ANYTHING is helpful...if you have inovative ideas, im going to be learning programming so this project will be going on for a long time...It will be useful if you started to learn programming (i have a really good site for you...ill post the link when i get home). Voice overs are always good... So far its just my friend and i, that isnt enough to make a video game, let alone one that will rival major companies. So we will be needing everyones help. enjoy ill keep everyone posted on what and when things get started...

http://www.icon.co.za/~psheer/book/index.html.gz

this is my bible for now...

It's not so hard to actually create a game engine. It can go as hard as you want (using the terrible, confusing Nehe OpenGL tutorials) or the simple although efficient pygame engine, where you code with the nice python using SDL libs.
The problem is, game asks for to much media. Musics, Textures, Models. To make a game today is more an art then coding anything. You could even get some torque engines to avoid coding collisions or anything, but sooner or later you will get stuck at the media problem.
For some reason, it's difficult to find peoples who has actually good skills at working with media or willing to do it. In Linux community we do, have the wisest programmers around, but we (as far as I can see) lack a lot artists. Most of them are either working on Mac or in an illegal version of Photoshop / 3DS max on windows (sad, but true).
Just take a look at Quake 3 Engine. If you look at the CD (650 megas) between 400-450 megas are used for textures only. There is the trick that makes the game looks nice .
I had a team once working in a game for Windows. We used a very low level programming language called Blitz3D. It handles the collisions automatically. It was impressive the number of volunteers we got willing to help with the source code, but artists (musicians, modelers, photo-designers) where none.
Again, media is the most important thing today. Some companies with huge bucks not even bother making an engine. They practically employ only artists. An example is Lucas Arts, with the GREAT game Jedi Outcast2 and it's little brother Jedi Academy. Those games are nothing but a mod for Quake 3 Engine, with a nice media.
If you come up with a nice, flexible engine, most likely you will eventually find peoples to join the project. If you have no abilities with programming (or want to learn) try learning how to make 3D models, textures or even composing musics, that's what the market lacks the most Believe me...

Well arioch, thanks for the link. That guid is.....impressive to say the least! I got my reading for the next 10 years lol! Anyway, if you want to find game artists try posting an ad on Garage Games . Or maybe even a digital art site like GFX Artist (just make sure you stress the fact that no one gets paid!). Let me know when you're gonna get things started, what your ideas are etc. I'd love to be involved in making a game!

Cool Abe_the_Man I might start again in December before Xmas, when I have a break from school. I promise I will post it here when I do it

another link I just came across that may be of interest:

http://legacy.newdoom.com/index.shtml

Doom legacy looks pretty cool. I've played jDoom when I was on Windows and it rocked. Multiplayer very simple and fast as Quake's .

yeah doom legacy is going to be on my things to do list this weekend. Wonder if multi-player is added? Maybe something I could work on to get me started.

I can remember back to when I was a kid. There were about a dozen games for Mac and about three dozen for windows. There were very few games for both. Nowadays, every box you pick up can go on either a Mac or windows machine.
If we let the makers know what we want (ie are willing to spend money on), they will make it.
We do not necessarily have to petition them. Just send them an email with a sample and say "Hey, this is some of what goes on in the Linux world. Don't you wish you could get a piece of this pie?" Enough people pony up and we will get the games we want.
Everybody keep up the good work.

I did a quick search for some open source software and found these:

Skale.org (an open source music creation program)

Blender3d (an open source 3d modeling program)

I'm gonna get both of these and see what i can do (i actually took 1 year of 3d computer graphics in high school, biggest waist of time ever, we'll see if it can come in handy!)

Hey guys! you seem to be having a lot of fun while having this conversation

I'd like to help as well in any way I can. Currently I only can do few things: I know the general use (good use) of GIMP (I'm no expert... yet ), I'm crawling my way into C++, I know a little (enough) C, but never got to know very well any APIs (In today's programming world, everyting is about APIs), I know some music (but I suck at composing ), have a lot of imagination and I like GAMES (and everything computer-related).

A little bit about me:
I'm 25 (almost 26, next november 2nd).
I'm a physician by profession (which I love/live to be ) which obviously doesn't let me much time to fool around with computers, but I get along . I'm a computer enthusiast and have a couple of (medical) computer projects on the desk (not for long, I hope). Have been using Linux for about 6-7 years now (since Red Hat version 5.0!), and I love everyting Linux wise. I don't hate Microsoft (Windows), but don't like it either... and I think that's enogh

So if there is any way in which I could help, just let me know! I'm a regular here at LQ (usually at the RH forum). So PM me or e-mail me, ok?

[edit]
And related to Linux Gaming... Well I know that some folks think that it may be the holly grial to make Linux a Mainstream OS... To me at least, it already is a Mainstrem OS (I only use Linux). But certainly the exclusive use of Linux came at a price. I decieded late last year to switch completely to Linux. I had been doing most of my work in it and only gaming kept me from doing the whole turn-over. I've seen and heard (I think) all the excuses there are about why should we never give up using Microsoft and why should we go over Linux. My opinion: Everyone has the right to speak his/her mind, but that is no justification for flamewars about which OS is best. I won't be getting in there (thoug it is tempting ), suffice to say that the Linux gaming arena is taking its place. We have seen in the last couple of years good advancemets over this: The whole Quake series are supported natively, Return to Castle Wolfesntein is supported natively, the Unreal series are supported natively (ok, U2 sucks and has no port (thank god), but being able to play U1 trhough OldSkool in UT is great!), Neverwinter Nights has its native port (yes, it took almost a year, but came out prior the Mac version, that is say something!), and there are great plans for the immediate future: Doom3 (aww!), UT2K4 (yes!), and maybe others who will follow the lead from BioWare, Epic and Id. Add to this the independent projects, and you have a hell of great games for Linux.

I think we (the Linux Gaming Community, LGC) lack advertising, like may of you already said. We need to be heard and seen by those who make the games. I don't know if there is any gathering point for the whole LGC. Like a website which would contain game info (like tuxgames.com or linuxgames.com) but with a place like this. An open forum in which all can speak their minds (developers, gamers, artists, etc) and push forward the community. I know tuxgames.com has a mailing list, but I don't know, I think these kind of forums have a flavor of their own... and inspire more... confidence would be the word I'm looking for?

Anyway, the community is built up, but split. We need to get together and push all in the same direction, sometimes we diverge too much (to my taste, anyway)... Maybe we could show support for those Linux developers who make Linux games by byuing their creations, that way what was produced by the community, stays in the community!... But... Anyway, don't mind me (much) it's almost 4:00 in the morning, and I had a loooooong day so I may be very well speaking giberish

That is what I think, anyway (at a moment like this, tired and beaten by the past day).
[/edit]

yeah Im thinking of going out and buying UT2003 for this reason [even tho I have aworking copy that plays great]. We really need to actually support the Companies that create games for linux.

Has anyone noticed that Nobody ever mentions Linux on their boxes - Doom, UT2003, Castle Wolfenstein, nvidia, ATI - none of them - I presume this is because they don't officially support it so they don't mention it. You would think that they'd mention it as a selling point ans explicitly say they don't support the linux version.

Have you heard of the so called Microsoft Tax? I think they are affraid of daddy M$

well they'll state they support Mac - but I see your point. I din't think Ms would like it - however I don't think they can legally descriminate.

Check the MS EULA, some say it is illegal. As I'm no US resident, I cannot say if this is whether true, but what I can say is that it does violate some fundamental rights, because it asks users to renounce other rights in order to use their products. So I think, yes... the companies may be affraid from comercial actions MS may take on them... but this is more a conspiracy theory than anything else... MS has pretty much all ends tied.