Hey all, I'm pretty much a newbie to C, but i have done lots of web programming in the past (if that helps.) I am currently half way through the fifth edition of "Teach yourself C in 21 days" (chapter 14,) and even though i still have a long way to go through this book, I am trying to decide on what i should learn next (MORE c, or advanced c, or basic and advanced c++, or a little bit of c and start leaning the win32_api.. or what.) I realize that it will be a few years before i can even make a simple game, but in the mean time, i just want to make SOMETHING that actually does something usefull and is mildly fun. I also know that i don't have much of a future programming dos games, but i was wondering if it's easier to get the hang of game programming in dos, or to move straight to windows and then learn it? Any advice on anything that i've talked about would be extremly helpful.. ehhe. Thanks!!! Fuzztrek Edited by - Fuzztrek on March 6, 2002 2:02:42 PM

Actually I'm also a newbie in programming and to the best of my knowledge, b4 you enter WIN32, you may wanna to consider the following points:

Are you comfortable with pointers?
Are you comfortable with structures and unions?
Are you familiar with any compilers in specific?

If you can answer yes to all of 'em, then go ahead. If not, you may wish to do a revision. And of course, this is purely my personal point of view, you may want to hear what other gotta say. Hope that helps...Best Regards

P.S. Just remember : The beginning is always the hardest, once you got through that, things should be much clearer.



The road may be long, wind may be rough. But with a will at heart, all shall begone. ~savage chant

Edited by - savagerx on March 6, 2002 2:51:18 PM

Okay! that helps..

well.. i know how to declare/assign pointers, i understand structures, i don''t understand why you''d use unions, and i guess i''m used to microsoft visual c++, but i don''t use anything but the compiler and text editor. This book still has some chapters about advanced pointer use up ahead, so by the end of this book i might have a better understanding of how to use them.

thanks! =)
Fuzztrek

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Don''t start in DOS for games! I think that a DOS game would be even harder to make. I remember making a little game demo in school three years ago...it was sick. VGA Mode 13h had a resolution of (I think) 320x200. For a decent res and color depth you should use windows.

Break;

quote: Original post by breakscience
Don''t start in DOS for games! I think that a DOS game would be even harder to make. I remember making a little game demo in school three years ago...it was sick. VGA Mode 13h had a resolution of (I think) 320x200. For a decent res and color depth you should use windows.

Break;

i''d have to disagree. to make a program where there''s a little dude on the screen that moves around with the arrow keys (on your way to your first game!), in windows it would take a couple hundred lines of initialization, a solid understanding of object oriented programming (for directx), and you''d have to deal with the message pump and basically learn windows programming. in dos you can just get a game library, like allegro, and type a simple "allegro_init();" to initialize it, and have that program up and working in about 30 lines of code, with no need to understand really anything advanced at all. but hey, it''s just my opinion.


- f l u c k y p o o
- the geek inside

quote: Original post by flucknugget
i''d have to disagree. to make a program where there''s a little dude on the screen that moves around with the arrow keys (on your way to your first game!), in windows it would take a couple hundred lines of initialization, a solid understanding of object oriented programming (for directx), and you''d have to deal with the message pump and basically learn windows programming. in dos you can just get a game library, like allegro, and type a simple "allegro_init();" to initialize it, and have that program up and working in about 30 lines of code, with no need to understand really anything advanced at all. but hey, it''s just my opinion.

What does that matter? You can get a game lib for Windows just as easily, and accomplish much more. Especially since Allegro works on Win32, doesn''t it?

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Direct3D vs. OpenGL
The sad thing about artificial intelligence is that it lacks artifice and therefore intelligence.

Democracy is where you say what you want and do what you''re told.

Learning game programming under DOS is kinda hard, unless you use a graphics lib like Allegro. Then it''s fairly easy.

Learning windows (non-game) programming is kinda hard. Period. But it''s one of those things that ya gotta do, and it''s useful.

Learning windows game programming without knowing the first two before hand is extremely hard, UNLESS you stay carefully within the confines of DirectX or other APIs. Even so, you''ll be doing stuff that you don''t really understand.

aiya.. i''m more confused. I definatly want to understand what i''m programming.. maybe if i stick with dos for a while, i''ll be more prepared for when i start windows programming?

dos is just so.. so.. windows 3.1.... eheh. oh well! i''ve got lots of time

thanks to all who replyed.. more input from other people would still be greatly appreciated! =)

Fuzztrek

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yes, allegro does work with win32, but it''s still DOS style programming. you have a main() instead of a WinMain(), you don''t have to bother with messages, it''s almost exactly as if you were programming with dos.

so if i were you, i''d start out with allegro then move to something harder, like directx.


- f l u c k y p o o
- the geek inside

Okay, I think I have a pretty good strategy worked out.

I''m going to finish this book (teach yourself c in 21 days,) then move on to beginning C++, and advanced C++, and algorithms, and stuff like that, still in DOS programming.. I''ve read many things that say advanced c differs from advanced c++, and learning advanced c breeds bad habbits when moving over to advanced c++ (o_O). Anyway, once done that, i''ll move into windows programming, and since by then i''ll have a few basic games under my belt (like tetris clones, pong, bomberman etc) i THINK it MIGHT be easier to re-create them in windows (since i know the basic concepts of each game.) THEN, i''ll spend a lot of time building basic games, and improving basic games. After that, i''ll look into understanding and utilizing all parts of different api''s. Although, i can really see myself jumping ahead to windows programming, just to get one workable game going, but i''ll try to restrain myself

Thanks again to everyone who responded, and again, i still would like responses to those who still have comments on how they learned/how they are learning, and how easy it was/is for them.

Fuzztrek

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