Q. I am a junior in high school and love video games. I am very precise and work well alone. For all these reasons i am interested in possibly pursuing a career in computer / video game programming. But first i need to learn how? I would love any suggestions on maybe a good online class i can take to get me started. Then ideas on how to make it my career. What would be the best way to get a job as a programmer? and how?
A. For one, I recommend AGAINST Eli's advice. You will not learn game programming by using the "Easy Routes". If you want to be able to make memory efficient, fast, satisfying games you should look into other methods. (If you ever want to be anything but a hobbyist programmer you HAVE to learn actual programming. Good luck getting a job if your resume only includes "Unity3D" ;D)
My Recommendation:
1: Learn a programming language (C and/or C++)
2: Learn the Windows API (Mainly for tools creation, but minimally for game programming)
3: Learn a Graphics API (DirectX and/or OpenGL)
4: Make EASY games until you are comfortable with the languages/APIs and how they work together (This will teach you the fundamentals of your programming language and graphics API of choice, how they work together, and teach you game related devices required for larger projects such as handling the game loop. This will also make learning to write proper code easier to learn because the scale of the game will be smaller, and therefore easier to manage)
5: Keep creating programs and/or games that are of your skill level, with a few newly added features. Introduce yourself to new topics slowly. Successfully creating a Pong clone is going to aid you a LOT more than failing to create a successful MMORPG.
6: If you enjoy programming, enroll in a college for Software Engineering/Computer Science. Make sure they have classes for Object Oriented Programming and things like that. If you learned a language already in High School, you will have a head start on college, so either way it will be beneficial to start now.
Also, you must work well as a team as well as alone. If you join a game company you will be working with a team and most likely working on code you did not even initially create. Blizzard didn't create World of Warcraft by paying only one man, you know! If you want to be a one man team you will need to expand your knowledge incredibly. You will need to learn how to create, rig, animate, texture models... how to create sound effects, background music... how to program the game (which seems to be what you are after)... and MUCH more. (Nothing is impossible, but as a one man team you will need to rely on releasing Indie games and hope they do well. If they do, you could be a rich, rich human being! If they don't, you might want to sign up for food stamps!)
Good luck! It's actually a lot of fun aside from chasing bugs and memory leaks, but you will not care when you have a finished project. It's just so satisfying ;D Just never forget, technology is swiftly evolving, and Game Programming is like playing a musical instrument. You are never "Finished learning".
PS-
Look into C++ Primer Plus Fifth Edition. It's a great book to learn C++.
As for IDE's to start developing with? It is completely your decision but I recommend Visual Studio 2010 Express Edition OR Bloodshed Dev-C++. You only need one, and Visual Studio is far superior, but Dev-C++ is sufficient until you get into programming graphics (Learning C++ initially will be Console Window based, and therefore a bare-bones IDE will suffice)
My Recommendation:
1: Learn a programming language (C and/or C++)
2: Learn the Windows API (Mainly for tools creation, but minimally for game programming)
3: Learn a Graphics API (DirectX and/or OpenGL)
4: Make EASY games until you are comfortable with the languages/APIs and how they work together (This will teach you the fundamentals of your programming language and graphics API of choice, how they work together, and teach you game related devices required for larger projects such as handling the game loop. This will also make learning to write proper code easier to learn because the scale of the game will be smaller, and therefore easier to manage)
5: Keep creating programs and/or games that are of your skill level, with a few newly added features. Introduce yourself to new topics slowly. Successfully creating a Pong clone is going to aid you a LOT more than failing to create a successful MMORPG.
6: If you enjoy programming, enroll in a college for Software Engineering/Computer Science. Make sure they have classes for Object Oriented Programming and things like that. If you learned a language already in High School, you will have a head start on college, so either way it will be beneficial to start now.
Also, you must work well as a team as well as alone. If you join a game company you will be working with a team and most likely working on code you did not even initially create. Blizzard didn't create World of Warcraft by paying only one man, you know! If you want to be a one man team you will need to expand your knowledge incredibly. You will need to learn how to create, rig, animate, texture models... how to create sound effects, background music... how to program the game (which seems to be what you are after)... and MUCH more. (Nothing is impossible, but as a one man team you will need to rely on releasing Indie games and hope they do well. If they do, you could be a rich, rich human being! If they don't, you might want to sign up for food stamps!)
Good luck! It's actually a lot of fun aside from chasing bugs and memory leaks, but you will not care when you have a finished project. It's just so satisfying ;D Just never forget, technology is swiftly evolving, and Game Programming is like playing a musical instrument. You are never "Finished learning".
PS-
Look into C++ Primer Plus Fifth Edition. It's a great book to learn C++.
As for IDE's to start developing with? It is completely your decision but I recommend Visual Studio 2010 Express Edition OR Bloodshed Dev-C++. You only need one, and Visual Studio is far superior, but Dev-C++ is sufficient until you get into programming graphics (Learning C++ initially will be Console Window based, and therefore a bare-bones IDE will suffice)
2010 Fifa World Cup Video Game?
Q. I'm making a Fantasy World Cup using the 2010 Fifa World Cup video game. I'm going to record computer game play using a capture card and then upload it to YouTube. So should I just use teams that played in the actual World Cup or pick my own teams?
A. I agree you could use the best teams on the game because there will be a higher talent. But, if it was me, I'd use the teams that participated in the World Cup this year. That way, you'll have your own outcome. It'll just be a shake up of this years Cup. Either way would work.
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