so, I'm completely new at programing... then, what is the best way to make a decent metroidvania game (example: doukutsu, lyle in cibe sector). I'm not saying I want to make a game worth to be compared to konami's games or doukutsu... also, is there any easy way to make good shmups?
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Anonymous2006-08-26 12:21
if you're completely new at programming you're going to have to get good at it first.
start out making small simple programs, and as you get better start making more complex small programs. they don't need to be anything useful really, just programming 'doodles'.
when you're learning how to program (and even after you're good at it) it's essential that you have people that you can go to with questions. unless you know a lot of people in real life that are into programming, you're going to have to go on irc. find a good community with intelligent, friendly people, and learn from them. you will encounter problems that could stump you for a very long time if you don't ask for help.
you don't have to be a very experienced programmer to make a game like the ones you described, so once you get to a medium skill level, you can start work on it.
>>5 so once you get to a medium skill level, you can start work on it.
yeah, except it will take a few years for him to get to a medium skill level
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Anonymous2006-08-27 8:35
it doesn't necessarily have to take that long. it depends on how smart he is and how much effort he puts into it. (and how much free time he has. school and work ftf)
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Anonymous2006-08-27 20:54
>>8
Yes it does, only morons read 4chan to learn how to program (unlike me of course)
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Penis Moai2006-08-28 0:40
I'm making a shmup right now with a B.S. degree in Computer Science under my belt.
If 2D shmup with dinky-ass 1990's style gameplay, yes it's easy, at least for me.
If a modern shmup with 3D models, 3D backgrounds, scripting language, and thousands of bullets on the screen with the goal of minimal slowdown like I'm (slowly) working on right now... no, it's NOT fucking easy. There's so many more layers of both coding and across-the-board theory you have to get by to get just about every piece of it implemented, it isn't even funny. I agonized about 4 or 5 hours yesterday trying to "get" how interpolation works in keyframing animation at the algorithmic level before that fucking light bulb over my head finally turned on, but that's one baby step out of many more.
Still, when I finish this, the shitty GPA won't be as relevant to company interviewers as having a completed project to my name, so that's good enough motivation to keep at it.
If you're super-new to programming I suggest something very elementary. Try an ASCII-based Othello game in C or C++, that was what my freshman-year project was.
Learning C++ is only the first step in game programming. Next you need to know the proper ways to design large system to create the structure. You have to understand data structures down to the memory level to squeeze out good performance. For the graphics, you must know how to properly balance the pipeline to keep the card working at all times. Games tend to have a ton of vector and matrix math, so you'll need to study calculus and linear algebra. There is no way for anyone to gain enough experience with this stuff just by working on C++ in their free time.
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Anonymous2007-06-21 12:18 ID:We3C7fPw
Do it in BBCode
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Anonymous2007-06-21 13:10 ID:4D61fndZ
Read SICP.
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Anonymous2007-06-21 13:31 ID:LemlL7xa
>>10
What the fuck, a 3D shmup like that is pretty easy.