Best type of game to program first
Author
I always wondered why tutorials all start out at tetris or arkanoid type games. These seem like intermediate projects. An easier path to follow would be something like Tic-Tac-Toe, then Tetris, then Side Scroller, then 2D RPG, etc. etc. leading up to where you want to go.
Anyways my main question is the "Tic-Tac-Toe phase". What are some other ideas for SIMPLE games to start with that would fall in this earlier category?
Well, my first PC game was a simple 2d, non-scrolling multiplayer action combat game in grade 12. On win32, joystick libraries aren't hard to work with, and this way you don't have to code AI players. A friend of mine did the same thing.
Mine was a combat-style tank game with semi-inertial physics, a tile-based map including non-animating conveyor belts, lava, landmines, ice(slippery) and walls, and an in-game tile editor. My friend made a Space War game with a purchasing system and an inventory. We both worked in VB. Both our games were good, fun multiplayer games, so they had excellent replay and addictiveness (like any good multiplayer game). Things like that are a good place to start - I recommend working in .NET (C#, VB, whatever language, they're all the same in the back), Java (if there's a good game library, but I can't find one), or PyGame (don't know how good joystick support is in that though, but Python's a rockin' beginner language).
Mine was a combat-style tank game with semi-inertial physics, a tile-based map including non-animating conveyor belts, lava, landmines, ice(slippery) and walls, and an in-game tile editor. My friend made a Space War game with a purchasing system and an inventory. We both worked in VB. Both our games were good, fun multiplayer games, so they had excellent replay and addictiveness (like any good multiplayer game). Things like that are a good place to start - I recommend working in .NET (C#, VB, whatever language, they're all the same in the back), Java (if there's a good game library, but I can't find one), or PyGame (don't know how good joystick support is in that though, but Python's a rockin' beginner language).
Quote:Space invaders!Missile Command might be a good one, that's pretty simple.
No way, they're way above tic tac toe level. Tic tac toe can be programmed in a console. The only game at a tic tac toe level I can think of is a high/low game. The computer picks a random number and you have to guess it. If you are above or below it, the computer tells you so. You keep guessing until you get it right. I've seen some that keep track of the number of guesses and store it in a high score table somewhere.
Hmm - I don't think we're on the same page here. DesCr, do you have programming experience already? How much? The suggestions I gave were for someone with a highschool course of programming experience under their belt. The Tic-Tac-Toe suggestions are more aimed at the "first thing to program after hello world" mentality.
edit: whoops, didn't realise that DesCr wasn't asking for himself.
Anyhow, the point is still valid - my game and my friend's games were both made by 17 y.o. at the end of our second high-school course in programming, on our own, in about 40 hrs of work, in VB. Tic Tac Toe is only if you're getting into games a little early, or using a very hard-to-use programming language.
edit: whoops, didn't realise that DesCr wasn't asking for himself.
Anyhow, the point is still valid - my game and my friend's games were both made by 17 y.o. at the end of our second high-school course in programming, on our own, in about 40 hrs of work, in VB. Tic Tac Toe is only if you're getting into games a little early, or using a very hard-to-use programming language.
Level 1: Pong
Level 2: Blocks/Tetris
Level 3: Board or Card Game
Level 4: Arkanoid
Level 5: Side scroller
Level 6: Turn Based RPG
Level 7: Tactical/Stratagy
Level 8: everything else
Counting things I've finished, I'm on side scroller. Counting never finished, like level 20000000.
Level 2: Blocks/Tetris
Level 3: Board or Card Game
Level 4: Arkanoid
Level 5: Side scroller
Level 6: Turn Based RPG
Level 7: Tactical/Stratagy
Level 8: everything else
Counting things I've finished, I'm on side scroller. Counting never finished, like level 20000000.
Author
I guess I was misleading. I already program in C++, so I'm not trying to decide on a language or platform.
I simply think Tetris is not a good place to start. I guess Pong would fit in the category that I'm speaking of. And by Tic-Tac-Toe, I don't mean a console game. That's easy. I mean a DirectX/SDL/OpenGL type version where it stays small so you can see how the Game Logic mixes in with the Graphics/Input systems.
Tetris is a little (JUST A LITTLE) too much for a FIRST project, as you have to deal with creating a bunch of blocks and logic. Pong ( - physics) is simple. 3 Blocks! Thanks for the suggestion.
I simply think Tetris is not a good place to start. I guess Pong would fit in the category that I'm speaking of. And by Tic-Tac-Toe, I don't mean a console game. That's easy. I mean a DirectX/SDL/OpenGL type version where it stays small so you can see how the Game Logic mixes in with the Graphics/Input systems.
Tetris is a little (JUST A LITTLE) too much for a FIRST project, as you have to deal with creating a bunch of blocks and logic. Pong ( - physics) is simple. 3 Blocks! Thanks for the suggestion.
asteroids!
miself i have done pong(qbasic) and asteroids(c++). working on a side scroller now
miself i have done pong(qbasic) and asteroids(c++). working on a side scroller now
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