Welcome to Orientation.
Here I will provide you with some insight on what you need to program games.
I recommend that people read this because to me it's the very first step in
game programming. Knowing what your using is as important as knowing how to use it.
This is not the only way but just my input on what i use and what works for me.
After obtaining each tool neccessary you will be ready to move on to the fun stuff
actuall coding and learning about video games.
I just want to tell you to take your time! I didn't get most of this till my 2nd
year learning OpenGL, so if you don't understand a certain topic make sure to
"LEARN IT" before moving on to further topics or even trying to code games.
There are many ways to get help on all subjects on this site.
Most everything has a forum or about 100 other sites about the subject,
so do your research. I am not trying to carry you all the way. I want to
teach you how to walk so you can reach your goal on your own.
If not you won't really learn anything, be very patient.
Who's ready to start Game Programming?
Video Games are not language specific they are more hardware specific, but that's just my opinion. There are many coding languages to program games some are more difficult to learn then others. Even game consoles like PS2 and XBOX have languages to code their games. Actually XBOX runs with DirectX 8.0, you'll learn a little more about DirectX API later in the Orientation. Exactly what language they use I am not sure of, but i bet it's C++ or a variation C++ of their own. Java is also an other language that can make games. In my expirence i found that it was easier to code 2D Games in Java because of portabilty and also it seemed faster to code then C++. Please note i said faster to code not faster then C++, that's a debate that will go on for some time. By portability I mean the use of your game on different platforms like being able to play a game coded in C++ on a Windows PC and playing it on a Linux PC. I wrote the tutorials in C++ for many reasons but mainly because C++ and OpenGL together are very powerful. Powerful because combined they can produce very high end video games and both are widley used in the PC Game Industry. I recommend getting a standard version of MS Visual C++ 6.0 wich will cost you. You can also get BloodSheds DEVC++ wich is FREE. The big difference to me is that you have to configure DEVC++ a bit more but it's FREE so it's worth it. They will both accomplish the same task as far as I know. To sum this paragraph up in a couple of words "LEARN C++".
So you went out and bought a copy of C++ or you downloaded DEVC++ WHAT NEXT? Now you have to decide what API to use. The two major ones for C++ are DIRECTX and OpenGL. What the @!#@$#% is an API you ask? Well a way to think of it is that your C++ code needs something to to tell your graphics card what to draw to the screen and how to draw it. API's are a broad topic so make sure to get good resources such as API specific tutorials. They will teach important topics that will not be covered here and make a great reference. I will be using OpenGL for these tutorials but you can accomplish the same result with DirectX and others. I just find OpenGL easier for me, but it seems others find DirectX is easier. Wich ever you prefer remeber the golden rule of this site "LEARN IT".
Tools for programming video games range from imaging and painting software to editors and compliers. I won't go into to much detail here because MSVSC++ and DEVC++ contain editors and compliers. We are also trying to be game programmers not graphics programmers. Just remeber we need Painting software to make images and sprites for our game as well as textures. For these tutorials you can use MSPaint wich comes with most if not all versions of Windows.