i want to be a game developer

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http://www.gamefromscratch.com/post/2011/08/04/Iwanttobeagamedeveloper.aspx 1/29

Iwanttobeagamedeveloper...nowwhat?

Withpeoplelookingtogetintogamedevelopmentthesamequestionscomeupoverandover,soIveoptedtoputmythoughtsonthesubjectinoneplaceandtocompilealistofresourcesfornewdevelopers.

Thosequestions?

Iwanttolearngameprogramming,whatlanguageshouldIuse?

ShouldIuseanengine,orcreatemyown?

Whatlibrary/toolsshouldIuse"?

Nowwhat?

Iwilltrytoaddressallofthesequestionsandmoreinthefollowingpost.

Forthoseofyouthatlikeskippingaheadtothelastpageinanovel,theselinksareforyou!

theC++question.

Let me get the 800lb gorilla out of the way first of all. C++. This is one of the mostcontroversialandrepetitiousquestionsofall.NewdevelopershearfromotherdevelopersthatC++iswhattheprosuseandthereforewanttousethat.Tomakemattersevenworse,peopleansweringthequestionsareoftennewdevelopersaswellandwillrecommendwhattheyknowthuspushingpeopletousealanguagetheyprobablyshouldnt.Frankly,ifyouhaveonlyeverusedasinglelanguage,youreallyshouldntbeansweringthesekindsofquestions!

Alright,backtothewholeC++question.ShouldyoustartlearningwithC++?NO. See,nomaybe,nowishywashyansweror caveats, its simple,C++ is an epically stupid language tostartwith. Itsabout thesameasstarting to learnmathbystartingwithadvancedcalculus.

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Again,dumb.IfyouaregoingtolistentoasinglepieceofadviceIgive,itsDONOTSTARTWITHC++.Iknow,ofcourse,thatyouaregoingtocompletelydisregardthisadviceandstartwithC++,butin3or4yearswhenyouvegotthescarsandtraumafromignoringmyadvice,Imgoingtosmugly*tisktisk*andgiveyoumybestItoldyouso!.IwillofferanotherpieceofadvicewhileIamatitanyonethatrecommendsyoustartwithC++,inthefutureignoretheiradvice!

Dont getmewrong, I totally understandwhy youwant to gowith C++, Im just as guilty.Recently I purchased a set of golf clubs and Im a horrificallymeh golfer, but I got a set ofbladescausethatswhattheprosuse.Thegotcha?Imnoprogolfer,andmygoddidthesegolfclubstotallyruinedmygolfgame.Sometimesusingwhattheprosuseisnttherightthingtodo.Alright,offthattangent.

Again,thesearejustmyopinions(andthoseofthevastmajorityofpeoplethatwentdownthisroadthemselves!)andIknowyouaregoingtostartwithC++anyways,butdontsayIdidntwarnyou,becauseyouaremakingareallystupidmistake.

Now,ifyoudidinfactmakethedecisiontogoaheadwithC++,fortheloveofallthatisholy,DONOTUSEDevC++.Itsold,unsupportedandavastlyinferiorchoiceoneverymeasurablelevel.Dontworry,Illcovertheoptionsofflater.

Programmingisprogramming

Thisoneisabitdepressingbutcompletelytrue.ThereisnothingreallymagicalaboutGameProgramming. Its programming, pure and simple. Inmyprofessional life, Ive done gameprogramming, tools programming, desktop app development, mobile phone apps, webdevelopment, enterprise development and even created an Internet startup. Through all ofthat,theprogramming,thoughforvastlydifferentpurposeswasalmostalwaysthesame.Hell,themostadvanced(anddifficult)codeIveeverwrittenwasinJavascript! Nowthebiggestdifferencewithgamedevelopingmath,yeah,youaregoingtohavetolearnmath.

AnywayswhydoIbringthisup?Simple,beforeyoucanprogramgames,youneedtobeableto program. I know that sounds horribly obvious but you would be amazed by how oftenpeoplejumpstraightintogameprogrammingwithoutlearningthebasicsfirst.Thatsaid,myveryfirstlineofcodewasintheattempttocreateagame.Istillrememberittothisday:

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10PRINTWHATISYOURNAME?

All this really means is, the very first thing you are going to have to learn is the basics ofprogramming.Noworriesthough,Illcoverthatlatertoo.

Themostimportantthingis

Dosomething.Really,themostimportantthingyoucandoisstartwritingcode,startlearning,jump in. All theplanning,dreamingand formingof teams isall funandsuch,but themostimportantthingyoucandois,umdo.Jumpin,learn,makemistakes,theexperiencewillbeinvaluable.

Yourfirstgamewontbegood. Yoursecondgamewontbemuchbetter. But ifyoufinishasinglegame,youvedonebetterthan95%ofpeoplethatcamebeforeyou.DontplananMMO,itswaybeyondyou,evenwithateamofafewhundredpeople.Hell,aimingmuchhigherthanPong is setting yourself up for failure. Pick something small and execute. Again, there is a99.99%chanceyourgameisntgoingtobepublished,soapproachitasthelearningexperienceitis.

Nothingfrustratesnewdevelopersmorethanthelackofprogress. This iswhysmall,doablegoalsaresoimportant.Nothingmotivateslikesuccess!

ShouldIuseanengineorcreatemyown?

Assumingyouareanewdeveloper,frankly,thisisaprematurequestion.Graspthebasicsofprogrammingbeforeyoueventhinkaboutusingorworse,creatinganengine.Otherwiseyouaredoublingyourworkload,asyoulearnbothalanguageANDanengine. Asanewlearner,youshouldbeminimizingthenumberofsubjectsyouneedtostudyatonce,asyoucanquicklygetoverwhelmedifyoutrytolearneverythingatonce.

Nowonceyouvegotthegistofthingsandarestartingoutcreatinganewgame,thisisavery

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validquestion.Onethingtokeepinmind,anenginelikeUDKorUnityaretensorhundredsofthousands of man hours worth of work do you want to replicate that effort? Generally,especiallyforasmalldeveloper,youarebestofftouseanengine,doublysoiftryingtomakeacommercialqualityproduct.

That said, if youare lookingat it as a learningexercisehaveat it! Youwill learna tonofinteresting and useful thingsworking on a engine of your own. Generally, if its a learningexercise,ittotallymakessensetodothingsthatmakenosense!

Themostimportanttakeawayfromthissectionis,ifyouarenewtodevelopment,putabitoftimeintolearningprogramming,thenaskthisquestionlater!

WhatlibrariesandtoolsshouldIuse?

