A 12 year game designer!?

#1 I am 15 and I started my own game http://endlesstime.ipfox.com

I don't find it amusing for kids to make games. You see, what used to be taught in college now is taught in highschool.

#2 dheh i'm taking AP computer science next year in highschool and i'm 16 (going to be a junior)

#3 I'll be taking it next year as a sophomore :P

#4 sicne when can sophmores take AP classes i thought it was just juniors and seniors

#5 No good computer courses here till you hit University, till then (depending on the school) you'll maybe have a programming course (Pascal) as the best there is. Most only have Desktop Publishing and maybe some BASIC programming (Basic in both senses)...

And do you mean he's 12 years old, or he's been programming since he was 8 and is now 20 years old?

#6 Uh i just finished computer programming 2 which was supposed to be basic but he changed it to c++ heh and AP computer science is a college coarse basically and it teaches advanced c++!

Also senior year i'm probably going to take a lot of courses at the community college here, and since i have lots of electives that year (i only have to take 1 english to grad but i'll need 1 science and math that year for college since i'm goin in for comp engineering).

#7 well, the first comp science class in the school was a one trimester C++ class. But the A.P. will be an intense graphics handling c++ course. So I think the high school course is pretty good.

and you can take any class if you can do what they ask for, I passed out of spanish ;)

EDIT: Andrew, I think he meant the kid was 12 :)

#8 Hey kids, keep working on the games! Do the low level stuff, don't shy away from taking on assembly dumps or learning C++ internals because it's difficult.

Computer science tracks in the universities do a good job of teaching foundations, as well as the high tech pet projects of individual professors, but they do not do well to prepare you for the real world like actual experience, even if you create that experience yourself. Also, college graduates have woefully inadequate knowledge of the low level things that really makes computers tick. These are absolute requirements for the game industry.

For the record, I started developing games for the Atari 400/800 in assembly language when I was 13, in 1982. I've only lately entered the professional game development arena, but in the meantime I've developed the software running FedEx's main package sorter, semiconductor fabs and spy plane telemetry. And I have a college degree in creative writing, not comp sci.

The edge, of course, is that I've been passionate about software development forever, and I do the work because I want to do it. I've studied the low level workings because without that, you cannot finish the job. And out in the real world, it's the passionate people who have made it their business to know everything who get hired and produce successful applications.

#9 I know that the classes are not enough. That's why I'm here and with my comp all day. I am learning more and more C++. I feel like a sponge, absorbing things. Lol

but you are right, you need experience.

#10 Wow. I am jealous. When I went to highschool, the absolute highest programming language class you could get into was Pascal, and it was only one quarter. Typically, it followed the one quarter of BASIC. Then, it was all over. Actually I did also get a half year of BASIC in middle school, which seemed really cool at the time.

Matias(and any of you other spongers out there): Sponge up what you can now. Soon, you will find in life that your sponging abilities are used soaking up other things, like maintaining a family and relationships.

Jealous,
-Sean

#11 Thanks for the advice sean :D

btw, what's a good DirectX book??? I am "trying, lol" to learn C++ in combination with DirectX

#12 You had PASCAL?!?! Come from a rich school? heheh All we had was TRS-BASIC (anyone remember Radio Shak's TRaSh-80's?

#13 Eric:

I don't believe it was a rich school. ;-) I never took the Pascal class, but the BASIC classes were all perfomed using Apple II's. I would venture to guess that the Pascal classes were the same, since I never remember seeing anything accept Apples at the school.

Matias:

If you find one, let me know. I tend to find most books of little use these days. Plus, I have not found anything nice on DX8... As you probably know, DX8 now integrates DDraw and D3D, instead of keeping them two seperate interfaces. I suppose something nifty will come out soon. I would urge you to look at the sample apps that come with the DX8 SDK.

-Sean

#14 I did, but maybe I am just stupid :P Well, I bought a book about D3D by Wolfgang something, I dunno if it's good, it had like a 4.6/5 for the review so I figured it had to be alright. I'll tell you if it's any good :)

#15 Matias:

I am certain you are not stupid. ;-) The SDK examples seem to be over complicated to me. My guess is that it is so because everything is called through COM interfaces, which in itself, is a pain in the backside. Personally, I have considered not messing with DX8 at all, and totally going OpenGL. Any thought? ;-)

-Sean

#16 OpenGL is simpler to learn. If you are familiar with C++ then Nehe's tutorials are a great place to start learning OpenGL. The samples in the DX8 SDK can appear complicated at first. My recommendation is to open up the SDK docs and look for the tutorials (DirectX Graphics->DirectX Graphics C/C++ Tutorials). These are a lot simpler than the samples and are quite well written and easy to learn from. Once you have a handle on them, the smaples will be a lot easy to take.

#17 If you know Direct X, will you have an easier time with opengl? I mean, could you relate them together some how?

#18 In my opinion it is easier to learn OpenGL and then to learn DX8. The basics of DX8 are similar to more advanced topics of OpenGL (specifically vertex buffer vs. vertex arrays) so you are going to have a harder time applying your DX8 knowledge to the basics of OpenGL whereas if you learn the basics of OpenGL and then move into the more advanced areas of OpenGL it is quite simple to move over to the basics DX8. Hopefully, this made some sense =) I personally learned OpenGL quite thoroughly first then learned DX8 and found it to be an easy transition so I am sure I am biased. Maybe someone who went the DX then OpenGL route could offer their experiences?

#19 Matthew, I am intending to go to the openGL route( from some DX experience ). Is OpenGl as obnoxious to kickstart the video modes and such that you want to use ( as obnoxious as DX8, I mean)?

I am going to check out the post about the tut on OpenGL, now. ;-)

-Sean

#20 I can not find the opengl SDK, can someone give me a link to it???