looking to program :)

[Balimaar]

having somewhat enjoyed myself recently at school programming with C++ I would like to practice and develop my skills somewhat by programming some simple games.

played around a bit with game maker but now that ive learned game design basics, GM is starting to annoy me. i would like to code not drag and drop!

so my fellow escapees, do any of you know of any decent books that can help me with this? or even an online tutorial would be great but I prefer my books call me old fashioned if you want

 

[Tharwen]

played around a bit with game maker but now that ive learned game design basics, GM is starting to annoy me. i would like to code not drag and drop!

That's my problem with it. Working out how to program with the incredibly simplified interface is almost a puzzle game in itself.

Anyway, you could try Microsoft XNA studio for programming, but only if you're prepared to learn C# for it (which is quite similar to C++).

It's probably the easiest way to quickly get into making 2D graphics move around and interact, since non-commercial libraries or languages are often very, very fiddly to set up.

If you want to try 3D, I hear Unity is good but I've never used it so I can't really say much about it.

 

[Balimaar]

That's my problem with it. Working out how to program with the incredibly simplified interface is almost a puzzle game in itself.

Anyway, you could try Microsoft XNA studio for programming, but only if you're prepared to learn C# for it (which is quite similar to C++).

It's probably the easiest way to quickly get into making 2D graphics move around and interact, since non-commercial libraries or languages are often very, very fiddly to set up.

If you want to try 3D, I hear Unity is good but I've never used it so I can't really say much about it.

i may just give those a go. thanks for the tip

anyone have any further suggestions? or even some nice books i can use? i would prefer the sort of books where it teaches you something and then at the end of the chapter challenges you to do something with what you just learned.

 

[ThriKreen]

You could try Unity which supports C# and Python.

 

[PiCroft]

Game Code complete by Mike McShaffry is an excellent book. It's quite advanced in places and seems to assume you will be building an engine of your own, but it's lessons and principles are easy to apply to 3rd party engines.

OpenGL Programming Guide is probably the definitive OpenGL book and its companion book, OpenGL: A Primer makes for more practical and technical reading.

There was a DirectX book I used not too long ago that I found useful but it's name escapes me.

If you want to hone your skills with shaders, which is never a bad thing, the Cg Tutorial is free online and you can get a printed book for it too which is nice to have around for reference and reading at night