Thisoneallcomesdowntothelanguageyoupick.Illbreakitdownbylanguageinjustafewminutes.

Whataremylanguagechoices?

Alright, this one is a bit tricky, as frankly there are literally hundreds of programminglanguages,butIwillcoveroffthemostpopularones.

C++thisisthelanguageyoushouldntpick,butnodoubtwill.

Itsprosyoucangetclosetothemetal,itstheprochoice,lotsof3rdpartycommercialandfreelibrariesanditiswellsupportedacrossplatforms.

Itscons?Justabouteverythingelse.Ittakes10xasmanylinesofcodetodosimplethings,its

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Itscons?Justabouteverythingelse.Ittakes10xasmanylinesofcodetodosimplethings,itslikejugglinglivehandgrenadessafetywise,itscompilationprocessisprimitiveandunwieldy,itssyntaxispainful,itslearningcurveissteepanditsstandardlibrariesareawful.

Learningdifficulty:hard

EDIT:8/16/2011Tobehonest,IhavebeenoverlyhardonC++.Dontgetmewrong,thisdoes notmean that I am endorsing it for new developers, that is still a seriously bad idea!However,withtheriseofiPhone(whichisObjectiveCbased,butsupportsC++)andAndroid(whichisJavabased,butalsosupportsC++)asgamingplatforms,C++spopularityisontherise.

C SeeC++,which isasupersetofC. Therearereasons touse justCand frankly itsabiteasiertocometogripswith,butitisliketakingatripbacktothestoneages.

Learningdifficulty:medium

C#fulldisclosure,allthingsbeingequal,thisisthelanguageIgoto. Generally,thisisthenonC++ language most people will recommend and for good reason. C# is a modernderivativeofC++,inthatitwasbasedonC++(andnotJavaascommonlyheld).

Thepros?EXCELLENTstandardlibraries.ProbablythebestonanyplatformIveeverused.Sothingslikeworkingoverthenetwork,manipulatingstrings,loadingfiles,etcarebyfareasierthanC++. Oh, andLINQ, generics, anonymousmethods and various other new languagefeaturesareprettygreat.

Its cons? Probably the biggest is, its tied to Microsoft and that makes many peopleuncomfortable. As a result, its best implementation is on MS platforms, although it isavailableonOS/X, iOS,AndroidandLinux,youdohave to jumpthrougha fewmorehoopsoutside of MSland. Next up, its garbage collected, meaning you dont implicitly allocatememory.Finally,insomeregards,itcanbeslowerthanC++,althoughIthinkthispointiswayoverblownthesedays.


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JavaJavaisatrickyonetowriteabout,becauseofmyC#bias.IusedJavabeforeC#camearound and I could see how it was more productive than C++ and appreciated theencompassing libraries, especially as I was moving over from C++ at a time the StandardTemplateLibrarywasanythingbutstandardthatsaid,sinceC#camealong,itfeelstomeasasuperiorlanguageinjustabouteveryway.

Thepros?Theecosystemismassive,thetoolsandlibrarysupportarelegion.ThereareninewaysofdoingeverythinginJava,andthenumberoffreetools(Eclipse,NetBeans,Ant,etc)aretrulystaggering. Languagewise, itsmuchlikeC#,librariesaremuchmorecapablethanC++andthe languageismuchless likelytobiteyouintheass ifyoumakeaslightmistake.Also,ifyouaredoingAndroiddevelopment,welluntilveryrecently(withaddedC++support)itwastheonlygameintown.

Thecons? Javajusthasthiswayofannoyingyou,ofgettinginyourwaybecauseitthinksitknows better than you. Parts of the language are kludgy, overly verbose and again justannoying. In recent years, it has been evolvingmuch less elegantly than C#, so the newerlanguagefeaturesseemlikehalfassedpoorlyimplementeduglystepchildrencomparedtoC#(and in some regards,C++ ). Also, Java is the languageof academics andenterprises and itshowssomanythingsaresooverwhelminglyOVERengineeredastodriveyouinsane,asIsaidearlier, thereareninewaysofdoingeverything,but5of thosewaysareoutdated,3areawfulandfiguringoutwhatthegoodchoiceis,isuptoyou.Finallygamelibraryselectionisprettylimited.

Oh,andOracleownthemnowofallthetechcompaniesintheworldIwouldwantinchargeofmylanguageofchoice,OraclesureashellwouldntbethecompanyIwouldpick.Forpeoplethat thinkMicrosoftare thedeviltheydontknowOracle! Their throwingaround lawsuitsleft,rightandcenter(includingGoogle/Android)wouldnotmakemefeelgoodaboutthings.

Learningdifficulty:medium(*)

(*)figuringoutWHATtouse,fromthehundredsoflibraries,deprecatedfeatures,tools,etc..isoverwhelmingandisprobablygoingtobeasbigachallengeforanewdeveloperaslearningthelanguageitself

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VisualBasictobehonest,since.NET,thislanguageeffectivelydied.UsingVB6isfranklyjust toooutdated tobotherwith thesedays,which isabitofashame,as it filledaveryniceniche that hasnt completely been filled. Now, VB.net is basically C# with a VBish skinapplied.IamsureVB.netdeveloperswilldisagree,buttheyarewrong.

DelphiwasatimeIwouldhighlyrecommendthislanguage,butthishaven'tprogressedwellforDelphi.Ironically,theguythatinventedC#wastheguybehindDelphi.Supportjustisntthere,whichisashameasthelanguageisveryfriendlytonewerdevelopers.

LUA/Python/Ruby In all honesty, Ive only really dabbled with these 3 languages andwhileall3are(andcommerciallyhavebeen)goodlanguagesforembeddingwithinagame,only Python really has a really solid game development community built around it, so isprobablythebestrecommendationfornewdevelopers.All3languagesshoulddefinitelybeonyour radar. My experience is very limited in all regards, so I dont really feel comfortablemakingasuggestiononewayortheother.Ifyouareanadvocateofanyoftheselanguagesandwanttowriteasectiononthem,sendittomeforinclusion!

EDIT: If youare interested inLua,be sure to checkoutBattleof theLuagameengines formoredetails.

Onebigadvantagetoallthreeoftheselanguagesisyoucanprogramtheminteractively,whichmeanstypesomecodeandseearesult. Whenyouare just tryingto figurethingsout, thatsprettypowerful!Lateroninthispost,IwillmostlyjustcoverPython,themostpopularofthethree, especially in regards to game programming. There is also Iron Python which is animplementationofPythononthe.NETplatform,whichmeansyougetallthelibrariesavailabletoC#andVB.net.

