I'm not really sure where to post this, so forgive me if it's the wrong area.

Basically I want to learn how to do the whole programming games stuff, as a hobby/out of curiosity, but I have no idea where to start. Could any pros out there give me a few pointers, how to start learning all this, or good places/tutorials to learn?

Thank you!

I know how programming is thaught in college. In general their approach is to first thaught a little bit about computers and low level language, then begin with some language such as C, python or Java.

In the beginning they start with the very basics of variables, and control structures such as IF and ELSE. Then progress to loops and some basic structures such as arrays and matrices. The very first problems are usually "childs play", count numbers, sum numbers, etc. It's pretty much basic algebra. Then come more complex problems such as sorting numbers or counting prime numbers.

Thins such as low level assembly, compilers, optimization, performance, etc are totally ignored at this stage. In general you'll first learn basic algorithms and data structures before advancing to such topics.

Ex:

123
+
456
---
579

On paper this is done in a few seconds, but programming that with two arrays can take a long time when you are first learning what an array is...

Hey helenbarker11,

If you're looking to learn how to start making your own games, you've come to the right place! This site is full of resources and articles for many game-programming related topics. Click here to get started.

You might consider a simple language to get started in.. everyone will probably have their own reccomendation, mine is Visual Basic. (they call it Basic for a reason). That's where I started and it worked for me. Regardless of language, the fundamentals of programming are the same - variables, loops, algorithms. For the most part, programming is really just math combined with flow chart logic.

Tutorials are great for learning a specific techique, but for a broader topic like learning an entire language I'd reccomend a good book. Your local library will likely have one. The Visual Basic IDE (programming environment) should be a free download from Microsoft's website.

Grab some reading material, tinker around with the IDE, and go from there. If you get stuck, come back here and post again! We're not goin' anywhere.

Hope this helps.

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http://tankzgame.blogspot.com

I never managed to learn much from tutorials and books, they are great to teach you some specific stuff, but even then you need to experiment on your own a lot to actually understand what programming means and does. I learn like this: Picked a language (Started with Visual Basic, as Meneliki said, its called basic for a reason) and then challenged my self to do something, for example, i started building a text based game, and when i stumbled upon a problem, then i googled how to deal with it and experimented, it might look like this:

Ok, i want the game to tell me its running, how do i print text to the screen? (google answer)
Great! now what if i want to input some data and had it printed with a peace of story with it? (google answer!)
Amazing, now what if i input a number and i want to add it to a different number! (Google again... )
well, ok now i have numbers, like integers, but what is this "Data Types" i keep reading about (well, google data types)
Oh! so that's what data types are, wonder what can i do with all this (experiment a lot)
Now, what if i want to print out a different text if different input is provided? (Google conditions and If Else)
and so on...
you will surely be interested in Arrays, formating strings, replacing and finding in strings, conditions, logical operators (mainly AND, OR, NOT), and surely you will need Loops in a game.
after all the basics its wise to find out how to make things easier by using functions, classes, enumerators, inheritance and stuff

keep in mind it is a long path to becoming any good, but you will be happy about yourself every time you figure something out

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Did you ever wonder, how time works?

I like your style, Hazarth. Good advice

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Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve

Thanks, I always preferred this kind of learning over online tutorials and books, cause then you can study at your own pace and only the things you are currently interested in (which enhanced the learning speed!)

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Did you ever wonder, how time works?

This is why i love intellisense. Some people say it's lazy, i think it's genious. You can figure things out without resolving to documentation. You don't waste time by looking up what that method was called, and get a better oversight of the API.

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wzl's burrow

I agree, which takes me to the next suggestion, If you are going to start learning a language, make sure you find a suitable programming environment which supports features like Intellisense, file managing and possibly have snippets if you need an example piece of code for something.

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Did you ever wonder, how time works?

Uh oh weezl, isn't 'intellisense' a word trademarked by Microsoft? Real people call it automatic code completion. You are not a real person.

Edit: And yeah, that advice was excellent, Mr... Where is the topic preview? I need to see what your name is... who are you that wrote this excellent advice? I don't remember your name

But really. That might just be the best advice you can give to a beginner. I like challenges, but sometimes it's best to just commence a rapid search-for-answer routine.

The only issue with this technique is how the directness of the process may reduce your comprehension of important things. When novices go very far with a project using only a minimal understanding, they often only manage to churn out masses of incoherent/lacking work and be forced to give up on entire projects much sooner that they might have otherwise; it is very common to quit large first-time projects. So another guideline: start with easy goals (i.e. very very small "games" )! Yet, even with very modest goals, this heuristic involves skipping a lot of fundamental material, which can hurt new learners in the long run.

Books are still an awesome resource (or at least comprehensive & themed guides; whatever the media be).

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