Having trouble describing what I'm looking for - essentially, I'm classed as a beginner at unity, I've only made artwork for games, never created the core myself.
Preface: Here's game in a nutshell:
The camera is looking down with an Orthographic angle
The ground in scrolling down the screen, you're walking towards the top of the screen. In essence, you're on a treadmill.
As you walk/progress, shapes start entering the screen, like Tetris.
You simply walk over to that shape, pick it up and take it 1 of 3 baskets on the - left side of the screen.
Repeat until end of level
Help:
How would I start, what should I start with?
Do I seek out examples and guides on creating an endless runner, even though the game has more similarities to Tetris but with interactions? Because of this, I'm lost for words on what to search for in order to gain the knowledge to build what I'm thinking.
Background:
I'm coming from an Artistic background, I work with web development daily, so I think I'll be able to grasp the basics quick enough, I just need that finger pointing at the obvious!
Given that you're coming from a web development background I can see why you're looking for hoping to find pinpointed resources for your specific game. Web development generally involves finding specific ways to tackle each specific problem you encounter.
One thing you will want to be aware of is that Unity development is a bit different in that most things are built using the core set of basic fundamentals. Because of this I would actually recommend looking into tutorials that will teach you about the basics rather than trying to find something specific for what it is you're building, as you will be able to apply these basics to encounter any of the problems you encounter a long the way. The basic Unity tutorials provided by the Unity team do a great job of teaching these basics: The Unity Tutorials Page
At the very least the Roll-A-Ball tutorial should teach you most of the basics as it pertains to how objects work, creating scripts, etc.
After you are a bit more comfortable with Unity in general, then I would suggest looking into some more focused tutorials that are a bit closer to what you want to do as these will give you a better idea of how you can apply the basics you've learned. One recommendation I would have for the game you're trying to make is
this runner tutorial by Catlike Coding.
While the game you'll be creating in that tutorial will play quite differently than what you're describing, this should give you a better idea of how you can approach some of the challenges that you'll encounter in the development of your game (things like continually creating objects).
I'm a self-taught programmer who jumped into Python as my first language about 7-8 months ago. I'm fairly solid at making things work, though my foundational knowledge is limited thanks to my questionable choice in college to not study computer science.
Beyond Python, I'm not really familiar with C or other lower level languages.
I would like to teach myself Objective C as a foray into programming iPhone apps (as a hobby initially). I initially want to create relatively simple utility apps (I think they are relatively simple, at least).
Could any one give me a guess as to how long it might take me to pick up Objective C and actually produce a semi-decent app? If time is of the essence, should I just scrap it and go with HTML5?
I pick things up fairly fast but, again, my background in Comp Sci is really limited.
Sorry if this question is a bit too general and thanks for any insight!
You may take some time once you do not have experience with C. The "C way" is very important to understand Objective-C. You can learn Objective-C without C as well but you will find a lot of C pitfalls in your way.
Said that, I started a project in Objective-C some time ago after giving up Python with Cocoa. I find Objective-C pretty easy to learn - in one month I had made most of my application. I bet you will take a bit more of time because you are not used to C but it is not impossible to learn Objective-C in a relatively short time - let us say, two or three months.
If you have a very restrictive time, you may try HTML5, however. HTML5 uses JavaScript, whose semantics is closer to Python. At least you'll not get segmentation faults with HTML5 :) Also, JavaScript syntax is closer to C so it can be of a little help to learn Objective-C.
Anyway, I have found this great book, Become an XCoder, which seems to be focused on non-C programmers learning Objective-C. You can start by it.
I really can't tell you how long it will take you to produce a decent app, but I can definitely recommend Stanford's iOS Development class on iTunes U for learning Objective-C. Once you finished all lessons, you are pretty good to go for your first app. It is really good.
You should learn both, Objective-C and HTML5. HTML5 isn't very difficult to grasp even if you don't have any experience.
I had to learn objective-C a couple of months ago to make an app for an internship. I had experience with C/C++, and learning Obj-C wasn't difficult at all. What was difficult was learning to use the SDK. Granted, I had next to no experience with using something like it before, but it was a significant learning curve to get a handle on actually putting the app together using Apple's tools. If you're in the same boat, that's something that will probably add to the time it takes to produce a finished app. (I finished the app in about a month.)
