Hi buddies, I have an interest in the above subject and wish to request any geek out there to guide me of what am about to get into and how I can achieve it, you know like the way you could help you friend learn to ride a bike, the time he noticed you are 100 meters a way he actually was riding the bike. this is what I expect: 1. what I need to have IDE? Extra? 2. online novice webtutorial 3.any insight thanks. 2. -- MICHAEL A. AKUNGA (+254) 0726 174 815 michaelakunga@gmail.com michaelakunga@yahoo.com
You do know this is not for the faint of heart. 1. First and foremost, ts all about the type of games you want to develop. As in: a. Target Platform (Windows, Mac, Linux, PS3, xbox, wii, symbian etc b. Class of games: 3D, 2D, Text Based c. InteracTion: Single User, multi-user, network 2. Now that you pick C++ Here are a few things you might want to be VERY FAMILIAR with a. Memory Management (C++ has no Garbage Collector) b. Pointers c. Vectors, Llists... (STL will help you a lot here) d. Good understanding of Game Physics e. Good understanding of Geometry f. A LOT OF PATIENCE I may have forgoten a lot of stuff above.... moving on.. IDEs???? Visual C++ (Win32 API, Console), Dev-C++ (win/linux), Notepad++, QT (multiplatform), Carbide.C++ (symbian) If you are VERY FAMILIAR with C++ then and only would I advise you to think about Game programming with C++. If that is the case then you would want to look at using an existing SDK for Game Engines and build your game around them. Here are a few SDK's Engines, Frameworks I have personally had the pleasure in working with the 1st three below 1. DirectX (Be careful about which version you choose) 2. OpenGL/OpenAl 3. Ogre3D others am familiar with are: 4. SDL 5. Allegro If you want more details and specifics you can get me off list and I'll help as much as i can coz doing it here will eventually be like spam Steve Obbayi SKYPE: sobbayi http://sobbayi.com http://blog.sobbayi.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "MICHAEL AKUNGA" <michaelakunga@gmail.com> To: "Skunkworks Mailing List" <skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> Sent: Thursday, April 8, 2010 12:17:08 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [Skunkworks] C++ Game programmer geek Hi buddies, I have an interest in the above subject and wish to request any geek out there to guide me of what am about to get into and how I can achieve it, you know like the way you could help you friend learn to ride a bike, the time he noticed you are 100 meters a way he actually was riding the bike. this is what I expect: 1. what I need to have IDE? Extra? 2. online novice webtutorial 3.any insight thanks. 2. -- MICHAEL A. AKUNGA (+254) 0726 174 815 michaelakunga@gmail.com michaelakunga@yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Server donations spreadsheet http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AopdHkqSqKL-dHlQVTMxU1VBdU1BSWJxdy1f... ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
@Mike, Dude! Do I hear game programming? That's great!! Maybe we hookup online in a few months and discuss on progress. If you've done any photography, you can appreciate that the sky's the limit in developing games because its all about total creatvity, not some flat application. And the learning curve is not simply riding a bike but nothing short of a fully loaded 24 wheeler truck where you will need to reverse park it without a turn guide...... lol! It can be done, have no doubt about it, it can be done! Game programming is the best way to learn about programming itself.
From graphics cards, mouse and keyboard controls, loops, classes etc. @Steve, has very good suggestions on programming. There is much much to learn but TRY you MUST..... ! I wish you mega success on your journey na tukutane hapo mbele with a goal in mind. My current study game is a 2D kung-fu skunk and have a long way to go....:-))))
Here's the simple story line I developed for it ( I don't need NDAs because creativity know no limits... ) : The Evil king has kidnapped the village princess and is holding her prisoner in a cell on the top floor of the castle. The village elders meet and decide that kung-fu will rescue the princess. Kung-fu will have to go through 5 levels of the castle to reach the top floor and rescue the princess. The king is on the top floor and an expert kung-fu master. Each floor level is protected by the king’s guards, with each level having a different guard and skill set. There is a secret puzzle in the game to release the village princess which must be gotten at each level. On Thu, Apr 8, 2010 at 7:17 PM, MICHAEL AKUNGA <michaelakunga@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi buddies, I have an interest in the above subject and wish to request any geek out there to guide me of what am about to get into and how I can achieve it, you know like the way you could help you friend learn to ride a bike, the time he noticed you are 100 meters a way he actually was riding the bike.
