GP2X Gp2X Wiz And Learning To Program..

[brandon9271]

Hey guys, I just wanted to ask you guys a few questions that I'm sure have no simply answers. About 10 years ago I was required to take a QBASIC course in college and I really enjoyed it and did quite well in the class. I haven't really done any form of programming since then other than messing around with C++ for a few weeks and feeling completely overwhelmed. I'm wanting to learn to program again and start out making something basic like a Space Invaders or Pacman clone, then perhaps a side scrolling and more complex mechanics if/when my skill progresses. I would like to write little apps for the GP2X but I wonder if that's a good idea for a beginner. I know that having limited resources on the Gp2x Wiz would force me to be more efficient than having the nearly unlimited resource on a PC.

Should I learn to program on the PC and then try to worry about the Gp2x later?

With game programming on the GP2X the objective. Which language would be best for a novice to learn? I was thinking Python or GLBasic simply because of my previous bad impression with C++ but I'd love some input from you guys.

Should I even learn a language at all or should I poke around with one of those "Game Maker" programs first as a warm up?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Schnatterplatsch]

Try GLBasic, thats the best choice. Its more platformindie than gamemakers and easier than Python. If its just for fun, I think GLB is perfect. If you wan't to go a bit deeper one day use C/SDL.

If you have problems with GLB, feel free to ask.

 

[hmn]

Python is nice, but it might be difficult to get it to run on the Wiz. AFAIK no one has prepared a ready-to-run package yet, and doing this yourself is tricky - I tried and have not gotten very far...
I would go with one of the "popular" solutions that are used (and supported) around here: the aforementioned GLBasic, BennuGD or C/C++/SDL.

Using something more integrated like Game Maker will give you a huge head start when it comes to actually making a game (built-in tools), but the result will be tied to the Game Maker engine, which only runs on Windows.

Going low level with C/C++/SDL is obviously the most universal and powerful approach, but you will spend a lot of time writing the kind of support code that is already built into the other, more game-development specific environments.

As for Wiz-specific (or console-specific in general) development:

You want to build something that works equally well on your PC, as that is the system that you will run your stuff on most of the time while developing (the "modify/build/test" cycle).

But keep in mind the device-specific limitations/features from the very beginning: memory, graphics format (16 bit vs. 32 bit on PC), and most importantly the controls.

You will want to build some kind of abstraction layer that can translate between the system's controls (keyboard pressed, mouse moved, touchscreen clicked, joystick moved, button clicked etc.) into something abstract that your game understands (up/down/left/right/fire/action/cancel/menu...). This is especially helpful since the Wiz's "joystick" is a little peculiar in that it provides no directional input (DPAD/Stick, or "Axis" in SDL-lingo) like most joysticks/pads, but only 8 discrete buttons. Also there are the volume control buttons that you have to handle.

 

[brandon9271]

thanks guys! I'll give it GLBASIC a shot. I like how its billed as "BASIC for gamers" since games are what I have in mind I've seen some very impressive demos and it seems to be very capable! I wonder if they have any planning to ever get GLBASIC on the Wii? That would be cool as well.

 

[brandon9271]

One more quick question.. I found my old books. One is a Deitel Visual C++ 6.0 from 2003 and the other is OpenGL Superbible from 2000 that covers OpenGL 1.2 I think.. I know that A LOT has come along since then but would these books have any value for reference or would they likely confuse the issue?