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[Fubb]

Guys, next year one of the classes im taking is Digital Logic, which means coding. Coding with any language you want. Im thinking Python cause people say its easy. Only problem is I dislike looking at tutorials, and un aware of where to begin.

We do ened to make a final project though at the end of the year i think, and so im thinking of something to do.....

One of my friends made a working LAN chat, and one of my friends made a working Internet browser, but i've always been into games, not useful programs, so im thinking a simple game!

From playing Freeway Warrior (well, reading it I guess) I've decided i wanna make a simulation of Post Apocalyptic Texas, where the player is tasked with doing, well, whatever he wants really, but there'd be linear elements, like;

Helping a bus load of survivors reach Big Springs, a haven for people not viced by the wasteland (Good ending)

Helping a Biker gang kill the bus load of people (and getting all the fuel the people had on the bus, thus helping the biker gang reign over the texas wastelands until they run out of fuel)

Barely getting involved (current neutral ending, because i can't think of anything)

Now Im thinking that so far the game would probably consist of a world map and local maps of towns and encounters. Things like ammo and guns would be very sparse (well, maybe. If guns were sparse fuel would be just as sparse, would it no?), because its years after a nuclear war, right? Instead, people still use things like swords, arrows, axes, all that fun stuff, as well as vehicles, and mounts (like horsies, radiated and not radiated)

I'd also kind of like to give the player the ability to create his own ending to the story, like helping out villages, becoming the leader of his own bandit gang, etc

Thats all I got so far. The problem would be actually figuring out how to code it. I know next year and Digital logic are quite a ways away, but I wanna get a head start!

[The Fifth Horseman]

Personally I'd suggest C++, but that might just be me.

Also note that what you described is anything but simple. The more freedom the player has, the more things you have to account for in the game engine.
World map... well, you won't have anything in the way of graphics to start with, except what you code yourself.

First see if you can make an almost completely linear game. Then work on expanding it.

[_r.u.s.s.]

if you've never coded before and want to learn coding you should start with a language semantically created for learning, so it would be either pascal or delphi

but if you just "wanted it to quickly be done and i don't care about coding that much", i'd probably pick java

also, i don't what kind of "languages" do they allow using, because if you only want to create a game and nothing else, you could even pick programs like game maker, that would be perfect for someone who never coded before and wants to create a game and don't bother about coding much later

[Tomekk]

I could pass on what I know of C++.

[Peter]

Don't be a lazy bastard and read a tutorial. They are there TO TEACH YOU HOW TO PROGRAM



why should we redo the work somebody else has already done ?

[supa_mario]

lol programming courses have weird names. At our school it's called Information Science. We're supposed to be learning Java but we usually just end up playing Counter Strike on LAN.

If you're planning on learning how to make a game. The only language that you'll actually have any visible results within a year is action-script. Although nowhere along the lines of what you're wanting. The trouble with action-script is that it is quite a lot different from all those other languages, so once you learn it you'll be back to square one when you want to learn something like C++ or something. It will help with the whole logic of programming however.

[hunvagy]

Fubb, as Fifth mentioned before, what you described is not simple, and definitely not easy, if you have never coded in your life. Also IMO it's really not the pick of language that is relevant, but the mindset and the logics behind what you do. But the suggestions before me are pretty valid, if you want the easy way out then java it should be. If you want to do it in a windows environment, I'd suggest to stay away from Pascal, because that most likely won't run Delphi might be a good choice, as it is fairly easy to incorporate graphics in there, though I can't vouch for performance, but that is not your concern here, I guess. Also take into account, that if your game features any kind of enemies, make them static like in a gamebook, or else you'd have AI programming at your hand, and I sincerely doubt you'd have the time for that

[arete]

"Guys, I want loads of clean clothes, and i want them fast, easy and they need to smell nice, but i don't wanna learn how to use the washing machine!! What can I do??

Please don't tell me to read the manual, cos I hate reading the manual.

Would you help me wash them? I guess I can figure out where to get the powder, and the fabric softener's hard to use, but I'm thinking of getting this ultra-high tech process going so that I can wash really well.

Any suggestions?"

[_r.u.s.s.]

Originally Posted by supa_mario

lol programming courses have weird names. At our school it's called Information Science. We're supposed to be learning Java but we usually just end up playing Counter Strike on LAN.

If you're planning on learning how to make a game. The only language that you'll actually have any visible results within a year is action-script. Although nowhere along the lines of what you're wanting. The trouble with action-script is that it is quite a lot different from all those other languages, so once you learn it you'll be back to square one when you want to learn something like C++ or something. It will help with the whole logic of programming however.

why is information science weird..? that's most probably the most common name for "the computer thingy". and what do you think IT stands for?

also, with game maker he'd achieve way more than with actionscript, as a newbie

[Fubb]

I've used game maker.....it lacks the power i need. Me and a friend were trying to make a greek-mythology theme'd game but yea......only so much can be done with game maker....

also Arete, shush!

fine, i will read tutorials :\ and all that jazz....

And i have done some scripting (only Auto-It though) but that was like 2 years ago, i don't remember anymore of it