Aki, this will really be an interesting follow ;) Steve Obbayi SKYPE: sobbayi http://sobbayi.com http://blog.sobbayi.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "aki" <aki275@googlemail.com> To: "Skunkworks Mailing List" <skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> Sent: Thursday, April 8, 2010 3:17:51 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [Skunkworks] C++ Game programmer geek @Mike, Dude! Do I hear game programming? That's great!! Maybe we hookup online in a few months and discuss on progress. If you've done any photography, you can appreciate that the sky's the limit in developing games because its all about total creatvity, not some flat application. And the learning curve is not simply riding a bike but nothing short of a fully loaded 24 wheeler truck where you will need to reverse park it without a turn guide...... lol! It can be done, have no doubt about it, it can be done! Game programming is the best way to learn about programming itself.
From graphics cards, mouse and keyboard controls, loops, classes etc. @Steve, has very good suggestions on programming. There is much much to learn but TRY you MUST..... ! I wish you mega success on your journey na tukutane hapo mbele with a goal in mind. My current study game is a 2D kung-fu skunk and have a long way to go....:-))))
Here's the simple story line I developed for it ( I don't need NDAs because creativity know no limits... ) : The Evil king has kidnapped the village princess and is holding her prisoner in a cell on the top floor of the castle. The village elders meet and decide that kung-fu will rescue the princess. Kung-fu will have to go through 5 levels of the castle to reach the top floor and rescue the princess. The king is on the top floor and an expert kung-fu master. Each floor level is protected by the king’s guards, with each level having a different guard and skill set. There is a secret puzzle in the game to release the village princess which must be gotten at each level. On Thu, Apr 8, 2010 at 7:17 PM, MICHAEL AKUNGA <michaelakunga@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi buddies, I have an interest in the above subject and wish to request any geek out there to guide me of what am about to get into and how I can achieve it, you know like the way you could help you friend learn to ride a bike, the time he noticed you are 100 meters a way he actually was riding the bike.
Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Server donations spreadsheet http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AopdHkqSqKL-dHlQVTMxU1VBdU1BSWJxdy1f... ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
@Steve, just to clarify am on C # ( not c++ ) and very eager to jump into code but my stubborn nature on understanding something before jumping in is keeping me on the "paper". Update soon on progress. :-)))) @Mike, C++ is ideal for commercial gaming enviroment so pls ignore my comment above. Lets get away from the boring technicalities, below I add more basic info. Ok, so I have my game development plan in place ( kung-fu ). That's just the beginning. First you need to define how the End User will interact with the game, which gives you a starting point. So using my game development : - On game launch > LOAD MAIN SCREEN - On load Main Screen, show menu > Introduction and Sound: ( story line, can be text or 3D art ) - On load Main Screen, show menu > Start Game : ( Your program starts here ) - On load Main Screen, show menu > Exit Game : ( Terminate program ) - On load Main Screen, show menu > Help : ( simple ) - On load Main Screen, show menu > Settings : ( Screen, Sound, KeyBoard, Mouse ) - On Start Game : Your Main Method/function is called. It then calls these codes : - Player > - Enemy > - Scores > - Loops > - Sounds > - Keyboard/Mouse I have over 6 pages now because of all the code etc but am not done yet. What you also need to know is something like photoshop, layers etc. I'm not sure how c++ treats things called sprites, but on C# I have an idea. Main concept is to create a sheet, and create vectors/textures to read the individual sprites. I'm not an artist so kunkg-fu is a trial run but in the process I'll be dealing with tracing etc. Finally, there is a saying in the game development world. Gone are the days when one programmer would be able to do a game. A good example is ping pong. Nowdays, its all about team work and the work is segmented into functions like art and programming. So you should consider this in your learning stage. If you are considering web games, then for me I'd definately look into SilverLight. Wow...too many words just for a simple game. lol! Post in a few weeks time. :-) On Thu, Apr 8, 2010 at 11:12 PM, Steve Obbayi <steve@sobbayi.com> wrote:
Aki, this will really be an interesting follow ;)
Steve Obbayi
Listers, sorry for this one but felt it was too important to leave out for this thread. Trying ti limit my contributions as much as possible. Incase others are interested, here goes : @Mike, sorry I forget to mention the key element of game programming. This is called collision detection which gives way to Artifical Intelligence ( AI ). AI is another crazy block to know, its my long term study plan. How does it work? : Simply if you have a player running across the screen and an enemy appears, it would be really silly that the enemy to do the same thing each time, thus making the game boring. You will need to build in un-predictablity that the computer generates so that each time a player lost a life when attacked by the enemy, it has different behaviour. The core of any game is AI and that drives the difficulty level. In my "final" year, my task is to complete the game sequel " Kenyan Sniper : 630pm ". But here's the deal : I want the end user experience to be action packed and realistic. I cannot have game situation where the enemy fire tracer bullets only for the player life to be lost, so when the game loads again into 2nd life, the same tracer situation exits so the player knows how to find the enemy tracer. Sorry, the game would be a dump! Look into these things too on your way towards learning and suddenly you will realise that a few lines of the game plan have actually become pages and pages of code. But thats the good part, creativity at its best. :-) Cheers.
