Languages Languages Languages lots of em

#1 I'd suggest C++ but only because I, and this community in general, focus on cross platform as much as possible. Not absolutly certain but I think C# is windows only and VB.NET is only for windows.

I haven't used Python but looking at various 3D game engines python is quite a common scripting language so its a good idea to keep learning that as well if possible.

If you want to a (small, manageable) step from The Games Factory I'd suggest looking at GameMaker, its now a version 6, its still free but you get a lot of benefits for registering (its 15 euros or 18 dollars I think) so its very cheap. Basic game planning and creation is similar to the games factory but it has its own C style programming language so you can extend game features with. Also you can create C++ DLL's once you're suitably skilled.

If you want to create 3D games in the future you'll have much more choice if you know C++. There are 3D engines for VB.NET and C# (a couple for each) but there are tons of recources for C++..

Not sure if thats clear enough to help ya out there!!

Good luck,
Nick

#2 Could you just tell me really what to do now please. is c++ to advance for me?

#3 I don't know how good you are at programming. Try GameMaker if you haven't got much programming experience, it will be familiar to you from working on The Games Factory but also has a C style programming you can use as well. Easy to start with.

No reason C++ is too advanced if you are willing to put in the time to learn it same as anything else...

Nick

#4 Jordan, there are really only 3 types of programming languages.

There's structured languages like C, Pascal, Cobol, etc. These are usually the first languages taught to a beginner programmer as it is somewhat conceptually easier to absorb. They basically start at line 1, and run through to the last line, unless you tell them to do otherwise.

Object oriented programming languages like C++ and Java are not as straightforward. They model real and imagined objects, their interactions and relationships between each other. These in general have the advantage of being less work for the programmer in the long run.

Then there are fancy schmancy event driven languages like Visual Basic and Flash Actionscript. Typically, bits of your code get fired off in reaction to external stimuli such as a mousclick by the user.

Learn one of each of these languages. Along the way, figure out what pointers are, and you can code in practically any language out there.

Of the three Christmas presents you mentioned, VB is probably the easiest to get into. But C++ is the one will gain you respect and acceptance from your fellow geeks. ;) How big is your appetite?

#5 Oh thanks everyone!

just a couple more questions.

1) do you need pygame to make applications in python?

2) 1 have to wait until XMAS to get the book, what should i do while i am waiting?

3) should i learn VB.net, then c++ and stop learning python?

working this stuff out is confusing

thanks

#6 If you've started learning programming with Python, keep at it :)
Now is not the time to go language hopping, really.
Get a handle on what programming involves, etc.
And Python is actually quite a good choice to get started, seeing as it doesn't involve any costly licenses, etc.
Once you know how to program, you can make up your own mind about what to do next :)
Oh, and if by chance you live in a city or town big enough to have a library with a computer science section, go borrow books, or even read on the premises.
The net is also choke full of info on programming : you could do worse then check out gamedev.net's section for beginners, flipcode, etc.
It's going to be hard work, but if you like it, well worth it :)
Keep at it, and don't despair,
Have fun

#7 Good idea

i have just checked out DARK BASIC but i dont know what it is really like. Is it good having a prebuilt engine or should i just keep with this first. But i still dont know if you need pygame to make python games and applications because i downloaded pygame and i tried some examples but they said there was no such module as pygame.

thanks for keeping on this thread for so long but i still need a bit more info.

Jordan

#8

Quote:
Not absolutly certain but I think C# is windows only and VB.NET is only for windows.

Without getting into the .net specification, there is a group working on making it cross platform. See Mono

Also the entire Microsoft Visual Studio Express Beta 1 products are available for download for free, although you can not sell anything you create (from what I gather on the EULA) Might be an option for you get a flavor for the languages without an investiment. See Visual Studio 2005 Express Beta Products

Granted it will force you to download the .Net framework 2.0 Beta. Some don't like that.

Just some more information. Take it for what its worth.

#9 Ooooooh.... Do not get dark Basic! extremly worthless and dumb. I would suggest learning C++

the book

C++: How to program by dietal and Deital is an extremly awesome book so you should consider that.

edit = mispelled book title

#10 Ok thank you

so DARK BASIC is out of it, but do you need pygame to make things in python. I must know this.

But i reckon by XMAS i will have the hang of programming and will be able to get the c++ book. but before that i am going to finish learning python and make some applications and games. But i was doing some c++ before this but it got too complicated and i found online tutorials were hard to understand. i can do this in c++

#include

using namespace std;

int main()
{
int age;

cout<<"please enter your age\n";
cin>> age;
cin.ignore();
if ( age < 100 ) {
cout<<"you are very young\n";
}
else if ( age == 100 ) {
cout<<"you are old\n";
}
else {
cout<<"you are very old\n";
}
cin.get();
}




thanks i did as best as i could in thing.