C++.NETOnthetopicof.NETlanguages,C++alsomadeaspecialversionofC++,withadditionalkeywordstomakeitcompatiblewith.NETlibrariesandamodethatmakesmemorymanagementautomatic.Thatsaid,itwasakindscrewyhackishimplementationandnobodyreallytooktoit,soyoucanprobablyignoreC++.NETcompletely.TheonlyrealusecaseIcanthinkofis,ifyouonlyknowC++syntaxandwanttodoGUIdevelopmentwithWinForms,thismaybethewaytogo.Thatsaid,thatsaprettydamnedminorusecase!

JavaScript I dont know how this little language managed to fit into every niche, butdamnedif itdoesnt! MostpeoplethinkofJavaScriptasawebscriptinglanguageandeasilythatisitsmostcommonuse,butthislanguageendsupbeingusedjustabouteverywhere.Its

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thatisitsmostcommonuse,butthislanguageendsupbeingusedjustabouteverywhere.Itsworthlearning,asitisreallyeverywhere,andalthoughbeginninglifeasabitofahack,ithasprovenitselfcapableagainandagain.Notmyfavoritelanguagetoworkin,butnottheworseby a long shot! If a new programming paradigm comes along, you can bet a JavaScriptimplementationwillcomealongsoonerthenlater!GivenHTML5andWindows8,Javascriptisonlygoingtogetmorepopularinthefuture,althoughImnotreallysurethisisagoodthing.Javascriptisaprototypebasedlanguage. All told,Javascripthasprettygoodlibrarysupportwhenitcomestogames,andisoneofthelanguagesavailablewhenusingUnity.

EDIT:IfyouareinterestedinJavaScript,besuretocheckoutthelistofJavaScriptgamedevlibraries as well as my Cocos2Dhtml tutorials. I also have a pair of JavaScript bookrecommendations.

AssemblyIfyouasabeginnerpickassemblyinthisdayandage,youdidsomethingwrong,extremelywrong!Choosingassemblyasyourfirst languagemakesC++looklikeawonderfulchoice!Thatsaid,thisisaboutasclosetothemetalasyoucanreasonablyget.Inthisageofi7quadcoreprocessorsthough,gettingclosetothatmetalisaprettystupidthingtodo.AtsomepointAssemblymaybecomeimportanttoyou,butIhighlydoubtit. Untilitdoes,pretenditdoesntexist.

TheRestIhopeIdidntmissyourlanguageofchoice,astheresObjectiveC,D,F#,CAML,Smalltalk,LISP,Perl,PHP,Haskel,Pascalandafewhundredotherlanguagesavailable.Manyofthemaredomainorplatformspecificlanguages,orhavefairlypoorgamelibrarysupport.ObjectiveCisgaininginpopularitybasedonitbeingthemainlanguageofiOSplatforms,butoutsidethatworldit isvirtuallyunknownandfranklyIhateit. Idontrecommendagainstanyoftheselanguages,butnonearereallywellsuitedorverypopularforgamedevelopment.

ButImanartist,wheredoIstart?

Inthatcase,youshouldprobablystarthere.Pickoutanapplicationandgowithit. Manyoftheprogramsonthatlisthavefree/demoversionsavailable.Also,theGFSlistofapplicationsusedismostlyfulloffreeapplicationsusedtocreategames.

SoIhavethisgreatideaforanMMO

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Alright, back to being negative again. You cant create anMMO. You and 10 of your bestfriendscantcreateanMMO,unlessofcourseyour10friendsareallAlistdevelopersandeventhenfranklyyoustillcantaffordtocreateanMMO.Gotafewmilliondollars?No?Thendropit,anMMOisntthewaytogo.Now,somedayyoumaybeabletoworkonaWarcraftkiller,butasyourfirstprojectwell franklythats liketryingto findacureforcancer inyourhighschoolchemistryclass.Aimlower,muchmuchlower.

Ok,Ivedecidedtogoaheadwith

C++isthelanguageforme!

Egads,youjustwontlistenwillyouallright,weallmakethismistakewhenwestartout.IfyouinsistongoingtheC++route,learnthelanguagefirst,usingthefollowingrecommendedtoolsandlibraries.

Freely available resources for learning the language ( Books andTutorials)

Microsoft'sgettingstartedwithC++pageincludingBeginnerHowDoI?videosMITC++Introductioncourseware.Theyhaveothermoreadvancedlessonsaswell.ABeginnersC++(1996,outdated,butfree)www.cplusplus.com is a surprisingly comprehensive site dedicated to C++. Thetutorialssectionisagoodplacetostart.

Onceyougetabitmoreadvanced,checkout

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BruceEckel'sThinkinginC++2ndEdition

Iwillfillthisareainovertime.Muchofthefreeresourcesareterrible,oroutdated.Ifyouhaveagoodsuggestion,emailmeorcommentbelowandIwilladdit.

Recommendedbooks(Notfree)

TheC++ProgrammingLanguage

Thisisthebookbythelanguagecreatorhimself.Itisconsideredthelanguagebibleofsorts.Itmaynotbethebestbooktolearnon,butitisabookeveryC++programmershouldhaveontheirbookshelf.

C++HowtoProgram

Currentlyinits8thedition,thisisaprettygoodfirstbookforaprogrammertolearnwith.Itcovers pretty much all of the language features and even covers Boost libraries, which is avaluableaddition. Keepinmind,thisbook, likemost introductorytexts,doesnotcoverGUIprogrammingofanyform.

C++WithoutFear:ABeginner'sGuideThatMakesYouFeelSmart(2ndEdition)

This one I recommend with a caveat. It is probably the single best conversationalintroductory C++ texts out there. It is very approachable and the pacing is quite good.Nothing is implementedbefore its explainedwhich is verynice. That said, some thingsarewrongoroutdated,occasionallyteachyouTheCwayofdoingstuffinsteadoftheC++way.Finally,theauthorrecommendsDevC++,whichisreallyreallyreallybad.Thoseflawaside,ifyou find all other texts to dry, confusing or technical, youmaywant to check this one out.Again,noGUIcoverageandnoBoost,butmanyof thenewer languagefeaturesarecovered,plusitspendsacouplechaptersattheendimplementingmorefullsolutions,whichisagoodthing.

