Ok i got a question, i would have searched for this but i would rather get a more in depth answer from some of you guy's, so here goes I'v been doing 3d games for about 3 years using 3d game studio, mainly level design and 3d modeling. But my intrest in programming has really taken off recently and i want to learn badly. I know it is hard but i am willing to learn I want to create some 2d pc games like pong,tetris,breakout , ect ect. why do i want to learn these 2d games when i can make something 3d? well simple cause i can't program and i want to learn and learning the basic games like those stated above will give me a understanding of game creation through programming. but here is my question, which program is good to learn that is not to ultra hard but yet can make good window's pc games.. i don't want to use editiors like the game factory and Game Maker cause it will beat the porpose of what i am doing. Please help. i don't need a tutorial or teacher just someone that wants to help me find a good easy language to learn and start working on the basic's...keep in mind i am a beginner programmer with NO experiance Thanks guys Daniel p.s. also i dont really want to use dark basic or blitz plus to make the games..though they are languages...they wont really help me in the long run i feel

Quote:Original post by Alpha_ProgDes
well there are several 2D game programming tutorials here at GameDev. if you look at the forums you should see the Interactive Hands-On Forum. that teaches you how to make Tetris, step by step.
you could use DirectDraw, SDL, or Allegro to do that.

also there's another one in the Game Programming section (look in the forums) that teaches you how to program a RPG (i think).

i would recommend those.

Thanks alpha, will these teach how to program as well as teach how to make the game? or do i need to know programming before taking the tetris tutorial
i really need to learn programming of some sorts before jumping into a tutorial.. thanks for the reply ill do a search now

I started programming using Visual Basic and I think since it's BASIC language it's quite easy to understand in the beginning. It's very OK for making windowed games with simple graphics since you don't have to create windows and controls manually and can focus more on the game algorithms.

If you want to write C++ code the SDL library is supposed to be good for 2D-graphics although i'm not too familiar with SDL. If you're new to programming I do not recommend starting with C++ and DirectX though since DirectX is quite abstract and complicated sometimes.

\Jimmy

I've found C# with Managaed Directx 9 great to learn games programming.
It's tidy easy to write code its a fair setup above visual basic but not as difficult as C++ while still retaining almost all of the funcitonaility.
Many might say its not a "real" games programmers language but with 2 (maybe more) commercial games already out in C# its looking like the wave of the future (or a just a fad, depending on your viewpoint).

Whatever language you choose dont jump in writing a game you will need to understand the basics of manipulating data and working with files.
Also reading some articles on general games theory wont go amiss either understanding how the theories behind tile engines and collision detection will help you with 2D gaming regardless of the language you choose.

Good luck with your learning.