I agree with other posters that there are some great Stanford tutorials on iTunes, but as a reference I found Kochan's Programming in Objective-C very valuable. He states in the intro that he does not expect prior C knowledge from readers, and doesn't think it's necessary -- might be a good book for your situation.
Depending on the complexity of the app you want to build, I think you could build something decent in a month or two.
Well when i started progamming for Objective-c i was well known in Java, but nothing close to C/Objective-c. It took me around 1 month to learn the basics (using tutorials etc).
There are some really good tutorials on iTunes (search for Objective-c seminar). I also used a couple of pdf's to use them as backup while making my first app. That helped alot!
Till today I am working with Basic UIKIT application but now onwards I need to work in OpenGL.
Problem is I have not any idea about OpenGL and am confused lot about how to start and from where to start.
I need to create an application which is same as "iBeer" (see movie in YouTube).
So I am having lots of confusion about how do I create graphics of beer that you seen in application, so what should be preferred library?
Creating opengl applications is kinda time consuming, it takes time to learn the syntax and get comfortable with.It's not easy to just magically write an "ibeer"-app, even if it's not the most advanced application ever written.
I don't think there are any shortcuts, you will have to learn opengl and its syntax.
iphone also uses Opengl|Es which syntax is not to far away from regular opengl, but still differs enough that you can't use regular opengl-engines.
The two best opengl resources i have encountered are:
The Red Book
Nehe's game tutorials
There are also some good tutorials specifically for opengl|es and iphone development
Nehe tutorials ported to iphone
Blog-post about iphone-development
However i'm gonna guess that you are more interested in creating the application than learning opengl syntax, therefore you should also take a look at some opengl-engines
Irrlicht opengl engine
Unity
There are probably a million more resources on the web, should get you started though.
Jeff LaMarsh has a good primer on his blog. Here's the TOC:
Basic Concepts. A Look at Simple
Drawing Viewports in Perspective
Let There Be Light.
Living in a Material World
Textures and Texture Mapping
Learning OpenGL and/or OpenGL ES is done best by learning the prerequisite concept of Computer Graphics in general, as well as learning the mathematics involved. Specifically linear algebra, vector spaces and how matrices can be used to represent coordination systems. OpenGL is just an API which is easy to use, as long as you understand what you're doing. If you're afraid of math, don't waste your time.
For absolute beginners, I recommend the book "3D Math Primer", with errata and samples on gamemath.com and an online article named "The matrix and quaternion FAQ" available here: www.j3d.org/matrix_faq/matrfaq_latest.html
And the OpenGL ES 1.x specification for implementation used on the iPhone:
http://www.khronos.org/opengles/1_X
And last but not the least, the specification for OpenGL 2.1 and the first version of the OpenGL Shading Language, GLSL:
http://www.opengl.org/registry/doc/glspec21.20061201.pdf
http://www.opengl.org/registry/doc/GLSLangSpec.Full.1.10.59.pdf
A lot of people I've spoken to don't think the specification counts as documentation for library users, but in my opinion it does; simply because it is accurate, it has has authority and any other publications would be just citing it anyway.
If you understand the mathematics required and the general concepts of Computer Graphics, reading the standard should be a breeze.
Last word: Avoid NeHe at all costs. I saw it suggested here, and it's probably okay if you want to go the try-and-fail route. NeHe's tutorials teaches how, but not why. Most of the examples are also horribly outdated.
I recommend focusing on the programmable pipline of OpenGL (shaders) instead of the fixed-function pipeline, if you want to use OpenGL on a computer. (OpenGL ES 1.x does not have shaders) Shader languages like Cg, GLSL and HLSL are here to stay. The proof for that is the latest OpenGL 3.1 standard where the only way to get things done is through shaders. Just a wise warning, as The RedBook and other "Tech yourself OpenGL in 10 days" books tend to focus on the latter.
I would suggest taking the other technologies out of the equation and learning OpenGL separately: then look at the differences in ES and introduce the iPhone specifics, etc. I would second Mads that NeHe is a bad place to start: There are some mistakes in those tutorials that have gone unaddressed (such as forgetting that OpenGL's y-coordinate is inverted relative to most UI toolkits but also forgetting that BMPs are stored upside-down relative to UI toolkits, so loading a BMP and displaying it works through coincidence rather than by intention).
