making computer games

[Rulzern]

well, not a lot of disadvantages, but longer compile times :p

And there\'s only one feature that i really like in c++, member functions.

And OOP is fully possible in C, C++ just makes it easier.

[sashok]

chances are you are not going to make a good computer game with your friends  . You might be able to make a mod for like strategie games, (thats what I\'m into right now), Warcraft 3, or like everyone said, you could program crappy text based games.  I suggest if you are learning C++, look at the tutorials they have on the web on how to program in 3d. There are good tutorials on opengl/direct 3d  http://www.drunkenhyena.com/

go here, really good stuff.

Ok, getting back at something I was trying to say.
You won\'t make games with your friends . You have to go to college, complete a program, get a degree, learn stuff on your own, bla bla, then if you lucky you will get a job as a programmer( considering market today), but NO it won\'t be no game making job.

By that time you childhood will pass, you will loose love for games , you will have wife and a few kids and you life WILL SUCK!!!



btw I\'m not speaking from my own experience, it\'s how I see the whole situation

[Geminosity]

well... I normally don\'t skip the majority of posts in a thread before posting but today I was naughty and I just did

anyways, the easiest way to get started and get insta-results (compared to programming your own game from scratch anyways) is to do some mod work =D

Half-life and UT2k3 both have well documented engines with lots and lots of sites telling you how to do simple changes and give you the groundwork to make more advanced steps ^^

it\'s not quite the same as building your own game but if you can take a mod far enough it\'s almost as good sometimes

MMO-wise I think you\'d either have to pretty inventive with the engine (like RPGHalf-life are doing) or you\'d be better off just making your own (even if it does take years and years and years and lots of crying )

[Skain]

Ya, doing a mod is a good start, or maybe a TC. Ive worked on a few mods and TC (i was one of the original founders of the once popular gta - carmageddon tc (which i cant even find anymore :/)) As well as scripting a few mods in tribes.

Why not take the latest release of PS and just edit the models and skins, its a start of getting some experience.
psp7 opens most of the texture files u can find in the art folder, (ive not looked at the models yet, too busy but u can find them in the models.zip i assume)

[Chronus]

you guys are actually such big deals...people from all sorts of computing areas...
so many issues come strikingly clear to me now, it\'s like enlightenment!

p/s: don\'t flame me for posting a nonsense message, i\'m just expressing my awe  

[bbum]

lol i remember carmaggedon, gta was awsome, there used to be so many cool maps to download, like that snow town, or hamburger city or whatever.

[PeregrineBF]

Real languages:
C++ is the most used computer language for applications programming, and the closest thing to an industry standard there is.

PERL is fast and very portable, but not as good for games. Much better for web programming. There\'s More Than One Way To Do It.

Lisp (And scheme, and other such languages) are recursive. They are good for AI programming and many math things.

Assembly is very fast, but very hard. Assembler is rarely used now, but is often needed when working with portable devices (TI graphing calculators (Except the TI-89 and above, which can use C), PIC chips, microcontrollers, etc.)  It is good for small, quick programs.

BASIC and it\'s variants (QBASIC, etc) is simple, easy to learn, and hated by higher level programmers. Mainly because it uses GOTO a lot. GOTO is generally considered a Bad Thing.

LOGO is a simple old language. Moves a \"turtle\" which draws a line. It\'s fun, and can be a nice intro. Only the older coders remember this one.

Semireal:
Scripting languages for games. Unrealscript for the unreal series, WCIII\'s trigger language, and similar languages. needed if you make mods. Unrealscript is easy to learn, and is an actual programming language.

Odd esoteric languages:

Turkey Bomb: very fun. It\'s the only known programming language that is also a drinking game. Requires multiple people and alcohol. Hard to make useful code with, but good to get the company to pick up the bar tab.

BrainFu*k: Yes, there should be a c there. My favorite, it has 8 operators <>+-[],. and is turing complete. Quite a challenge to do anything useful with. Name describes what it does if you use it too much.

INTERCAL: Designed to be different from any other programming language. Something of a joke, also an exercise in logic and paitence.

