If you don''t learn C++ in dos/linux, command line.. give up. Just walk away. You need to learn it in the base form to understand that the windows are just little tricks you can add to it. That''s all windows are.. more classes that you call without really getting down and dirty.

Magnwa

Step 1: Get a book
There''s a reason they''ve been around for millenia... they help you learn better. Get a C programming book, and learn it inside out. Then get a C++ book, and learn its differences from C. Pick up other languages if you like. But learn the basics before deciding you want to write a game.

Step 2: Practise
Asking questions is fine, but theory without practical experience is nothing. See step 1.

Step 3: Be a hunter, not a gatherer
When something daunting appears, try to learn about it on your own. Posting to forums is fine, but searching and finding the answer on your own will give you better problem solving skills in the long run. (Yes, this means "Stop posting ''How do I write Hello World? programs in DOS?''". Rather learn how to do this, and why even such a silly-sounding program exists.)

Step 4: Plan before writing anything
Always design your programs first. Never design them while you implement them. You''ll find yourself backtracking before the project is complete.

Step 5: Start off small, then move to more complex projects
Otherwise those small foundational programs will never be benefitted from, and you may end up giving up on the larger programs before you complete them, simply because they are too daunting.




MatrixCubed
http://MatrixCubed.org

*sigh*

Look. We''re not holding out on you. There''s no big secret thing you do that makes you magically a game programmer overnight.

We''ve told you, post after post, what it is you need to do to write a game. We''ve been honest with you. The thing it takes to be a game programmer is WORK. That means you''re going to have to stop posting "help me, I wanna make Quake or an emulator or Shockmachine" type posts and learn to get out there and make the effort required to do a hello world program. That means you are standing face to face with YEARS of work, work that YOU need to do, because we can''t do it for you. There is no easy way. There''s not. We''ve given you the books, we''ve given you the tutorials, we''ve given you the steps, over and over.

So now it''s time for you to decide. You have made no fewer than 55 posts to this forum, all asking how to start. We''ve told you. We''ve told you several times. The answers haven''t changed. The ball is in your court now. Either go get a book, class, or tutorial that we''ve listed and get to work, or go find something else productive to do with your time.

Thank you.

-fel

quote:

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Original post by Eraserhead

Just a question, rodney|dixon: Have you ever written 'Hello World' in C++?

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Yes I have and I can even send you the source code. Because I used Dev C++ 4.0 & Dev Pascal (as a starting points) and I am going to work my way up from there. Because I have taking everyone's reponse to this post and used them to help me learn C++. So now I won't be needing to post questions here because I will be learning, learning, & learning until I will be able to create my projects.

BYE NOW


Edited by - rodneyldixon on April 16, 2001 4:32:22 PM

quote:

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Original post by tryforfulluse

yeah right your never going to make anything good, if your still asking how to write "hellow world". and by the way you wont be making roms, you would make an emulator to read them in. and after you learn c++, you will only be able to display text in dos, (so you know)

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Dude, I''m guessing you couldn''t do much better if you can''t spell ''hello''.

Don''t insult people who ask for help. When someone asks for help, you help them. It''s called ''help''. Get it? What would you do if you emailed André LaMothe about a problem and he responded with what you wrote? Wouldn''t like it too much, now would ya?

And he didn''t ask how to write a "hello world" program. Someone else asked sarcastically if he''d ever written one himself. Get your facts straight.



And Rodney, ignore crap like that. I know you''ve gotten a lot of it, but just know that you are going to learn this. From programming to physics to graphics... everything. When you''re all done, you can do whatever you want. But...

TIP: Don''t get ahead of yourself. If you find yourself having rambling thoughts about fame and fortune and interviews with game magazine journalists, stop right there, have a drink and sit down in a comfortable chair. Just relax.
All that is is a sign that you have some ideas, and are a little anxious to get them on the run. But you have to realize that all those daydreams you might have are of what you want to happen after you''ve completed a project and it''s been released. Since when did you have a dream about sitting and typing the thing?

AND ALSO: Search on your own. You can''t rely on forums for everything. Some arrogant people may get a little irritated and try to insult you as a beginner. I find ask.com to be the best search engine for my tastes so it''s the only one I use, but besides that there''s lycos, msn, nbci, yahoo, google, the list goes on.

For you the beginner like me:
Books:
Sams Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days (excellent)
C++ For Dummies (not the best, but worth a good look)
C++: the Complete Reference (never read it, but heard good things)
TIP: You could check out André LaMothe''s books, but they''re too long for my tastes and most of them use Directx which is too hard.

Compilers/IDEs/Interpreters:
Visual C++ (of course, but there are alternatives)
DevC++ (excellent alternative that uses Mingw32)
Borland Free C++ (lame; stear clear)
Python (excellent)

APIs/Libraries (for beginners):
Allegro (lot of people like it)
TIP: Directx and Opengl are WAY too complicated; stear clear until you''ve got your skills down.

Websites:
Ask Jeeves-- http://www.ask.com
GD Search Engine-- http://www.gdse.com
STEEL''s Graphics Tutorials-- http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Park/9784/tut.html

We have no problem helping people, SomeGuy. We do, however, have a problem when a single person rants, raves, and whines for help in 55 separate posts while refusing to do any work on his own to get the information he needs, after we have told him the same answer repeatedly. I''m sorry but after a while that gets annoying.

*shrug*

-fel

I had a dream about this when I was playing on my brand new downloaded Shockmachine. And I thought to myself, maybe I should write something like this. And that's when it hit me to make a shockmachine clone.



Edited by - felisandria on April 22, 2001 2:42:32 AM

quote:

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I need HELP!!!!!

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Why yes, Rodney, yes you do...

Here''s a tip: Think about making DOS "Guess the Number" or even Windows "Make a Window Appear" before you EVER think about making a shockwave clone.

And the thing about a shockwave clone is that it was developed over many years, with tens of programmers, developers, artists, and organizers.

One guy can''t just be yanked off the street in do that in any reasonable amount of time. I''m sorry.

Now get to those C++ books.

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The Goblin (madgob@aol.com)
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"Before critisizing somebody, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you do critisize them, not only will you be a mile away, but you''ll also have their shoes!"

quote:

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Original post by rodneyldixon

I had a dream about this when I was playing on my brand new downloaded Shockmachine. And I thought to myself, maybe I should write something like this. And that''s when it hit me to make a shockmachine clone.

Edited by - felisandria on April 22, 2001 2:42:32 AM

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I had a dream too. After watching Where The Heart Is, I thought to myself, Natalie Portman sure is cool. That''s when it hit me to go date her.

That sounds just as ludicrous as what you''ve proposed. Dreams are okay, but you need to know your own limits as well.

All of us here on this board didn''t learn to program overnight. We''ve told you where to go look for information. And as fel said, we aren''t holding anything back from you.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. The road to becoming an expert programmer is a long and tedious one. But you''ve got to start somewhere. There is nothing wrong with starting programming in console mode (i.e. text based apps). That''s where all of us started from.

As is obvious from your previous posts, you can''t even get a hello world program to compile. I''m not trying to be harsh, but if you can''t do that, stay away from Win32 (that is, Windows) programming. Take things one step at a time and don''t go ahead of yourself.

Now stop reading these message boards and go read your tutorials/books/whatever. Come back when you''ve got real questions to ask. We''ll be here .



p.s. Does anyone know how I can get in touch with Natalie Portman? I''m sure I''d stand a chance.