For Beginners Forum FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

• I want to learn to make games, how do I get started and what do I need?
  
• What programming language should I start with?
  
• I'm thinking of getting into professional game development, what are my schooling options?
  
• Are there any good online tutorials?
  
• What is an API (Application Programming Interface)?
  
• I want to get started in modding and scripting, where do I start?
  
• Can you recommend some good game programming books?
  
• Ok I have learned the basics of my preferred programming language, what next?

Other Useful Links

• Math and Physics
  
• Collision Detection
  
• Free and Commercial Engines
  
• Free IDEs
  
• Modding and Scripting
  
• All about Arrays

Posting guidelines

• Asking Questions
  
• Answering Questions
  
• Stay On-Topic

Frequently Asked Questions.

I want to learn to make games, how do I get started and what do I need?

What programming language should I start with?

I'm thinking of getting into professional game development, what are my options?

Are there any good online tutorials?

• Python

  
  
  • www.python.org
    
  • www.ibiblio.org/obp/thinkCSpy
    
  • www.mindview.net/Books/TIPython
    
  • www.pygame.org/docs/index.html
    

• C++

  
  
  • www.gametutorials.com
    
  • www.cprogramming.com/tutorial.html
    
  • www.cpp-home.com
    
  • newdata.box.sk/bx/c
    

• C

  
  
  • www.strath.ac.uk/IT/Docs/Ccourse
    
  • computer.howstuffworks.com/c.htm
    
  • www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html
    
  • cplus.about.com/library/blctut.htm
    

• Assembly

  
  
  • www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article215.asp
    
  • www.programmershelp.co.uk/assytutorials.php
    
  • www.drpaulcarter.com/pcasm
    
  • www.laynetworks.com/assembly%20tutorials.htm
    

• Pascal

  
  
  • www.taoyue.com/tutorials/pascal/contents.html
    
  • www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Bay/5707/pascal.html
    
  • www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Park/3230/index.html
    

• Visual Basic

  
  
  • www.developer.com/net/vb/article.php/3068111
    
  • www.vbtutor.net/vbtutor.html
    
  • www.xploiter.com/mirrors/vbtut
    

• C#

  
  
  • http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/csref/html
    
  • www.codeproject.com/csharp
    
  • www.csharp-station.com/Tutorial.aspx
    

• Java

  
  
  • http://java.sun.com/learning/tutorial/index.html
    
  • www.programmingtutorials.com/java.aspx
    
  • www.gamedev.net/reference/list.asp?categoryid=20#119
    

I want to get started in modding and scripting, where do I start?

What is an API (Application Programming Interface)?

• Win32

  
  
  • www.relisoft.com/win32
    
  • www.winprog.org/tutorial
    
  • www.catch22.org.uk/tuts
    

• OpenGL

  
  
  • www.opengl.org
    
  • nehe.gamedev.net
    
  • www.gametutorials.com/Tutorials/OpenGL/OpenGL_Pg1.htm
    

• DirectX

  
  
  • http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/directx9_c/directx/directx9cpp.asp
    
  • www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article608.asp
    
  • http://nexe.gamedev.net/tutorials/main%20series.asp
    

• Allegro

  
  
  • http://www.rit.edu/~jpw9607/allegtut
    
  • http://alleg.sourceforge.net/docs.html
    
  • www.allegro.cc/resource/index.php?id=18&request=1079392253&
    

• SDL

  
  
  • http://cone3d.gamedev.net/cgi-bin/index.pl?page=tutorials/gfxsdl/index
    
  • www.libsdl.org/index.php
    
  • www.pygame.org (for Python users)
    

Can you recommend some good game programming books?

Ok I have learned the basics of my preferred programming language, what next?

• Text based Rogue-like (roguelikedevelopment.org/development to find out more)
  
• Text based Tic Tac Toe
  
• Text based Magic 8-Ball
  
• Tetris
  
• Pong
  
• Breakout

Other Useful Links

• Math and Physics

  
  
  • www.gamedev.net/community/forums/showfaq.asp?forum_id=20
    
  • www.gamedev.net/reference/list.asp?categoryid=28
    

• Collision Concepts

  
  
  • www.gamedev.net/reference/list.asp?categoryid=45#99
    

• Free and Commercial Engines

  
  