Steve and Aki, oooo hhh! am like shhhhh that is too hot but know what @Steve First great thanks there you came down like GEEK DUDE , those details should have taken you time and I realy appreciate.things straight 1. I am thinking of arcade sort of game/ adventure 2. Being a beginner, Single user and multiplatform am not clear where you advice my start but I percieve you recommend C++ on condition or by that I already know C++ in details, and I say I do have sufficient knowledge. as for 3D 2D or text I will reject text and request complexity of the remaining two and what you recommend for a begginner Patience? yes I am and will be patient. that is insight, mvumilivu ula mbivu, thanks I will get you offlist. I appreciate. success in you game you are doing. @Aki, thanks and great be your game you developing at the moment, you are the Obama type and I belive I am "Yes we can" I notice you introduced C# there but am very green in it although i can catch it soon but at last you cleared on C++ and I believe we are in one circle with Steve , -- C++. I like your, is it a PSEUDO CODE or ALGORITHM wherever but it gives an insight of what I should be looking at, Imagination and creativity also came up as ASSET TOOLs so am composing myself so that I don't drive reverse the long trailler to some Hotel near the highway, LOL, so the best bit is I am composing myself and I will reach you offlist soon and we share further. thanks atleast you and steve have put me on the track. thanks alot I appreciate the concern. On 4/9/10, aki <aki275@googlemail.com> wrote:
Listers, sorry for this one but felt it was too important to leave out for this thread. Trying ti limit my contributions as much as possible. Incase others are interested, here goes :
@Mike, sorry I forget to mention the key element of game programming. This is called collision detection which gives way to Artifical Intelligence ( AI ). AI is another crazy block to know, its my long term study plan. How does it work? : Simply if you have a player running across the screen and an enemy appears, it would be really silly that the enemy to do the same thing each time, thus making the game boring. You will need to build in un-predictablity that the computer generates so that each time a player lost a life when attacked by the enemy, it has different behaviour. The core of any game is AI and that drives the difficulty level. In my "final" year, my task is to complete the game sequel " Kenyan Sniper : 630pm ". But here's the deal : I want the end user experience to be action packed and realistic. I cannot have game situation where the enemy fire tracer bullets only for the player life to be lost, so when the game loads again into 2nd life, the same tracer situation exits so the player knows how to find the enemy tracer. Sorry, the game would be a dump! Look into these things too on your way towards learning and suddenly you will realise that a few lines of the game plan have actually become pages and pages of code. But thats the good part, creativity at its best. :-)
Cheers. _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Server donations spreadsheet
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AopdHkqSqKL-dHlQVTMxU1VBdU1BSWJxdy1f... ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- MICHAEL A. AKUNGA (+254) 0726 174 815 michaelakunga@gmail.com michaelakunga@yahoo.com
Ok Michael, Looks like you've made a good choice so I am going to start you off in the right direction. I have written a Game loop. This is the basis of any game you will ever develop as far as 2D and 3D goes. It is in the form of some mild pseudocode just to make it easy to understand but the flow holds. You can convert it into C++ as you go along. So here goes ============================================ if defined MAC load MAC specific libraries else if defined LINUX load linux specific libraries else if defined WINDOWS load windows specific libraries end if load splash screen load other libraries remove splash screen play game demo ( in new Thread) while(not SHOW_ME_MENU) check for user input to stop demo & show menu end while show menu options check and wait for user input on menu (start game, options, view high scores, quit etc) on menu, start game (user picks "start game") load scene load enemies load player set player state to USER_ALIVE load scores and timers (this is the main game loop) while( USER_ALIVE ) check for user input (moves, shoots, being hit, die) then run AI (Artificial Intelligence) move enemies based on AI resolve collisions (based on location of enemies, player and environment) draw graphics based on new location of moving objects and environment (These end up being the Frame eg like in a move... Frames per second 60fps for smoother graphics transitions... of course if your loop is slow then you are in trouble so you need to figure out how to optimize your graphics... pre rendered scenes and enemies etc) play sounds update scores and timers end while show menu options check and wait for user input Quit game (user picks "Quit") Save State and any persistent preferences Free up memory & resources exit game ============================================= And there you have it. A wire frame you your first and every game you will make Steve Obbayi SKYPE: sobbayi http://sobbayi.com http://blog.sobbayi.