Programming Language for absolute beginner?

Unidentified Assilant · Tue Mar 06, 2007 2:39 pm

I tried my hand at DarkBasic, and sucked, I cannot take it in, everytime I try to learn a programming language I fail miserbaly lol, is there anything I can try to get my skills up, because making a game (3D preferabbly, but I know thats a long while away) is something I actually want to do.

Post by **bicostp** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 2:49 pm

Making a game won't be easy.

Visual Basic is pretty easy to learn, and the Intellisense system makes finding the commands you need easy. (VB is the one thing Microsoft got RIGHT!)

atari2600a · Post by **atari2600a** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 2:53 pm

Just about any BASIC is a good place to start. C is easy once you get the hang of it, C++ is a little harder.

Go to autodesk.com & download the PLE version of Maya. That's the program all the big game makers & movie producers use, except this is a slightly limited version (no 30-day limit or anything, but I don't think you can save textures or something). Anyways, download that & mess around w/ it a little, read it's documentation & learn how to use it, & then research MEL (Maya Embedded Language) scripting.

Unidentified Assilant · Tue Mar 06, 2007 2:54 pm

bicostp wrote:Making a game won't be easy.

Visual Basic is pretty easy to learn, and the Intellisense system makes finding the commands you need easy. (VB is the one thing Microsoft got RIGHT!)

I know that lol

I have Visual Basic installed but have done really nothing with it, maybe I should give it a go... like now.

Harshboy · Post by **Harshboy** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 2:59 pm

Visual Basic is the way to go. In only a few weeks I was able to finish 105 Packets, and work on my Game for the course. I'm halfway through the packets right now, and I have been able to do this:

Now 3D games will be much harder, but for a beginner, make a few 2D games like Pacman, Mario, or Zelda (And learn the basics of VB first) All I can say is practice, learn, and practice.

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 3:07 pm

Vb is VERY forgiving. In other languages if you mess up by not putting a capital in one place, it'll mess up everything and give you an error.

However, for games I'd do flash.

gamemasterAS · Post by **gamemasterAS** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 4:13 pm

Kurt_ wrote:Vb is VERY forgiving. In other languages if you mess up by not putting a capital in one place, it'll mess up everything and give you an error.

However, for games I'd do flash.

Got a good site to learn flash on ?

Post by **Skyone** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 4:45 pm

VB = Pfff! I'd hate to say it's an excuse for a language, but that'd be Java.

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 5:15 pm

I got a really heavy $70 book from chapters awhile back. Flashkit.com has some nice tutorials, though. THe book I got was good, and goes into detail about everything, even the web aspects like php and such. It's called Flash MX 2004: Actionscript / training from the source.

atari2600a · Post by **atari2600a** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 8:38 pm

If you want to get REALLY advanced, try & learn 6502 ASM! Oh how fun it is!

Post by **Skyone** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 8:56 pm

6502 ASM... hard? I've done a bit for the Apple II, not hard at all. 32-bit ASM is much more complex, even at its simplicity.

I jumped straight into C++, and I've made quite a few games in it, 2D and 3D.

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 9:01 pm

If you want to go insane, try TI basic on calculator. Its impossible to do anything fast if your making programs on the calculator.
I should learn C++, I have a couple friends that know it, so I'd have plenty of help.

Post by **Sparkfist** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 9:38 pm

If you want a very simple language go with BASIC, if you want something easy but more usable go with VB, all others you'll be investing a lot of time into learning the syntax and how to write operations and functions.

I can say that VB is surprisingly easy just this night, in about 2.5 hours I did the function programing for the final project. If anyone knows what a Flipper is you likely know what game I'm talking about. The language well limited in areas is good for people who don't know too much about programing, and VB does an ok job at getting you used to it.

If you do go the route of VB, I would suggest if you can obtain it or afford it buy Visual Basic Studio 2005. It has VB and C# so if you want to get into C-like programming you can.

Post by **CronoTriggerfan** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 9:58 pm

Skyone wrote:VB = Pfff! I'd hate to say it's an excuse for a language, but that'd be Java.

>_>

<_<

SHUT UP ALREADY!!!

Java's not case-sensitive and OOP is kinda a female of the dog species, so at least give it that! XD

But if you don't understand DarkBASIC, you're just plain missing the logistics of programming, and self-teaching will yield the same results no matter what language you try. The best way to learn is to take a formal class where the information is more forced, which MAKES you learn proper syntax, structure, etc. I was the exact same way until I started programming at school, because I finally HAD to get the work done, it was no longer just a hobby.

CTFan

Post by **Skyone** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 10:03 pm

Oh ya, I forgot about DarkBASIC... get the DarkBASIC compiler and give it a shot, the trials free, and the programming is really... basic. Obviously, it has a lot of the same simple syntax as Basic, but it has 3D controls built right in.

EDIT: Oh, you did give it a shot.