Too Much Work?

Yep! Sounds to me that you are juggleing too many things at once!! First get a good background in C or C++ - then go learn OpenGL or DirectX - then go on to start programming games.

One step at a time!!

Roach

Thanks for the advice roach. One step at a time you say? Lotta stuff to read...well, back to work!

Oh, and a question about jpegs and bitmaps. I counted the colors on this picture I have, and it says 63,299 unique colors for the bitmap, and 63690 for the jpeg. If the jpg is compressed, shouldnt it have less colors than the bitmap?

You have to program something to learn how to program. It might as well be a game and there is no "wrong" way to program. There are inifficient ways of doing things but they aren''t wrong. If it works it''s good. The idea is to do things inificiently and then gradually learn how to make it better and faster.

It really just depends on your learning style. I don''t read whole books. If I need something I look up just what I need.

I wouldn''t recommend using DirectX if you''ve never programmed before since graphics just waste time at this point. Make simple games with text and don''t read tutorials on how to make them. You''ll never learn how to program if you can''t solve problems on your own.

Ben
http://therabbithole.redback.inficad.com

KalvinB,
I disagree with your advice. I believe it is better to learn GOOD programming skills first - before you get in the bad habbit of being a hack! Yes to be a programmer you do have to program - but I think you should learn to program right - and not be a hack. Learn good techniques - help out the guy that will eventually have to maintain your code!!
I am in industry - Raytheon to be exact - Here you have to cross every ''t'' and dot every ''i'' - the standards here are very strict - but they make you become a good programmer. The problem with game programmers today is that there very good artistically, but are hacks when it comes to coding (uncommented code, global variables all over the place, and TONS of memory leaks)(sorry for the generalization of game programmers, there are exceptions to this rule!) - you cant have that kind of stuff for Radars (which I work on) and missle guidence systems, etc.
Good programming practices make bugs easier to find, allow for much easier upgrades, etc. If you don''t get into the habbit now of programming cleanly then it will be a pain to re-learn the stuff when you do have to program it cleanly(for a project, commersial software, etc). So learn the right way once - rather than having to relearn it again and again!

Thanks
Roach
Raytheon Systems CO.

quote:

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Original post by Shotokan

Oh, and a question about jpegs and bitmaps. I counted the colors on this picture I have, and it says 63,299 unique colors for the bitmap, and 63690 for the jpeg. If the jpg is compressed, shouldnt it have less colors than the bitmap?

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Image compression does not work by expressing an image in fewer colors; rather, it works by finding a way to compact the data while changing the image as little as possible. Lossless compression algorithms compress image data such that it can be exactly reconstructed when it is decompressed. An example of such a compression algorithm is the one used in .PNG files. Hence, if you save a .BMP as a .PNG and count the colors in each, the result will be the same.

The other type of compression is called lossy compression, which is what .JPG uses. Basically, it makes slight changes in the image data to make it more ''friendly'' for the compression algorithm, so it is able to compress to a greater degree. This is one reason .JPG can compress photorealistic images into such small files. Since .JPG uses lossy compression, however, it does change your color data, and so the number of colors appears differently. Usually, the number of colors will increase since whatever the algorithm is changing certain pixels to probably doesn''t occur again in the image.

This is some image programs allow you to set an accuracy rating on .JPG files. Larger accuracy forces the algorithm to make fewer changes, so your image is preserved more closely, but the files will be slightly larger. Smaller accuracy values let .JPG encoding take more liberties with your image. Hence, the file will be smaller, but the image will be more distorted.

Since it uses lossy compression, .JPG is not usually a good idea for games, unless you''re using it for something photorealistic. More ''artistic'' type images should have their exact color data preserved, and thus .PNG is probably your best option. Hope this helps-

-Ironblayde
 Aeon Software

Down with Tiberia!
"All your women are belong to me." - Nekrophidius

Thanks Roach, KalvinB, and Ironblayde.

I have yet to actually program anything of my own yet, only the examples and exercise reviews from the books I have.

The books I have actually to tell you and give examples of good and bad programming practices. I also have a copy of Code Complete, so I cant go wrong can I :-)

Also, about the .jpg, .png, and .bmp information.....damn...you really know your stuff. Thanks for the info and advice you guys.

Shotokan