[HELP] Beginner c++ programmer, what's next?
Hello,
I have been studying c++ for approximately 1 month now. I have read 2 books, and have created numerous custom console applications that basically just run in the console. I have also written my own text based console game and many file i/o applications. Now, I feel pretty confident in the fundamentals of c++ programming. How do I move away from the console?
I started programming because I want to create games. What's the first step in getting out of the console box? I want to start simple with games like breakout, pong,and tic tac toe, etc. But i'm not 100% sure where to start. I search the web and I see people talk about game engines, which i'm not 100% sure what's the difference between that and Visual Studios c++. I see things like OpenGL, Direct X, Ogre3D, panda3D, Dark GDK, and many more. What are these? And which is the best to start with?
Why would anyone use these "game engines" over say Unreal or far cry? Or Hero Engine? Or any commercial grade engine?
Thank you in advance for any guidance.
Best,
SubZeroGaming
Re: [HELP] Beginner c++ programmer, what's next?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
SubZeroGaming
Hello,
I have been studying c++ for approximately 1 month now. I have read 2 books, and have created numerous custom console applications that basically just run in the console. I have also written my own text based console game and many file i/o applications. Now, I feel pretty confident in the fundamentals of c++ programming.
That is your opinion -- none of us really know how much of the fundamentals you actually know.
Also, 1 month of C++ programming doesn't make one a fundamentally sound C++ programmer. Do you know what RAII is? How about proper usage of dynamically allocated memory? How about proper usage of the standard library and/or MFC? Do you know design patterns? How about multithreaded programming? Etc.. etc..
Quote:
How do I move away from the console?
Please note that some of the most sophisticated programs are console programs. Many programs you run now are really console programs with a GUI wrapper around them.
What I'm saying is that you cannot gauge how good a C++ programmer just because you're writing console programs as opposed to a game programmer. To be a good game programmer, console programmer, client/server programmer, whatever, in C++, it requires much more than 1 month of C++.
Regards,
Paul McKenzie
Re: [HELP] Beginner c++ programmer, what's next?
If you want to move away from console-based progams and write windows-based programs there are basically two ways - using the 'native' non-class WIN32 APIs or using the MFC classes.
For WIN32 programming I would suggest
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Programming-...9761597&sr=1-4
and for MFC
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Programming-...ref=pd_sim_b_2
For a games slant on c++ try
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Programmers-...1571641&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Introduction...1571985&sr=1-7
Re: [HELP] Beginner c++ programmer, what's next?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
SubZeroGaming
I started programming because I want to create games. What's the first step in getting out of the console box? I want to start simple with games like breakout, pong,and tic tac toe, etc. But i'm not 100% sure where to start. I search the web and I see people talk about game engines, which i'm not 100% sure what's the difference between that and Visual Studios c++. I see things like OpenGL, Direct X, Ogre3D, panda3D, Dark GDK, and many more. What are these? And which is the best to start with?
Why would anyone use these "game engines" over say Unreal or far cry? Or Hero Engine? Or any commercial grade engine?
:D All those questions better be asked in game programming forums. This forum is definitely not one. People here talk about general Windows programming in Visual C++, which I'm even not sure that you, being persistent enough, will find yourself with in a year or two. ;)
