Hi everyone! Super noob here, wondering where I should start with developing a sandbox game, similar to GTA, but on a vastly smaller scale. Just so you know, I have extremely limited knowledge in any kind of game development, zero programming experience, but I am artistically inclined and love games.
Any information involving which programs to build assets in would be great!
college, computer programming, computer simulation, computer games and simulation… One person cannot simply build a whole game, specially GTA style LOL
I mean you can but it will take years, specially if you don’t know how to create a simple variable.
Parts of developing a game:
As for ART/ Assets. It will take time to understand the concept: search for tutorials since in one post I cannot explain the whole concept of it.
Audio design: It takes time, there are some free programs out there, but this is why you are better off with a team of developers.
Programmer: You will last 1-3 years to become a good programmer, or maybe less.
Level Designer: If you think you can create a map with just assets, you are dead wrong… 
There are tons of things to take care of, glitches in maps, etc. Specially Lighting and post processing, UHH horrible days… lol
AND MUCH MUCH more… So, when you say GTA style, hummn, one person will never get near the way GTA has come, not even GTA III since it takes a long time to master all those areas… And you cannot be good in all of them, you have to concentrate in one.
The beauty of UE4 is it’s marketplace, where audio designers, artists, and programmers share their technology at low prices, and even there are sales 
So you can focus in one area and let some skillful people help you…
UE4 forums are really friendly and there is plenty of info in their documentation. You cannot just simply ask for someone to do anything for you, if that’s the case, game development is not for you… Reasearch, research, and research my friend.
Good luck in you journey… and welcome to UE4…
Much love,
…
Hi RJNS,
I would suggest start with getting a good design document together detailing exactly what you are looking for in your project. Here is an article that can help get you started on this front.
Once you have this, it’d be a good idea to decide if the programming you want done is going to be C++ or blueprints. Blueprints is a great starting point if you have no programming experience and can help get your ideas out of your head and prototyped on screen. We have a ton of tutorials to help get you started with this:
https://www…com/user/UnrealDevelopmentKit/playlists
https://www…com/playlist?list=PLZlv_N0_O1gasd4IcOe9Cx9wHoBB7rxFl
https://www…com/playlist?list=PLZlv_N0_O1gbNPbI5j7WoMWEc0GNTNin4
https://www…com/playlist?list=PLZlv_N0_O1gbka-RTlcK83w8Fls8bLr_v
For Art assets, I would decide what photoshop style program you are comfortable using, though if you’re looking specifically with a free alternative Gimp is an awesome choice:
Additionally, you will either need to get 3D assets/2D assets (based on the type of game you make) or make them, I would recommend blender to do so.
Finally, our community is an amazing resource filled with many talented developers who look forward to helping one another grow and advance. I would highly recommend checking out the forums to see what is out there or if you have questions. Good luck with your project! If you find it difficult to start, try creating some small tutorial or sample projects to get going, you’ll be surprised with how far you can get when you break down your ideas into smaller, manageable chunks!