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You could always look into BYOND -- it's a free game programming platform that's been around for quite some time, and is still evolving. It's a great language to start off with and it also helps you learn the lower level languages if you get the basics down.

This is nothing new. http://www.byond.com/

Aside from graphics, probably the most tedious aspect of programming a good game is the networking. Tons of issues to deal with, since you never really know what the other end is doing. And why should I have to bother with all the piddly details of setting up a TCP/IP connection (or spewing UDP packets) and monitoring it, designing a communication protocol, etc, when I want to focus on programming the logic to make a great game? I'd rather have the game building/programming system do all the gruntwork for me.

Does this have any provisions for networking? Does it make it easy? From looking at the webpage, I see nothing about network, so I'm not too optimistic.

Unfortunately the only system I've found with great, seamless and inherent network support seems to have other issues. 1, it's Windows only for clients (they do have unix servers though). 2, the graphics are like from the early 90s. No 3d here. Other than that, they have a neat language and transparent networking, but the two limitations above have kept me from doing anything substantial with it.

I'm still looking for a game development system that:

(a) is truly cross platform
(b) supports good graphics without making me do all the opengl gruntwork
(c) supports good networking again without gruntwork for me
(d) powerful language (oo preferred)
(e) lets me concentrate on making the GAME!

I haven't found anything that satisfies all of the above. Some do well on some of the points, but nobody has gotten them all. Could this be it, or just another letdown?

You might take a look at BYOND (Build Your Own Net Dream). It has a simple tile-based graphics engine, an object oriented language that is easy to learn, and automatic networking so you don't have to do any extra work to get multiplayer games. And it's completely free to download and use.

We've had a number of kids around the junior high age get involved and create their own games using BYOND. For most of them, it's their first introduction to real programming, and serves as a great springboard for getting into more advanced languages like C++ and Java. In fact, the success in that age group has almost become a problem -- the community is swarming with young adolescents and we adults feel like a minority there sometimes. We're even thinking of pushing it as an educational tool somewhere down the line...

Browse around at some of the games listed on the games site to get an idea of the system's capabilities. You won't be making first person shooters, but it could be just right for someone your son's age. Puzzle games and RPG/adventure style games do particularly well in BYOND. Once you've downloaded the client (Downloads link, obviously), you can even connect to any games that are currently online. Just beware the ones in the Unpublished section - they may or may not be up to snuff, and may be hosted by immature 13 year olds looking to be rude.

Then take a look at the programming guide and jump in to see if it will work for you. I'm not sure if 9 years old is too young for this, but your son sounds very smart, so he may pick it up just fine. Good luck!

You might take a look at BYOND (Build Your Own Net Dream). It has a simple tile-based graphics engine, an object oriented language that is easy to learn, and automatic networking so you don't have to do any extra work to get multiplayer games. And it's completely free to download and use.

We've had a number of kids around the junior high age get involved and create their own games using BYOND. For most of them, it's their first introduction to real programming, and serves as a great springboard for getting into more advanced languages like C++ and Java. In fact, the success in that age group has almost become a problem -- the community is swarming with young adolescents and we adults feel like a minority there sometimes. We're even thinking of pushing it as an educational tool somewhere down the line...

Browse around at some of the games listed on the games site to get an idea of the system's capabilities. You won't be making first person shooters, but it could be just right for someone your son's age. Puzzle games and RPG/adventure style games do particularly well in BYOND. Once you've downloaded the client (Downloads link, obviously), you can even connect to any games that are currently online. Just beware the ones in the Unpublished section - they may or may not be up to snuff, and may be hosted by immature 13 year olds looking to be rude.

Then take a look at the programming guide and jump in to see if it will work for you. I'm not sure if 9 years old is too young for this, but your son sounds very smart, so he may pick it up just fine. Good luck!

You might take a look at BYOND (Build Your Own Net Dream). It has a simple tile-based graphics engine, an object oriented language that is easy to learn, and automatic networking so you don't have to do any extra work to get multiplayer games. And it's completely free to download and use.

We've had a number of kids around the junior high age get involved and create their own games using BYOND. For most of them, it's their first introduction to real programming, and serves as a great springboard for getting into more advanced languages like C++ and Java. In fact, the success in that age group has almost become a problem -- the community is swarming with young adolescents and we adults feel like a minority there sometimes. We're even thinking of pushing it as an educational tool somewhere down the line...

Browse around at some of the games listed on the games site to get an idea of the system's capabilities. You won't be making first person shooters, but it could be just right for someone your son's age. Puzzle games and RPG/adventure style games do particularly well in BYOND. Once you've downloaded the client (Downloads link, obviously), you can even connect to any games that are currently online. Just beware the ones in the Unpublished section - they may or may not be up to snuff, and may be hosted by immature 13 year olds looking to be rude.

