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Topic: Quickest and easiest programing language for noobs?

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All Forums : [THE GAMING PLAZA] : Game Development, Research & Modding > Quickest and easiest programing language for noobs?

#51 13 MAY 2011 at 5:58am
toonces Commander Posts : 2322 Joined: 21 MAR 2006 Status : Offline	GJK- got your PM but I'm slow off the hook today! Braz- I just browsed the book so far- I haven't actually loaded MMF2 and started going through the tutorials, but it seems that you can make the maps as detailed as you like. It seems to be pretty standard wargame hex where you can make your map and assign attributes to terrain types however you specify. As far as AI, it does have the capability to program AI and has a tutorial to show how to do basic AI stuff. But where this is really powerful is for porting solo boardgames like Carrier or Downtown. Because those games use tables for the "AI", the AI's attributes are already done for you and it's just a matter of porting that to the MMF2 in a way it can read. The book seems to be pretty good at describing how to do it. Like I said before, I have just read some of the book but even just thumbing through the later chapters I have to agree with GJK that this is really an excellent tool for 2D wargame building. For 3D stuff or the stuff Ghost does I don't know but for 2D hex games, it really steps you through the process of how to create one. "I am always fondling my nut sack, just to be safe. " - bboyer66 "It's like Mount and Blade got together with Total War and had a game baby." - Bison36 on Real Warfare Northern Crusades
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#52 13 MAY 2011 at 4:50pm
GJK Centurion Posts : 744 Joined: 1 FEB 2006 Location: US Status : Offline	Braz24: You're able to program an AI just like you would with any other programming language however for a noob, I like the way that the objects (units, pieces, map tiles, maps, etc) can interact with one another and how you can have an object and select another object and have them do a routine such as combat, or say the terrain in the hex subtracts from movement. As for the maps, you can import any graphic that you want - ones that you create in say Photoshop for example. The program also comes with a graphic editor that is robust enough to do terrain and units. Here's a few images from the book that show the program. It may give an idea of how it works. It's a "drag and drop" type of programming; there's hardly any actual code writing. [image]http://www.garykrockover.com/uploads/MMF2/2-22.bmp[/image] [image]http://www.garykrockover.com/uploads/MMF2/3-6.bmp[/image] [image]http://www.garykrockover.com/uploads/MMF2/6-13.bmp[/image] [image]http://www.garykrockover.com/uploads/MMF2/6-21.bmp[/image] [image]http://www.garykrockover.com/uploads/MMF2/6-22.bmp[/image] [image]http://www.garykrockover.com/uploads/MMF2/6-23.bmp[/image] "Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son." -Dean Vernon Wormer
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#53 13 MAY 2011 at 6:11pm
ghostryder Colonel Posts : 6934 Joined: 4 MAY 2004 Location: US, Texas Status : Offline	MMF2 is really just a deluxe version of Gamemaker- if your unsure of the cost of MMF2 gamemaker is free- and the system is virtually the same. Unfortunately-and you will learn this sooner or later- both are pretty bug ridden and have remained so since the beginning. For the unity to Windows question- assets,code etc stay the same- Unity will use windows api for graphics and opengl for mac-- and by default the base program will port to either as well as the web--plug-ins are for other platforms (iphone, Droid,xbox330,Wii or PS3).
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#54 13 MAY 2011 at 9:56pm
yoshino Centurion Posts : 110 Joined: 22 APR 2008 Status : Online	Just for information, Construct is similar software of MMF2. And it's a open source (so Free!).Essentially it is an update version of MMF2. I haven't used it though. http://www.scirra.com/
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#55 14 MAY 2011 at 12:16am
ghostryder Colonel Posts : 6934 Joined: 4 MAY 2004 Location: US, Texas Status : Offline	Construct is in my opinion far better than MMF2. Things that take pages can be done in construct in a couple operations. Also one significant bug in MMF2 is working with multiple objects- the program has a tendancy to assign the same value across the board when something happens to one object. This bug was in the first edition as well, and although it's claimed MMF2 was coded from the ground up the bug remains in MMF2. MMF1 had a work around- but this was removed in MMF2. Construct is a very simular setup but offers far more power as far as these types of programs go- you can do more detailed things --however as your discover if you get far enough neither can produce a wargame that would be simular to Talonsoft's campaign series in depth and I've yet seen anything in akin to approaching much simpler designs. Even the book fails to present a finished example- likely a forced ommission given the number of bugs and limitations present.
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#56 20 MAY 2011 at 4:00am
linhely Centurion Posts : 2 Joined: 20 MAY 2011 Status : Online	I have dabbled with some [sm=spam1[1].gif] over the past 30 yrs. By no means an expert in any [sm=spam1[1].gif]. Right now I have taken to [sm=spam1[1].gif] which seems to be quite easy on the brain.
