Hey all, I realise you have all probably heard this same thing worded slightly different time after time so i apologise in advance. However, I really want to get into programming; game programming to be more specific. I covered the very basics of programming at college using Visual Basic and a tiny bit of c++ which confused the hell out of me but it is 100% what I want to do.

My question is: where do I begin? how did everybody else get into programming and end up where they are? At the moment I am creating random visual basic programs just for the sake of trying to teach myself but I can't help feeling it is a bit pointless.. should I start with C++? or should i carry on as I am in VB until I am more familiar with programming on the whole and then widen my horizens so to speak?

All and any help/advice is welcome and again sorry for the new topic as I'm sure it will be in various other places.

Your situation sounds familiar -- I "got into" programming in a college course on Visual Basic, too. (And, yes -- C++ confused the hell out of me back then, too. )


While in college, I spent a lot of time doing "extracurricular" work along the lines of what you describe (creating random VB programs just for the sake of trying to teach myself). It is an exercise that is far from pointless.

The basic idea is to build something, then make it better. The more you do this, the more it can enable you to experience first-hand what can work and what doesn't. Over time, you can keep building bigger, better things. Then, with any luck, you will find yourself a competent programmer within a couple years.

I hear your exclamations -- "WHAT?! A COUPLE YEARS?!?!?"... but that is the case. Programming -- and, in particular, *game* programming -- can be explained in no simpler terms than as a discipline. It takes a lot of effort learning, studying, practicing, and experimenting to get a really good "feel" for programming.

In any case, I recommend you stick with VB for now, being that it is what you are familiar with. Get a good handle on it, learn how it works under the hood, and so on. Then, when you are ready for something a little more challenging (C++), you will be better-prepared (and you won't waste as much time "unlearning" things -- which I know sounds counter-intuitive, but it does seem to be the way it works).

If you have any questions or concerns regarding any of this, don't hesitate to speak up.

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What most people don't understand about "enlightenment" is that it is not an end-goal; but where you find yourself just before taking a new "first step."

Welcome to the forums Dizzle!

First off let me point to this article in the wiki. It should be explaining the basics pretty well
http://content.gpwiki.org/index.php/How ... et_Started



This is a good start actually. Playing around with your code is providing lots of lessons you can potentially learn. Read the documentation of methods or classes you do not know to understand how they work.

Which language you're going to use is pretty much your call. If you feel comfortable with VB (VB 6 i assume?) you might aswell stay there for the time being. If you feel restricted or confused by it you might try to enter a C-type language, either C++ as you already mentioned or C# which is a bit more straight forward to beginners. (In the next couple replies somebody will probably advise you to learn C# and XNA ).

To how do you get started? make 2 decisions:
1. What language will you program in.
2. What graphics API will you use. (OpenGL/DirectX/XNA...)

After that you can venture through the wiki or the net looking for tutorials that teach you from the ground up to draw shapes and transform them in any way you like.

Enjoy your stay

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Long pork is people!

wzl's burrow

Basic is a good language for learning with. Adding directx/opengl graphics to your programs will increase difficulty by an order of magnitude, so only widen your horizons once you are upto speed.

You can make game graphics using circles and rectangles. Something like asteroids can be replicated without bitmap graphics. If you want to focus on game programming, then start by making a simple asteroids game.

- draw a blue circle.
- move the position of the circle with the arrow keys.
- add some red circles.
- If the blue circle touches any red circle, then you lose.
- Make the red circles move.

After doing those five steps, you'll have half of an asteroids game. I expect you won't have trouble with any of those steps!

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I ain't pushing no moon buttons.

Are you implying that I'm predictable?

And yes.. C#/XNA would be a good starting point as neither are particularly hard to learn.

Normally for someone starting fresh out with programming, I'd reccomend Visual Basic(they dont call it Basic for nothing) but C# is easy enough and learning VB only to immediately learn something else once the core concepts are down would be kindof annoying. I didn't like learning a whole new language, myself. Of course now that I know C#, there's no way I'd go back.

_________________
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."
"Hope is the first step on the road to dissapointment." -Jonah Orion
http://tankzgame.blogspot.com

Thanks everyone for the replies, keep them coming believe it or not all of you have helped and the articles especially have made things alot clearer in my head and made me not feel so bad about finding it difficult to pick up. I am thinking I will look into C# see how it feels and how well I manage, can make the decision then whether or not to stick to VB.

Does anyone know of a place to download the software for free so I can get stuck in with C#? And maybe a good starting off tutorial book/website? Again, all of your feedback has been huge help so thanks ^^

http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/e ... rp-express

That's the express edition of C# 2010. It's free!

_________________
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."
"Hope is the first step on the road to dissapointment." -Jonah Orion
http://tankzgame.blogspot.com