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "MICHAEL AKUNGA" <michaelakunga@gmail.com> To: "Skunkworks Mailing List" <skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> Sent: Friday, April 9, 2010 7:37:04 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [Skunkworks] C++ Game programmer geek Steve and Aki, oooo hhh! am like shhhhh that is too hot but know what @Steve First great thanks there you came down like GEEK DUDE , those details should have taken you time and I realy appreciate.things straight 1. I am thinking of arcade sort of game/ adventure 2. Being a beginner, Single user and multiplatform am not clear where you advice my start but I percieve you recommend C++ on condition or by that I already know C++ in details, and I say I do have sufficient knowledge. as for 3D 2D or text I will reject text and request complexity of the remaining two and what you recommend for a begginner Patience? yes I am and will be patient. that is insight, mvumilivu ula mbivu, thanks I will get you offlist. I appreciate. success in you game you are doing. @Aki, thanks and great be your game you developing at the moment, you are the Obama type and I belive I am "Yes we can" I notice you introduced C# there but am very green in it although i can catch it soon but at last you cleared on C++ and I believe we are in one circle with Steve , -- C++. I like your, is it a PSEUDO CODE or ALGORITHM wherever but it gives an insight of what I should be looking at, Imagination and creativity also came up as ASSET TOOLs so am composing myself so that I don't drive reverse the long trailler to some Hotel near the highway, LOL, so the best bit is I am composing myself and I will reach you offlist soon and we share further. thanks atleast you and steve have put me on the track. thanks alot I appreciate the concern. On 4/9/10, aki <aki275@googlemail.com> wrote:
Listers, sorry for this one but felt it was too important to leave out for this thread. Trying ti limit my contributions as much as possible. Incase others are interested, here goes :
@Mike, sorry I forget to mention the key element of game programming. This is called collision detection which gives way to Artifical Intelligence ( AI ). AI is another crazy block to know, its my long term study plan. How does it work? : Simply if you have a player running across the screen and an enemy appears, it would be really silly that the enemy to do the same thing each time, thus making the game boring. You will need to build in un-predictablity that the computer generates so that each time a player lost a life when attacked by the enemy, it has different behaviour. The core of any game is AI and that drives the difficulty level. In my "final" year, my task is to complete the game sequel " Kenyan Sniper : 630pm ". But here's the deal : I want the end user experience to be action packed and realistic. I cannot have game situation where the enemy fire tracer bullets only for the player life to be lost, so when the game loads again into 2nd life, the same tracer situation exits so the player knows how to find the enemy tracer. Sorry, the game would be a dump! Look into these things too on your way towards learning and suddenly you will realise that a few lines of the game plan have actually become pages and pages of code. But thats the good part, creativity at its best. :-)
Cheers. _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Server donations spreadsheet
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AopdHkqSqKL-dHlQVTMxU1VBdU1BSWJxdy1f... ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- MICHAEL A. AKUNGA (+254) 0726 174 815 michaelakunga@gmail.com michaelakunga@yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Server donations spreadsheet http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AopdHkqSqKL-dHlQVTMxU1VBdU1BSWJxdy1f... ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
@Steve "bruce lee coder". Nice one! :-)
@Mike/Steve/Aki - This is some good stuff guys :) - all the best in your gaming projects... Please keep us updated! Makes me wish I was still in my short-lived coding hey-days :( *I think I should start again sometime...** * Kind Regards John On Fri, Apr 9, 2010 at 10:20 PM, aki <aki275@googlemail.com> wrote:
@Steve "bruce lee coder". Nice one! :-) _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Server donations spreadsheet
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AopdHkqSqKL-dHlQVTMxU1VBdU1BSWJxdy1f... ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
participants (4)
-
aki -
John Ndambuki -
MICHAEL AKUNGA -
Steve Obbayi