So, after reading through numerous 'Choosing a Language' little help sheets, I'm still unsure of what to go with, so I'll bring context to the situation and see if anybody could spend a minute or two of their time and recommend me what to start with.

I have hopes of making an original 2D side-scrolling action platformer, in the vein of something like Megaman Zero, but, different, obviously. I understand it'll take tons of practice, time, commitment, yatta yatta, I get it. I just want to know, what is a good solid engine, that I can learn without -too- much difficulty, that will be strong enough for me to continue to use in the long term(although, I know I'll have to pick up C++ at some point in the later future). I -am- only 15(well, almost 16), so I have plenty of time to waste away, and plenty of determination to get through it.

So, suggestions, please.

Hey Rynvie, welcome to the forum!

Have you thought about what platform(s) you'd like to target? If you want to do a Windows/XBox 360 game for example, you would want to check out C# and get the XNA Game Studio framework. The whole setup is nice, the learning curve is (relatively) gentle, and the things you can do in a short amount of time is astounding.

Of course, you can download this stuff for free, direct from Microsoft.

If you have any other platforms you want to look into, let us know. Also feel free to ask about any other related questions you might have.

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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."

If you want to jump straight into C++ then get CodeBlocks and download and use SFML as your engine. It's perfect for the 2D stuff you're describing. There are a very good set of tutorials on the SFML website, that will take you through the stages of getting to draw stuff to the screen.

XNA with C# is also a good one to go with. C# has a very nice IDE (Visual Studio), it's got the best Code Complete features I've come across, which is really nice when you're starting out and haven't memorised everything. There are also a plethora of tutorials available for this avenue.

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Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve

Thanks for the welcoming.

Platform-wise, I just want to start on PC, and move from there. Since my posting this topic, I did some research into the XNA Framework, and I think that's the way I'm going to go, especially because it shouldn't be too hard to move whatever I make onto 360 if it's actually something of quality.



Yeah, well, I'd love to jump straight into C++, but I definitely don't feel ready, having very little programming experience, but thanks anyway, I'll bookmark the link for the future.