Games Programming Where To Start??

HaVoC

Just any site with good tutorials

"I kinda know:"

Pascal
java
vb
8086 assembly

From what i have read most game are done in c,c++,
Using directx and openGL

leeroybrown

From the FAQ Sticky:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=47366

satchmo

Aye for ease of learning I reckon OpenGL is the way to go. Use GLUT initially to handle windowing, keyboard & mouse handling and you can get straight down to putting polygons on the screen. Direct3D's learning curve is a little steep, and I reckon is much easier to grasp once you understand the basics via OpenGL. Of course you'll have to bring your C/C++ up to scratch if you want to program with either of these APIs...

Now this is only if you're looking for 3d stuff. There's plenty of other ways to make games yourself.. you already know java so why not try doing an asteroids clone or some such thing in that. Write is well (read: use classes!) and it shouldn't be hard at all to port over to C++ which you can then extend later. just an idea if you don't want to jump headlong into a new language and a new API all at the same time.

/|/)etal)-|ead

check out the articles/tutorials on gamedev.net, good stuff there good luck!

sobriquet

If I were in your position, I'd do a project in Java, with either J3D or GL4Java. Jumping into C or C++ would be a big jump from Pascal/VB, especially as most C/C++ games tutorials you'll read will use pointers etc a helluva lot.

If you do decide to do it in C with OpenGL (which I'd advise once you're comfortable with them), use a higher level API - SDL (www.libsdl.org), Clanlib (www.clanlib.org) or GLFW (hem.passagen.se/opengl/glfw/) and there are many others. These will handle things like windows code, input, threads etc.

Also, the other poster is correct - start simple: asteroids, tetris etc. I learned this the hard way.

Have fun.

Martial_Law

yeah i'd recommend OGL, its easier than directX, with OGL most of the source code you can get on the net that I have found is using VC++

If you want to make games, a good place to start is http://nehe.gamedev.net/
http://www.opengl.org/

These are a good start

Martial Law

marauder

try

www.gamasutra.com

for all things games programming related. Its a great site