Programming Dreams

1st_Movement · Post by **1st_Movement** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 4:27 pm

well...a while back i picked up a book on blitz basic. didnt ever quite finish it...i should have...but i didnt. I still have it, and id love to learn to program, and ive got ideas for games...but i have no idea if ill have the time, the motivation, or whatever. i dont even know if i can remember how it all works (or RELEARN all of it.) anyways...i was wondering what you guys would do...or if you would mind helping me out with all the relearning stuff...and it would probably take a while to relearn...

anyways yeah. I want to take a programming class next year at BJHS but i gotta pass that stupid test (which ive heard is hard...because you have to know under which menu and all this other crap every little command is in every little program. or so ive heard. blarg)

yeah. ill end my rant here. just wanting an opinion. thanks!

Post by **Falco Girgis** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 4:41 pm

First, I'd trash the BlitzBasic book.

I don't know why everybody has to learn that language nowadays. It isn't half as powerful or crossplatform like C/++. The only advantage is that it's hella easy to use because it does everything for you (which is actually a disadvantage, because it'll never allow you to gain experience or land you a job).

If you want to really program, I'd learn C or C++ first. Once you become fairly well acquanted with them, you can make real games using a graphics API like SDL. C and C++ are the languages that are used to make real games, not BlitzBasic.

Essentially, C and C++ are harder. No, way the hell harder. They're lower level languages, so what do you expect? I personally use them nowadays in conjunction with SDL for my PC programming needs and with the Dreamcast PVR for my Dreamcast needs.

But keep in mind that if you're serious about wanting to program that it won't happen overnight. JSL and I both started at around the same time. That was in like 8th grade I believe. We've been programming nonstop to get to where we are today (I'll let you judge whether that's good or bad).

Man, I remember all those hard nights of staying up late just to get one damn thing to compile. Then I'd carry the code to school and skip lunch so that I can look at it and figure out what the hell was wrong. That's what I did with the C/++ Particle Engine (sadly in the end I hadn't really done anything wrong, I just didn't realize that <cmath> sin() and cos() are in radians, not degrees. Thanks to Mar I've since straightened that out).

DJ Yoshi · Post by **DJ Yoshi** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 5:24 pm

The test is easy. Brush up on your Windows Database usage, and Excel and Word usage, and you'll be fine. Seriously. And C/C++ is awesome, and really not that hard to learn (at least not with Rountree).

1st_Movement · Post by **1st_Movement** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 8:17 pm

ah. well...i think ill go for the class...if i self teach myself ill probably do it wrong, or end up giving up like i did last time...
anyways thanks for your thoughts. ill go for roundtree.

:spin:

Post by **Falco Girgis** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 8:21 pm

If you take the class, don't think it'll be sufficient to make a game -- it's not.

Mrs. Rountree teaches everything you need to know to make a nice black box, boring, text based RPG.

You'll have to branch off on your own to apply those concepts to video games. Don't worry though, this is a programming forum and everybody here can help you big time.

Post by **JS Lemming** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 8:44 pm

The only way I would recomend BlitzBasic is if you really don't understand how things work internaly and never plan to. Ah.... well, i guess I take that back. Just consider Blitz an introductory to game programming and nothing more. You should move on to C++ very soon after Blitz.

I'd say the biggest problem with programming is the motivation factor... hands down it is. There is so much free information out on teh net these days that you could essentially learn anything. But it is all USELESSS if you don't feel like look'n at it.

And yeah, as Gyrovorbis stated, if you learn C++ first, be prepared to make a tun of really cheeesy boring black box games of utter text stupidity. And that will probably nuke the average joe's motivation. That is one good thing about Blitz, your graphical from the start.

1st_Movement · Post by **1st_Movement** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 8:51 pm

ah...i love...uh...black box games...

really i do...

well i can see that will be loads of fun. oh well. im sure itll be helpful somewhat.

i write stuff (stories...poems...blah blah blah) and an RPG would be awesome. cause then i can make all the story i want...and maybe get some cool cutscenes. and maybe ill learn how to make music for games too....

and yeah. i know that RPGs are going to be a loooong way off for me. and i dont know what ill start with...but i hope ill get going soon.

Post by **JS Lemming** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 8:55 pm

*Imagines cut scene in console box.... man... I bet the frame rate on that baby would be blistering. That is, asuming you spend the neccesary decades needed to make a movie out of text

1st_Movement · Post by **1st_Movement** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 9:46 pm

ooooh yeah.

my mad ASCII skills will PWN any CG movie EVER! screw the matrix! you can watch my movie with awesome subtitles! maybe even MOVING ASCII!!! I smell a revolution,....A REVOLUTION!!!

mmm....things that will never happen... :spin:

Post by **Falco Girgis** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 11:53 pm

JS Lemming wrote:I'd say the biggest problem with programming is the motivation factor... hands down it is. There is so much free information out on teh net these days that you could essentially learn anything. But it is all USELESSS if you don't feel like look'n at it.

Sorry, I just had to give JSL and amen.

AMEN!