nikmagid
asked on
beginning game programming
i want to learn how to make my own games. how do i start learning how to do this? any sites aout there that will help me?
Learn to program first. The industry generally uses C or C++ for most commercial games out there.
Then buy books, lots and lots of books.
Then buy books, lots and lots of books.
Another good place for learning game coding in an academic environment is at:
http://www.gameinstitute.com/
http://www.gameinstitute.com/
Assuming you already have some rudiments of C,
you can use www.libsdl.org, it's a cross platform
library. it has lots of interface to make the harder things
possible, is fast. then you may pick cpp, but as
skills advance, typically you'd rather want to go down
rather than "up", most professional game programmers
bend toward assembly to get the most out of the hardware.
it's not that hard and brings lots of light to how it works.
That's the top-bottom approach.
If you don't know C, you may need only 2-3 books that
many said it can suffice for a lifetime:
- The C programming language, K&R.
- C: A Reference Manual , from Harbisson.
Check out also http://accu.org/ for other references.
Later If you got time to read, read code from
experienced programmers, rather than books.
time is precious.
Game programming is lot of fun and enjoyment.
Excellent for mental health points.
- Boris
you can use www.libsdl.org, it's a cross platform
library. it has lots of interface to make the harder things
possible, is fast. then you may pick cpp, but as
skills advance, typically you'd rather want to go down
rather than "up", most professional game programmers
bend toward assembly to get the most out of the hardware.
it's not that hard and brings lots of light to how it works.
That's the top-bottom approach.
If you don't know C, you may need only 2-3 books that
many said it can suffice for a lifetime:
- The C programming language, K&R.
- C: A Reference Manual , from Harbisson.
Check out also http://accu.org/ for other references.
Later If you got time to read, read code from
experienced programmers, rather than books.
time is precious.
Game programming is lot of fun and enjoyment.
Excellent for mental health points.
- Boris
If you know a bit C++ you should buy the book: "Trick of the windows game programming guru"
It's one of the best in my opinion, for someone who begins game programming, assuming you want to do it using C++...
Cheers!
It's one of the best in my opinion, for someone who begins game programming, assuming you want to do it using C++...
Cheers!
Well,
game programming is one hell of a job.I myself am a beginner. Now, i am saying this not to scare you but just so that you are aware of the facts. It requires a huge amount of patience, you keep popping up with unexpected issues and problems, plus you will probably have to write source code that exceeds a few megabytes of size.
But for the actual answer.
As everybody has said, learn c and C++ if you don't already know it.
Then i would suggest you get comfortable with OpenGL. Visit www.opengl.org for information.
Try to get someone else who has similar interests, this will make things more fun. Plus there are too many areas to handle alone, like physics, AI, sound programming and all.
As already mentioned,flipcode.com, gametutorials.com,gamasutr
game programming is one hell of a job.I myself am a beginner. Now, i am saying this not to scare you but just so that you are aware of the facts. It requires a huge amount of patience, you keep popping up with unexpected issues and problems, plus you will probably have to write source code that exceeds a few megabytes of size.
But for the actual answer.
As everybody has said, learn c and C++ if you don't already know it.
Then i would suggest you get comfortable with OpenGL. Visit www.opengl.org for information.
Try to get someone else who has similar interests, this will make things more fun. Plus there are too many areas to handle alone, like physics, AI, sound programming and all.
As already mentioned,flipcode.com, gametutorials.com,gamasutr
You could write games using C/C++ or Java.
A good website would be: www.gamedev.net ,if you have experince in C/C++ this would help a lot.If you know C functions and arrays this would help you a lot.The games industry mostly uses C/C++ for making games.
Asad.
A good website would be: www.gamedev.net ,if you have experince in C/C++ this would help a lot.If you know C functions and arrays this would help you a lot.The games industry mostly uses C/C++ for making games.
Asad.
Hi.
I am a fellow beginning game programmer. My recommendation would be to learn the fundamentals of C++ programming before tackling gaming.
Why C++? For one, it is very common among the best of games, including Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Two, it is very powerful and fairly easy to learn. Three, it can be both object oriented and sequential, which is a bonus because you get to learn both concepts.
I, personally, had a little trouble deciding which game library to use. Primarily, there are DirectX and OpenGL. Supporters of both will defend their claims. My choice became DirectX, since it has remained very up-to-date and is quite functional. If you want a simple library, you might try libCON (however, it's slow).
If you are impatient, like me :-), try this website:
http://www.32bits.co.uk/
It quickly teaches you how to create a win32 window, then steps progressively into DirectX game programming.
Hope that helps!
$perlhack
I am a fellow beginning game programmer. My recommendation would be to learn the fundamentals of C++ programming before tackling gaming.
