Gengar003
Member Since 16 Dec 2006Offline Last Active Jul 17 2013 04:26 PM
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In Topic: Your Desktop
01 October 2007 - 07:18 PM
XP. Do not plan on getting Vista. Ever.
Now imagine that, but in 1024x768 resolution, and you've got my laptop, and now imagine it with the macintosh bar at the top, instead of the start bar, and you've got my other laptop.
In Topic: Graphic Design
28 September 2007 - 10:56 PM
Yo. Computer-Science college student here, currently taking and have taken in the past classes on video game design, specifically, been to several game studios, made a few shoddy-ass games of my own.
The most important thing is contacts in the industry... somehow, you've got to know someone who's already in the industry.
Wherever you're going to school, look to see if they have a class on video game design - it's a class becoming more popular at more high schools and universities. Are you a Freshman in high school or College?
Either way, see if they have a class on video game design.
If they do
- Have you taken the prerequisites, if there are any?
-- If not, take those first. Seriously. This will probably be a computer science / programming course of some type.
-- If you have, sign up for the class.
If they don't
- See if there are any "computer science" or "programming" classes, and take 'em.
This all goes back to the "contacts in the industry" thing... people who teach those kinds of classes are likely the kind that will either
a.) Know someone in the industry, and be able to put you in contact when the time's right
b.) BE that person in the industry, or
c.) Have someone from the industry come speak to your class, or take the class to hear someone from the industry speak. "Carreer days" are good opportunities for the latter.
If you do get a job in the field, chances are you'll be playtesting the games for the designers long before they let you (or you are able to) begin working on the code.
On the more immediate, doable-by-yourself end of things, don't worry about specifics of a programming language, or even about a specific programming language. Pick something, and "learn to code." The basic concepts behind most languages that are used for anything are more or less the same - some have a few more or less or different abilities, and they frequently use slightly different syntax to express it, but the important thing is familiarizing yourself with coding in general, not with coding some specific type of language.
If you're looking for a place to start, I suggest the "Java" programming language. It is a "grammar nazi" of a progamming language, so it will force you to code smarter and neater than other languages (bulding good habits = good), and it can run on most any computer system you're likely to encounter (so you can show your friends), and it has an excellent "API" (application programming interface"), which is computer-jargon for "documentation that tells you what everything does."
Java's not really used for a lot of video games, though. A lot of video games are written in C, C#, or C++ - those are equally suitable places to start.
As for specific instructions to your programminng language? "Google up for [language] tutorial," [u]FIND SEVERAL[/b], and do each of them - don't let just one website or book be your bible.
Video games, programming, and video game design are all things I really enjoy, so if you do decide to go down that route, and need a little help here and there, I can probably provide that. But try google and large topic-specific internet forums (like, google "[programming language] forum" or something) first.
Hope that helped.
P.S. Microsoft XNA and Visual Studio C# work on XP as well - I've got 'em and am using them in one of my courses to design XboX 360 games
.
The most important thing is contacts in the industry... somehow, you've got to know someone who's already in the industry.
Wherever you're going to school, look to see if they have a class on video game design - it's a class becoming more popular at more high schools and universities. Are you a Freshman in high school or College?
Either way, see if they have a class on video game design.
If they do
- Have you taken the prerequisites, if there are any?
-- If not, take those first. Seriously. This will probably be a computer science / programming course of some type.
-- If you have, sign up for the class.
If they don't
- See if there are any "computer science" or "programming" classes, and take 'em.
This all goes back to the "contacts in the industry" thing... people who teach those kinds of classes are likely the kind that will either
a.) Know someone in the industry, and be able to put you in contact when the time's right
b.) BE that person in the industry, or
c.) Have someone from the industry come speak to your class, or take the class to hear someone from the industry speak. "Carreer days" are good opportunities for the latter.
If you do get a job in the field, chances are you'll be playtesting the games for the designers long before they let you (or you are able to) begin working on the code.
On the more immediate, doable-by-yourself end of things, don't worry about specifics of a programming language, or even about a specific programming language. Pick something, and "learn to code." The basic concepts behind most languages that are used for anything are more or less the same - some have a few more or less or different abilities, and they frequently use slightly different syntax to express it, but the important thing is familiarizing yourself with coding in general, not with coding some specific type of language.
If you're looking for a place to start, I suggest the "Java" programming language. It is a "grammar nazi" of a progamming language, so it will force you to code smarter and neater than other languages (bulding good habits = good), and it can run on most any computer system you're likely to encounter (so you can show your friends), and it has an excellent "API" (application programming interface"), which is computer-jargon for "documentation that tells you what everything does."
Java's not really used for a lot of video games, though. A lot of video games are written in C, C#, or C++ - those are equally suitable places to start.
As for specific instructions to your programminng language? "Google up for [language] tutorial," [u]FIND SEVERAL[/b], and do each of them - don't let just one website or book be your bible.
Video games, programming, and video game design are all things I really enjoy, so if you do decide to go down that route, and need a little help here and there, I can probably provide that. But try google and large topic-specific internet forums (like, google "[programming language] forum" or something) first.
Hope that helped.
P.S. Microsoft XNA and Visual Studio C# work on XP as well - I've got 'em and am using them in one of my courses to design XboX 360 games
.
In Topic: New Plunger Gun Idea
27 September 2007 - 03:24 PM
Ha! I thought up pretty much the same thing a couple days ago as a possible solution to ridding the Nitefinder of its cocking handle... It disturbs me how often in the past couple of days that's happened.
Do build it
Do build it
