Bookmarked, i'll be checking this out. i'm still gonna use VB 2010 JUST to learn the BASICS, i by no means want to work with real programming with this language. all i'm using it for is to get the main idea of how this works (although it's a really sh*tty bad idea, but oh well)

Theres the thing, VB used to be easier and more productive than many langauges. But with the invent of C# and move to VB.net, this simply isn't true anymore. VB.net isnt easier than C#, if anything, it's harder due to the lack of support ( more books, samples, etc in C# ). More or less VB.net was created as a language to transition VB developers to C#, although MS will never admit that.


Simply put, there is no advantage to starting with Visual Basic anymore. Fortunately, since it is so similar to C#, there aren't really that many disadvantages either, other than making things slightly more difficult on yourself.

[quote name='slicer4ever' timestamp='1331548280' post='4921284']
all 3 of these are not basic games, tetris is "easy", but it is by no means basic, at least in terms of creating a proper clone.
let's look at what's needed to build tetris:
-a grid system for the tiles to be placed on.
-a method for "dropping" new pieces, and selecting new tiles.
-how to deal with rotating the blocks.
-how to deal with rotating a block that might not be able to fit in a particular location.
-sweeping for rows that are complete.
That's just the very basics. with the most complicated part being the rotation(or at least, in my opinion is the most complicated part.)
and that was how i approached tetris when i did it myself.

next on your list is pac-man, then super mario bros. clone. both of these are far more complicated then you might be initially thinking.

i'd recommend thinking even more basic. something like a hi-low game.

being new at this is very difficult, and requires alot of patience, don't get discouraged, shoot high if you want, it's how you learn your limits, but you will eventually reach your goal if you stick with it, if you keep learning. you'll get it eventually.

I personally began with actionscript, so that language also get's my vote.

Wow, i had no idea how complex a basic Tetris game is. well i guess i have lots to learn, i should aim so much lower. what games did you start out with?
[/quote]

my very first game(if you can call it that), was something i made in 8th grade, essentially, my tech teacher introduced us to flash mx(and the absolute bare minimum of actionscript.) i basically built a bunch of crappy "rooms" that you could click to go to a different room, it was pure shit, poorly executed, the code was essentially a bunch of onClick, goto, and i feel ashamed to even remember it, i had no sense of variables, logic, or anything of that. but my teacher pointed me to flashkit.com, where i started to learn the basics. my second thing i built was basically flying a little triangle to fight a bunch of triangles. but i had no idea of vector math, or trigonometry at the time, so it was extremely poor. my understanding of array's/variables was still very cruddy at the time, and i could only fire a single "bullet" at a time, and trying to fire more just reset the bullet. but at the time, i kept going and made 5 levels with different color ships, and an enlarged boss ship. i replicated the code across all 5 frames that i made each level into.

i have no idea how it even managed to run, but somehow it did. fun times.

[quote name='Serapth' timestamp='1331657337' post='4921688']
[quote name='Wiitoy200' timestamp='1331653466' post='4921668']Bookmarked, i'll be checking this out. i'm still gonna use VB 2010 JUST to learn the BASICS, i by no means want to work with real programming with this language. all i'm using it for is to get the main idea of how this works (although it's a really sh*tty bad idea, but oh well)

Theres the thing, VB used to be easier and more productive than many langauges. But with the invent of C# and move to VB.net, this simply isn't true anymore. VB.net isnt easier than C#, if anything, it's harder due to the lack of support ( more books, samples, etc in C# ). More or less VB.net was created as a language to transition VB developers to C#, although MS will never admit that.


Simply put, there is no advantage to starting with Visual Basic anymore. Fortunately, since it is so similar to C#, there aren't really that many disadvantages either, other than making things slightly more difficult on yourself.
[/quote]

So you say just jump to C#? If so, how? What should (or need) to download to work with that language?
[/quote]

Go to the guide link I posted earlier, it has all the download information you need to get started.

I believe what you are doing is asking people what you should do and where you should go first.
I think instead of asking people what language is best (because it is all personal opinion) you should go ahead and learn the basics of the 'primary' languages such as C++, Java,Python,C# and choose which one suits you best.
Although, I would not start with something like a scripting language because you probably wont learn a lot about programming itself.
Firstly I would strongly recommend on reading about Object Oriented Programming because this is essential (especially for games) for modern day programming.
You should choose a language which is good for you and no one else.
Another thing I cannot stress enough is that it doesn't matter what language you choose. Its about how much practice you get and how much time you would be devoted to learn programming. After a while you will get better and better and you will see your earlier projects/games could have been optimised better or have been coded exceptionally badly.
Practice is more important than what language you choose.
I would also say that to program efficiently would probably mean a good grasp of algebra.
Here is how I started:

I started out with ruby, at the start of summer, just because its meant to be one of the easiest languages to learn as a beginner. I spent a week on holiday with my laptop learning the "little book of ruby" to teach myself. Even so I had a lot of trouble understanding what a lot of it meant just because I didn't do any research on Object Oriented Programming before hand.
When I came back from my holiday I started doing some programming in C++ (barely) and I found it relatively hard because I still did not understand concepts too well. I went on to do some Visual Basic because I thought it was kind of cool that you could make Windows apps so easily. I stuck with Visual basic until the end of summer which is when I wanted to make a game. I had a bit of trouble doing this in Visual Basic. I then went on to watch loads and loads of video tutorials on Java. At that time I learnt loads and loads of new concepts (Threads, Arrays, etc). The first game I ever made was the worst hunk of **** ever. Not the game itself but the programming. It was if statement after if statement. The game was just a guy walking around a tile map cutting down trees. It took up loads of processor power. It did have a cool thing though. It could save and load. Its probably sitting in media fire somewhere. After that I created a particle game called 'Elements' where you would create water or some other element and you could heat it up to create steam or cool it down to make ice. It also had fire and explosive. It was based on the game 'Powder Game' which is a Java app on a game website called Dan-Ball or something. After that I went on holiday and made a cool little toy (I wouldnt call it a game) called EXTRON which is an electronic logic simulator. It is one of my most memorable games. You could probably make a computer in the game. I plan on remaking it in the future. After EXTRON I took a massive break. Learned more stuff then made my first RPG game engine which is totally sexy. I still have it in eclipse today. I then made a cool shootemup. And now I'm here. I'm making my first ever big project game with I plan To take me to the end of this year and I have High hopes for it.

The thing is you shouldnt follow what someone else says because you'll end up copying them. You should have your own story to tell.

Gen