I''m a real newbie att programming and my choice of language is c++. I would like to know how much it takes to write a tetris kinda'' game. What is worth learning? Wich book will give me the knowledge I need? My goal is to do a secret of mana kinda'' game... Why? Because secret of mana rocks! =) Thank (hmm) you everybody goodnight!

Hi there

Tetris is a good place to start.

I would recommend reading Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus - by Andre Lamothe.

He covers DirectDraw, DirectSound, DirectInput, Fuzzy Logic, Neural Nets. A really good book.

Good Luck

Learn the C++ language itself very well before you attempt to create any kind of complex projects at all. Of course you could write a tetris clone (just watch out for Hasbro) with just more basic knowledge in C. Still, I''d recommend you getting a book on C++ if you haven''t already got one and Bjarne Stroustrup''s "The C++ programming language" if you do already. It''s a must have . There is a swedish translation of the 3rd ed. too.


"I think, therefore I am...I think"

I agree with Staffan. Andre LaMothe won''t teach you C++, neither will he teach you C. He assumes you know the language, and thus, shows you how to apply what you know of the language into a game. If you really want to program games, and not copy the source code out of the book, learn the actual language, THEN learn how to use the language you learned into making a game.

Programming::~Fredric(const Annoy_Ance)

aye, learn the language first. Your school ( assuming you are in high school, or even college ) should have a class on computer science in some language or another. Even if it''s not C++ it should teach you the basic concepts you need to know.

Well, even though I don''t like Staffan, I have to agree. Once you know the language well enough, then get Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus, or Windows Game Programming for Dummies. Both books are good, but WGPD is more of a quick overview (though you learn DX from it) whereas TWGPG is about 1000 pages of DirectX, physics, AI, and just about anything (except 3D, but that''ll be in Vol. II...)

If you code it, they will come...

Commander M
http://commanderm.8m.com
cmndrm@commanderm.8m.com

I would like to thank every one
who has answered my question...

I tried "Learn c++ in 3 weeks (yeah right)"
by Jesse Liberty but that didnt work at all...

Any good start book someone can recommend?

A book that''s been translated to swedish
would be great...

Znipper - "Livin'' will get you killed..."

i personally have Tricks of the Game programming Gurus and Windows Game Programming for Dummies, both by Andre Lamothe, and i thought they were *great*. i learned everything from those books that i know about DirectX. after those, move on to The Black Art of 3D Game Programming by Andre LaMothe, that is, if you''re up to the challenge!
as for C++, use it for windows applications. for games, stick with C. you dont need all the fancy smancy C++ stuff for games.

If you know C already (or any programming language), Stroustrup''s book is great. It is however I bit difficult to learn from if you''re learning from scratch, I think.

I heard "Teach yourself C++" (I think thats the name, black book with a blue "ty" if I remeber right) is supposed to be good. As for swedish translations, you might wan''t to look for Stephen Prata. I have no idea if he''s good or not, just seen his books in the store shelves.

Your best shot probably is your local university/högskola library.


"I think, therefore I am...I think"