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[Medicine Man]

I'm looking to make a complex serial killer roguelike/RPG (You have to eat, sleep, murder etc) what would you suggest for that?

Therapy.

That made me lol.

Anyway what should I use to make it? C++ ? (Keep in mind I actually have to learn how to program games)

[Dasleah]

The important thing at this stage is not what language you use - there is no language that is conceivably better than another at any genre of game - but instead actually making the game. Look around at the languages we're presented in this thread, and see what feels best to you. Do a few "Hello, World!" programs in each and see which language best fits your sensibilities and already-existing notions of programming. And then just keep sticking to it until you're frustrated enough with your project to unleash it upon the world and wash your hands of it.

Honestly though, something as ambitious as an 'open world' roguelike as your first program - let alone your first game - is something that is beyond you. Programming is not easy. It is not quick. It is frustrating and aggravating and you'll spend years learning to do things the wrong way. Pop along into Blacken's programming thread and have a look around there. Realise that it takes months if not years for most projects to pop into fruition. For every 1 game that is released, there are 20 that aren't, and 100 that are started by people like you - with no experience, no idea, and no clue about how to even start.

[Medicine Man]

Where's a tutorial for Python 2.7?

[Pillow_Killer]

http://google.com
Okay, seriously, are you even trying? If you are not even able to find the information you want...

[Medicine Man]

http://google.com
Okay, seriously, are you even trying? If you are not even able to find the information you want...

No, I'm not trying to get infomation at all 

[Berserker]

Where's a tutorial for Python 2.7?

http://www.sthurlow.com/python/

[qwertyuiopas]

Honestly though, something as ambitious as an 'open world' roguelike as your first program - let alone your first game - is something that is beyond you. Programming is not easy. It is not quick. It is frustrating and aggravating and you'll spend years learning to do things the wrong way. Pop along into Blacken's programming thread and have a look around there. Realise that it takes months if not years for most projects to pop into fruition. For every 1 game that is released, there are 20 that aren't, and 100 that are started by people like you - with no experience, no idea, and no clue about how to even start.

BYOND:

Code: [Select]

/mob/var/hunger = 0
/mob/New()
    ..()
    spawn
        while(1)
            sleep(100)
            hunger++Every character gets one unit hungrier every 10 seconds. Not the best way to do it (the best way would probably be

Code: [Select]

/mob/var/hunger = 0
/world/New()
    ..()
    spawn
        while(1)
            sleep(100)
            for(var/mob/m in world)
                hunger++
), but it shows how code can continue to run in the background while everything else continues. Also, games made with it are automatically multiplayer.


If you want to write your own client/server and/or game, or you want it to run on non-windows systems, or you want to use your experience for more than games, python will work.

Edit:
Issue with my examples: BYOND uses tab-based indentation to define the code. This forum does not accept tabs in code tags nor can you enter them without pasting them from elsewhere. So, I used 4 spaces in place of each tab. And then forgot to mention it here.

[eerr]

Programming is an investment.

I don't expect you to make this game unless you are already headed down a programming path.

[nuker w]

Yea, to be honest, you can't just "go out and make a game and put no real effort in". I've learnt C++ myself for roughly half a year and i'm still learning the semi-basics. If you really want to "Go out and make a game", i'd suggest Byond or a script type (as other people have said, Python) but even then, your going to need ALOT of time to become competent at it and if you fail to even be able to find a Python tutorial, its not a good sign of your dedication. Another good point someone made, making a game would require you to first learn how to make other programs before going down that path.

So, to put it square, if your not dedicated, don't try. Its a hell of a pain starting towards it and then flopping.

[SolarShado]

Being fairly experienced in Java, I'd usually recommend it; however, since you're planning a text-based roguelike, I'd recommend C/C++. Though I've never used it, the curses library is rather widely used. I think it is (has?) being superseded by ncurses. I know almost nothing about either though...

I'd still recommend Java for a starter language: you don't have to worry about memory management, you'll learn about object-oriented design, the syntax is very similar to C should you switch, you'll learn about event driven programming when you delve into GUI design...

Then again, you'll can certainly learn about all that elsewhere too...

[lagging savant]

I'm using TCOD library and C++ . About 3 months into the project.

What I have learned so far is , pick your language, start coding, watch it fail, crash, bash your head against the wall. Take a walk, then eventually you'll have a little guy running around picking up gold pieces and able to decend into a random generated dungeon while rats are slaughtering each other for food.

Then do what I did, learn that you need to set everything up in classes and GUT EVERYTHING so your 5,000 line long CPP file is split up into 6 different files based on its modular function... in the hopes that future features go in nicer into your framework. So been at it for a week and still ironing out the bugs. ROFL....

so this is what your future entails. still interested?

[blackmagechill]

You're only as cool as the number of alpha-numeric symbols behind your C.

[xaque]

What I have learned so far is , pick your language, start coding, watch it fail, crash, bash your head against the wall. Take a walk, then eventually you'll have a little guy running around picking up gold pieces and able to decend into a random generated dungeon while rats are slaughtering each other for food.

Then do what I did, learn that you need to set everything up in classes and GUT EVERYTHING so your 5,000 line long CPP file is split up into 6 different files based on its modular function... in the hopes that future features go in nicer into your framework. So been at it for a week and still ironing out the bugs. ROFL....

so this is what your future entails. still interested?

Also, this NEVER ENDS. Three years later, if you're still working on the same project, you will still be gutting your 10,000+ line program and rewriting it from scratch. Maybe, if you were careful, and managed to separate out your functionality correctly, you only need to rewrite a few hundred lines at a time. But every time you write a line of code, I guarantee you will come back to it 6 months later and go "WTF was I thinking??? It'd be so much better to do it a different way..."

It's just the nature of the beast.

[Virex]

To expand on that, it is utterly invaluable to divide your code up in functions as much as makes sense and properly document those functions. The same is true for objects and constants. If you ever use a value that means the same thing (such as screen height) more then once, consider making it a variable or a constant. That way, you'll spend far less time tracking down all those things that have to be changed. Same is true for functions, the less times you have to rewrite the code calling the function or handling the output, the better it is.

[Frajic]

I think you should wait a year before starting to make a game, and spend quite a bit of your free time programming. I myself am a big newbie at python, though I can write some simple programs(calculator, text printing and the likes). I'm having a lot of fun writing programs, and think you should get started ASAP.