BeginningC++ThroughGameProgramming3rdEdition

Nodoubtyouhaveseenthis titleand inyour futurecareerasaC++developerANDagamedeveloper, this soundsaboutperfect. It isnt,but it isnotbad. Letsput thisout there rightaway,thiswontteachyouhowtoprogramgames,butwhatitwilldoisteachyoutoprogram

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away,thiswontteachyouhowtoprogramgames,butwhatitwilldoisteachyoutoprogramC++. AsanintroductiontoC++text, itsnotasgoodastheprevioustwobooks. Asagameprogrammingtextitsallbutuseless.SowhyamIrecommendingit?ItsadecentintroductiontoC++programmingthatusessimplegamesforallofthedemonstrations.So,insteadoffairlyabstractorcontrivedexamplesyouseeinothertexts,alltheexamplesaregamerelated. Forexample,pointersandreferencesaretaughtbycreatingaTicTacToegame.Manypeoplewillfindthisaheckofaloteasiertowraptheirheadaroundthanmanyexamplesinotherbooks.

EffectiveC++

Thisisnotabeginnertext.Thisisanoldtext,outdatedevenasitdoesntcoverthelatestC++standard. Heck, its 6 years old! So why am I recommending it? Simple, every good C++programmerownsthisbook.Onceyougraspthebasicsofthelanguage,buythisbookanditwillmakeyouamuchbetterC++programmer.Seriously.HopefullyScottisworkingona4theditionaswespeak.Onthebrightside,its6yearsoldsoyoushouldbeabletofinditcheaply.InadditiontoStroustrupsbook,thisistheC++bible.

Tools

Whenitcomestotools,thechoicesareprettyclearwithC++

VisualC++Express2010MicrosoftsfreeC++compiler/IDECodeblocksIDEandMingWfreeC++compiler

Of the two, Iwould recommendVisual C++personally, unless of course you arent runningWindows. There are a few other options, but they all require a bitmorework or installingplugins,butIwilllistthemforcompleteness

KDevelopalinuxbasedIDE,heavilycopiedfromVisualStudioinstyleEclipseIDEforC++acrossplatform(Linux,Win,Mac)IDE,mainlyforJava,butsupportsC++XCodeApplesIDE,supportsC++butisobviouslyMacOSonlyNetbeansforC++NetBeansisanotherJavaIDEthatsupportsC++. ItsactuallysurprisinglynewuserfriendlybutnowthatOracleisincharge,expectthattoend!

Well,thatsaboutit.IfyouareworkingonWindows,IseenoreasontouseanythingbutVisualC++personally.AnumberoftutorialsouttherewillrecommendDevC++DONTunderany

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C++personally.AnumberoftutorialsouttherewillrecommendDevC++DONTunderanycircumstancesuseDevC++, itsold,unsupported,buggyandhas little tonoadvantagesovertheotherchoices.Itwaspopularatthetimebecausebackthen,therewasnofreelyavailableC++IDE,timeshavechanged.

Oh, and just to be thorough, there are also Emacs andVi(m) which are actually just reallypowerfultexteditorsthatyouthencallouttothelikesofGccortheMinGWcompiler.ImostlyjustmentiontheseforcompletenessasifIdidntsomeguywithabeardandplaidshirtwouldnodoubtscoldmeovertheomission.InnowaydoIrecommendanewdeveloperstartwithanyoftheseitems!

OnelastpointIthinkshouldbemadehere,yourchoiceofIDEhasabsolutelynoaffectonhowcrossplatformyourcodeis!Code(properly)writteninVisualC++canbelatercompiledforMacOSandLinux,forexample.

Gamingrelatedstuff

So, you are here for game programming advice and all Ive talked about is C++, now Iwillrectifythat.Firstyouneedtodecideifyouareworkingin2Dor3D.Juststartingout,Ihighlyrecommend sticking to 2D for now ( or stick to console apps until you get the gist of thelanguage ), yetonceyoudecide tomake thegraphicalplunge, thereare3major ( anda fewthousand other! ) 2D graphic libraries out there. I know this sounds like a copout, but allthreeareequallygood,soyoucantreallymakeamistakehere.

2DLibraries

SDLSimpleDirectMediaLayer

Itsbeginnerfriendly,simple(relatively),crossplatform,wellsupportedandisusedtomakecommerciallyshippingproducts(liketherecentlyreleaseDungeonsofDredmore).Ithandlesjustabouteveryaspectofcreatinga2Dgame,graphics,sound,loadingfiles,networkingyounameit.ItisverymuchaCbasedlibrary.YoucanuseitfromC++withouteffort,justdontexpectanyobjectorientedfeatures.

Allegro

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This is the library ( and Fastgraf ) I started out usingmanymanymany years ago. It wasoriginallywrittenfortheAtariSTandIamsimplyflooredthatit isstillaroundandinactivedevelopment.Thatsaid,itwasgoodthenanditisgoodnow.Interestingtriviapoint,theguybehindAllegrowayback in theearly90s,wenton tobecomeoneof themainprogrammersbehindXNA. Anyways,thismuchlikeSDL,coversjustabouteverythingyouwouldneedfor2Dgameprogramming.AlsolikeSDL,itsverymuchaClibrary.

SFMLSimpleandFastMediaLibrary

Thenewkidontheblock,andfrankly,Ihavezeropersonalexperiencewiththislibrary.Likethe other two, it handles just about everything you would need to implement a 2D game.Unliketheothers,thisisanobjectorientedlibrary(C++).Aquicklookattheclassesanditlookslikeaverymodernandcleandesign.Onthatlevelalone,IwouldprobablygothisrouteifIwasstartingouttoday.Itiseventdriven,whichisaveryhandything(andsomethingAllegroismovingtowards),whichshouldmakeyourgamestructureeasiertoimplement.

3DLibraries

Ifyouare just learning,youprobablyshouldntbeworking in3Drightnow,yetherearetheprimarylibrariesinusetoday.

OpenGL

OriginallydevelopedbySiliconGraphicsintheearly90s,thisisthegranddaddyof3DAPIs.Itsbiggestadvantageisitscrossplatformnature,asOpenGLiseverywhere.Thisisespeciallytrue on mobile devices like Android and iPhone, which both implement a stripped downversion ofOpenGL calledOpenGLES. You can view the getting started guide here. If youpreferinbookformtheOpenGLProgrammingGuide(RedBook)haslongbeviewedasTheOpenGLBible,theonebookallOpenGLprogrammersshouldown.Thatsaid,inrecentyearsOpenGL has changed quite a bit and the old cruft and obsolete instructions havent beenpruned out of this book yet. The NeHe tutorials have long been the goto resource for newOpenGLdevelopers, although in someways they suffer the same problem as theRedBook,timewaitsfornodocs!

