Game programming newbie

I haven''t read "Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus" but I''ve read a couple of LaMothe''s earlier books and I wouldn''t worry about the C/C++ thing. The code in his books is always very straightforward and easy to understand, and the concepts and examples will apply whether you decide to write your own code using C++ features or not. I''d recommend that book just going by what I know of LaMothe''s style from his other books - he doesn''t get too deep into anything but he''ll give you a good foundation to build upon.

The only difference between C and C++ is C++ allows you to have Objects. LaMothe''s Trick of..... is in C and uses DirectX 6. If you want to learn the basics of 2D DirectX programming then I you should get it just for the background information on the 2D scrolling and image displaying. Only complant I have about the book is the BOB engine he uses is very bad. I wrote my own 2D sprite engine based on his, but with a lot of enhanchments that I felt were needed.

Or if you can not afford that book, try Games Programming for dummies, this book has the same iunformation in it but for DX 5, is smaller in size, and I found it to be an easier read for some of the examples. Other games programming books I recomend are anything that deals with DOS based stuff, as these do not depend on DX, and will show you more advanced stuff that can be done with games programming, but as I said they are mainly for DOS.

Check out the tutorials on GameDev and other games programming sites as well, these sites usually give you more advanced techniques (sp?) and will allow you to create your own 2D engine without useing someone else''s code.

I have Tricks of the Windows game programming gurus book and it is definatly what you need to start 2d game programming. It covers most of the directx components, a good amount of math and some physics. He also has a bit of AI programming in the book also. And the cd has all the source. The cd also has some extra articles like an introduction to Direct3d and more.

Snyper

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The only difference between C and C++ is C++ allows you to have Objects.

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Oh, God, when will the insanity stop? What should I call you, an ignorant fool or misinformed bastard?

Edited by - jonnyfish on October 23, 2000 5:53:14 PM

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Original post by jonnyfish

What should I call you, an ignorant fool or misinformed bastard?

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Actually, you might call him someone who was trying to make the point that LaMothe's C is easy to pick up even if you've only studied C++, without starting yet ANOTHER utterly useless "C vs. C++" thread.

-Ironblayde
 Aeon Software

The following sentence is true.
The preceding sentence is false.

Edited by - Ironblayde on October 23, 2000 6:08:20 PM

That sounds like C talk. If I need to start another C vs. C++ thread, I will. Any person who still uses the term "C/C++" deserves a good talking-to.

Sigh. OOP zealots.

C++ is called "C" ++ because it shares quite a bit with the standard C language, obviously. I''d daresay that someone who learned C would understand about 98% of what''s happening in a typical C++ program, especially because C++ does very little new. (virtual functions? function pointers with a vtable have been used for a long time. operator overloading? pretty, but not conceptually different than a simple function). Other than the ease with which you can create an object hierarchy, perhaps three or four syntactical differences, some helpful automation (overload ops/ctors) and templates, I can''t really think of anything that doesn''t cross over.

There, does that count as starting a C vs C++ flamewar?

Now, to address the question: I believe in TOWGPG Lamothe writes in straight C, but also has little notes explaining how a certain concept would be implemented as a C++ class.


- Remnant
- (Steve Schmitt)

Ok C is C++ But C++ is not C so the term C should not be used unless it is just C and nothing from C++ (but every thing in c is in c++ so It would have to be c++ too). C++ is just a super set of C that adds OOP features and some other cool stuff. Oh ad you all said nothng about classes and inhertiece and polymorphism and encapluslation and function overloading. And a C++ strut/class is much better then a C strut. So why don''t we just get rid of the term C because every thing in C is in C++ also...

Matthew
WebMaster
www.Matt-Land.com

Jonnyfish - You can call me what ever you want, but I''m standing by what I said C++ is just C with objects (objects is inhertitance, polymorpism, overloading, etc) there is so little difference between C and C++ that "C/C++", "C" and "C++" have come to mean the same. From my experience of C/C++ (hmm I wounder how many times I can write that in this post??) if I took away the class data types from C++ I would be left with a C program. This is the other reason for saying C++ is C with Objects. If there is so much more than classes in C++ that is not in C then please list them on e-mail, as I do not think that this board would like yet another war - OGL v DX, VB v C/C++ v Delphi, DOS32 v Win32, Quake v Unreal...

I could go on about the different wars I''ve seen with regard to computers, and to tell you the truth I''m sick of it as every post is SOMEONES OPINION and not the full truth about the subject. It''s like history - it''s just someones story of what happend at what ever time period it was wrote at.

The only thing that I hate is when people say they have a computer and you ask them what make is it / spec of system and they reply with Nintendo / Sega / Sony, it is at this point when I blow my stack and start to explain to the console owning idiot that there so called computer is nothing more than a console. It drives me up the wall. I mean you can emulate a Playstation / SNES / Gameboy on any decient PC, can you do that on a console - NO.

Before anyone meantions the Super Gameboy (SNES GB Emulator) I know about that product.

The whole truth.

When someone hasn''t done their research, it''s painfully obvious.

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Any person who still uses the term "C/C++" deserves a good talking-to.

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That's a perfectly convenient term. It saves me having to write C and/or C++ and I'm sure it's the meaning most people intend when they use it.

Just like one would say "This machine can accept nickles/dimes/quarters" one should be able to say "DirectX supports C/C++ (or C/C++/VB)" without drawing unnecessary insult from C++ zealots that object to something thats so inconsequential.

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- outRider -

Edited by - outRider on October 26, 2000 3:26:18 AM

God, where would we be without C/C++ (come on jonnyfish, bring on the "good talking to" ) flame wars.

For my 2 cents, C++ is NOT "C with objects". If we have a read of St. Bjarne's Gospel, you will find that C++ was designed to support many programming paradigms, it just happens that OOP was the one it's most used for.

You can do alot of things in C that you can do in C++, but try generic programming (i.e. templates) in C, and let me know how far you get

On the topic I have to say I have been disappointed by the number of books on game programming that fail to support OOP principles.

"That's not a bug, it's a feature!"
--me

Edited by - ChaosEngine on October 26, 2000 7:01:56 AM

Steven: Guess what operating system the SEGA Dreamcast is operating under. A modified version of Microsoft Windows CE. Also Sony''s Playstation Developer''s Kit uses C as it language of choice. When it comes down to it, the thing that most make any computer a computer is that CPU hidden deep in its recesses. PCs have ''em, Macs have ''em, and Console systems have ''em. The difference in writing a game for a console or pc is the same as for a mac and a pc, just a difference in CPU specific machine code.

And that''s my 2 cents on that issue.


The danger from computers is not that they will eventually get as smart as men, but that we will meanwhile agree to meet them halfway - Bernard Avishai

I guess it depends on how you define computer...
I''d say there''s lots of ways to define it.

Is a calculator a computer? It computes...

I''d define a computer as anything with a cpu, except: consoles, calculators, the ''computer'' inside your car, home security systems,etc...

The reason? When I say I have a computer, I''m not talking about the one in my car that decides whether the brakes will work or the radio...

I think most informed people do not think of a console when you say "computer"