Interested In Making Homebrew Games.

[LevelPlane]

Hello all!
Know nothing about it, not even some vocabulary about it.

I am interested in making homebrew games, maybe RPG's, wondering where I should start from
I have done some googling and found this site:
http://www.cprogramming.com/tutorial.html

Is that a good place to start, if not where is.

Oh and before I forget could someone give me the big picture of developing, Such as how libraries, SDL's. C++, Compiling, etc. all go together.

Thanks, future developer/programmer/sprite artist/etc. LevelPlane

Edit: Ohh and I have already used the search toolbar for other threads, none walked me through it easily.

 

[skeezix]

News for you -- its not so easy you can have the entire art explained to you in a single thread on a message board, or we'd never make big bucks..

Theres a lot of these threads though; you'll find most people will point you to Fenix if you want to get to it quick. Otherwise get any old C tutorial and figure out Hello World...

jeff

 

[YakumoFuji]

Attempting to start with an RPG is a huge task, they ar very big and complex games (the devil is in the balancing and details).

Write a pong game with high score and computer ai. Rehash the pong code to a breakout clone.

Start small to get a feel. It can be long and tedious and requires many hours.

Whilst your writing pong, keep a notebook around to write down your RPG idea, plot out your story, name all your characters, draw your maps, write all the dialogue out. Write a walkthrough for it so you know exactly what to do, whom to speak to win the game.

Then when your better equipped for the long task, break out the notebook and start the programming of the RPG.

 

[sam fisher]

I'd recommend you learn the basics of programming and start with a lanugage such as fenix or python that doesn't require such complexities of C. With Fenix its very easy to get something up and running in minutes, I have heard Python is similar to Fenix.

 

[woogal]

If you want to create RPGs but don't know how to code, you could try CACK.

 

[yaustar]

http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=38303#

C or C++ is not a great language to learn how to program with as others have said.

If you are still interested to learn C or C++ for whatever reason, then I point you to this: http://parabellumgames.wordpress.com/2007/...-c-programming/

Here is one of University reports on a project that I did for the GP2X which may answer some of your questions: http://yaustar.juliusparishy.com/portfolio...xfullreport.pdf

 

[mrsnature]

none walked me through it easily.

there's a reason for that, it's not easy!

But as others have suggested.. although learning C/C++ as a first programming language isn't THAT bad, something higher level like Fenix will get your mind thinking the right way! And you can easily get your apps working on both pc and gp2x

 

[LevelPlane]

Really appreciate the replies, and would a book be a good idea?
Or is the internet sufficient?

 

[yaustar]

Book. Definitely. The internet is full of tutorials that are either wrong or badly written because there isn't any quality checks in place. However, eBooks that used to be printed are fine.

 

[LevelPlane]

Beginning C ++ Through Game Programming, Second Ed - Michael Dawson; Paperback

Accelerated C++: Practical Programming by Example - Andrew Koenig; Paperback

Do those two sound like good starting books?
Other suggestions are much appreciated...

 

[yaustar]

You may find Accelerated C++ slightly advanced although it is a good book. Sam's Teach Yourself C++ in 21 days may be better.

 

[LevelPlane]

Alright I just spent $100 on a few books thanks for the help!
Other pointers are welcome.

 

[sam fisher]

You may find Accelerated C++ slightly advanced although it is a good book. Sam's Teach Yourself C++ in 21 days may be better.

Anything written by me is generally great

 

[LevelPlane]

What am I going to want to use to draw sprites?
That is assuming programming and sprite drawing are the two skills I will need, correct me if I am wrong.
And I haven't received the books yet since they are not currently in stock.

 

[kevcal]

You probably want to look at SDL or Allegro - people on here appear to prefer SDL.
http://www.libsdl.org/
http://www.talula.demon.co.uk/allegro/

(Fenix would be worth looking at as well)

But really you need to learn to write simple programs before going for graphic-based gaming development.
Good luck

 

[yaustar]

If we are talking about the GP2X specifically, use SDL as it is much better supported on the GP2X. If we are talking about PC, then there are plenty of libraries out there:

http://www.libsdl.org/
http://www.talula.demon.co.uk/allegro/
http://developer.popcap.com/
http://sfml.sourceforge.net/
http://hge.relishgames.com/index.html

And more that I can't remember off the top of my head.

However as kevcal said, at this stage you should not be thinking about graphics yet. Did you not read my article about what you should be aiming for at this stage?

 

[mrsnature]

if you mean actually drawing the sprites in the fisrt place, try GIMP

 

[kevcal]

Sorry - misunderstood/misread the question
GIMP's not bad but a bit unwieldy - I find any paint package with layers a pain to do simple graphics (I'm just too old to grasp the fundamentals any more..)

 

[yaustar]

keytweak, you may like Paint.net: http://www.getpaint.net/
Better then Paint but still simple to use.

Mac users: http://opensword.org/Pixen/

 

[Sphinxter]

Gimp rocks
good online book