DirectX

This isMicrosofts primary game SDK ( Software Development Kit ) for creating games onWindowsandXboxusingC++ (notbe confusedwithXNA). UnlikeOpenGL,DirectXalso

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WindowsandXboxusingC++ (notbe confusedwithXNA). UnlikeOpenGL,DirectXalsosupportsInputandSound.Microsofthasprovidedsomefairlygoodtutorials.Onethingtobeawareof,DirectX10and11requireVistaorhigher,sonoXPsupport!Thatsaid,DirectXisnodoubt the most popular SDK to use for commercial Windows games. Beginning GameProgramming isprobably thebestbeginner friendlyDirectXbook,butkeep inmind,youdoneedtounderstandC++already!

Ogre3D

Ogre3Dsitsinaweirdspot.Itisnotafullgameengine,butitisnotlikeOpenGLorDirectXeither.InfactOGREusesboth.Ogreisa3Drenderingengine.WritteninverycleanobjectorientedC++,OgrehandlesanumberoftasksthatneitherDirectXorOpenGLdo,likeascenegraph(thedatastructureyourworldisstoredin),importersforalmostallmajor3Dmodelingapplications, landscapes, LOD ( level of detail ) support, etc. If you are using DirectX orOpenGL to createa3Dgame, theseareall thingsyouwouldhave towriteyourself. Ogre iscrossplatformandhasbeenusedtocreateanumberofpublishedgames. Thehaveaprettygoodmanualonline. Therearealsoabeginnerandaprobookavailable,neitherofwhich Ihavereadthough.

OtherLibraries

ODEOpenDynamicsEngine

nVidiaPhysX

Are two freely available physics engines for accurately modeling real world physics in yourgame.ODEisopensourcedaswell.ThereisalsoHavokwhichisincludedinUnreal(UDK),butitslicensingisntsostraightforward.

Box2D

Aphysicsenginefor2Dgames.Free,powerfulandquiteabiteasierthanworkingin3D.

Boost

BoostisthefutureofC++,10oftheboostlibrariesarealreadypartoftheC++standard,withmorecomingsoon.BoostlibrariesperformdozensofcommontasksandmakeupforagiantflawintheC++language(thestandardlibrariesarecrapcomparedtootherlanguages).Thatsaid,theyarenttheeasiesttolearnandevenhardertounderstand.ManyBoostprogrammers

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said,theyarenttheeasiesttolearnandevenhardertounderstand.ManyBoostprogrammersare amongst the best in the field, and it shows. There are books available for Boost too,although the website actually has extremely good documentation for the majority of thelibraries.

GameEngines

Iwillcoverthisoffinadifferentpost,asEnginesarentreallytiedtoaparticularlanguage.Forexample,thepopularUnrealengine,isverymuchwrittenandprogrammableinC++,butalsocanbeprogrammed inUnrealScript. Unity isprimarilyC#based,butcanbeextendedwithC++andscriptingwithJavascriptandBoo. PandacanbescriptedinPythonbutcanalsobeprogrammedinC++.Enginesdontreallyfitinbylanguage.

Stilltoomanychoices,tellmeexactlywhattodo!

Alright,keepinmindthisisallentirelymyopinion,butasagamedeveloperlearningC++youshould:

GoheretodownloadandinstallVisualC++Express.

TaketheguidedtourthatwillintroduceyoutousingtheIDEandlanguage.

At this point I would recommend buying a C++ book such as thisone. There are a ton ofresourcesontheweb,butmanyareoutdatedorwrongandthesheervolumeisoverwhelming.Havingatleastonegoodbeginnersguideisideal.

Gothroughthatbookanddosomebasicexercise,createafewconsoleapplicationsandgetafeelforthelanguage.

NowgoanddownloadSFML(VisualStudio2008)

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Congratulations,ifyougottothispoint,youarenowagameprogrammer!

EDIT:This sitenowhasa completegame fromscratchusingSFML tutorial available. YouneedtohavethebasicsofC++down,but itwillhopefully teachyouquiteabit. It isagoodplacetogoonceyouverunthroughacoupleC++tutorialsorafewchaptersofabook.

C#isthelanguageforme!

TheC#sectionisaloteasiertorightthanC++,asitsanewerlanguage,therearefewertoolsandonelibrarydominatesthegameecosystem.


MSDNVisualC#DeveloperCenter

One really nice thing about working with Microsoft technologies is Microsoft knowdocumentation! Thenumberoftutorialsandhowtovideostheymakeavailableisextremelyvast. Thislinkaloneshouldhaveeverythingyouneedtoknowtogetupandrunning.Theyalsohavemoreresources,includingthisintroductionvideoavailableattheBeginnerDeveloperLearningCenter. Once you are ready tomove on to XNA give this tutorial a shot. To behonest,theyprobablyprovideeverythingyouneedtosucceed.

C#Essentials

Afreeebook,coversthebasicsofC#prettywell.Abitdatedbutstillfree.NicelymanyofthechangestoC#overitsevolutionarecomplementarytotheoldways,sonotasmanywaysofdoingthingshavebeendeprecated.

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RobMiles'C#YellowBook

AfreebookfromaprofessorattheUniversityofHullaboutlearningtoprogramusingC#.Itsactually pretty good and he updates annually. Very good first step for a C# developer thatdoesntwanttospendmoney.

IntroductiontoProgrammingThroughGameDevelopmentUsingMicrosoftXNAGameStudio

RobMilesalsomadethisebookavailableforfreedownloadaswell.ItisallaboutlearninghowtoprogrambycreatinggamesinXNA.PersonallyIthinkthisiskindaabadidea,butthepriceisright!Definitelygiveitashot,itisaverythoroughtextandifitworksforyou,youwillbeupanddoingthefunstuffatamuchquickerpace.Itdoescoverjustabouteverythingyouneedtoknowtoprogramafullfeatured2Dgame.

GangofFourDesignPatterns

Truth is, this site is probably not going to make a lick of sense for you starting out, butbookmarkitandcomebackeveryonceinawhile.Oneofthebestsitesondesignpatterns,anddesignpatternsareaverygoodthingtoknow.Theywillchangethewayyoucode,forthebetter.


.C#ProgrammingLanguage4thEdition(CoveringC#4.0)

Oneof theprimarywriters of thisbook is the language author. Just like inC++,withC# Irecommendthebookby the languagecreator. Unlike theC++equivalent, thisbook ismorebeginnerfriendlyalthoughstillcomprehensive.AsaC#developer,thisisprobablythebibleofC#books.UnlikeC++,C#haschangedextensivelyinashortperiodoftime,sobesureyougetacopycoveringversion4!