Then take a look at the programming guide and jump in to see if it will work for you. I'm not sure if 9 years old is too young for this, but your son sounds very smart, so he may pick it up just fine. Good luck!

Google Directory of Games Development Software is a good start. Don't miss the Parent Directory of Game Design. I've personally tried two free ones: Game Maker and Build Your Own Net Dream.

Game Maker is similar to Klik 'n' Play. It's free and you don't have to program at all. You do have to firmly grasp object oriented conditional behavior. You can also add complicated code if you get deeply into the game.

If you want to introduce game design, history is an excellent teacher. Space War, Pong, and Breakout are excellent games to mimic as teaching devices, then move on to Space Invaders (which is really just Pong Strikes Back!), Head-On (early version of Pac Man), and Asteroids.

The system itself is geared towards creating 2-D games (as someone else already said, making a game can keep it nice and fun), and comes complete with a powerful yet simple object-oriented language. I must say, after using it for a couple of years, I'm really impressed with the language. It's so well designed that many of us there who are seasoned developers have come to the conclusion that it's a superb first language for anyone who's just starting to learn programming. I have personally witnessed a number of young programmers within the BYOND community successfully learn fundamental concepts more easily than they possibly could have at their age, starting with another language. The way the language is designed, new programmers start doing things right away, putting together different pieces; and then suddenly a lightbulb goes on and they advance to the next level.

The only real drawback (from a kids learning standpoint) compared to similar systems is that BYOND doesn't provide any canned graphics/sounds like some others do. It provides the flexibility and framework to add your own, but this also means it's more work to create something nifty right off the bat. I've seen people get frustrated because while they have the programming part down, they may not be good at creating their own graphics and sounds, so they feel like the programming is a waste.

Disclaimer: the guys who created it are personal friends of mine, so yes, I am somewhat biased, but I stand behind my recommendation on the strength of the system.

You could always build your own if you're so inclined...

Yeah, but like the guy below you says, you're still working on someone else's project instead of your own. Better to use a system that does all the crappy stuff (networking, basic graphic/sound engine, etc) for you, so you can work on creating exactly what you wanted. Lately I've become a big fan of BYOND which is tile based, but has a really neat language that allows you to do some very powerful stuff. And it's not just limited to RPGs either (though it's obviously geared towards that). The only real drawback is a lack of a gui client in linux (they have text mode) but we all keep Win32 around for gaming anyway, right? :)

Check it out if you really want to build YOUR own net dream (cool acronym too).

It's a party game. The basic idea is that a bunch of people are in the game, and it goes around in turns. On your turn, you type in a few words to search for. The game goes and queries google for the first hit on that search, and sends everyone's browser to that page. Then the other players get 100 seconds to guess which words you searched for. The first player to guess correctly gets points for the amount of time remaining.

It's written using BYOND, which you'll have to download if you want to play.

It's a party game. The basic idea is that a bunch of people are in the game, and it goes around in turns. On your turn, you type in a few words to search for. The game goes and queries google for the first hit on that search, and sends everyone's browser to that page. Then the other players get 100 seconds to guess which words you searched for. The first player to guess correctly gets points for the amount of time remaining.

It's written using BYOND, which you'll have to download if you want to play.

For a truly extensible network game development environment, my money's on BYOND. Great object oriented language, and it's not just for RPGs (but certainly slanted in that direction).

You can also check out the site and see if there are any completed games that might appeal to you. Many of them are quite original, written by hobbyists for the love of the craft. If you see something interesting, just download the client and try out a few games. Best part - it comes free with the development environment in case you get the urge to create later on. Unfortunately the site is a bit swamped with pre-teen DBZ fans and their endless copycat "games," but if you ignore those, you'll fine a number of fun high-quality games to choose from.

Gosh, that sounded like quite the advertisement! No, I'm just a very happy user.

For just a split second, I was hopeful that it was talking about BYOND, a fabulous game development environment. (in their language, the standard "player" object is called a mob) Oh well. Interesting read, though.

For just a split second, I was hopeful that it was talking about BYOND, a fabulous game development environment. (in their language, the standard "player" object is called a mob) Oh well. Interesting read, though.

The above is certainly not for everyone. The graphics capabilities are severely limited in the current version, but if you can work within the framework they provide, you'll find that it's a joy to use and extremely easy to write your own games. It won't help you if you're looking to break into the popular 3D gaming industry, but it's great for the hobbyist/2D game writer. And who knows, when the graphics get the much needed facelift, maybe this will be the next big development platform in a few years. ;-)

There's a linux implementation available. That's all it takes.

Too bad the language he's working on now can't be used in the contest. It's a pretty nifty piece of work.