I have what i feel is ready to start my first game. A few months c++ and win api. I will be using ''the standard game loop'', this is how i should be doing it right? Also i was all ready and set to go and had started planning out how to implement my tetris game butthen i thought maybe i should start with pong, i have ready the hundreds of posts in these forums and it seems just about even, some start off with pong, some with tetris. i figure pong should be easier and probably better to start with but i was just wondering if there is a particular hard point or something that means I should try tetris instead? What about me? What about Raven?

Hands down, PONG is easier. Post back if you need assistance on the algorithm.

Peace,
ZE.

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Pong is easier for someone who has just begun programming, while Tetris is slightly more advanced and depending on the implementation may seem a bit more impressive. Only thing to watch out for with Tetris is your data representations, if you''re an inexperienced programmer you may not be able to come up with a good implementation on your own.

Pong is easier for someone who has just begun programming, while Tetris is slightly more advanced and depending on the implementation may seem a bit more impressive. Only thing to watch out for with Tetris is your data representations, if you''re an inexperienced programmer you may not be able to come up with a good implementation on your own.

Thanks for the replies.
I did kinda think that pong would be easier, as when I had tried tetris I was a bit unsure of how exactly I was going to do it and if my ideas were correct.

What about me? What about Raven?

Hmmm... Well, I guess it depends. Pong is easier when you know a way to put graphics on the screen.

But if you are of my kind, and learned to work with DOS first (DOS under windows ), all you can do is put colored blocks in place of text, and then Tetris is the only way (though easy way ) to go ^_^

-Maarten Leeuwrik

Follower of the NLS
(New Lounge Standards)

You know, your first game doesn''t *have* to be Pong or Tetris

May I ask what your going to use? GDI? DirectX? Just a bit curious =D

But yeah I started out a few years ago in QBasic and did pong as my first game. Took me about a week the first time. Then I kinda jumped to trying out platform games and managed to make a pretty good version of mega man (Thank goddess for C++). BTW pong is easy to write but it doesnt make for much of a game to show off...to put it simply, the game is boring to play. But yeah have fun!

[edited by - omega7802 on April 18, 2002 6:32:18 PM]

[edited by - omega7802 on April 18, 2002 6:33:03 PM]

[edited by - omega7802 on April 18, 2002 6:33:16 PM]

Definitely Pong. It is a quick easy project that you can complete in a few days, and will give you beginning practice. What you could do, is design a game engine that you could use at the same time you create the game! You know, a game engine that handles graphics (sprites, primitives, etc), audio, input, and whatever else - that is what I''m doing. Tetris isn''t much harder, but everyone is right, the data representation is the tough part. I''d use DirectX over GDI, you won''t be using GDI forever, but you can apply what you do in DirectX to future games.

My first game was a snake in 13h.