HeadfirstC#2ndedition

Thisoneisabitdifferent,asthenameimplies,itjustsortajumpsinanddocumentsasitgoes.Insteadofworkingonconsoleapplications,youareactuallydeveloprealGUIappsrightfromthestart.Forthosethatlearnbydoing,thisisanexcellentbook.Itisveryconversationalandeasytoread,althoughalittlechaoticinitsformatting(checkoutthepreviewandyouwillseewhat Imean! ). If this ishowyou learn, thisbookwill begodsend,but I know it isnot for

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what Imean! ). If this ishowyou learn, thisbookwill begodsend,but I know it isnot foreveryone!

C#4InANutshell

Ijustlovethisseriesofbooks.Thesebooksareveryconciseandcovertheentirelanguage,butcanalsomakeforausefulreferencewellafteryouvegotthehangofthings.Thedownsidetothisconcisenessis,thereisnotalotofhandholding,itcoversthelanguageonly(notalkoftheIDEforexample)andthereisnocontinuityofexamplestotieitalltogether.Itdescribesalanguage feature, gives an example and moves on. This may or may not work for you,especiallyifyouhavenopriorlanguageexperience.

IlookedatanumberoflearnXNAprogrammingbookstoseeifanyofthemweresuitabletoanew developer including Learning XNA 4, Microsoft XNA Game Studio 4.0: LearnProgramming Now! and Beginning XNA Game Programming and none do a good job ofcoveringtheC#language. Myrecommendationistogetagraspofthe languagebasicsfromanothersourcebeforejumpingintoaXNAspecificbook.

Tools

Thisareashouldbeextremelystraightforward,astherearereallyonlytwoidealIDEsforC#development,VisualC#andMonodevelop. Thatsaid,Microsofthavemuddiedthewatersbylettingtheirmarketingdepartmentgetinvolved,soyouhaveVisualC#,XNAGameStudioandnowGameStudioisincludedaspartofWindowsPhoneDevelopmentToolsyeah,thatmakesatonofsensetometoo!Justtoaddtothestupidity,WindowsPhoneDevelopmentTools(justrollsoffthetongue)onlyworksonVistaandWindows7,soifyouarerunningWindowsXP,youneedtodownloadthestandaloneversion.

So

VisualC#/GameStudioinstructions

IfyouarerunningWindows7orVista,downloadthisor ifyouare interested inrunning thenewestandbetaestdownloadthis.

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However,ifyouarerunningWindowsXPdownloadthis.(DirectLinktoEXE)

MonoDevelop/SharpDevelopinstructions

Finally, if you are running onnonMicrosoft platformor for some reason dontwant to useVisualC#,MonoDevelopistheIDEofchoice.(DownloadPage)

ThereisalsoSharpDevelopifMonoDevelopisntforyou. (DownloadPage). It isWindowsonlyhowever.

Onekeythingtonote,ifyouareworkingwithandwantfullsupportforXNA,youwillneedtouseGameStudio/WindowsPhoneDevelopmentTools.A

Gamingrelatedstuff

XNA

Insteadofrepeatingthisoneinthe2Dand3Dlibrariessection,Illjustaddressitfirst.XNAiswellregardedandisseenasabigreasontouseC#andforgoodreason,itreallyisawonderfuldevelopmentenvironment. Atthemostbasiclevel,XNAisaC#friendlyversionofDirectX,butthatissellingitfartooshort.

XNAhandlesmost of the common tasks for game development. 2D graphics, 3D graphics,audio,assetloadingandthecontentpipeline.Itisalsoahellofaloteasiertogetuptospeedon than OpenGL or DirectX. The downside is, it is supported onWindows, Xbox and ( asubset) onWindows Phone 7. A number of released games, including every Indy game onXbox,havebeenreleasedusingXNAtools.

TherearehoweverprojectstoportXNAtootherplatformsorlikethisone.

Formoredetailscheckitout.

2DLibraries

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2DLibraries

SDL.Net

Its SDL, the C++ library, with C# bindings. Therefore it is capable of 2D graphics, sound,loadingfiles,fonts,etcjustlikeSDL.C#specificdocumentationcanbefoundhere.

3DLibraries

OpenTK

OpenTKisawrapperaroundOpenGL(3dgraphics),OpenCL(allowscodetorunacrossCPUandGPUs)andOpenAL(audio).Ifyouwanttodocrossplatform3D,OpenTKisthewaytogo.

SlimDX

ThisisawrapperaroundallthingsDirectX9/11.So,ifforsomereasonyoudontwanttouseXNA,youcanusefullDirectX.Forabeginner,thereisprobablyverylittlereason,asXNAisafairbiteasiertouse.

Tao

TaobringsOpenGL(3DGraphics),OpenAL(audio),ODE(physics)andanumberofotherlibraries toC#.Sadly, itsmostlybeenabandonedsoOpenTKisprobablyabetterbetat thispoint.

Axiom

ThisisaportofOGRE3Dto.NET.Sadlyittoodoesntappeartobethatactiveanymore.

OtherLibraries

Box2D.NET

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Box2Dphysicslibrary,for.NET.Aprettyimpressive2Donlyphysicslibrary.

BEPUPhysics

Isafull3Dphysicslibraryfor.NETthatalsosupportXbox360andWindowsPhone7.InthedeveloperswordsItsfastandhasabunchofcoolfeatureslikeconstraints,terrain,staticandinstanced meshes, continuous collision detection, custom collision rules, vehicles, easymultithreading,yaddayaddayadda..


Alright,duetoitsyouthandtheexcellenceofXNA,thisisaneasyonetowrite.

Firstoff,goanddownloadthenewestXNAGamestudio.

WatchsomeoftheMicrosofttrainingmaterials.

Createafewconsoleapps,getafeelingforthelanguage.Itwouldbeaverygoodideatobuyagoodintroductorybookrightnowifyoucanaffordit,runthroughtheirexamples.

NowitstimetogetyourfeetwetwithXNA.Runthroughthe2Dgametutorial.

UseXNAtocreateallmannerofsimple2Dthen3Dgames.

Congrats,youarenowagameprogrammer!

Javaisthelanguageforme!

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Javaisthelanguageforme!


Oracle'sTutorialSite

Sun ( and nowOracle ) put together a very comprehensive set of tutorials for learning thelanguage. Startwith thegetting started tutorials andgo from there. Youcandownload thewholewackofthemforofflinereadinghere.

