Hi all,
I'm interested in messing around with programming with a view to do something with games. I'm not trying to make a commercial game, I'm not trying to make anything amazing looking or with 'difficult' components like multiplayer or 3D or physics or anything like that. I just want to spend some time learning something new with a goal in mind.
I guess what I'd like to be able to create one day is a top down, grid based 2D RPG or something very similar, with basic graphics, probably tiles, like the original ultima games.
I have a Mac and a PC and I can use either for programming. I hope that gives you enough background. Now some questions:
1] The biggest one - bearing in mind I'm only interested in 2D right now, I'm not trying to make a full game, just mess around concepts and experiment/play, what language should I be looking at?
2] I'm not great at math. I'm fairly logical, but I've never been 'the best' at math or science. Is that going to be a major hurdle when learning programming for this purpose?
3] What's the best way to 'learn'? Online? Books? Any links to books or tutorials or anything that might help would be great. I'd even considering part time courses as well.
Any other advice would be greatly appreciated :]
Total newbie with a few questions
1) A popular modern choice is Python. I would give that a try.
2) Don't worry about it. You will probably not need much math for a 2D game without physics, and you can pick up whatever you need as you go along.
3) Writing programs is the best way to learn. Find a tutorial or the first few chapters of a book to get started, and then just try to get things done. When you find something you don't know how to do, look it up (on the book, or online). And you can always ask here (assuming you have tried to find the information on your own and failed).
2) Don't worry about it. You will probably not need much math for a 2D game without physics, and you can pick up whatever you need as you go along.
3) Writing programs is the best way to learn. Find a tutorial or the first few chapters of a book to get started, and then just try to get things done. When you find something you don't know how to do, look it up (on the book, or online). And you can always ask here (assuming you have tried to find the information on your own and failed).
Definitely check out Python and the Doryen Library (aka libtcod). You can find a starter tutorial that will get you up and running with a roguelike game in a couple of days.
You can have a lot of fun with it and it has some very neat tricks up it's sleeve.
You can have a lot of fun with it and it has some very neat tricks up it's sleeve.
Read this guide, it pretty much answers all of your questions.
Other than that, stick to it. More than books or videos, tutorials, etc... you learn by doing. Don't just read a tutorial, follow along, actually TYPE what it says to do. That and learn patience, your at the beginning of a very long road, but its a fun journey.
Other than that, stick to it. More than books or videos, tutorials, etc... you learn by doing. Don't just read a tutorial, follow along, actually TYPE what it says to do. That and learn patience, your at the beginning of a very long road, but its a fun journey.
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