The OpenGL red book suggested above is hands down one of the clearest and best written computing books I have ever read, but the free online copy is out of date so grab a modern dead-tree copy. You won't regret it. Again I agree with Mads that a good understanding of the maths is important. I think you could touch up your maths in parallel with reading the red book as it breaks you in gently and has some appendices covering some of the tricks.
Finally when trying out different things, like the impact of translations, scaling, etc., you often find yourself in a compile,tweak,compile loop. Much more effective is to have an app that lets you tweak parameters at run-time: but writing such a thing whilst learning is a bit of a steep ask. Nate Robins has some excellent demonstration programs that let you tweak parameters to opengl calls and show you the impact right there in the app. They come highly recommended by the opengl red book itself : http://www.xmission.com/~nate/opengl.html
I found this book quite useful for learning OpenGL ES 1.1 (the version the iphone supports):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mobile-3D-Graphics-Kaufmann-Computer/dp/0123737273/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books
Although I already knew the basics of OpenGl before reading it, so can't vouch for how good it is for a total beginner.
Other people seem to like the "Redbook", a free online version is available here: http://www.opengl.org/documentation/red_book/ This might be useful for learning the basic principles, but it covers standard desktop openGL, and there are differences between that and what is available on the Iphone.
There are also a couple of examples that come with the Iphone SDK, which I found very useful.
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Summary:
Can I program a "thick
client" game in C without reinventing
wheels, or should I just bite the
bullet and use some library or SDK?
I'm a moderate C programmer and am not
afraid to work with pointers, data
structures, memory locations, etc. if
it will give me the control I need to
make a great "thick-client" game.
However, I'm thinking of eschewing
high-level languages & frameworks for
the sake of power and control, not
ease of use.
I'm interesting in tinkering with a 2D fighting/platforming game as a side project sometime. I'm primarily a Linux server-side programmer with experience in Python, Ruby and PHP. I know that there are excellent frameworks in some of these languages, like PyGame. I am also aware of the success people have had with stuff like Air and .NET... but I have some concerns:
Performance: Scripting languages are notoriously slow. If I'm making a real-time game, I want it to be as snappy as possible.
Huge binaries: Using frameworks like .NET or scripting languages like Ruby often result in big CLRs or libraries that you wouldn't otherwise need. The game I want to make will be small and simple--I don't want its CLR to be bigger than the game itself!
Extra stuff: Honestly, I just don't like the idea of inheriting some big game library's baggage if I can wrap my head around my own code better.
I'm asking this question because I know I'm very susceptible to Not Invented Here Syndrome. I always want to program it myself, and I'm sure it wastes a lot of time. However, this works out for me remarkably often--for example, instead of using Rails (a very big web project framework with an ORM and GUI toolkit baked in), I used an array of smaller Ruby tools like rack and sequel that fit together beautifully.
So, I turn to you, SO experts. Am I being naive? Here's how I see it:
Use C
Cons
Will probably make me hate programming
High risk of reinventing wheels
High risk of it taking so long that I lose interest
Pros
Tried & true - most A-list games are done in C (is this still true today?)
High level of control over memory management, speed, asset management, etc., which I trust myself to learn to handle
No cruft
Use framework or SDK
Cons
Risk of oversized deliverable
Dependent on original library authors for all facets of game development--what if there isn't a feature I want? I'll have to program it myself, which isn't bad, but partially defeats the purpose of using a high-level framework in the first place
High risk of performance issues
Pros
MUCH faster development time
Might be easier to maintain
No time wasted reinventing common paradigms
What else can I add to this list? Is it a pure judgment call, or can someone seal the deal for me? Book suggestions welcome.
I believe you are working under a fallacy.
There are several frameworks out there specifically for game programming --- written by people with much experience with the complication of game design, almost certainly more tha you do.
In other words, you have a "High risk of performance issues" if you DON'T use a framework.
My current thinking is:
If you want to learn to program, start making the game engine from the base elements upwards (even implementing basic data structures - lists, maps, etc). I've done this once, and while it was a learning experience, I made many mistakes, and I wouldn't do this a second time around. However for learning how to program as well as making something cool and seeing results I'd rate this highly.
