6 replies to this topic

[ShadowXOR]

Just to get started I bought this book and have been working through it: The Pragmatic Bookshelf | Learn to Program, 2nd Edition

It uses Ruby to teach the basics of programming. After I'm done with this, I need to know where to go next. Here are my goals, any advice on where to head next would be great, thanks:

Ultimately, I would love to program/create video games and work for a company here in California, but then again it seems like most people want to make games and I realize that. I imagine it's probably a tough industry to get into so I want to keep my options open and have skills that can be used in other general programming industries.

To the best of my knowledge, most games are developed in C++, though I believe many of the Xbox tools use C#.

1. What would be the best language to learn (if there is one) to work towards a goal in game design, while also leaving my options open for more realistic, generic programming positions?

Also, I've been doing Windows repair/IT work for years and I'm very familiar in troubleshooting and building them from scratch, but in my personal time I am a Mac user.


2. Obviously Windows has the vast majority of the market share so that's what I'm going to work with primarily, but is it tough/completely different porting/designing a program for a Mac/iPhone than a Windows program/game?

[ShadowXOR]

May I add after research it appears C or C++ (can anyone back this up?) would be best. What are the pros and cons since I want to focus on one for quite a while to get my feet dirty.

[Guest]

Definitely go with C++. It is what most game programmers work with, and it is also very common for general programming. Also, C++ code can usually be ported pretty easily to other operating systems, such as Mac OS X.

[WingedPanther]

Flash is another option for web games.

[omaa]

You can develop web games with flash or java but I would recommend C++ as both a game and general programming language because it's a very powerful and supported language across different platforms.

[nexus-6]

Well. C++/C# seems to be the most 'safe' bet for your wishes. Since you use a mac at home why not try the Xcode programming tools ? it includes support for C++ , Java and more. Obviously osx is a small portion of the market, but it does keep growing, so it might be the best target platform for your work. Also, since Linux is a growing platform too that might be a good target, but as far as i know it is mostly dominated by hardcore 'geeks' still. Windows is by far the largest market but also the one most saturated with games and utilities, making it perhaps the most difficult to make a name for yourself. I'm designing a game of my own, i haven't decided upon platform/programming language yet, but i think java is the best option for me since it is platform-wide.

[ShadowXOR]

nexus-6 said:

Well. C++/C# seems to be the most 'safe' bet for your wishes. Since you use a mac at home why not try the Xcode programming tools ? it includes support for C++ , Java and more. Obviously osx is a small portion of the market, but it does keep growing, so it might be the best target platform for your work. Also, since Linux is a growing platform too that might be a good target, but as far as i know it is mostly dominated by hardcore 'geeks' still. Windows is by far the largest market but also the one most saturated with games and utilities, making it perhaps the most difficult to make a name for yourself. I'm designing a game of my own, i haven't decided upon platform/programming language yet, but i think java is the best option for me since it is platform-wide.

You make some interesting points I will keep in mind. I do have Xcode installed and have been using it a bit while doing my Learning to Program book that uses Ruby.