Which language should I use?
Author
Is there a programming language that I can use that would allow me to create a simple 2D, 8-bit looking game within a month or two? My expectations are anything but high, so the result doesn't have to be great, just something that works. I guess what I'm looking for is a fairly high-level language, but that is good for game making, unlike Visual Basic.
I need a programming language, not a program such as RPG Maker.
Thanks
VB seems like a good idea to me, it's really the APIs that you can find to make life easier. Anyway, C# with XNA GSE should do you nicely, assuming you are on a Windows machine. C# should take about a week or two to get comfortable with, then it shouldn't take you too long to make a simple 2D game. I created Pong360 within 5 days of XNA GSE's Beta launch and I had never seen C# until then.
You can download them from http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/xna/default.aspx
You can download them from http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/xna/default.aspx
Author
Quote:Original post by teh_programerer
VB seems like a good idea to me, it's really the APIs that you can find to make life easier. Anyway, C# with XNA GSE should do you nicely, assuming you are on a Windows machine. C# should take about a week or two to get comfortable with, then it shouldn't take you too long to make a simple 2D game. I created Pong360 within 5 days of XNA GSE's Beta launch and I had never seen C# until then.
You can download them from http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/xna/default.aspx
Thanks for the quick reply.
So, I should go with C# then rather than VB?
I'd say so, it is easy to pick up (at least it was for me) and learn, I suggest you read this book:
http://www.interactivelaboratories.com/downloads/csharp_ebook.pdf
from http://www.programmersheaven.com to get started with the C# language.
http://www.interactivelaboratories.com/downloads/csharp_ebook.pdf
from http://www.programmersheaven.com to get started with the C# language.
Quote:Original post by teh_programerer
VB seems like a good idea to me, it's really the APIs that you can find to make life easier. Anyway, C# with XNA GSE should do you nicely, assuming you are on a Windows machine. C# should take about a week or two to get comfortable with, then it shouldn't take you too long to make a simple 2D game. I created Pong360 within 5 days of XNA GSE's Beta launch and I had never seen C# until then.
You can download them from http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/xna/default.aspx
I agree with this if you do not care about your game being cross-platform.
Otherwise Python with pygame is probably what you want to look into since it will do what you want even faster since Python is faster to learn than C# if you don't already know either language.
C# with XNA has become almost as easy to use as Python/pygame compared to using C# and VB with managed DX.
Only downside now is that until XNA 2.0 comes out C# with VS express is the only officially supported way to program with XNA so that leaves VB as the bastard child as usual.
p.s. There really is no reason to bash VB 2005 since it's 99% identical to C# as you will see after you learn C#. So I'm assuming you are thinking of old VB6 and prior versions.
Actually before MS started pushing using C# with XNA most managed DX code samples from MS were available in both C# and VB versions most of the time since it was trivial to go from VB to C# and viceversa!
I suppose one could pick up Python with PyGame or even C# or VB.NET in a month or two, but seeing how you want to create something in a very short timeframe I'd rather recommend a language specificly made for rapid game development such as Blitz or DarkBASIC.
Quote:Original post by rippingcorpse
I installed Visual C# 2005 Express Edition but I cannot seem to install XNA...
Which version of Windows do you have?
If you know Visual Basic already, than there is no reason to learn a new language.
VB.NET is a powerful language (contrary to popular belief). VB.NET is as fast as C# and in most cases the code compiles to the same IL calls (when VB.NET's optimizations are in place and such) making VB.NET identical to C# when compiled (specifically to CLR).
However, with that, I should give one caveat: VB.NET gives a developer plenty of room to hang themselves with. If you program VB6 then you will have a large learning curve and a very rude wakeup call when you realize all of the VB6 syntax and function calls are slower than molasses.
With all of that being said, I know first hand that VB.NET can stand the performance test as it has proven so in our MMO testing scenarios.
-E
VB.NET is a powerful language (contrary to popular belief). VB.NET is as fast as C# and in most cases the code compiles to the same IL calls (when VB.NET's optimizations are in place and such) making VB.NET identical to C# when compiled (specifically to CLR).
However, with that, I should give one caveat: VB.NET gives a developer plenty of room to hang themselves with. If you program VB6 then you will have a large learning curve and a very rude wakeup call when you realize all of the VB6 syntax and function calls are slower than molasses.
With all of that being said, I know first hand that VB.NET can stand the performance test as it has proven so in our MMO testing scenarios.
-E
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