Making a Game?

[thejahooli]

I know this is my 2nd new topic in 5 minutes but I'm reasonably new to programming.
I know C++ and SDL (I've read Sams Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days and Focus on SDL) and I'm not sure if I'm ready to begin programming actual games.
The main problem I'm having is actually thinking of how to use the things I know to actually make a proper game.
If anyone knows any online help, books or could help please do.

[Falco Girgis]

This question is so broad that nobody would have any way in hell of helping you. You want help with what exactly? The science of game development is so vast that you could be talking about anything from vector and matrix mathematics or physics to creating a simple menu in Lua or creating a photo system to browse lesbian porn in-game.

If you want to know how to do specific things in a game either Google a tutorial (which is likely to not exist) or be an engineer and do it yourself. Tutorials/FAQs only help beginners. There comes a point when a programmer should be competent enough to implement his own ideas.

[deryni21]

I know this is my 2nd new topic in 5 minutes but I'm reasonably new to programming.
I know C++ and SDL (I've read Sams Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days and Focus on SDL) and I'm not sure if I'm ready to begin programming actual games.
The main problem I'm having is actually thinking of how to use the things I know to actually make a proper game.
If anyone knows any online help, books or could help please do.

0.o you've read both of those books and never even made even a simple little game?

[MarauderIIC]

Did you work through the examples and browse the disks that came with them (if applicable)? I'm sure that would be a big help.

[thejahooli]

@Marauder and dernyi21
Most of the example of things in Sams are not to do with games and more of general programming and the examples in Focus on SDL are more small peices of code that do small things in a game.

I've read some online ideas of where to start so am currently making a tic-tac-toe game and will probably start on pong, space invaders and, of course, creating a photo system to browse lesbian porn in-game.

[PixelP]

I've read some online ideas of where to start so am currently making a tic-tac-toe game and will probably start on pong, space invaders and, of course, creating a photo system to browse lesbian porn in-game.

tic-tac-toe is a good game to start with.

[dandymcgee]

tic-tac-toe is a good game to start with.

As long as you don't attempt computer player AI as a beginner.. Been there, Done that.

[deryni21]

tic-tac-toe is a good game to start with.

As long as you don't attempt computer player AI as a beginner.. Been there, Done that.

?? that wouldn't be that hard... but it would be kind of hard (as im doing it)

[BlueMonkey5]

I admit, I never made a game before myself. I too am a beginner. I've decided to take all the advice I've been hearing around here and make the simplest game I possibly can. To make one project, ridiculously simple, and finish it is better than to start working on something too big that you will end up leaving aside. It was only until I joined this group that the reasoning of these good fellows got me thinking like that, luckily.

I hear some good ideas above: tic-tac-toe, or pong. Anything that fully works and functions sounds good to me. I plan to make my first project something so simple, it will just have one screen, non-scrolling, and something that moves around. That's it!! But it sounds like a good place to start. And believe it or not, you can make that intricate enough... just think about the Atari days with Asteroids, Pac-man, Space Invaders and all those other countless games. That's all they had to work with, so they put their imaginations to work. And projects even at the simplest of Atari levels will be a great challenge to a beginner programmer I would have to imagine! So, things like that are a good place to start. Then, move onto a very, VERY simple side-scroller or something. I myself, plan to stick to graphic art, concept art and design. Think I'll have my plate full with that, but it won't hurt for artists to know about the technical side of programming as well- more advice taken from the Chaos Rift. Good luck to you.

[deryni21]

I admit, I never made a game before myself. I too am a beginner. I've decided to take all the advice I've been hearing around here and make the simplest game I possibly can. To make one project, ridiculously simple, and finish it is better than to start working on something too big that you will end up leaving aside. It was only until I joined this group that the reasoning of these good fellows got me thinking like that, luckily.

I hear some good ideas above: tic-tac-toe, or pong. Anything that fully works and functions sounds good to me. I plan to make my first project something so simple, it will just have one screen, non-scrolling, and something that moves around. That's it!! But it sounds like a good place to start. And believe it or not, you can make that intricate enough... just think about the Atari days with Asteroids, Pac-man, Space Invaders and all those other countless games. That's all they had to work with, so they put their imaginations to work. And projects even at the simplest of Atari levels will be a great challenge to a beginner programmer I would have to imagine! So, things like that are a good place to start. Then, move onto a very, VERY simple side-scroller or something. I myself, plan to stick to graphic art, concept art and design. Think I'll have my plate full with that, but it won't hurt for artists to know about the technical side of programming as well- more advice taken from the Chaos Rift. Good luck to you.

go simpler. thought i was going to do the same thing but the extra language knowledge was to come after actually knowing a good amount about c++ and i have just barely started lazyfoos tutorials on sdl and its been over 2 months since i started programming in c++. do a console app try tic tac toe in the console thats not novice but its not hard.

[aamesxdavid]

Your best bet is to go for the absolute simplest game and work your way up. And I do mean absolute simplest.

I was reading OXM a couple of months ago, and some of the writers decided to try and make a game with XNA - none of them had programming experience. The game idea they came up with was called "Red or Blue", which displayed either red or blue on the screen, and you had to hit the appropriate button. Start with something like that. Then have it keep score. Then have it use different colors/buttons, etc. The idea is to get something working as fast as possible so that you're not disheartened, and add pieces on to make it more complex. Worst case scenario, you go back to your last working build, and you still have something accomplished. When you've built enough pieces to get a more advanced game working, start doing that. Then build that up, and so on. You'll have an arsenal of mini games and a lot of knowledge and experience on how to build games.

[BlueMonkey5]

Those sound like some really great ideas! "Having an arsenal of mini-games" actually sounds like a good plan. good way to go. and you guys even got me thinking of another idea, which would be something like a 'mock' title screen project. The assignment would be to concoct some example Title Screen for some imaginary game, and make it fully functioning... like each option would take you to a different screen, even if the screen is just blank. This will be getting practice in for when it comes time to make a game with a real title screen. Just an idea.

[aamesxdavid]

Those sound like some really great ideas! "Having an arsenal of mini-games" actually sounds like a good plan. good way to go. and you guys even got me thinking of another idea, which would be something like a 'mock' title screen project. The assignment would be to concoct some example Title Screen for some imaginary game, and make it fully functioning... like each option would take you to a different screen, even if the screen is just blank. This will be getting practice in for when it comes time to make a game with a real title screen. Just an idea.

That's definitely a good idea. That's what I did with Blitz3D, and then from there I made a settings file that would save the resolution you wanted to run at, and if you wanted it full screen. Every time I added a function that worked, I copied everything over to a new project, so that there was always the last step that was fully working readily available.