IBMTutorials

IBM also has a huge list of Java tutorials available, running the gamut of subjects, some ofwhichwouldreallysurpriseyoucomingfrombigblue!Keepinginmind,IBMwasthesourceofEclipse,theyareprobablythesecondmostinvolvedcompanyintheJavaecosystem,asidefromOracle.Lotsoftheirtutorialsareveryenterpriseoriented,butyouwillfindmanythatareuseful.Hereistheirintroductorytutorial,butperhapscoolestofall,theyhaveatutorialbuiltaroundagameforteachingthelanguage!IBMreallyisaweirdbeast.

ThinkingInJava3rdEdition

Itsabitoutdated(2002)atthispointintime.Itishoweverabookthatisveryeasytoread,followingalongandwillhelpyoulearnthelanguage. Youwillneedotherresources,butthisbook isaverygoodguidedown thepathof learningJava. Plus thewhole free thing is verynice!


TheJavaProgrammingLanguage(ForthEdition)

In keepingwithmy trend of recommending books by the language creator, this book is coauthoredbyJamesGosling.ItisacomprehensiveandrelativelybeginnerfriendlyintroductiontotheJavaprogramminglanguage.Unfortunately,itisgettingabitold,andonlycoversupto

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totheJavaprogramminglanguage.Unfortunately,itisgettingabitold,andonlycoversuptoJ2SE 5, while J2SE 6 is the most current release. That said, this shouldnt be much of ahandicap.

HeadFirstJava

Thisbook isaneasyread, incrediblyeasy. DareIsay it, it isactuallykindof fun. IalreadyknewJava toadegreeanddidnt reallyneeda beginnersbook,but Inoticed thisonewasalwaystrendinginSafaristop10list(outofover14Kbooks!)andcouldntfigureoutwhysoIgaveitaread. Itwasagenuinelyamusingbooktoread, itdidaverygoodjobofgettingthetechnicalinformationacrossinawaythatdidntfeelsodryandstuffylikemanytextsdo. Itmaynotbeyourstyle,butyoushoulddefinitelycheck itout! Amazonoffersa look insidepreview,andIsuggestyoudo.

JavaHowToProgram9thEdition

AVERYcomprehensive introductiontoJavaatawhopping1500pages, italsocomeswithawhoppingpricetag.Itishoweverthetextofchoiceformanyjavacoursesanditcoversprettymuchallofthelanguageaspects,includingmanycommonlibrariesandframeworks,whichtoyouasagameprogrammermaynotmatter.Againthough,thepricetagisakickintheteeth.

EffectiveJava

Thisisnotabeginnersbook,inthatitwontteachyouthelanguagebasics.Thisbook,handsdown, will make you a better Java programmer. Once youve mastered the basics of thelanguage,pickthisup!

IsurewishIhadthisbooktenyearsago.SomemightthinkthatIdontneedanyJavabooks,butIneedthisone.

Whosaid thataboutEffectiveJava? JamesGoslingthe languagecreator! I simplycannotthinkofhigherpraise.

Tools

This is an areawhere Java has always got it right, tools. There over the years have been anumberofgreatIDEsforJava,butthreehavereallyjumpedtotheforefrontandfortunatelyall3areavailablefreely.

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JavaSDK

WhendevelopinginJava,yourfirststepistoinstalltheSDK(softwaredevelopmentkit).InsomecasesitmaybeincludedinyourIDEsinstall,butit issafesttostarthere. JustlikeallthingsJavatherearebewilderingnumberofoptionsandflavors.ThereisJavaSE(standardedition),EE(EnterpriseEdition),ME(MicroEdition),Embeddedaswellasvariousversionsforveryspecificdevicedevicesandprofiles.Hell,eventheJavausedforAndroiddevelopmentis completelydifferent! (And frankly isnt exactly Java,but thatsneitherherenor there ).Long story short though, unless you know a reason not to, what you want is Java SEDevelopmentKit7,atleastasofwritingitis.YouwillalsoseethisreferredtoastheJDKorasJ2SEonoccasionbecause,wellitsJava.Youwillstartnoticingatrendverysoon!

Eclipse

OriginallydevelopedbyIBM,thenowopensourceEclipseisthemostpopularJavaIDEinusetoday. Availableacrossmanyplatformsand sportingapluggableUI,Eclipsehaseverythingand thekitchen sink for features. Iwould say it is themost capableof the IDEsbuton thesame token, it is also themost confusing. If you areworkingonAndroiddevelopment it isGoogles preferred environment, so thats where the native tools are for authoring Androidapps. Thatsaid,IrecentlyworkedonanAndroidappandIHATEDtheexperience. Eclipsekeptfoulingupmyprojectsagainandagainandagain,ifIwasanewdeveloperImighthavequit in frustration! Get toknowthecleanparameter,youaregoing touse ita lot. Inallhonesty, for a newdeveloperwho isnt doingAndroidwork, stay away fromEclipse to startwouldbemyadvice. IfyoumustuseEclipse,besurenot togowild installingpluginsunlessyouabsolutelyneed them! Even figuringoutwhichversionofEclipse todownloadcanbeadauntingtask!Ifyoudontknow,downloadthisversion.

Netbeans

InthatspecialsortofwaythatJavahasofmakingthingsconfusingashell,NetbeansisboththenameofanIDEandthenameofaplatformfordevelopingSwingapplications.InthiscasewearetalkingabouttheIDE.Originallystartedasastudentproject(in96!),Sunpurchasedand open sourced it in 99. Since then, Sun (and now Oracle) have made continuous newreleases.It,likeEclipse,supportspluginsalthoughnowherenearasextensive(orannoying!).Thatsaid,itjustworks.ForanewdeveloperthisistheoneIrecommendstartingwith.AgainlikeEclipse,therearemanydifferentversionsandifyouchoosethewrongoneitinstallsaTONof crap youdontneedandprobablydontwant ( likewebanddatabase servers! ). On thisdownload page, unless you have a very good reason otherwise, its the JavaSE version youwant. ** I should note, you can do Android development using NetBeans, its just not

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supportedordocumentedbyGoogle.

IntelliJIDEA

ThisincrediblypopularIDE,welltobecompletelyhonest,Ihavealmostnoexperiencewith.See, itusedtocostmoneyandEclipse/Netbeanswerealwaysgoodenough. Thatsaid, inaworldfulloffreetools,peoplewerestillwillingtopayforIntelliJIDEA,thatsayssomething!Now though, they have a completely free edition! Again, I have no direct experience withIntelliJbeyondreading thewebsite,butcometime formynextJavaproject, Iwilldefinitelycheckitout.

