Graphics, sound, and programming, oh my!

Phacia · 2002-07-20T16:42:38

Well, I may sound like the typical newbie here, but I think I have some "special circumstances" that warrants a couple of these questions... I''ve already picked my language and my platform. C++ and Windows. Now, my "Development System" is a Sony Vaio GRX550- which has some great hardware, but it''s shipped with WinXP Home(see Sony''s site if you need to know the hardware specifics). This is the only real development system I have to work with. And DOS programs work worse in XP than they did in WinMe! So Windows XP is what I''m stuck with for development. I''ve noticed some older programs that were originally designed for Win95 work just fine in XP, while others crash and burn. My ultimate goal is to make SNES-styled games that can work on Win9x and WinXP. It''ll be a long, grueling journey- I''m prepared for that. And I''ve got a summer job to take care of the expenses. I plan to start off making cheap Tetris and Hang-Man games after I have a fundamental knowledge. Then add a few twists to those two for flavor(to get my creative juices flowing). And if I''m feeling lucky, and really up for the challenge, a cheap Mario-like game that can be beaten in a half hour. I plan to do this one little baby-step at a time, of course. Now, here''s what I need: A good compiler, XP compatible, that can compile the C++ language faithfully. Books to teach me how to use that compiler. Something oriented for game programming in WinXP(or at least something that can be developed on both). I have no real working knowledge of C++, so this book will have to get me started from scratch(I''ll buy a couple books if I have to, but do bear in mind, I do have a limited budget). I''d prefer some online tutorials(not just one, but a few would be nice), but if books is the way to go, I''ll do that too. Books(yes, more books) to teach me about graphics, specifically, character sprites. I have a couple basic textures down(grass, water, wood-floor, desert-sand). I have one of those "How to Draw Manga" books(the Getting Started one, of course :D), and I plan to buy a couple more of those in the near future, so I should be able to design characters by the time I''m ready to make the game(which will be awhile, heh). It''s the actual sprites that are a problem. I don''t even know where to begin. Here''s a list of software that I have, that I think is relevent to mention. Bloodshed.net''s Dev-C++ 4 - No real updates, I don''t think, just the plain flavor. I heard that this is indeed a good compiler, but awhile back when I typed up a few C++ "examples", they didn''t compile at all. I got a handful of errors on quite a few of those examples. I even used the "copy and paste" command! Microsoft Visual C++ V1.5 (yes, V1.5, from the Win3.1 days! I probably won''t use it, but I thought I''d mention it anyway for humor :b) Adobe Photoshop Elements - Cheap, scaled-down version of AP, but it''s still nice. :-) Corel Draw 8 & 10 Jeskola Buzz - GREAT(and I do mean GREAT) tracker. 99% of my music is composed in Buzz. Have to use the XP fix everytime I wanna use it though. :b NoteWorthy Composer & Anvil Studio: I hardly use ''em, but I keep ''em around when I need to think in sheet-music. Notepad - No storyline writer should be without!!! :-D So, that''s pretty much it. Any tips or pointers would be much appreciated.

For Beginners

Started by Phacia July 14, 2002 10:20 PM

10 comments, last by Phacia 22 years, 3 months ago

Phacia

Author

122

July 18, 2002 09:29 PM

Wow guys, thanks for the tips! I''ll definitely check it all out. And y''know, back when I had started learning C++(I gave up when absolutely none of my codes compiled), I totally forgot that I could ask you guys for help. :D

But there''s still the issue of those character sprites...

fisheyel83l

100

July 20, 2002 04:42 PM

Two or three years of high school (or a year of college-level)Computer Science courses should be enough to give you a general understanding of C++. As far as creating sprites for a game, check out articles online to learn about artistic techniques (someone covered Capcom-style sprites, which was incredibly useful). After that, check out Game Programming in 21 Days, like Erunama suggested. It covers DOS-based game programming, but it contains all the info you can handle about 2D games, sprites, and animation. I read it as much as The Zen of DirectX Game Programming, which is great for learning to produce code to support your sprites. It''s nice and modern.

Good luck!