Some Questions..
Author
I just started a few weeks ago doing some game programming, so I have quite a few questions. The first being, have you ever use Game Maker? Well if you have, could that help me any way with C++ programming? And another thing, what do you need (what it's called and any sites) to download and or buy to do C++ programming.
Well that's pretty much all I want to know, if somebody can help me, I'll be real happy.
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The first being, have you ever use Game Maker? Well if you have, could that help me any way with C++ programming?
It is not likely.
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And another thing, what do you need (what it's called and any sites) to download and or buy to do C++ programming.
A compiler and an IDE. Microsoft's Visual C++ Express is probably your best bet.
You'll also want to invest in some decent books; other people will have to advise you as to which, I don't know of any good introductory C++ texts.
Hey Random Noobie,
Chances are game maker won't really help you out with programming at all. It may help you out with understanding how objects in games interact etc. however this is more related to game concepts than actual programming. Here is a link to one of the many tutorials I used when I was learning C++, it seems to have changed since then but no doubt it would still be very useful.
I'm not sure that I totally with jpetrie when he says that you will 'need' to invest in some decent books. There are plenty of great tutorials out there on the internet. Looking at the code to other peoples' programs is also incredibly useful. Source Forge is a site that consists of programs that are totally free to download and view the code of. However chances are you will not understand large programs at the moment.
I'm not saying that books are a waste of money or even that they are bad in any way. They are great resources, however if you do not have much money to spend there is hundreds of tutorials on the internet that can help you out.
If you would like some help in any area feel free to ask me (PM if you wish).
Good luck
Chances are game maker won't really help you out with programming at all. It may help you out with understanding how objects in games interact etc. however this is more related to game concepts than actual programming. Here is a link to one of the many tutorials I used when I was learning C++, it seems to have changed since then but no doubt it would still be very useful.
I'm not sure that I totally with jpetrie when he says that you will 'need' to invest in some decent books. There are plenty of great tutorials out there on the internet. Looking at the code to other peoples' programs is also incredibly useful. Source Forge is a site that consists of programs that are totally free to download and view the code of. However chances are you will not understand large programs at the moment.
I'm not saying that books are a waste of money or even that they are bad in any way. They are great resources, however if you do not have much money to spend there is hundreds of tutorials on the internet that can help you out.
If you would like some help in any area feel free to ask me (PM if you wish).
Good luck
Well, Game Maker "can" help you with the concept of programming, but it's not a really great source of experience (codewise). Firstly because the structure of C++ is more complex (you cannot do "if variable=2 then variable=1" for example.). Also, there is no "ressources" as there are in Game Maker, you will have to load every ressource, and declare them global and blablabla (and loading a file is harder than loading it in Game Maker...)
You will find it easier to read codes than a true beginer, but that one will find it easier writing C++, just because Game Maker's syntax is way different, you have objects-events, which must be replaced by classes, functions calling other functions and bla and bla. It's sure that learning GML is not that bad, but don't think you'll learn C++ right away, because you know GML.
Now, to program in C++, you'll need a compiler, a linker and a text editor. Most people prefer to use an IDE, so I suggest you to download Dev-Cpp (just search "Dev-c++" in Game Maker and you'll find it.)
Good luck!
Gabry Hyrule
You will find it easier to read codes than a true beginer, but that one will find it easier writing C++, just because Game Maker's syntax is way different, you have objects-events, which must be replaced by classes, functions calling other functions and bla and bla. It's sure that learning GML is not that bad, but don't think you'll learn C++ right away, because you know GML.
Now, to program in C++, you'll need a compiler, a linker and a text editor. Most people prefer to use an IDE, so I suggest you to download Dev-Cpp (just search "Dev-c++" in Game Maker and you'll find it.)
Good luck!
Gabry Hyrule
As for developing games, I've found it very usefull to be familiar with level-design and art creation, it has given me a fair insight in what it takes to create a game. I didn´t found it particularly usefull to get me started with programming, it was more helpfull on the design level.
As for books, there's a lot of info available on the net, but eventually you may want to get a good book now and then, as they pack a lot of info together and generally are more thorough than on-line tutorials. They can save you quite some time too - sometimes tutorials never mention something that could've been usefull, and because you're not aware of it, you never investigate that subject. A book may cover it alongside with other subjects. Having that said, it also helps if you know a few programmers or have a place to ask, like these forums. There's also a C++ workshop going on right here, specifically set up to teach new guys to work with C++.
As for books, there's a lot of info available on the net, but eventually you may want to get a good book now and then, as they pack a lot of info together and generally are more thorough than on-line tutorials. They can save you quite some time too - sometimes tutorials never mention something that could've been usefull, and because you're not aware of it, you never investigate that subject. A book may cover it alongside with other subjects. Having that said, it also helps if you know a few programmers or have a place to ask, like these forums. There's also a C++ workshop going on right here, specifically set up to teach new guys to work with C++.
Eventually you'll want some good books, but to get your feet wet, tutorials are great. You can find many great (and many not so great) tutorials with google. I think there is an old edition (2nd ed., iirc) of Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days floating around somewhere on the web, but I don't think that's entirely legal. A very good book is Thinking in C++ 2nd Ed., which is available freely from the author's website: http://www.mindview.net/Books/TICPP/ThinkingInCPP2e.html. I wouldn't recommend that book to a complete newbie, but once you have the basics of C++ down, or any programming experience for that matter, it is a great resource.
As far as Game Maker, I would have to agree with Captain P. It is useful for learning some of the basics of 2D game development, but it won't be too helpful when it comes to learning C++. Personally, I would rather focus my efforts on learning C++ than on learning to use Game Maker and GML. But that's just my two cents...
Hope this helps.
As far as Game Maker, I would have to agree with Captain P. It is useful for learning some of the basics of 2D game development, but it won't be too helpful when it comes to learning C++. Personally, I would rather focus my efforts on learning C++ than on learning to use Game Maker and GML. But that's just my two cents...
Hope this helps.
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