Hi there, my big dream has always been to be a game programmer since i first got my hands on mario for nintendo 8 bit. But i''m kinda lazy so it never got that far :D I''ve been programming Visual Basic for the past couple of years. I have a basic knowledge of C/C++. I know what OOP and stuff is. So i have a question, where should i start? Of course i have read the Start here tutorials but they mostly only tell you which compiler you need etc. If anybody knows some good online (dont have to much money for books ) tutorials for a start. Tutorials that explaing how to for instance make tetris (for a base start, not to make a game that has been done 100000 times ). I would appreciate it if you could point me to some. Thx a lot for your help

Game programming is software development. I know a lot of people would disagree with me but I think if you have a very solid background in ''regular'' programming then you''ll get game programming right, from the start. Far too many people dive right in and after a few months find themselves knee-deep in OpenGL wondering how to code a recursive BSP tree algorithm, or having trouble with DirectX because they don''t understand COM. A solid programming background also means you''ll have a lot less trouble working with the OS, and believe me, being intimate with the Windows API is an absolute necessity before even trying to code a game.

I''m not saying go forth and get a PhD in CS, then you may program Tetris =). Just go into it with the mindset of learning how to program, and not learning how to make games.

Please don''t become one of the newbies that posts "I''m developing a kewl RPG like Diablo II but I need to know, how do I make it so they move when I click the mouse???" =).

Ok, so, since I lectured, I''ll help you too =). Now, nothing beats a good book. Unfortunately, far too many books are marketed like ''Learn how to program a RTS game in two weeks!'' with pictures of Starcraft and Command & Conquer on the cover. These books will teach you the very, VERY basic theory behind game programming techniques, but as for any useful knowledge, you can pretty much forget it. The most you can hope to glean from one of those books is a line drawing algorithm or two. The best books available for an aspiring game programmer are those which aren''t directly about game programming, but but can be related to - for example, a book on 3d graphics or OOP program design. Trust me - nothing at all beats old-fashioned words on paper. I have three binders full of over 600 pages of tutorials, references, papers, algorithms, etc. printed out from the Net, because a hard copy is so much better than an electronic one.

As for online resources, there are some good ones on this site. Look in the ''programming'' section, and don''t limit yourself to the articles called ''Beginning Game Programming''. Read everything, whether or not you understand it. Looking at other people''s source code for simple games can be helpful, as long as you are at a level where you can understand it. (In other words, don''t look at that mass of spaghetti known as Quake ).

As for soemthing that will show you step-by-step how to make Tetris.. well, it''s not worth it. Try and figure out yourself how to do it, but first understand the concepts behind it: how to work with Windows, how to do basic graphics, how to play sound effects, how to get user input, and how not to get frustrated with a bug that you can''t understand. Anyway, I''ve gone on way too long, so good luck.

-RWarden (roberte@maui.net)

I had the same problem 2 weeks ago. I have a good knowledge of C and C++ and I did''nt know where to start. So I begin to read tutorials but they don''t go in deep and I hate make cut and paste and don''t know what I''m doing. So thursday I bought "Tricks of the windows programming guru" By Lamothe. What a great book!!! I have only one advice for you, go buy a good book!

I have some more advice. DON''T WASTE MONEY ON A BOOK. plenty of good tutorials out there/here.

JoeMont001@aol.com | www.polarisoft.n3.net

julio, if you''re going to take your time to post that you could leave at least one of those many good tutorials you''ve seen...
as for me i''m sorry but i haven''t seen any good ones lately
-mike

link? umm... lots of links. Here hehe

JoeMont001@aol.com | www.polarisoft.n3.net

I must disagree with julio. I think a good programming book is essential. I myself have three. C++ Programming (from my freshman year at college), Learning MSVC 6.0 in 21 days and Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus which I bought this summer. The first book has absolutely nothing to do with graphics but just the language itself and I often find myslef referring to it. Tricks is a great book dealing with Sound, music, input , and 2d graphics in Windows/DirectX. MSVC 6.0 in 21 days is a descent book. I havent read mush of it. It is mostly for creating business like applications which I am not really into right now (but this is prob what I will do after I graduate from NC State in a year)
The tutorials on this site are pretty good for the most part, but the information is widespread. Like you can find out how to set up direct draw in one tut, but if you want to know how to do say drawing a rectangle or detecting collisions, you have to go searching for other tuts. I prefer the book because it is something I can put my hands on (and has an index and table of context which really helps).

"Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time"
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail
themGames Productions

Tetris? Why do you want to start off with that piece of s**t? A newbie like you
needs to start off with a cool 3D game like Quake. You can program one in Visual
Basic with no problems. In a couple of days, you''ll be a 3D guru. Good luck!

im sure that was tounge in cheek, but youve gotta stzrt with tetris or pong its the law. speaking of which i wrote tetris last weekend i though 1hour 2 hours tops but ended up taking 3 , always the way im meant to have this mapmaker program finished by today but it ain''t gonna be.

source code for tetris is here
http://members.xoom.com/myBollux/home.html
btw i think ill write another simple game next sunday any ideas what it shopuld be nothing too complicated mind i don''t wanna spend more than one day on it.
zed

yeah, a good book is never bad. I always have 3 books laying around....My c++ reference, my data-strutures book, and my assembly language reference. Sometimes I use a direct-X, open GL and or Direct3d reference too. Reference books are good to have around, and re-reading material never hurts as long as you end up learning it in the long run.