Why C++? For one, it is very common among the best of games, including Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Two, it is very powerful and fairly easy to learn. Three, it can be both object oriented and sequential, which is a bonus because you get to learn both concepts.
I, personally, had a little trouble deciding which game library to use. Primarily, there are DirectX and OpenGL. Supporters of both will defend their claims. My choice became DirectX, since it has remained very up-to-date and is quite functional. If you want a simple library, you might try libCON (however, it's slow).
If you are impatient, like me :-), try this website:
http://www.32bits.co.uk/
It quickly teaches you how to create a win32 window, then steps progressively into DirectX game programming.
Hope that helps!
$perlhack
If you are looking to start out simply, check out http://www.allegro.cc, and http://alleg.sf.net.
Allegro is a 2D game library. It supports DOS, Windows, Linux, and most Unix's With X installed.
For me, using Allegro has helped quite a bit, the people at allegro.cc, and on the allegro, and agp mailing lists are freindly, and helpfull.
If you want to do all the Higher level code like line, rect, polygon, triangle, rectfill, elipse, etc, then by all means DirectX or SDL is for you, but If you'd rather skip all that, and start writing a game, I'd suggest Allegro.
Allegro is a 2D game library. It supports DOS, Windows, Linux, and most Unix's With X installed.
For me, using Allegro has helped quite a bit, the people at allegro.cc, and on the allegro, and agp mailing lists are freindly, and helpfull.
If you want to do all the Higher level code like line, rect, polygon, triangle, rectfill, elipse, etc, then by all means DirectX or SDL is for you, but If you'd rather skip all that, and start writing a game, I'd suggest Allegro.
follow your heart to freedom.
A lot of people might disagree, but I prefer diving into the API I want to write in. Instead of simply buying LaMothe's next book (not knocking him, he is great), I would get a book that is based soley on the API. It makes it easier on you, and generally includes more information on building up to where you need to be to actually program your game.
If you learn C, and want to use OpenGL. I recommend (like anyone) the Red Book (OpenGL Programming Guide) and OpenGL SuperBible. The SB deals a lot with Glut, but it is strictly C, no C++.
The Red Book is the Holy Grail of API books, far as I am concerned, and, luckily for you, you can find it online.
http://fly.cc.fer.hr/~unreal/theredbook/
If you haven't learned a language yet, DO THAT. Do not dive into any game programming book if you haven't. Don't let the math scare you, there isn't much to it. (Well.. the book will get you through the hard parts).
I can't recommend any sole DX API books (haven't read any) but if you really want to give DX a try - LaMothe has plenty of them (not AP but game programming, with a touch of the API - it doesn't cover everything you need in the API (that is what the SDK is for I suppose), but it is as good a base as any.
Sams makes great books on languages. I would suggest picking up C or C++ (your choice) in 21 days.
But if you don't have the cash, go here:
http://www.gametutorials.com/Tutorials/tutorials.htm
And then pick your poison. All of their tutorials work you up, and they all build on the last one. Anything new is heavily commented. It is an excellent site.
Just remember, anyone who got into this field never left without kicking and screaming. You can't expect to be the next Carmack, so don't try. Do what you are capable of at first, then build on that. Keep building, and who knows, all of us might be playing something you wrote in the future :)
Kelso
If you learn C, and want to use OpenGL. I recommend (like anyone) the Red Book (OpenGL Programming Guide) and OpenGL SuperBible. The SB deals a lot with Glut, but it is strictly C, no C++.
The Red Book is the Holy Grail of API books, far as I am concerned, and, luckily for you, you can find it online.
http://fly.cc.fer.hr/~unreal/theredbook/
If you haven't learned a language yet, DO THAT. Do not dive into any game programming book if you haven't. Don't let the math scare you, there isn't much to it. (Well.. the book will get you through the hard parts).
I can't recommend any sole DX API books (haven't read any) but if you really want to give DX a try - LaMothe has plenty of them (not AP but game programming, with a touch of the API - it doesn't cover everything you need in the API (that is what the SDK is for I suppose), but it is as good a base as any.
Sams makes great books on languages. I would suggest picking up C or C++ (your choice) in 21 days.
But if you don't have the cash, go here:
http://www.gametutorials.com/Tutorials/tutorials.htm
And then pick your poison. All of their tutorials work you up, and they all build on the last one. Anything new is heavily commented. It is an excellent site.
Just remember, anyone who got into this field never left without kicking and screaming. You can't expect to be the next Carmack, so don't try. Do what you are capable of at first, then build on that. Keep building, and who knows, all of us might be playing something you wrote in the future :)
Kelso
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gamasutra.com, flipcode.com, gamedev.net