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[eerr]

It should be noted that it's alot harder to screw something up in c++, or c, than in Java.

And anything you do screw up you should be able to find much easier.

[Levi]

It should be noted that it's alot harder to screw something up in c++, or c, than in Java.

And anything you do screw up you should be able to find much easier.

I don't know about that.  Java gives you those nice long exception strings.  c just likes to segfault with no hints, forcing you to guess or boot up a debugger.

[Normandy]

It should be noted that it's alot harder to screw something up in c++, or c, than in Java.

And anything you do screw up you should be able to find much easier.

While indeed you could conceivably construe this statement and the meanings of "harder" and "easier" to make what eerr said true, for most purposes it's a lot easier to screw things up in C/C++, and finding things that have screwed up almost entirely depends on programmer skill and what debugger/IDE combo you're using, not on the language you're programming in.

[eerr]

It should be noted that it's alot harder to screw something up in c++, or c, than in Java.

And anything you do screw up you should be able to find much easier.

-,- derp I meant that backwards.

Java is verbose/harder to screw up

c++, c you have to deal with pointers is way easier to screw shit up.

[Sim9]

I'm no expert programmer, but I do have on small bit of advice: for your first project, think small. Roguelikes are often surprisingly complex, despite the otherwise simple presentation. Oh, and good luck! I'll play it when you finish.

Ditto.  If you're not familiar with the language, your first few tasks should be around learning the basics.  In fact, I'd recommend picking up a Teach Yourself <X> in 24 hours book, going through it and doing each of the lessons.  After you've written enough basic programs that you're feeling comfortable, then it's time to start learning common concepts in game development, like game loop, input handling, rendering, etc.  From there, you can create simple games and gradually build larger and more complex projects.  This is a much better way to learn than trying to understand everything with your very first program

[alfie275]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4826080/C%2B%2B%20Primer.chm

You'll probably find that useful.
And yes, think small at first.

[nenjin]

I just got through a tutorial on pointers. I think I get it, I really do. It's funny because I remember my dad trying to explain pointers to me a long time ago and it sounded like gibberish. Now after years of screwing around with game .inis and crap like that, it's all starting to make sense. I got through tutorials on arrays, structures and file i/o and a few other things. Most of it is making sense, even though I have to hobble through the logic of the code when reading it and writing it is a really tedious process. I have no idea how long this particular tutorial goes on, but I'm pretty surprised at its depth, even if it's giving what I'm starting to see is some bad advice by relying on something like cin>> for, well, everything. It's a foundational oversight that I ran into immediately when trying to do something on my own with it.

Other than that though, I'm burning through concepts...so once I've got that down, I think it's time to move on to game logic and procedures....

On that note, anyone got some good reads on procedural maze generation?

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4826080/C%2B%2B%20Primer.chm

You'll probably find that useful.
And yes, think small at first.

I d/l'd that and it told me to retype the address when I launched it. Am I missing something?

[Shades]

c++ you have to can deal with pointers which are way easier to screw up, but if you stick with references it's pretty hard to.

I rarely seem to use pointers in c++ these days, and when I do they tend to be std::unique_ptr, std::shared_ptr or std::weak_ptr wrapped as appropriate.
This also means I don't have to worry about memory management either.

The basic rule is use references where you can and wrapped pointers otherwise, leave raw pointers for when you have no other choice. It will make your life easy as tau.

[Mechatronic]

I recommend the Stanford and MIT computer science classes. They're free. Stanford starts with Java and moves on to C/C++, MIT uses Python and C/C++. Both are fantastic.

• Stanford School of Engineering - check the Computer Science section.
• MIT Intro to Computer Science and Programming - direct link to the intro's starting page.

(Additional note: learning Python or LUA is a great idea if you're ever interested in offering a scripting platform for your game in the future. Many commercial games use one of these for game logic, interfaces or mod APIs, such as Civilization or World of Warcraft.)

Stanford are taking things are step further by setting up some online classes with graded assignments and exams, that kind of run parallel to their actual classes this fall, i.e. starting next month.

http://www.db-class.org/ - databases
http://www.ai-class.org/ - artificial intelligence
http://www.ml-class.org/ - machine learning

Sign up for the AI class closes this week.

[Alexhans]

And that class also requires solid Algebra and Probability knowledge so if you're a bit shaky on those subjects you can always just sign up for basic or not even and just watch when you can.

I've barely read this but my only advice is:

Take it slowwww...

If you rush into c++ you'll suffer big disappointments and do way too much trial and error.   Either you take the time to learn the basics slowly or you'll suffer.

It will be hard finding solid tutorials on c++ and learn a lot of wrong ways to do things.

I'd recommend python all the way for simple projects.  You have a much bigger chance of writing clean and proper code.  It might be harder to debug depending on how you set it up but it should be easier to test.

Anyway, whatever you use.  Know what you want to do.  Plan ahead.  Don't jump into the Non-ASCII Graphics wagon unless you're really really confident with your language of choice, no matter how tempting.  You'll HAVE to read documentation at some point to solve problems so find a way to enjoy it if you don't right now.  Most of all, take the time to have fun while learning.