Hi all, I will introduce myself here; I am a complete and total newbie to the world of game programming and development. I am interested in making a couple of fangames of 2-d retro games, purely as a personal project for fun. (My ideas about 2-d retro games were to start very small, even as primitive as something like Kung Fu for the NES where there''s no platform jumping, just one dimension of movement, very few sprites to represent the player, etc., just so I could get started on it.) I''ve read the Start Here tutorial about making games and all, but I''ve noticed that I''m clueless even about how to start making their recommended first game, Tetris. I currently have experience with C++ and Java, and am currently working on learning Visual Basic to learn how to write stuff that will work cleanly with Windows (hey, I''ll openly admit I''m a Wintel lamer). I plan on programming for windows, as that is the environment I have. How would I start or where would I look to get started on the games (even on Tetris)? Salutations to all and thanks to anyone who helps.

Hello and welcome to the weird and wonderful world of game development!

You''ve already read the start here stuff so I''ll get straight to the point.

Firstly, I''d recommend designing your Tetris game. Don''t make vanilla tetris - it''ll be done more quickly, but it''ll be boring and you won''t be terribly proud of it. Instead, try and add some unique feature; when I did mine, I made it skinnable (for example).

Your design should cover every aspect of your game. Talk about how it''s going to look and feel, what''s going to happen when you do this or that, and so on. DON''T talk about how it''s going to work - yet.

When you''ve done the design, I''d recommend posting it here to get feedback - don''t be afraid of anyone stealing your ideas, because after all, it''s Tetris.

Then, my top tips for newbies:

• Use FMOD for your sound.


• Get used to browsing the MSDN, either online or offline


• Don''t even think about a graphics API until you know what (a)a message loop is, (b)HWND stands for, and (c)how to register a window class.

You might also want The GIMP for artwork, if you haven''t already got something for it.

So.. see you soon with a design, then!

Superpig
- saving pigs from untimely fates, and when he''s not doing that, runs The Binary Refinery.

Hi Superpig, thanks for the welcome and the response!

Just a few points of confusion here...

What's skinnable?

As for the graphics API thing, right now I'm reading through Windows Game Programming for Dummies, and it's leading through a lot of examples where they use HWND's (although I'm not entirely sure what it does stand for). The window registering and the message loop stuff I'm still working on comprehending right now.

Thanks again for the advice and the resource links.



[edited by - DreadPirateRoberts on December 30, 2002 8:31:06 PM]

Forget superpig. Go with a lib like Allegro - Its Keen!

Nice nickname by the way. That was a great movie.

http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/forum.asp?forum_id=33

Complete tetris walktrough


Also.. Go with DirecDraw and DirectSound, it''s da shiet