creative distress
Author
hi all i'm new to the forum and i hope in the right place, i'm looking to make a game, as it has been my goal my entire life yet i know squat about programming or AI's or tracking systems or graphical programming of anything, i'm willing to learn but i'm looking to learn quickly so i can program this game. anyone willing to point me in the right direction would be greatly appriciated
Well, GameDev.net certainly is the right place, but you somehow stumbled into the SICP forum ("Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs"), which is dedicated to the study of programming using a language called Scheme.
Moved to the "For Beginners" forum. [smile]
Moved to the "For Beginners" forum. [smile]
I suggest learning a programming language. If you want to get going quickly then you can forgo the usual 'learn a sequential language first to get the basics' and just jump into an OOP language right away. It'll take alot of work, because you'll be learning programming logic and OOP ideology at the same time, and thats some heavy stuff.
Once you have a firm grasp on programming and OOP you can grab a game programming book and follow that. Or you could find a tutorial and build a pong clone, or maybe a space shooter. Its best to start out small and work your way toward your goal, building skills along the way. Don't jump into a big project right away, you need to get your feet wet with the little stuff first.
Once you have a firm grasp on programming and OOP you can grab a game programming book and follow that. Or you could find a tutorial and build a pong clone, or maybe a space shooter. Its best to start out small and work your way toward your goal, building skills along the way. Don't jump into a big project right away, you need to get your feet wet with the little stuff first.
Hello! Welcome to GD.net :)
my advice is, just roll on the big guns with C++ (considered industry standard)and start out with a book or 2, but dont buy those 1k pages books... myself i have 3 of these (crying over lost money) and ive not gone past page 100. You do not need to know everything. Atleast not as a beginner.
my advice is, just roll on the big guns with C++ (considered industry standard)and start out with a book or 2, but dont buy those 1k pages books... myself i have 3 of these (crying over lost money) and ive not gone past page 100. You do not need to know everything. Atleast not as a beginner.
I have a request that could seem rather rude: Please refrain from giving advice if you're also a beginner. This guy here is a beginner asking for advice on how to start, and it would be best if only people in the gaming industry or software industry in general shared their expertise. Otherwise, it'll only be beginners deluding beginners. You can't teach what you don't know.
For example, take the "Learn C++ first" suggestion. The general consensus here is that it's a very bad idea.
For example, take the "Learn C++ first" suggestion. The general consensus here is that it's a very bad idea.
Author
so what do you sujest?
i mean if i could find a programmer to program this game that'll be great because i know exactly what i want from the game, lol
i mean if i could find a programmer to program this game that'll be great because i know exactly what i want from the game, lol
I am a beginner to programming too but this isn't my first time diving into it. I began learning BASIC, which I have completely forgotten, and then tried Python, supposedly easier, and to be honest I really couldn't tell the difference in difficulty compared to C++: which I am learning how as of this weekend.
I took the advice that while learning C++ is more difficult as a first language, once you learn it, its probably going to be easier to grab onto the rest. The language itself isnt trivial and after a couple exercises after each lesson you will have grasped it after a few tries.
IMO the biggest hurdle to any language is mathematics. In the words of an author of a book I've since forgotten, "You need to know how to solve the problem too".
So most of you probably arent like me and have a better grasp of mathematics so I would definitely suggest at least trying C++ because Im going over Arrays and will be into Functions and even with my bad math skills its nothing that stops me from learning more about the language. Besides that C++ is a pretty language compared to the rest. The documentation on it might be easier to follow because its more popular. Python, for example, will most likely have some boring documentation and text-book style teaching you may not enjoy. Things are thrown at you as if you were in a batting cage so youll have a few notebooks filled with all sorts of code you are trying to memorize and ... it is a bit much for the beginner.
My conclusion is that its much easier to learn C++, even if it is a more difficult language. If you have the courage to come this far does it really make much of a difference? Finally if you have ever stuck your nose in the scripts of a few games, like UltimaOnline for example, or were ever a hobbyist modder, some of the C++ code may look a little familiar to you; if only the outline of the code itself.
I took the advice that while learning C++ is more difficult as a first language, once you learn it, its probably going to be easier to grab onto the rest. The language itself isnt trivial and after a couple exercises after each lesson you will have grasped it after a few tries.
IMO the biggest hurdle to any language is mathematics. In the words of an author of a book I've since forgotten, "You need to know how to solve the problem too".
So most of you probably arent like me and have a better grasp of mathematics so I would definitely suggest at least trying C++ because Im going over Arrays and will be into Functions and even with my bad math skills its nothing that stops me from learning more about the language. Besides that C++ is a pretty language compared to the rest. The documentation on it might be easier to follow because its more popular. Python, for example, will most likely have some boring documentation and text-book style teaching you may not enjoy. Things are thrown at you as if you were in a batting cage so youll have a few notebooks filled with all sorts of code you are trying to memorize and ... it is a bit much for the beginner.
My conclusion is that its much easier to learn C++, even if it is a more difficult language. If you have the courage to come this far does it really make much of a difference? Finally if you have ever stuck your nose in the scripts of a few games, like UltimaOnline for example, or were ever a hobbyist modder, some of the C++ code may look a little familiar to you; if only the outline of the code itself.
This is going to sound dumb but....
Only learn to program if you actually want to learn to program otherwise there is very little point. At the moment it just sounds like you want to just make a game as quickly as possible. In which case, you be better off with a program like GameMaker which allows you to create games without any programming knowledge.
@Talus057: Learning C++ first is not the best idea for many reasons. These include exposing you to concepts that can be difficult to understand as a beginner such as memory management and raw pointers. The other is that it allows you to do a lot of things that you really shouldn't do because it is still (arguably) a low level language. eg.
How will a beginner know that this is a bad idea if the language allows you to do this from the outset?
Only learn to program if you actually want to learn to program otherwise there is very little point. At the moment it just sounds like you want to just make a game as quickly as possible. In which case, you be better off with a program like GameMaker which allows you to create games without any programming knowledge.
@Talus057: Learning C++ first is not the best idea for many reasons. These include exposing you to concepts that can be difficult to understand as a beginner such as memory management and raw pointers. The other is that it allows you to do a lot of things that you really shouldn't do because it is still (arguably) a low level language. eg.
int floatAsAnInt = 0;float actualFloat = 100.0f;floatAsAnInt = *(int*)(&actualFloat);float anotherFloat = *(float*)(&floatAsAnInt );How will a beginner know that this is a bad idea if the language allows you to do this from the outset?
Just to get started with programming as a whole, try making some simple things with QBasic. It's one of the easiest programming languages out there, despite the fact that it's NOT an OOP (Object-Oriented Programming) language, and it has everything you need:
-If...Then Statements
-Math
-Loops
-Controls
-Variables
-Graphics
-Sound
-Input systems
-Error controls
-External file interfacing
and the other good stuff.
-If...Then Statements
-Math
-Loops
-Controls
-Variables
-Graphics
-Sound
-Input systems
-Error controls
-External file interfacing
and the other good stuff.
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