Game Creation Programs

[link4562]

Originally Posted by Buck

Yes, these are game creation programs, but they are not industry standard.
If you are looking to become a professional game programmer, I suggest you learn C, Java, C++, C#, or somthing of the sort. The reason being that programs like Game Maker or RPG maker were all programmed in those languages, and all the games you buy are mostly made in C or C++. If anybody is willing to learn one of those, get a book; even an idiot can learn from them. Now, most of you are saying "Oh, but I am only a kid, I cannot learn a professional programming language!" well, you can. I am only 14 and I learned it easily from a book. Just don't expect to make a game right away, it may take months to make a simple one. If you want to make a game, not only do you have to learn C, C#, or C++, but you also have to learn an extra library for graphics and input, there are also books on these.
Goodluck.

What games have you made using these "professional programs" that you speak of?
I've made a lot of simple games using adobe flash and they all work just fine.

[Gamerboy]

Originally Posted by Buck

Yes, these are game creation programs, but they are not industry standard.
If you are looking to become a professional game programmer, I suggest you learn C, Java, C++, C#, or somthing of the sort. The reason being that programs like Game Maker or RPG maker were all programmed in those languages, and all the games you buy are mostly made in C or C++. If anybody is willing to learn one of those, get a book; even an idiot can learn from them. Now, most of you are saying "Oh, but I am only a kid, I cannot learn a professional programming language!" well, you can. I am only 14 and I learned it easily from a book. Just don't expect to make a game right away, it may take months to make a simple one. If you want to make a game, not only do you have to learn C, C#, or C++, but you also have to learn an extra library for graphics and input, there are also books on these.
Goodluck.

Most people here aren't looking to become professional game programmers, they just like being able to make games or stuff like that. Java and C/C++ are good languages to know, they are very useful and fairly powerful, but other tools that make the programming process easier are also good as well. Some people don't want to spend months and really why should they have to, especially considering that the unique elements of their game is not going to be in the programming but in the graphical design and game style. I would recommend anyone who wants to go into programming have a try.

You seem also to be missing out the rather large section of the market that is into casual games, which can be designed in almost anything (including things like flash), these are quick and easy to do, but can make great games.

I actually don't think books are always that helpful, the internet has a lot of good tutorials that should be able to teach fairly easily.

[Buck]

Yes, you really can create games in any program you wish, but gamemaker etc. will not get you hired into the game industry. The reason I favor C/++ is because it is fast, portable, and you have insane power when it comes to games.
It's not that hard to learn as long as you have a few good books. I actually found that C++ has many more tutorials and books than actionscript does.
If anybody is ever interested in learning C++ (Not only for games) then i suggest you buy the book

"C++ Primer Plus" by Stephen Prata.

[link4562]

Originally Posted by Buck

Yes, you really can create games in any program you wish, but gamemaker etc. will not get you hired into the game industry. The reason I favor C/++ is because it is fast, portable, and you have insane power when it comes to games.
It's not that hard to learn as long as you have a few good books. I actually found that C++ has many more tutorials and books than actionscript does.
If anybody is ever interested in learning C++ (Not only for games) then i suggest you buy the book

"C++ Primer Plus" by Stephen Prata.

As Gamerboy just said, nobody here is really trying to become a professional game maker. Making fangames is just a hobby here.

[Naruto28]

Yeah seriously, game maker is terrible. I took a class for it a few years ago, and I thought it would be something big like Flash.

[link4562]

Originally Posted by Naruto28

Yeah seriously, game maker is terrible. I took a class for it a few years ago, and I thought it would be something big like Flash.

I know. I tried it once but couldn't figure it out. It looks like it was set up for an 8 year old, and the games you can make with it are glitchy and limited. That's why I got flash.
OT: 6,000th post

[Gamerboy]

Originally Posted by link4562

I know. I tried it once but couldn't figure it out. It looks like it was set up for an 8 year old, and the games you can make with it are glitchy and limited. That's why I got flash.
OT: 6,000th post

Game Maker can produce some really good quality games. You just need to abandon the drag and drop interface, use the full version and put a whole load of work into it. I still wouldn't recommend using it though, as you might as well use something faster.

[Xete]

Originally Posted by Buck

Yes, you really can create games in any program you wish, but gamemaker etc. will not get you hired into the game industry. The reason I favor C/++ is because it is fast, portable, and you have insane power when it comes to games.
It's not that hard to learn as long as you have a few good books. I actually found that C++ has many more tutorials and books than actionscript does.
If anybody is ever interested in learning C++ (Not only for games) then i suggest you buy the book

"C++ Primer Plus" by Stephen Prata.

C++ And C are popular programming languages, but if you are not creating a
huge-commercial project then you will be just fine with Actionscript.
I do agree that books are the best place to learn. Anybody here can learn C and C++ if they buy a great book. As Gamerboy said, there are tutorials, but some people prefer books.

[mage2882]

I think that if you aren't planning to be a professional game programmer, you stick with flash. Or else, move to C#, Java, C, C++ or something like that.

However, I still recommend Flash because of it's simplicity and the fact that you can actually see what you are doing, plus, having the power of controlling the scenes, frames, movieclips, buttons, etc.

This second fact might be very awkward for those who have never used flash before, but, it's actually one of the features that I really appreciate it. However, the cons of flash is that for the development of 3D games is very poor. As it is designed for 2D applications in a 2D world, inserting 3D objects is very complex, as well as making them dynamic, and not even saying the fact that you need an extra API, which makes it even more code to learn. But, if you don't want to make a 3D game, and just a 2D one in Flash, there is still a problem: If the game you are trying to make is an RPG, or somehow needs to grab data from an external source (that isn't either a .txt file or an .as file), such as a database, you will need to learn a little PHP (and SQL in this case), as Flash doesn't support database connection, as far as I know.

So, to sum up, if you are planning to become a professional game developer, and are willing to spend a lot of time in the basics, and move into the 3D awesomeness (=D), I suggest you try out C++, C# or Java. In any of these, I recommend book from for Dummies series, as they always start from the basics and teach you up to some complex programming. If you want start making a 2D game straight away, in the shortest period of time possible, not bothering much of moving yourself to the programming branch in the future, I suggest that you move to Flash.

If you are halfway between these, and want to make a "simple" game like TribalWars or The West, then start learning PHP and HTML. HTML should be pretty easy and once you dominate HTML, PHP shouldn't be too hard if you have some basic knowledge of programming.

[Gamerboy]

Erm PHP and HTML are completely different, doing one will not help you with the other in any way at all. You can make an entire MMOG in PHP and not have a clue how HTML works and vice versa. Maybe you meant learning them as two different things and learning HTML first.

You don't need to know PHP to get information from an external source, Actionscript is fine. The serverside coding could be done in anything, ASP, PHP, Java etc.

You should probably make a game server for an RPG (or use something like smartfox), as using individual .php files to interface is rather clumsy and also much easier to hack.