  • www.darkbasic.com
    
  • www.blitzbasic.com
    
  • http://crystal.sourceforge.net/tikiwiki/tiki-view_articles.php
    
  • www.neoengine.org/
    
  • www.ogre3d.org/
    
  • http://fly3d.com.br/
    
  • www.panardvision.com/v3/
    

• Free IDEs

  
  

  • C/C++

    
    
    • www.delorie.com/djgpp
      
    • www.codeblocks.org/
      
    • www.microsoft.com
      

  • C#

    
    
    • www.icsharpcode.net/OpenSource/SD/Download/
      
    • www.microsoft.com
      

  • Java

    
    
    • www.netbeans.org/products/ide/index.html
      

  • D

    
    
    • http://d-ide.sourceforge.net/
      

• Modding and Scripting

  
  
  • http://www.gamedev.net/reference/list.asp?categoryid=76
    
  • www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=252783
    

• All About Arrays

  
  
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Array
    

Asking questions

1. Before you post, please think to yourself "did I explore every option in trying to figure this out for myself ", its understood that 5 or 6 hours of continuous programming can give you a mental block but please don't ask questions that you could easily answer yourself with a quick Google search or a skim over the reference section.


2. Gamedev.net has different forums for different subjects; put your question in the most relevant forum.


3. Don't cross post. Keep your question to one forum only. You can delete your post by clicking "edit" and then checking the "did you double post" box, in the top left hand corner of the edit screen.


4. Be as descriptive as you can. State the language, platform, compiler etc that you are using, according to relevancy.


5. Make your question as understandable as possible and go easy on the abbreviations and Internet slang. Remember, if you ask a clear and concise question, you will be more inclined to get a clear and concise answer.


6. Try to make your subject title as relevant as possible.


7. Browse before you ask. Check the last few pages or use the search feature to see if your question has been answered before.


8. The infamous "this" vs. "that" threads are considered flame bait. If you're debating between OpenGL and DirectX or C vs. C++, please try to refrain from creating "which one should I choose" or "which one is better" threads. These threads usually turn into an argument and rarely lead to any kind of conclusion. The best way to find out if something is right for you, is to try it for yourself or at the very least, spend some time researching the pros and cons.


9. Do not ask homework related questions. The Gamedev.net members are not here to answer your homework questions, its against the forum rules and few people take kindly to it. Besides, we shouldn't need to tell you that figuring it out for yourself will be way more beneficial to you in the long run. Still not sure how to get your question across? Then read this.


10. Please refrain from using this forum to ask questions about developing cheats or hacks, especially for multiplayer games. Similarly, questions concerning piracy or methods to evade copy-protection will be firmly and swiftly dealt with.

Answering Questions

1. 
   Don't answer questions that you don't know the answer to. When you're a beginner, there is nothing worse than bad information so please know what you're saying before you say it.
   


2. 
   Don't flame people because of their lack of knowledge. Remember, we all had to start somewhere.
   
   This forum is for beginners ("newbies") to ask questions without being slapped around because someone more experienced decides they should already know the answer. If you want to make a reply ask yourself:
   
   - Am I being helpful?
   - Am I guiding them in the right direction if they are misguided?
   - Am I taunting them, flaming them or insulting them because they didn't know the answer, didn't know the supporting material or just seemed lost?
   


3. 
   Answer the question asked. Unless the question is completely illogical and makes no sense, you should try to answer it at least on a cursory basis before you suggest alternatives. For example, if somebody is asked for good books about learning assembly language, suggest some before perhaps suggesting that assembly may not be the most suitable language for a beginner. Et cetera.
   

Stay On-Topic

1. 
   Remember that this is the For Beginners forum, and that its primary consumers are beginners. Although some digression into more advanced topics is permissible in general, please be mindful that often such digression becomes too much for the typical beginner. If you are asked to stop discussing a particular advanced topic, do so, and consider taking that discussion to another forum. Failure to comply with such a request from a moderator or staff member will be handled strictly, especially in cases where such digression wanders into a volatile, inflammatory topic -- in particular, posts may be removed or edited at a moderator's discretion to help prevent the thread from devolving into flaming or overly advanced but detrimental discussion.
   

Discussions

1. 
   Learning an ongoing process. Even if you feel you have received an answer to your problem, it's still possible that or others may want to continue the thread's discussion. It's also possible that the response you decided to accept as "the answer" is wrong, usually because the poster supplying the answer failed to follow one of the forum rules above. As such, for your benefit and the benefit of the community, please do not try to mark your threads "solved" or "answered" in any way.