I go everywhere and I cant find out ny beginner stuff... there is no place that says how to start out.. like here is step one u do this blah blah blah and by doin htat u..... blah blah blah....and etc no matter where I go it says some weird confusing shit that makes no sence whats so ever. Or if htere is somehting explained then that is some weird dos calculation that I can do on my calculator!!! And can do without lookin at the tutorial!!! Then whenever I ask for something concrete people jsut keep givin me bullshit stuff!!! Am I speaking english here or what or is it u that cant understand english???? Im sayin "HOW DO I START OUT A GAME??? any game??? as long at its not word black and white dos game!!!!!! Then I ask for some professional help and some ass newbie comes in and starts givin me useless advise!!! :0 WTF??? I havent found one peace of useful info on this entire site... THIS SUX

If you know how to code in any language enough, you will know how to start writing a game. If you want to be told exactly where to start, then here it is. If you are coding for win32, you start with the function "winmain". If you''re coding for *nix, start with "main".

Beginner stuff is exactly that... beginner stuff. Beginners shouldnt jump straight into making a game because they will almost surely fail, and having not reached anywhere near their high expectations, they will be miserable about it and give up too easily.

Start low, learn what you need and when you are ready you will know how to start a game.

quote: Original post by Duxa was edited

I hope no girls read this thread, because if they do... I pray for you


And to the topic starter, most of us have been there so fret not. I was fortunate to have someone take me under their wing and teach me 'a lot' about game programming and the only stipulation (sp?) was that I do the same. So, if you have any questions or just want some help contact me.

Email: rem@ziremsoftware.net
ICQ: 40309514
AIM: Remnex1





------------------------------
"I'm a decorated astronaut, I don't make those kind of mistakes."
"Oh now wait a minute. Look I'll show ya. I'll enter the same calculations using what we like to call 'The Right Way'."

-Rem
Zirem Software

Edited by - Remnex on October 8, 2001 2:58:59 AM

Edited by - Remnex on October 8, 2001 2:59:57 AM


Edited by - deadlinegrunt on October 8, 2001 3:08:10 AM

quote: Im sayin "HOW DO I START OUT A GAME??? any game??? as long at its not word black and white dos game!!!!!!

Strangly enough that's exactly where you should start.

I've been following your posts and it seems to me the biggest thing you got going against you is patience. If I were you I would first slow down . I don't want to discourage you either but there simply is now way to get around the fact that your goals are too lofty for you skillset. That comment is based on the content of your posts by the way, and please dont' take that as publicly disrespective either. Before you read what follows it sounds like to you need to research main game loop to answer the immediate posts you have made.

Step 1) Flesh out concept of game or "business rules" and determine "milestones" that you can use to gauge progress. Build inventory of items/ideas/information that will be needed to accomplish game etc..

Step 2) Start gathering inventory items that will be needed. Realistically and objectively examine step 1 to see if you can actually accomplish any milestones on time. If not; go back to step 1 and refine.

Step 3) Begin designing algorithms for your program. i.e. Divide and Conquer step 1 into managable chunks or subsystems and how you think is the best way to code them. (This sounds like the part your stuck in right off the bat; skipping first two steps). When you are done with this you should effectively have a framework for which to base code on. Feel free to revisit step 1 if needed and refine again if the situation calls for it.

Step 4) Begin coding. Stay focused and remember to keep an eye out for "feature creep". Enoug planning should have been put in place at this point. The basic rule is: You should know how, what, why things work. If you don't, you shouldn't be coding at this point and revisit previous steps till you do.

Step 5) Tweak and polish for time allowed.

Step 6) Do post-mortem taking notes/making journal of things that worked and things that didin't. Learn from your experience. Move on to next game taking what you have learned and build upon that to push the limits of your abilites for the next game you make. Lather, Rinse, Repeat...

You should follow something along these guidelines even for a "black and white dos game". That way you not only know how but when to ask others questions when you need help and get productive answers. Otherwise just sit down and start writing code from the start and see how long it takes before you realize that is NOT how to do it.

YAP-YFIO

-deadlinegrunt


Edited by - deadlinegrunt on October 8, 2001 3:02:14 AM

DeadlineGrunt that''s GREAT advice, very handy. Think I''ll print it and stick it on my wall lol.


I know how frustrating it is starting out, everybody wants a step-by-step guide but there just aren''t any around. Seems like people want to show off that they know a little bit more than everyone else.

I was looking for a basic Tetris game ages ago, but could I find one? no. What annoyed me was tutorials saying that "tetris is a good place to start" but gave no info on how to create it! lol


The games industry is hard to get in to, harder than it needs to be. Too hard for it''s own good. And with companies demanding 2 years commerical experience they already exclude over half the available programmers out there. and they have to pay them huge "signing on" fees. Might have been better to get a graduate on a non-leaving contract for 2 years and have gone from there.

Observe everything, remember more!

I agree with deadlinegrunt.

The frustration/confusion your experianceing stems from what I like to call "Overload". Your trying to do to much at one time, and quite frankly it''s impossible to learn much this way. People who suffer from "Overload" do one of the following two things:

1. Give up.
2. Start over from the beginning.

Giving up seems to be the most common phenomenon because no one likes to completely start over.

"Overload" is completely self defeating. You can spend years trying to grasp concepts that you could''ve learned in a few months had you just picked up a book and gone through it page by page programming all the way.

I realize that text based games aren''t as glamerous as something like Mortal Kombat, or DOOM. However the programmers who worked on Mortal Kombat and DOOM all started off making text based games. They evolved their programming skills, and moved on.

There is only one way to get better at programming. Read and program. The more you read and the more you program the better you''ll get. Eventualy you''ll finaly get to the point where you can understand what''s going on in games and how to reproduce it.

In retrospect. Your trying to start out life as a teenager, and by doing so you''ve missed out on all the learning experiances that children have. From crawling to walking to toilet training. You missed it all and now you can either learn it all from the begining, or you can give up.

Just in case you missed out...
Game making equation:
(C++ and OOP)-->(WIN32 and basic design)-->(DirectX/ OpenGL)
[Stage one]----[Stage two]----------------[Stage three]

--> (Advanced C++)-->(Advanced DX like Direct3D)-->(more Design)
[Stage four]------[Stage five]-----------------[Stage six]

--> (Industrial experience) = (Game developer)-->(test and debug)
[Stage seven]---------------[OUTPUT]----------[hehe...]


I welcome any comments about the "equation" as I''m a newbie as well.

The road may be long, wind may be rough. But with a will at heart, all shall begone. ~savage chant