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I'm actually an industrial systems developer with knowledge of .NET C# and VB.NET, C/C++, Delphi, and an intermediate knowledge of 80286 Intel assembly language.

I would be interested to learn how to develop games while taking as fully as possible advantage of my already acquired experience.

My first objective is to learn the differences between management and game software development so that I may make my mind up as to what is important to think about as a game developer.

Any hint as to where to start to learn is appreciated, such as game writing tutorials, the kind of "Hello World!" program, if I may say.

Besides, these following tutorials were found while "googling":

  1. C++ Game Programming;
  2. C and C++ Programming Games and Entertainment Tutorials;
  3. C++ Game Programming Resource Center;
  4. Creating a game in C++.

Are they any good?

The answer that will have guided me the most will be accepted. Thanks for your help! =)

Will Marcouiller
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1 Answers1

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With your .NET experience, I'd suggest getting read up on XNA. It's a .NET framework for creating games on Windows, Xbox 360, and Windows Phone 7.

The "Hello World" of the games world is probably a very simple game like Pong or Breakout. There are plenty of tutorial on XNA:

http://create.msdn.com/en-US/education/catalog/tutorial/2d_chapter_1

http://www.riemers.net/

And check out the http://www.gamedev.net forums as they currently have an XNA 4.0 workshop going on.

That's just a taster of what you can do and getting a basic sense of game architecture. I'd recommend getting Game Coding Complete (any edition) by Mike McShaffry. It offers a good overview of all aspects of game development without bombarding you with irrelevant facts.

EDIT:

With regards to the tutorials that you have found, personally, I don't like the look of http://www.cppgameprogramming.com Simply because it looks like a C++ wrapped around C. If you're using C++, I'm of the opinion that you should be using the object-oriented features in C++.

I haven't used SDL, but have heard a lot of good things about it so I would read up on it and use Jari Komppa's link to it.

The last link is also in C, so I don't think it's completely relevant.

Just to clarify, I'm not against the use of C for game development at all. I just think a game that is designed using an OOP approach is easier to understand (and therefore implement in code), especially when you're starting out with game dev.

Hope that helps.

Ray

Ray Dey
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  • +1 That is the kind of answer I'm looking for! =) Thanks a lot Ray Dey! I've heard of XNA before, but I was not sure whether it was worth learning, since it is .NET specific. Is it not preferable to master any resources in game development, such as in C++? I shall check for XNA anyway as per your recommendation. Thanks! =) – Will Marcouiller Jan 24 '11 at 14:43
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    No problem :) If you want to be able to prototype things a lot quicker without having to worry about the in's and out's or C++ with regards to game dev, then I'd suggest using XNA to get your head round basic games architecture first of all. After you've got the design in your head, it's a lot easier to transition to C++ (in my opinion). – Ray Dey Jan 24 '11 at 14:46
  • Excellent point of view, Ray Dey, as for you mentionning about getting around with the basics with XNA, then drill down to C++ afterwards. You help me. Thanks! =) – Will Marcouiller Jan 24 '11 at 14:53
  • And what do you think, Ray Dey, of the tutorials I have brought up after you wanswer my question, though I shall keep in mind to get in touch with XNA first? =) – Will Marcouiller Jan 24 '11 at 15:28
  • I'll edit my answer to add what I think about the tutorials :) – Ray Dey Jan 24 '11 at 15:32