Well, I''m completely new to the forums, I have a friend (SeanHowe, he started skating so he doesn''t really code anymore nor update NeXe) who use to post here a lot as well as chat on #gamedev (which I''m on occasionallY), but I finally decided to register. Basically, I want to learn to code, but I don''t have any book resources. I don''t have any money as well to purchase any book resources, so I was wondering whether there were any internet "Learn to''s" on C++ (and I''m assuming this is the first thing I need to master). Some questions: 1. How long does it take before you start creating useful non text based programs? (personal experiences) 2. What about 3D? If I can think of any more, I''ll edit and add some more questions, etc. Thanks.

I don''t have much experience yet.. I just started myself.. but I can tell you that if you get a book stay away from steve heller books.. he has like 2 lines of useful stuff and then 100 pages of worthless crap.

-J

This post actually belongs in the beginners forum. Anyways, you should check out the free downloadable C++ books in the articles and resources section here.

I can''t tell you how long it takes to get to graphics now days, because I started programming back in the old dos 3.3 days.

It took me a good 3 months to transition from 2D to 3D and really know what I was doing. Make sure your have good trig and linear algrebra foundation before you embark on this.

quote: Original post by johnchen
Some questions:
1. How long does it take before you start creating useful non text based programs? (personal experiences)

There''s no way to tell, it depends on your devotion. I learned C/C++ in about +/- 1 year. Now I had followed the old path of Basic then moved on to Pascal which in turn led me to C/C++. So the switch from Pascal to C/C++ wasn''t that complicated. I knew Pascal pretty well and C/C++ was just a snap to learn. But that''s me. Basicly, it could take you a couple of weeks or a couple of months or even years. Depending on how much time you plan on putting to learn the basics.

quote:
2. What about 3D?

When learning 3D, one thing is sure, make sure you know your math or take some extra courses, if you don''t. You need to know how to manipulate vectors, matrices and their respective formulas also. Again, there is no set time. It all depends. I''ve been at game programming as a hobby for a heck of a long time. I was about 11 when I really started to code and I''m still learning now as I didn''t have the maths required for 3D. What I did is I bought myself a good math book on Matrices and read. As you can see, reading books is the most important part. And then even once you know your stuff, it''s good to have references.

Anyhow, these are my views on the topic...



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