If you want to make a proper game, use whatever libraries that you want and design all of the game infrastructure yourself. This is what I'm doing now, and I'm using all of the nice things like STL, ATL/WTL, Boost, SQLite, DirectX, etc. So far I've learnt a lot about the middle/game logic aspect of the code and design.
If you just want to make a game with artists and other people collaborating to create a finished product, use one of the existing engines (OGRE, Irrlicht, Nebula, Torque, etc) and just add in your game logic and art.
One final bit of wisdom I've learnt is that don't worry about the Not Invented Here syndrome. As I've come to realise that other libraries (such as STL, Boost, DirectX, etc) have an order of magnitude (or three) more man-hours of development time in them, far more than I could ever spend on that portion of the game/engine. Therefore the only reason to implement these things yourself is if you want to learn about them.
I would recomend you try pyglet.
It has good performance, as it utilizes opengl
Its a compact all-in-one library
It has no extra dependencies besides python
Do some tests, see if you can make it fast enough for you. Only if you prove to yourself that it's not move to a lower level. Although, I'm fairly confident that python + pyglet can handle it... at worst you'll have to write a few C extensions.
Today, I believe you are at a point where you can safely ignore the performance issue unless you're specifically trying to do something that pushes the limits. If your game is, say, no more complicated than Quake II, then you should choose tools and libraries that let you do the most for your time.
Why did I choose Quake II? Because running in a version compiled for .NET, it runs with a software renderer at a more than acceptable frame rate on a current machine. (If you like - compare MAME which emulates multiple processors and graphics hardware at acceptable rates)
You need to ask yourself if you are in this to build an engine or to build a game. If your purpose is to create a game, you should definitely look at an established gaming engine. For 2D game development, look at Torque Game Builder. It is a very powerful 2D gaming engine/SDK that will put you into production from day 1. They have plenty of tools that integrate with it, content packs, and you get the full source code if you want to make changes and/or learn how it works. It is also Mac OSX compatible and has Linux versions in the community.
If you are looking for something on the console side, they have that too.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned XNA. Its a framework built around DirectX for doing managed DirectX programming while removing a lot of the fluff and verbosity of lower level DirectX programming.
Performance-wise, for most 2D and 3D game tasks, especially building something like a fighting game, this platform works very well. Its not as fast as if you were doing bare metal DirectX programming, but it gets you very close, and in a managed environment, no less.
Another cool benefit of XNA is that most of the code can be run on an Xbox 360 and can even be debugged over the network connection was the game runs on the Xbox. XNA games are now allowed to be approved by the Xbox Live team for distribution and sale on Xbox Live Arcade as well. So if you're looking to take the project to a commercial state, you might have am available means of distribution at your disposal.
Like all MS development tools, the documentation and support is first rate, and there is a large developer community with plenty of tutorials, existing projects, etc.
Do you want to be able to play your game on a console? Do you want to do it as a learning experience? Do you want the final product to be cross platform? Which libraries have you looked into so far?
For a 2d game I don't think performance will be a problem, I recommend going with something that will get you results on screen in the shortest amount of time. If you have a lot of experience doing Python then pyGame is a good choice.
If you plan on doing some 3d games in the future, I would recommend taking a look at Ogre (http://www.ogre3d.org). It's a cross platform 3d graphics engine that abstracts away the graphics APIs. However for a 2d project it's probably overkill.
The most common implementation language for A-list games today is C++, and a lot of games embed a scripting language (such as Python or Lua) for game event scripting.
The tools you'd use to write a game have a lot to do with your reasons for writing it, and with your requirements. This is no different from any other programming project, really. If it's a side project, and you're doing it on your own, then only you can assess how much time you have to spend on this and what your performance requirements are.
Generally speaking, today's PCs are fast enough to run 2D platformers written in scripting languages. Using a scripting language will allow you to prototype things faster and you'll have more time to tweak the gameplay. Again, this is no different than with any other project.
If you go with C++, and your reasons don't have to be more elaborate than "because I want to," I would suggest that you look at SDL for rendering and audio support. It will make things a little bit easier.
If you want to learn the underlying technologies (DirectX, or you want to write optimized blitters for some perverse reason) then by all means, use C++.
Having said all that, I would caution you against premature optimization. For a 2D game, you'll probably be better off going with Python and PyGame first. I'd be surprised if those tools will prove to be inadequate on modern PCs.