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#57 17 JUN 2011 at 1:04pm
jeubank Centurion Posts : 43 Joined: 17 JUN 2011 Status : Online	I would say, hands down - C# or Javascript is easier to learn. The Syntax is legible. It sets you up with understanding of Object Oriented Programming. Which lets you transition and learn other languages easier. It is also quicker to develop for. You can program sometime to look at within a few lines of code generally. Unity is by far, hands down one of the better Game Engines out there. They have seen there growth in the triple digits for years. Computers are coming off the shelf with Unity Web Player plug-in installed already (Just like flash), and on any given week. 3 - 5 Finished working titles are published. Hop on there Forums, under showcase.. All you see is.. MY GAME GOT RELEASED! ITS ON THE APP STORE! or "Check out my new game / website", or "Our Game going live on XBOX Live" etc etc. Not to say its the greatest of everything.. But, it streamlines so much, that small teams, can get a lot done, quickly. I dont know about other developers, but after a couple of days of developing, if I can hit build, and see something new and working.. That is motivational enough for me to countinue. Of course, currently im developing using Unity, and I am biased. Unforunately, im not developing a game at the moment, but an IT Administration tool with it. very dry.. very very dry... haha. Screenshot : [image]http://i55.tinypic.com/s2dt81.png[/image] In the end - what I am learning, with developing MySql databases, PHP Programming for this tool through Unity, will lead my game project to new heights, so i dont really mind. But than again, it all comes around to developing with Unity, C# and Javascript. Possibilites are endless.
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#58 17 JUN 2011 at 3:14pm
ghostryder Colonel Posts : 6934 Joined: 4 MAY 2004 Location: US, Texas Status : Offline	jeubank.....I think he is related to me...yup...looks like my son. Nice tool, i looked at it yesterday.
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#59 17 JUN 2011 at 3:17pm
jeubank Centurion Posts : 43 Joined: 17 JUN 2011 Status : Online	lol, whats up dad btw, tool isnt finished.
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#60 20 JUN 2011 at 2:14am
JIHE Centurion Posts : 1 Joined: 20 JUN 2011 Status : Online	Come on,man. R4, ps3 jailbreak.
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#61 20 JUN 2011 at 6:35pm
OJsDad Commander Posts : 1440 Joined: 5 AUG 2004 Location: US, Ohio Status : Offline	For those wishing to learn Unity and C#, there is a book coming out in Dec. 2011 on it. http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Unity-Multi-Platform-Game-Development/dp/1118063376/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308614459&sr=1-1 Ghost, are you saying if you're doing a Unity program with C#, that you would use Mono, or would you use MS Visual C# Matthew 25:14-30. Jesus tells that it is not sufficient merely to maintain things as they are. Those who await should make good use of the gifts that God has provided them.
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#62 20 JUN 2011 at 11:15pm
ghostryder Colonel Posts : 6934 Joined: 4 MAY 2004 Location: US, Texas Status : Offline	You would use C#. Mono is a built in system in Unity for the .net languages to allow easy port to cross platforms. So in short-you code in C#-and mono automatically converts the code to xbox360, iphone, droid, Wii, PS3, Mac--you do not have to change any code. It also works for the smaller markets like Nokia phones and so on...Unity has a program in place that will let you port your game to these devices-they do all the work for you and you agree to a 80-20 split on sales. This market is not as small as you would think--it's just not there yet: http://unity3d.com/union/ Union was introduced at the 2010 conference-here is the presentation: http://unity3d.com/supp...ations/introducing-union In short the mobile device wars are just beginning and this program is aimed at getting you on these platforms when they are introduced. Nokia, Intel, Hp etc are going to enter the market and Union basically deals with them for your benefit- making OEM deals...IE-your game may be part of the system by default--etc It can be a bit risky but imagine you had one of the first apps on the iphone when it first released? Those old apps don't hold a candle to what's out today but every one did very well sales wise. Companies want a game base when they release-it can only help them break into the market- and that is basically what this is about.
