Hi:

I'm going to learn game programming. I have the basis of c/c++/c#. I'd like to develop 2D games first and research 3D games later, so which game engine should I choose? There are many many different opensource game engines, so I don't know which is suitable for a beginner. I have learnt some about DirectX, which is not cross-platform, so I may spend more time on OpenGL study. I prefer an opensource game engine whose graphic is based on OpenGL. Give me some suggestions, please. Thanks.

Hmm... I think if you are just starting out and you just want to learn how to create games, you could get started fairly early by simply using freeGLUT or GLFW

That means you'd be learning the ground rules for 2D and 3D game development, however: It isn't really a shortcut to creating a game

In some cases people start early with text-based games (using the console window)

And in other cases people start out with SFML which I have heard makes it easy for you to create 2D games

Maybe you want to use pygame in Python, gamemaker just to get your feet wet and start creating a game right now...

There are alot of options here

I would take a look at the sticky threads, as they contain some great starting points

Pick a language and stick with it for a while, as you can't really go wrong..

Note that i specifically mentioned freeGLUT and GLFW because they enable to you write cross-platform opengl games, however if you are a beginner you might want to take a look at the other options available also..

good luck

As implied by Kaptein, you want to start simple.

I have a video tutorial series that covers the development of a small memory match game, which starts out as a simple command line program, but is later evolved to include graphics.

Regarding game engines: There's plenty to choose from, but in general, the tools don't matter as much as the developer - If you know what you're doing, and have some creativity, you can make interesting games with less than perfect tools (or tools that you develop yourself).

Hmm... I think if you are just starting out and you just want to learn how to create games, you could get started fairly early by simply using freeGLUT or GLFW

That means you'd be learning the ground rules for 2D and 3D game development, however: It isn't really a shortcut to creating a game

In some cases people start early with text-based games (using the console window)

And in other cases people start out with SFML which I have heard makes it easy for you to create 2D games

Maybe you want to use pygame in Python, gamemaker just to get your feet wet and start creating a game right now...

There are alot of options here

I would take a look at the sticky threads, as they contain some great starting points

Pick a language and stick with it for a while, as you can't really go wrong..

Note that i specifically mentioned freeGLUT and GLFW because they enable to you write cross-platform opengl games, however if you are a beginner you might want to take a look at the other options available also..

good luck

Pretty helpful suggestion, I consulted some data about GLFW, it may be a new start for me. By the way, how about cocos2d-x? It seems that cocos2d-x is very popular in mobile game development.

How about sound? I know OpenAL is for sound, however I'm not familiar with OpenAL, but are there any opensource libraries about OpenAL? I think the sound effect is also very important in a game.

you can make interesting games with less than perfect tools (or tools that you develop yourself)

Thanks for your suggestion, I own the ambition to write a library for myself, in fact I'm doing now. So I think reading the opensource engine code is helpful to me.

You should check out Moai. It's open source so you can use your C++ knowledge to add your own things if needed, doubtful that you will need it at the beginning though. But it uses Lua which is easier to pick up and code your first game in. You should also use the Flower library for Moai and look over the way it was coded so you can learn some good OOP methods. Once you have your setup for Moai up it's really easy to code and test as well. Best of luck with your project.