#11 C/C++ are very poor first languages. They have preprocessor, compilation, and link steps... no introspection... you get introduced to pointers and memory management WAY too early in the game. It goes on and on...

Python is being used extensively in education... Here's an excellent beginner's link.

PyGame is cool and there are a lot of samples to learn from... all you'll need is a bit of patience with yourself.

#12 Yes i am now learning python but i do not know if you need pygame to make anything. Do you need pygame for python?????????????

I must know thanks

#13 From now til xmas, why not look online for beginning tutorials in the languages you're interested in.

From what I have briefly read, pygame is a game engine using SDL and incorporating python as the scripting language. Check out www.libsdl.org for other game engines that use SDL but not python as the scripting language. I think you're asking the wrong question, but an answer to it....no, you don't need pygame to program in python.

#14 Wicked!!!

Yeah but people have siad python is great to start out with according to gamedev.net.

What are the steps and languages i should take in programming ( eg. language, type of games ect.....)

#15 I followed Dan - Forgotten Soul's advice and got the visual basic beta thanks

#16 Jordan,

One "word of warning" is that VB.net is really a new language compared to VB 6.0 . Just in case a friend has an old book or something on VB or you see a discounted VB 6.0 book in a store. Its not really the same language as in VB 6.0 code will not run on VB.net without some extensive rewrite.

My advice would be look at what you want to do and then decide what language is best for that task. Most of the languages here are very powerful in their own rights. Most people seem to have favorites.

#17 Oh i have one more suggestion type thing. You can get a C++ IDE and compile and VB.NET and a bunch of other things like that all in one. I have a handy little thing called Visual Studio.NET 2003.

If you purchase the learning edition it comes with the compiler and that kind of stuff + a book on learning how to make .NET apps + the MSDN library. new it costs like 60 bucks but I got mine used but never opened from amazon for like 25.

once again its just a suggestion.

#18 Oh and one more thing. C++ isnt that bad of a first language. here is the oder I learned my languages and all in less then a year by far.

HTML - doesnt really count

QBASIC - good for beginners but teaches bad habits

NWScript - I thought it was kinda hard and I wasnt realy into it so i dropped it after a while

Blitz Basic - Basic command style but with C++ concepts awesome for making 2d games

C++ - awesome for making REAL application but I have never used it for games involving graphics

Torque script - still learning but it is even more awesomerer... seriously

#19 Look, finish learning Python since you've already started.

In my opinion, the best languages to use are Java and C++. I also hear good things about Blitz Basic, but I think that's more the kind of language you learn for practice making games before you move up to something else.

Java and C++ are both Object-oriented languages, which makes them the most popular sort of language these days.

I use Java, which has a number of advantages, but there's lots of misconceptions about it. First, you can download the jdk (the java equivalent of a compiler) and the jre (which runs Java programs) for free from Sun's website. The jdk actually includes the jre except that, for some reason, it doesn't seem to include the java plugin for internet explorer and netscape navigator, which you need to use new Java code in those browsers.

You'll usually have to buy some sort of program for making .exe files to run the Java programs though. Either that or make the .exe files yourself. I found that the kind generated by the program I bought work much better than the ones I made myself.

Some people seem to think that they can't distribute Java programs. This is wrong. You can include the jre with the program so that people can run the program. You just can't include the jdk.

Java includes the Java API, which gives developers a whole library of code to use. You do have to write some code to make a good game engine, but there's some Java game engines on the Internet. In fact, I'm writing a Java Game Programming Tutorial. It won't help you right now for 2 reasons: 1. it's nowhere near finished and 2. you need to already know how to program in Java (it just teaches how to program games).

There's other tutorials out there though - they're just not as good as mine's going to be. :)

Java allows you to program applets as well as applications. Applets are powerful, but, to be honest, alot of people hate them because people usually make applets that suck. Applets don't have to suck though.

There's also servlets, which are basically applets that run on a server. Those are rather complicated. In fact, I don't think I remember enough about them to actually make one without the help of a book or a tutorial of some kind.

C++ seems to me to be kind of dated. It was based on C and then added object-oriented programming. This is great, but Java kind of started over from scratch with object-oriented programming as its main focus.

Still, lots of people use C++, which means there's alot of legacy code lying around. I suspect that most people don't think of C++ as Java's older, dumber brother (which is how I think of it).

C++ is also, in theory, faster than Java because Java is interpreted. It actually depends alot more on the code you write than upon anything else. And Java is getting alot faster than it used to be. Of course, it's a moot point because people have multi-ghz computers now anyways.

Another big advantage of C++ is that you can use Torque, which seems to be better than similar products for Java. I don't really know much about it, but I'm sure alot of people here can tell you about Torque.

So do the following:

1. finish learning Python
2. if you want, learn Blitz Basic
3. learn Java or C++ (preferably both)
4. learn Html and some web-based languages (like php) if you want to make a website to host your games

#20 Some people say that java programs would run slower than c++.
is that true?