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Beginning Programming Help

Started by TossSalad Apr 4, 2001 at 3:00 AM 4 replies 250+ views
Original Post
TossSalad
TossSalad
Hello, I am sorry if most of this is answered across some other threads, but I have some situation specific questions and I don''t really want to go through all the old threads and not find any useful stuff, hehe... Anyway, I really want to program video games. Very bad. I have almost completed two semesters of c++ and intend on continuing to program in c++, hopefully games... I program on MSVC++. I have complete understanding of the basics. I understand linked lists and stacks, and I have a general knowledge of pointers yet I need to review for complete comprehension... I am about to learn queues and there are about 2 more chapters left in the book. My goal right now is to either write a VERY simple RPG (like one area, one goal and maybe a fight screen) OR a VERY simple side scroller ala Super Mario Bros. So my first question would be - how much more training in c++ do I need to make one of these goals realistic? Also, which would be more easy to create? an RPG or a side-scroller... are they about the same? If I am NOT ready to program something like this, where should I turn for further information? Is there somewhere on gamedev.net that I overlooked? Is there a high quality beginners book? I have lots of ideas and a burning desire to start learning so I can put some of these ideas on the screen... Thanks for any help! -ts
NewDeal
NewDeal
I suggest you look into directX and try to make some simple games as Tetris og pong. A side scroller or a RPG is NOT the most simple to start with.

On the other hand more experience in C++ would probably benefit you as well (a bit boring though).
SketchTurner
SketchTurner
Damm it! I''m about to finish college in 2 semesters (computer system eng.) and haven''t done even a tetris clone!
But it seems you''re not wasting your time like I did (damm school it just wastes too much valuable time :/ ).

If you haven''t yet, I think you should check the "start here" link in gamedev. You should also take a look to the interactive tutorial (hands on) I''m doing it myself.... hope I can finally make that tetris...

And play a lot of games!! That''s true knowledge!!

See ya around!

RESIST resisting
(have no webspace yet )

oro...?
SKeTch
caffeineaddict
caffeineaddict
Well, i''m far from being a master programmer myself, but an RPG or a side scroller i think is a little advanced to start games with. I know that you have been taking classes for a while but you''ve probably been making more like business apps or something, with games you have to remember that there are more things to worry about (graphics, sound, etc.) it is good that you have an understanding about the basics of the language but go for something simpler, maybe tetris, this was my first game, i have long since deleted it because it was a piece of junk, my first game wasnt great, i have programmed other things, started on a few things, quit a few things since, but now i am just trying to learn about directx and OpenGL, doing demos with it all of that, now i am self taught(15 in high school) and you, i am assuming are in college, i think that you learn more if you are self taught in some areas because you really want to do well on it if you like what you''re doing, the stuff you learned in the book will help but you will learn more from getting a working game than reading books, this was just my 2 cents, spend them as you will.
TossSalad
TossSalad
Yah, I know both are prolly outta my scope/range right now, but I am looking at them as "goals" not really something to start with. I was just wondering what early steps to take to learn the basics of game programming and where to look for information on basic 2d type games... I have heard of "Tricks of the Windows Programming Gurus". It sounds like a good book, but it''s written for C programmers. I imagine I could figure out how to port everything over to c++ though. Does anyone here know the quality of said book?

Aight, well thanks for replying! :D

-ts
Myopic Rhino
Myopic Rhino
TotWGPG is a good book to start with, even though it''s becoming slightly dated due to being based on DirectX 6. The fact that it''s in C isn''t really a problem. There''s no reason to port it to C++ unless you insist on using OOP, since the code will compile as is with a C++ compiler.

As the others have said, don''t start with an RPG or sidescroller. Both are reasonable goals to do soon, but start with something really, really simple now.

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