Gamingrelatedstuff

2DLibraries

Slick

Ibelieve this is themost commonlyused2Dgame libraryonJava thesedays. It isbuiltonlwjgl ( details below ) and uses OpenGL or Java2D for fast 2D rendering. Additionally itsupports fonts, sound, input and image loading. There is also support for spritesheets,tilemapsand2Dcollisiondetection,allverycommonrequirementsincreatinga2Dgame.Thetutorialsevenwalkyouthroughcreatingacompletegame.Averycleanandbeginnerfriendlylibrary.

LibGDX

This libraryhandlesnotonlygraphics,but sound, filehandling, loggingand input. YoucanalsocreateAndroidappswithveryminimalcodechanges. Likeslick ituses lwjgl,aswellasjogl behind the scenes. The design seems remarkably clean, but the documentation is a bitlacking.

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Java2D

ThisisJavasstandard2Ddrawinglibrary.Iamjustmentioningitforcompleteness,asIseenoreasontouseitoverSlickorLibGDX.

3DLibraries

Jogamp/jogl

TheseprovideJavalanguagebindingsforOpenGL,OpenCL,OpenALandOpenMAXlibraries.Thiscanprovideyouwithlowlevelaccesstoallyourgraphicandaudioneeds.AdditionallyitcanworkwithJava2D,SwingandAWT.Atutorialforgettingstartedisavailablehere.Jogampis completely up to date with the latest OpenGL implementation and is the underlyingtechnologyinmanyhigherlevelJavagraphicslibraries.

lwjglLightweightJavaGameLibrary

Muchlikejogl,lwjglisalibrarybuiltontopofOpenGLandOpenAL.Additionallyitsupportsgamecontrollers likegamepadsandsteeringwheels. Ithasbeenused tomakeanumberofgamesandistheunderlyingtechnologypoweringthejMonkeyEngine.

jMonkeyEngine

Ok,itsnottechnicallyalibrary,itsafullgameengine.Whatdoesthatmean?Wellinsteadofaccomplishingonetask,itaccomplishesallthevarioustasksyouneedtocreateagame(andasjust mentioned, uses the lwjgl library to do it ). So in addition to graphics and sound, itprovidesafullscenegraph,meshandgraphicsimportingmethods,aGUI,networkinglibraryandmuchmore.Ifyouareplanningtoworkona3DgameonJava,starthere.Theresagoodselectionoftutorialsavailabletogetyoustarted.

OtherLibraries

jBullet/jbox2D

ThepopularBullet3DandBox2DphysicslibrariesalsohaveJavaimplementations.

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Ok,firststepistodownloadandinstalltheJavatools.

Nextup,goaheadandgetNetBeansandinstallit.

NowdownloadandstartreadingThinkinginJava,givingsilentthankstoBruceEckelforhisgenerosity.Ifyoucantfollowthisbook,orneedaprintone,considerpurchasingHeadFirstJava.

Runthroughthefirstfewchapters,dotheexamplesandlearnthebasicsofthelanguage.

Onceyougraspthelanguagebasics,downloadandinstallSlick.

Runthroughthe"Spiegel"tutorial.

At this point, you should probably be capable of creating your own 2D games. If you areinterestedin3Dprogramming,considercheckingoutthejMonkeyEngine.

Finally, go out and get Effective Java and read it, twice. It will make you a better Javaprogrammer.

Congratulations,ifyougottothispoint,youarenowagameprogrammer!

Pythonisthelanguageforme!

Alright, this section is totally getting the shaft. Why? Frankly because I dont really knowPythonallthatwellanddontfeelcomfortablegivingadviceonasubjectIamnoteducatedon!

So,insteadIamgoingtogiveanumberoflinksthatwillbeofuse.

First,youneedtodownloadandinstallPythonitself.Ifyoudontknowwhichtopick,gowith

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First,youneedtodownloadandinstallPythonitself.Ifyoudontknowwhichtopick,gowithPython2.7.

Now, picking an IDE out for Python is a right confusing task. If you follow that threads(incrediblybad)adviceof choosingVimorEmacs, Iwillpersonally come toyourhouseandsmackyou!Thatsaid,aneasyalternativedoesntspringtomind.PersonallyifIwasworkingwith Python today I would use Eclipse with the PyDev plugin. That said, I am not reallycomfortablerecommendingthattoanewdeveloper.Komodoeditisperhapsasgooda(free)choiceasanytostartwith,butitdoesnotsupportintegrateddebugging.

NowthatthemessybusinessofchoosinganIDEisalloverwiththingsgetmucheasier.Thereisonedominant2DgamelibraryandthatisthePyGamewhichmayjustbethemostnewuserfriendly game library available. Tutorial support is quite good, as is the documentation.Python really handles everything you could need to create a 2D game, graphics, sound,controls,fonts,etc

However, if 2D isnt your thing, check out Panda3D. Stupid name aside, this is a powerfulengine that has been used to create commercial games. Again, like PyGame, it handleseverythingyoucouldpossiblyneedtocreateafull3Dgame.

There are even a couple free books like Dive Into Python 3 and A Byte of Python ( goodbeginner text ).There is also a freelydownloadablebook InventYourOwnComputerGameWithPython.

ThemostimportantpieceofadviceIcangiveyou,dont letpeopleconvinceyouthatPythonisntareallanguage.Ithasbeenusedinanumberofshipping,highqualitygamesandwillcontinuetobeusedassuch.

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Beginner,Programming,C#,CPP,Java

Nowwhat?

So,youvepickedalanguage,thelibrariesyouwanttouseandnowyouneedto,youknowdosomething.Thisisalistofsuggestedprojectsforanewdeveloperinterestedingames,in(fullymyopinion)orderofdifficulty.Iamalwaysopentonewsuggestionshere,sosendthemin!Also,ifyouwanttosharetheresultsofyourefforts,letmeknowandIwillmakethatavailabletoo!

andeverythingelse!

Ifyouarelookingatgettinginto3Ddevelopmentcheckthislistof3Denginestogetstarted.Ifyouarestrugglingwiththeartsideoftheequation,besuretocheckoutAprogrammer'sguidetocreatingartforyourgame.

Goodluckwithyourgamedevelopmentcareer!

Programming

www.gamefromscratch.com

http://www.gamefromscratch.com/post/2011/08/04/Iwanttobeagamedeveloper.aspx

http://goo.gl/ffgS

i want to be a game developer

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