Sure Visual Basic is a good language to start with.
But why not start with C++ ??
It is not that hard. What is hard about game programming is to code the AI and other algorithm stuff. Isn''i it ?

So in VB or in C++ it requieres the same amount of effort.

Algorithm is the secret....

Spillsome, that isn''t completely true. For some novices it is hard to understand what programming is and get the consept of func''s and everything. If you are COMPLETELY new to programming in general i would tell you to start by learning QBasic, or maybe html. These let you learn what it is to type code and get a product. Also when you start you shouldn''t pick up w/ a language that has complete freedom. You need something that will let you work for simple goals not a powerhouse language like C or C++. This is just my opinion and nobody elses. Then again everyone is different and you might get the idea of coding so you could start out w/ C or C++ or even VB. Its up to you.

- Lurking

My method of learning seems to be a bit differant from what I''ve seen posted thus far. If I had started programming buy writing text based games and reading a lot of books, I probably would have given up rather quickly.

I decided I wanted to make a vertical scroller (like galaxian or tyran). I didn''t know any C++, but I knew that I had to get a window on the screen somehow (I did know what C++ was and I had a compiler from a friend) so I searched the internet until I found code that would put a screen on the window. For a little while I just treated it like a black box. I didn''t know how or why it worked, but it did. After tinkering with the code for a while and reading throught the help file that comes with VC++ 6.0 (MSDN) I understood it well enough to move onto getting an image on the screen. I quickly found that DirectX was what I needed to use. Once again I searched the internet until I found code that put an image on the screen. I plugged it in to my window code and once again treated the new code like a black box. After some tinkering and reading the DX SDK I begain to undertand the code. I now knew that I had to get my picture moveing on the screen, thus I searched for DirectInput code. Once again I plugged in the code I found. I only new enough about windows, direct draw, and direct input to move an image on the screen. I didn''t understand how all the functions I was using worked, but I got them to work together. Next I needed to figure out how to make the ship shoot. After some searching I found out about linked lists. I barely understood what I had thus far, I had no clue as to what a pointer was. Once again I just plugged in the linked list code and used it. I didn''t know what the functions I was calling were doing, but I figured out how to use the functions. It was probably another month or so before I actually understood how all the code I was using worked.

My point is this: I think its best just to dive in to game programming without books. Get your hands on example code and play with it. It was more incuraging to plugin some DirectDraw code and see something on the screen within a couple of days; then changing what worked and seeing what the changes did. I don''t think I could have kept myself modivated if I started with text games, or trying to type in some code from a book and wonder why the heck nothing is working.

Serious game programming comes in two difficulty levels. Theres the "I am going to walk to the moon" hard and then theres "should i take a bath this week" decision hard. Or you can just cut and paste.

Game programming is most definatly fulfilling. If you''ve ever wanted to play God, this is how to do it. I remember when my mouth dropped open when i saw my first spinning triangle =). I did start out without a book, and lost interest in it for about a month and a half, because i couldnt get the spinning triangle to work the first time. Now I know that the reason was because i wasn''t understanding the concepts that the code was based on. I think that is really the key to "learning" anything. You have to know "Why?", otherwise, when it comes to applying that code, or function, or whatever, in another place, in a slightly different way, you can get completely lost. So, learn the basics of programming, then get into some more interesting stuff (pointers come to mind), then go from there, to whatever you really want.

Z.

It''s easy. If you can do this:

mPlayer->score += 10;

Then you already know enough to do it!

It''s easy. If you can do this:

mPlayer->score += 10;

Then you already know enough to do it!

Thank you guys so much for replying to my post. I was reading through them all and wanted to clear some things up. Programing itself isnt hard, especially in C++. I found C++ easier because it uses an easy vocabulary and you dont need to type as much. I started in C++ because it was the normal language for game programming and thats why i learned to code. I dont really want to learn VB if i cant make games. I think what I was looking at in the tutorials was graphics programing because it defined all these points and stuff.

Thanks again for your help. I have decided to further persue this because i know if I get stuck, help is here.

JMpgwr88, i can understand you not wanting to learn VB. If you have already started learning c++, it was step well taken. I myself was exposed to programming through VB. VB was my first language i learned in high school in grade 10 about 3 years ago. At that time i knew nothing about programming and other languages that existed. If i wasn't exposed to programming in early age then i probably was gonna hesitate to learn VB (language which is not used to build games). I did some 'C' an year ago and made a 2d game for my class project in Borland 3.0 but i too have to learn C++.

Edited by - strikernr on July 22, 2001 4:19:06 AM