Malebolge is a programming language designed to be evil. Stay away from this unless you are an expert programmer looking for a challange. (Only one person has ever made a successfull program.)

Non programming languages and things needed for gaming.

MAXScript: If you model with 3dsmax or gmax, it\'s used to make your own scripts.

OpenGL: Library set, used for 3d graphics rendering.

Direct 3D: Set of libraries, similar to OpenGL, but Microsoft based.

3DStudioMax: The best 3d modeller around. Also the most expensive. I use this.

Maya: Another good 3d modeller. I\'ve not used this.

Lightwave 3d: Another good 3d modeller. Good with lighting.

Adobe After Effects: Used in making videos, ie for cinematic sequences.

Adobe Premiere: Used to capture and edit video fotage, good for cinematics.

Adobe Photoshop: Used to make textures, backgrounds, any type of images. About $1000 last I looked.

Other adobe products are also often usefull, such as illustrator.

Oh nearly forgot: Compilers.
for C and C++, use either Microsoft Visual Studio, or GCC.
For perl, activestate perl is your best bet on windows.
BrainFu*k: use BlueFern, from alephmobius.8m.com this is still beta.

There are of course other things, but i won\'t go into them now.

[Rulzern]

The hard part isn\'t programming, but making good, fast and usable code. Also, programming isn\'t all, but you can make hella fun games with Programmer Graphics and free sounds/music. Just don\'t expect to make the next Quake or GTA for a good while, while programming isn\'t the only thing needed to make a good game, it\'s certainly the main part of making homemade games (unless you use some sort of game making program).

And for the love of the lord, remember, the biggest part of ANY game should be gameplay!

Well, the steps i suggest you take in making games is:

1. Plan carefully what kind of game it should be, and what it will contain. Also plan how much time you are willing to sacrifice, and what you want to use your time on.

2. Find out what tool to use to do the job, not much use in coding a simple platformer in C++ when Games Factory does the job better and faster.

3. Whip up some quick pseudo-code to further plan your game, make sure you get the programming style and neccecairy functions in (remember, you can do this outside with a pen and paper, get some sun :p ).

4. Code a basic framework for the game, where you can insert modules as they are required. Make sure you don\'t do it too detailed and forget about the objective of the coding.

5. Insert some basic gameplay, then quite simply expand on that as the development progresses.

PS: I focused on coding, since that is what I enjoy doing, and spend minimal time creating the GFX for games.

[PeregrineBF]

Also, don\'t forget music. Find someone good at composing, & make some background music.  It can really alter the quality of gameplay, and the setting.

[sashok]

ok, i think you are going too far there.


tam tam tam taaaaaam

*lower note* tam tam tam taaaaaam

bethoven

[PeregrineBF]

oh? I wouldn\'t put beethoven in a game, but look at avp2. that had all suspense up untill you met the aliens (then it got worse) but the music created the entire attitude.  Good use of music can change a game entirely.

[Rulzern]

but then again, the first game you make probably won\'t be AvP2 quality :p

[PeregrineBF]

true, but it\'s good to know that something is important, even if you don\'t have it. I\'d much prefer to know about all the things that I could do better than to be in the dark about them. for example, while I can make some rather nice models, my uvw unwrapping stinks.  Knowing that it exists and that I\'m not that good at it lets me practice more on that, instead of just trying to make some really wierd distorted textures.

Edit: Also, look at mario. that\'s stuck in many people\'s heads forever, and it wasn\'t all that great.

[Kieryn]

When I was real young playing reader rabbit of all things on my first ever PC around 5 or 6yrs old I decided I had wanted to be able to do that. Well I started by learning Basic, then VB, then Pascal, and well found at coding I suck! Then a computer broke on me and I tore it all apart and somehow fixed it. That was how I found out I was meant to break it and fix it and build it again! Now I play with thinktank db\'s and mainframes for construction companies. Weeeeeeee Like others have said find out what you excel in. If you find dissapointment in coding and find that you can\'t make your game think that it is not an ending but another beginning to find what yer really good at.