Looking into game programming
Author
Hi, well as everyone else on this site I am looking into game programming. I have been to a community college for Computer Science, learning C++ and some WINDOWS, am about to finish my Associates but haven't done too much with game programming. I did as the one tutorial said and made a Tic Tac Toe game (a C++ console app) and I was wondering where I should go from there. I don't know if I should jump right into DirectX or should I do more WINDOWS programming. I have done a little bit of Gameboy Advance programming, using Visual HAM, but I got lost after a while. Any help would be much appreciated.
You made a TicTacToe game, ey?
Well, Windows programming is really only a very small, oft-repeated part of games programming. For the most part, so is graphics programming. Your real choice is: Do I want to fuss around with graphics, or do I want to program a game? If you're more interested in graphics, then by all means write a graphics engine around D3D or OGL (or both!) - but if not, then there are plenty of free graphics engines out there (OGRE and Irrlicht are two prominent ones). This way, you can start programming a game, rather than a graphics engine. And the brilliant thing is that no engine can do everything for you - you're going to have to learn the math and the processes the engines go through anyway. You just won't have to write the code.
So, are you a graphics man, or a games man?
(Er... are you a man?)
Well, Windows programming is really only a very small, oft-repeated part of games programming. For the most part, so is graphics programming. Your real choice is: Do I want to fuss around with graphics, or do I want to program a game? If you're more interested in graphics, then by all means write a graphics engine around D3D or OGL (or both!) - but if not, then there are plenty of free graphics engines out there (OGRE and Irrlicht are two prominent ones). This way, you can start programming a game, rather than a graphics engine. And the brilliant thing is that no engine can do everything for you - you're going to have to learn the math and the processes the engines go through anyway. You just won't have to write the code.
So, are you a graphics man, or a games man?
(Er... are you a man?)
I'd stay away from game programming. Most of these parent-dependency users daydream constantly and they still can't make a better Notepad program. Stay with software jobs because there's less biting and grinding your way to the top of that 1% chance. If it takes reality to bite you, maybe working at McDonalds will do that later because chances are software companies won't want a person with game-related material on a resume simply because they now know you have other & more specialized interests.
Quote:Original post by Anonymous Poster
I'd stay away from game programming. Most of these parent-dependency users daydream constantly and they still can't make a better Notepad program. Stay with software jobs because there's less biting and grinding your way to the top of that 1% chance. If it takes reality to bite you, maybe working at McDonalds will do that later because chances are software companies won't want a person with game-related material on a resume simply because they now know you have other & more specialized interests.
LOL! What are you even doing at this site? Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but that's just some pathetic advice.
Quote:Original post by _goat
So, are you a graphics man, or a games man?
Dabomb99, just so you know, you don't have to pick between those two.
Oh wow, someone thinks they're all big by coming in and anonymously flaming the entire of Gamedev.net ... (the first AP, not the second, obviously).
I would move onto either OpenGL/DirectX or a third-party 3D engine once you've got the basics of programming. You're not going to produce a 'real' game using GDI, so there's not really any point in doing more with it that necessary. In the end, it's the game programming that's more important, both in terms of game quality and educating yourself, so you might as well move onto a good graphics environment straight away.
I would move onto either OpenGL/DirectX or a third-party 3D engine once you've got the basics of programming. You're not going to produce a 'real' game using GDI, so there's not really any point in doing more with it that necessary. In the end, it's the game programming that's more important, both in terms of game quality and educating yourself, so you might as well move onto a good graphics environment straight away.
well, he does have a point that there are a lot of people who wouldn't know notepad from a mousecursor wanting to get into game programming and deciding to start out "simple" with a complete FPS or MMORP game...
Author
_goat: I am more into programming the game itself, not a graphics engine, but you gotta start small and work your way up.
Bob Janova: Do you need to use DirectX for making 2D graphics? I used Windows with MFC and used Bitmaps and stuff, we did a small Concentration card game in class, but is DirectX the way to go? I don't know much about OpenGL, but which do you prefer?
I understand that I am not gonna build Quake 5 anytime soon so I just wanted to know what the next step would be after the first small game. I am a big RPG fan myself so I didn't know if attempting a Final Fantasy (for the NES) clone would be too big of a jump or if I should work on something smaller, less graphical. I wanna learn at least some about all the different aspects of making a game, the game engine itself, graphics, audio, networking. Just looking for a little guidance.
Bob Janova: Do you need to use DirectX for making 2D graphics? I used Windows with MFC and used Bitmaps and stuff, we did a small Concentration card game in class, but is DirectX the way to go? I don't know much about OpenGL, but which do you prefer?
I understand that I am not gonna build Quake 5 anytime soon so I just wanted to know what the next step would be after the first small game. I am a big RPG fan myself so I didn't know if attempting a Final Fantasy (for the NES) clone would be too big of a jump or if I should work on something smaller, less graphical. I wanna learn at least some about all the different aspects of making a game, the game engine itself, graphics, audio, networking. Just looking for a little guidance.
For turnbased games you can use GDI graphics as there's no real performance problem.
For realtime games (animation, etc.) that's just too slow and you're pretty much bound to use either DirectX or OpenGL (and whatever you do you're likely going to use parts of DirectX anyway, especially for sound and networking).
For realtime games (animation, etc.) that's just too slow and you're pretty much bound to use either DirectX or OpenGL (and whatever you do you're likely going to use parts of DirectX anyway, especially for sound and networking).
Well, I didn't exactly start off small, first game I made was openGL pong, and now I'm working on a fully featured openGL engine, and not doing so bad if I do say so myself..
It is really a matter of how much you WANT to learn..
I've gone for months programming without seeing a visual result, it doesn't bother me much, I'm just not there yet :)
It is really a matter of how much you WANT to learn..
I've gone for months programming without seeing a visual result, it doesn't bother me much, I'm just not there yet :)
Quote:Original post by dabomb99
_goat: I am more into programming the game itself, not a graphics engine, but you gotta start small and work your way up.
Bob Janova: Do you need to use DirectX for making 2D graphics? I used Windows with MFC and used Bitmaps and stuff, we did a small Concentration card game in class, but is DirectX the way to go? I don't know much about OpenGL, but which do you prefer?
I understand that I am not gonna build Quake 5 anytime soon so I just wanted to know what the next step would be after the first small game. I am a big RPG fan myself so I didn't know if attempting a Final Fantasy (for the NES) clone would be too big of a jump or if I should work on something smaller, less graphical. I wanna learn at least some about all the different aspects of making a game, the game engine itself, graphics, audio, networking. Just looking for a little guidance.
No, you don't need Direct3D for making 2D games, however it is the way if you use DirectX (there is no 2D component to DirectX - you just use one 3D rectangle basically). The differences between OpenGL and Direct3D are negligable if you just want to learn a little about graphics engines. The most glaring difficulty is that all the subjects you presented are weighty in their own right - networking, audio, graphics, (the unmentioned AI). You can certainly get a brief overview on the topics easily enough, but you will require a fair degree of time to cover each subject in any sort of depth. That being said, it's certainly not an impossible task.
My suggestion would be to try making a Tetris clone - it has collision detection, sound (if you so choose), graphics, a basic game engine and the potential for networking. After that, try a Mario clone I guess. It would extend those principles further, and introduce AI. A NES Final Fantasy clone is actually a reasonably large project (excluding the artwork required). But it's certainly achievable if you put the effort in.
Edit: Crazy typos.
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