creativity , passion and skills of those who create it. We therefore always return to the usual point: explaining how to make a “pre-built” title in this guide would be almost useless, since you will have to work hard to actually be able to achieve your goal.

In any case, Unity is one of the most used graphics engines in general within the industry. Do you remember Fall Guys , the symbolic video game of summer 2020? It is not necessary to specify with which graphic engine it was created.

For the rest, to give you general indications, you must know that Unity is considered particularly versatile . In fact, you can easily create both 2D and 3D games , as well as develop titles for several platforms , from PC to consoles , passing through mobile devices .

If it seems to you that Unity is the ideal choice for your project, I can only direct you to the other guides I have made on the subject. If you want some advice, you could think of starting from my tutorial on how to use Unity , in which I went into detail of the graphics engine for both 3D and 2D use .

More precisely, I explained how to install the program , how to modify a game (a useful operation at least to understand the interface a little , but as I explained before you have to go much further to create a “done and finished” game) and where to find material interesting to actually learn how to master the graphics engine, starting from scratch. I then focused on some ideas for the creation of a game in Unity (I believe that these last indications are the most valuable). In short, if you have chosen to use this graphics engine for your project, now you know where to start concretely.

For the rest, if your intention is to start from a video game for mobile devices (it is generally said that this world is ideal for starting), I recommend that you consult my guide on how to publish a game on the Google Play Store , in which I also explained how to configure the project in Unity in order to arrive at the release effect of a title on the popular digital store pre-installed on many devices.

Unreal Engine

How do you say? Do you want to aim high in terms of the technical sector with your video game? In this context, an interesting solution is represented by Unreal Engine , the graphics engine created by Epic Games and made available free of charge.

To be clear, you have a tool used to make titles such as Bandai Namco ‘s Tekken 7 , Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Toys for Bob and Sanzaru Games’ Spyro Reignited Trilogy , just to name a few (needless to say that there’s also Gears of War involved ). In short, you understand well that nowadays the tools to start are certainly not lacking.

Obviously, even in this case you have to put in a lot of effort , using your creativity , your skills and dedicating a lot of time to the project. In any case, in general Unreal Engine is considered an engine that allows you to create video games with a particularly detailed graphic sector , but clearly it must be mastered properly.

There are actually not a few who recommend using the aforementioned Unity to start, but the possibility of starting from a video game in Unreal Engine should not be excluded a priori . On the other hand, it is about choices and points of view and here nobody has the presumption to tell someone else what to do in this context.

Coming to the practical act, in this case the guide you can start from is the one in which I explained how to create a game in Unreal Engine . In the latter, in fact, I focused on the use of the graphics engine for both 3D and 2D , going into the details of the basic options related to the graphic interface and actually explaining how to modify a title with a good technical sector.

I also provided several starting points and explained where to find the material to deepen everything (which is the most important part). In short, now you also know where to start for a possible project in Unreal Engine. In any case, I would like to reiterate further that simply following the tutorials will probably not lead you to the result you are hoping for , but you will have to try to understand for yourself how to implement in the title what you have in mind .

You will therefore probably come into contact with the world of programming and the creation of 3D models , all aspects that obviously need to be thoroughly investigated . Clearly then everything also depends on the ambitions you have, but I think you understand why I decided to structure the tutorial in this way.

In any case, if your goal is only to have some fun in your free time (and not to “get serious” in terms of videogame development), I am sure that the guides I have indicated above will allow you to achieve the purpose.

For the rest, if your time is limited and you think you can’t actually make a complete title, but only a demo , a “circular” experience (a loop that repeats itself, in the style of PT by Hideo Kojima ) or a project with total creative freedom, even unfinished , I remind you that the world of the Web is teeming with possibilities to share this type of titles .

In this context, I recommend that you check out my tutorial on where to download PC games . In fact, in the latter I illustrated the existence of realities such as itch.io and Game Jolt , in which a bit of everything is published. You could certainly find these “virtual places” interesting, even if only to share your preliminary creations with other enthusiasts. For the rest, clearly the big names to aim for if you want to “get serious” are digital stores like Steam and Epic Games Store .

I hope I have provided you with interesting information and have explained to you well and almost completely what can be done nowadays regarding the creation of a PC game. In this context, I just have to do you a big good luck for your project!