I NEED HELP!

What doe you already know?

Can you write a game on the PC? Do you know C++? OpenGL or DirectX? I think you should learn that first before you start on console programming

If you want to write for the playstation, do some research on it. I'm not a console programmer but I thougt that there was an development kit for the playstation which was free (and for linux, but I'm not certain about that).

[edited by - Scheermesje on December 5, 2002 9:36:18 AM]

I dont know anything about making games for anything. I was just trying to get some info. on how to start. Im only 15 right now but it is good to get an early start.Thanks for the help.

Learn some VERY BASIC programming using any of these:

C++, C, Java, Python, Ruby, C#, Delphi

Learn some advanced math such as:

Maticies and Linear Algebra

For games decide to learn 2-5 of the following areas:

Core Libraries, Networking, Graphics, Sound, AI, Resource Management, User Interfaces.

some sample / possbile things to tackle / investigate:

core technolgy - Random Numbers, Memento Pattern, Serialization, XML
networking - Sockets, UDP
graphics - OpenGL
sound - OpenAL, DirectMusic
ai - State Machines, Neural Networks, Genetic Programming
user interfaces - VCL, QT, GTK+

just a few suggestions for looking up on google

I''m kind of in a similar situation. I''m 16 and I''m learning how to write in openGL. I also would like to pursue a career in this so I''m getting a head start.

Anyway, the most important thing is to get a firm grasp on C++. I remember when I was younger (around 12) and I was dabbling in my first Windows programs without even having an adequate C++ background. It was all so confusing and I spent more time looking up what certain things did in the program than learning the windows API. To learn C++, you can do it on your own, but I suggest taking a class over the summer. Community colleges often have basic C++ summer classes that are fairly good. If you can, take the CompSci A AP or AB AP classes. I''m not sure about A, but I am currently taking AB and although I went into the class not expecting to learn a thing I didn''t know already, I have learned quite a bit (I''m not sure if you will have the same experience though, we have many people in the class with a bunch of programming experience so the teacher might just be going more in depth).

As for learning openGL, you can forget about learning it from a class, unless you get lucky and your CS teacher knows how to use it. I started from scratch using http://nehe.gamedev.net, which is a great site for beginners. I feel like I have a fairly good basic grasp of openGL, and next I will be learning to use DirectInput. Once I get that down I''m planning on writing a 2D game of some type, and once I feel confortable with the basic game routines involved with that (collision detection, 2D physics, *shudder*maybe even quadtrees) progressing to 3D. 3D still scares me at this point, so I''m sticking to 2D to learn the basics.

Oh yeah, also a basic knowledge of physics is basically a must for any game programming. I took one year of physics at my high school and that taught me enough.

Thanks a lot you guys, I''ll try all of that stuff out.

They do usually teach OpenGL in school as well .. BUT it''s a higher division course, usually called "Computer Graphics" or some such ... and is meant for college juniors who''ve passed 18+ hours of computer courses already ... (completely knowledge of programming, C, memory management, libraries, and data structures is assumed)

I learned it from the tutorials faster than my friend who took the class ... but then again, he''s not a real programmer yet, and I''ve been on the job using C++ for 4 years now (those first 2 years of actual use teach you so much - if you bother to try and learn more all the time) ...

feel free to post questions when you get stuck ... but make sure and mention A) that you are fairly new or young, and B) the 1-2 things you''ve already looked up or tried ... because if you don''t, there are many people on this forum who are assholes, and assume you haven''t done any research on your own, unless you say so ...

BTW, read the gamedev faq, and look at the beginner''s section