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#63 22 JUN 2011 at 8:29am
gameleaper Centurion Posts : 465 Joined: 28 APR 2011 Status : Offline	I havnt read all the posts yet, but I thought I'd share my codeing thoughts I've prgramed chess engines in C++ http://wbec-ridderkerk.nl/html/enginesindex.htm Mine is the Mainsworthy engines, Ive also done a GUI for the engines in BlitzBasic. Ive programed a Hex&Chit Wargame in BlitzMax for Windows Mac & Linux http://www.thewargamer.com/grognard/godofwars.zip Ive Programed a Robot TourNament in BlitzMax Programable(via checkboxes) http://www.4shared.com/file/HZTJfcIx/RobotMindsv18.html http://www.mediafire.com/file/u1133kgt6t56lxp/RobotMindsv18.zip blitzMax is cross-platform MacOSX LINUX, and winXP,Vista,Win7 Ive done a RPG game aide Robots move around a dungeon(or any sort of RPG) populateing it http://www.4shared.com/file/vka9g6-x/RPGRobotAlivev12.html http://www.mediafire.com/file/v0iuxkd053aw9cu/RPGRobotAlivev12.zip cant even remember most of my past projects Ive prgramed in Assembler,Pascal,Cobol,dbase,C,C++, but I started-out with Basic, and basic is good but It never had the power to rotate spites and have transparency like PNGs, these are the two mose important reasons for not useing Basic, but I found BlitzMax, its kindof a super Basic you can use transparency & rotation, its only failing is that it couldnt cope with large Maps just tiles stiched together, but I still find it so easy to program and get good results in a few hours of work I didnt read any book for BlitzMax , just looked at the examples incorparated in BlitzMax Interface & pasted what I needed in, it as easy as while not KEY_HIT(ESCAPE) start a loop untill you press escape CLS just clears the screen for a fresh drawing of all the graphics drawimage(backdrop,0,0) which just draws the backdrop image at pixel 0,0 drawimage(hero,x,y) which means draw the hero ontop of the backdrop if KEY_HIT(UP_ARROW) x=x-1 so press up to move the hero srite up 1 pixel if KEY_HIT(DOWN_ARROW) x=x+1 so press up to move the hero srite down 1 pixel Flip which just updates the screen with all the new moved sprites etc wend loop back to the while Mark Ainsworth
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#64 22 JUN 2011 at 2:44pm
jeubank Centurion Posts : 43 Joined: 17 JUN 2011 Status : Online	The tool can be used for 2D Graphics, Hex Based (Tile-Based) Turn based games, etc. However, as most of the playing public demand mindless FPS, and the like - most games are plublished as such. However, I have seen a few Turn Based games done with Unity that have been published
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#65 22 JUN 2011 at 7:53pm
ghostryder Colonel Posts : 6934 Joined: 4 MAY 2004 Location: US, Texas Status : Offline	I've also done some work in BlitzMax. Whether to read a book or not is mutt-there is no book. Tutorials are pretty sparce-the IDE is best replaced by a third party IDE and you absolutely will want a 3rd party program for help with a GUI. It is a decently fast basic-like language...perhaps about 20 percent slower than a .net JAVA language-which is good enough for most games- but it's downside is it's such a prioritory language that has such a small base of users compared to a language like C# help is nil. Aside from that-it's very newbie friendly--and does OO too.
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#66 22 JUN 2011 at 8:31pm
gameleaper Centurion Posts : 465 Joined: 28 APR 2011 Status : Offline	have you looked here [link]http://www.blitzcodebase.co.uk/%3C/a%3E[/link] and the blitz site is down at the moment, but as a member , there are millions of code examples on the blitz official site http://www.blitzbasic.com/ blitz has been going as far back as the amiga I think, if you search blitzbasic there are tons of stuff there is even a youtube video tutorials http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWRpRgv3lbw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h4SmjCT-oQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a6GFoHOvc0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7lO6bqoEnc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cno-A6BWRtk and lots more
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#67 22 JUN 2011 at 9:06pm
gameleaper Centurion Posts : 465 Joined: 28 APR 2011 Status : Offline	Here is a site from a guy who just coverted a boardwargame to computer with Blitz http://war-game-programming.com/gallery.html I know it was Blitz because he submitted it to the blitz site , prior to the blitz site being offline Here is what he says "Battle of Moscow v1.0. (4/2011) This is a conversion of GDW's 1977 intro game. The sequence of play is unusual but the game mechanics were ideally suited for PC conversion. I think 90% of the coding was done in two weeks."
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#68 22 JUN 2011 at 9:12pm
gameleaper Centurion Posts : 465 Joined: 28 APR 2011 Status : Offline	also consider useing a premade game engine, that you can just plug-in the graphics, I did this game in 1 hour with freeware godofwar9.8 http://www.4shared.com/file/bUt9NAmG/GodOfWarsBattle.html http://www.mediafire.com/file/zg5vikw0a58lc0h/GodOfWarsBattle.zip
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#69 23 JUN 2011 at 5:28pm
ghostryder Colonel Posts : 6934 Joined: 4 MAY 2004 Location: US, Texas Status : Offline	Blitz and and BlitzMax are two different things. Yes Blitz has been around forever--but BlitzMax has not-and again as far as help it is nil-
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#70 7 NOV 2011 at 11:06pm
jomni Global Moderator Posts : 2474 Joined: 24 APR 2007 Location: SG Status : Offline	*Originally Posted By yoshino* Just for information, Construct is similar software of MMF2. And it's a open source (so Free!).Essentially it is an update version of MMF2. I haven't used it though. http://www.scirra.com/ Construct (2) is not free.
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#71 8 NOV 2011 at 6:31pm
Staggerwing Colonel Posts : 3317 Joined: 4 AUG 2007 Status : Offline	*Originally Posted By jomni* *Originally Posted By yoshino* Just for information, Construct is similar software of MMF2. And it's a open source (so Free!).Essentially it is an update version of MMF2. I haven't used it though. http://www.scirra.com/ Construct (2) is not free. But Construct Classic is... Wit Ye further, or how...? -Voluspa (Poetic Eddas)
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