In the post I meant to say 2D games. But you guys are right, as usual. I do need to stop making it so complicated. Where is a good place to start with 2d? I simple mario clone?

platformers are fairly advanced, if you havn't made any game yet you should probably start with something less complex. (pong, snake, etc are good starting projects)

sure. I actually started making a snake game with C++ and SDL a few years back. I think I'm going to make one in C# then make one in Java. Should keep me busy but also help me learn basic game making concepts. Thanks a lot for the help guys!

I think I'm going to make one in C# then make one in Java.

Stick with ONE language until you get into the intermediate skill level with it and THEN add another language. Make a bunch of games in C# and LATER add another language.

First time game developers particularly should stay with ONE language for quite a number of months, maybe even over a year.

Since you chose C#, make several 2D console application games and vector graphics based ones before any other language is tried. As a matter of reality, it would be a good strategy to do it this way and after about a year then add Visual Studio Express to your plan and begin at that time to learn rasterized graphics issues with VS Ex.. which will lead to class files, dlls, and other executables. C# is all you need for a good 1-2 years.

Focus!

Clinton

Just start.

That's the only way to "be ready", at the end of the day.

Seriously though, I'm a complete amateur myself and I keep telling myself that I know what the heck I'm doing, which is exactly what I need to do because I also correct myself along the way and take criticism as an important part of the learning (albeit not without an honest fight). That attitude alone has motivated me and made me research stuff and go places that I otherwise weren't able to go. Right now, I'm looking into the methodology of learning and how to actually learn code even more effectively, for instance by understanding that "composition" is more than just an area of programming. It IS programming!

Am I ready to be hired and make AAA games? Hell no! But am I ready to start programming, make a portfolio and then later become ready for hiring and do the big stuff? Absolutely. For that, even a 10-year old is ready!

I'd stick to C# and maybe learn C++ on the side. Unless you were wanting Java. Don't let your friend push you into using C++ though, just do it if you want to :).

I will disagree with some of my colleges here...

The old "If you have to ask..." line of idioms comes to mind here. It is (or should be) pretty obvious as you're learning to program how you can apply this thing you learned into making a (ugly, incomplete, stupid, buggy) game. Just take X and make that HP, and take Y and make that some enemy and *poof* you have a game rather than a homework problem.

...if you can't see that, or somehow can't envision how a game would work - then you're not ready. You'll just flounder, or worse, copy-paste some code and have no idea how it works or how to adapt it to your problem. Just keep moving forward. It doesn't really matter where you are (or even where you're going) as long as you keep improving.

I agree with Spiro - Just start making games. Your Problem is that maybe what you are trying to make is way over your head at this point.

The next "ZOMBIE APPOCOLYPSE" is not a game you want to start off with.

My first Program was sort of a game. When American "FANTASY FOOTBALL" first became popular, my freinds and I bought a peice of software to track our fantasy league. The program was flawed and would crash at a certain point. I was studying programming, got determined 1 night, read the rules book, which contained everything the program was supposed to do, and wrote the program. Guess what ? It worked!!!! Just like it was designed to do. And our Gaming League pressed on.

Here is a hint > "You are most likely beyond the guess a number game". If you are into Sports, write a sports game. Do it text based. Make it WORK!!!!! Then get the Graphics part down. ( Study the Graphics, just do not concern yourself with them until you get the game coding down )

An American style Baseball game Text Based has surprisingly minimal game coding, with alot of statistics and data. Cricket is similar.

hello Poigahn. would you like to share your experiences developing your "Fantasy Football " game ? :)

Hi,

I think i've got that exact book you have, the "C# for serious game programming". In case you didn't know, the TAO framework stopped being updated. But, there is a replacement called OpenTK, it follows similar principles, but is, imo, better than TAO. Reading through the guides & tutorials you can use OpenTK in place of TAO for the book. It does give some good insight into 2D games, certainly helped me out a bit! There is also the OpenTK compatibilty option which i think still supports most of the old TAO framework.

I'd give it another shot, it's not really complicated at all to use and should help you get things displaying on screen and moving about!