As to what people have said about C/C++/Python, I'm a game developer and my company encourages C. Not b/c C++ is bad, but because badly written C++ is poison for game development due to it's difficulty to read/debug compared to C. (C++ gives benefits when used properly, but let a junior guy make some mistakes with it and your time sink is huge)
As to the actual question:
If your purpose is to just get something working, use a library.
Otherwise, code it yourself for a very important reason: Practice
Practice in manipulating data structures. There WILL be times you need to manage your own data. Practice in debugging utility code.
Often libs do just what you want and are great, but sometimes YOUR specific use case is handled very badly by the lib and you will gain big benefits from writing you own. This is especially on consoles compared to PCs
(edit:) Regarding script and garbage collection: it will kill you on a console, on a recent game I had to rewrite major portions of the garbage collection on Unreal just to fill our needs in the editor portion. Even more had to be done in the actual game (not just by me) (to be fair though we were pushing beyond Unreal's original specs)
Scripting often good, but it is not an "I win" button. In general the gains disappear if you are pushing against the limits of your platform. I would use "percent of platforms CPU that I have to spare" as my evaluation function in deciding how appropriate script is
One consideration in favor of C/C++/obj-C is that you can mix and match various libraries for different areas of concern. In other words, you are not stuck with the implementation of a feature in a framework.
I use this approach in my games; using chipmunk for 2D physics, Lua as an embedded scripting language, and an openGL ES implementation from Apple. I write the glue to tie all of these together in a C language. The final product being the ability to define game objects, create instances of them, and handle events as they interact with each other in C functions exposed to Lua. This approach is used in many high performance games to much success.
If you don't already know C++, I would definitely recommend you go forward with a scripting language. Making a game from start to finish takes a lot of motivation, and forcing yourself to learn a new language at the same time is a good way to make things go slowly enough that you lose interest (although it IS a good way to learn a new language...).
Most scripting languages will be compiled to byte code anyway, so their biggest performance hit will be the garbage collection. I'm not experienced enough to give a definite description of how big a hit garbage collection would be, but I would be inclined to think that it shouldn't be too bad in a small game.
Also, if you use an existing scripting language library to make your game, most of the performance critical areas (like graphics) can be written in C++ anyway (hopefully by the game libraries). So 80% of the CPU might actually be spent in C++ code anyway, despite the fact that most of your project is written in, say Python.
I would say, ask yourself what you want more: To write a game from start to finish and learn about game development, or to learn a new language (C++). If you want to write a game, do it in a scripting language. If you want to learn a new language, do it in C++.
Yeah unless you just want to learn all of the details of the things that go into making a game, you definitely want to go with a game engine and just focus on building your game logic rather than the details of graphics, audio, resource management, etc.
Personally I like to recommend the Torque Game Builder (aka Torque 2D) from GarageGames. But you can probably find some free game engines out there that will suit your needs as well.
I'm pretty sure most modern games are done in C++, not C. (Every gaming company I ever interviewed with asked C++ questions.)
Why not use C++ and existing libraries for physics + collisions, sound, graphics engine etc. You still write the game, but the mundane stuff is taken care of.
There are alot of different solutions to the issue of abstracting and each deals with it in different ways.
My current project uses C#, DirectX 9, HLSL and SlimDX. Each of these offers a carefully calibrated level of abstraction. HLSL allows me to actually read the shader code I'm writing and SlimDX/C# allows me to ignore pointers, circular dependencies and handling unmanaged code.
That said, none of these technologies has any impact on the ease of developing my AI, lighting or physics! I still have to break out my textbooks in a way that I wouldn't with a higher-level framework.
Even using a framework like XNA, if most video games development concepts are foreign to you there's a hell of a lot still to take in and learn. XNA will allow you to neatly sidestep gimbal lock, but woe betide those who don't understand basic shading concepts. On the other hand, something like DarkBASIC won't solve your gimbal lock problem, but shading is mostly handled for you.
It's a sufficiently big field that your first engine will never be the one you actually use. If you write it yourself, you won't write it well enough. If you use third party libraries, there's certainly aspects that will annoy you and you'll want to replace.
As an idea, it might be worth taking various libraries/frameworks (definately make XNA one of your stops, even if you decide you don't want to use it, it's a great benchmark) and trying to build various prototypes. Perhaps a landscape (with a body of water) or a space physics demo.