I'm 19.
I want to make games. Something in Unreal Engine, Unity, GameMaker, or my own engine.
I also understand that knowing how to code makes game development easier.
Well, not necessarily easier, but it's definitely worth it to know computer languages such as C.C++.C#, etc., so I can control the in's and out's of my game.
So, I want to learn how to programming/coding. I know nothing about it.
Where do I start?
How hard does it get?
What language is the easiest/hardest?
How long will it take me to know a good amount of a language?
Any other tips and sites provided would be much appreciated, thank you.
>>17255098
Start by learning C, then get SDL. There's tutorials and shit for free, google is your friend. Branch out after that, learning other languages once you've learned the first one will be easier. It's (mostly) all the same concepts, just tailored to different tasks. First language will probably take 2-6 months to really master, but you can start making stuff long before that.
>How hard does it get?
No upper limit, DESU. Most of it comes from attempting ambitious complex shit rather than intrinsic difficulty in programming. Be especially wary of getting obsessed with writing "clever" code that runs slightly faster but is impossible to make sense of when you read it a week later. They say you shouldn't write code that's as smart as you can be, because you'll need to be smarter to fix it when it breaks.
>>17255098
>mfw just right when I was about to beging learning to code at Codecademy my laptop struck by lightning
>>17255133
I'm super extremely dumb at math and programming codes looks exactly like them. Should I relearn math? Until what subject of math I should learn to enchance my logic enough to learn programming?
Thank you for answering this question asked by a worthless person.
>>17255143
OP here. You think Codecademy could be worth my time?
>>17255133
Really? Learning languages one ofter another when OP just wants to make a game?
Why not start with Unity, learn some script language and actually create a simple game? Isn't working with an existing game engine a good idea before trying to create a new, even a very simple one?
Cs 101 on udemy or some shit
Then jump into a framework and try to build a game
Learn by googling whatever you're trying to accomplish.
>>17255098
Let me stop you right there OP. Game programming is NOT a great career path IMO. Everyone thinks wants to make games, but they actually don't...
You like the idea of making games, but I will guarantee you won't like the process. There are a lot more fulfilling and interesting Computer science related jobs/career paths out there.
As for general programming:
>Where do I start?
Learn Python or C++. Both are incredibly versatile languages and have widespread use. If you want to lean towards web dev, Javascript is great as well. Since you are a complete beginner, there are a million million resources dedicated to this sort of stuff. www.learncpp.com is what I used for C+.
>How hard does it get?
There's no upper limit for difficulty. Many problems you face are very similar and as you get more experience solving tough problems, you can obviously apply past concepts and solutions to new problems.
>What language is the easiest/hardest?
Python is simple and intuitive. Any of the older, or lower level languages are harder for beginners. If you are starting out, don't jump into vanilla C just yet.
>How long will it take me to know a good amount of a language?
Depends on the time you put into it. If you put in 3-4 hours everyday, you could be applying for jobs in less than a year.
>For game dev
Learn actual programming first, then dive into this if you really want, even though I wouldn't recommend it.
Unreal Engine is very popular and their own website has pretty good tutorials.
>>17255153
Some website reviews said it's good and friendly for beginner who have never code before, and will work well to help you understand the basics, then move to somewhere adcanced like Treehouse, Codeschool (I think. I forgot) and Lynda.
Well My laptop died just when I was about to start so I definitely haven't tried them all, but that's the route I was about to take if I still have my laptop alive.
>inb4 you're such a neet you only take online lessons
Well yes, also poor. So I just watch live coding videos on YouTube right now.
>inb4 what an idiot
I am aware of it
>>17255180
OP here, and I understand what your saying anon.
I do want to make games, and eventually make a career of it, but not until I'm sure I can produce a game worth people's time.
So i'll be developing small games here and there until im comfortable enough to quit whatever it is i'm doing.
In the meantime, i'd like to work somewhere else that need computer science. So just in case, in the future, the gaming developer life isn't for me, i have a job I can keep.
I know I may sound silly, but I love games, and I want to make games. but not until i'm absolutely ready.
>>17255133
Thanks for the info anon. I'll def check out C.
>>17255168
I want to make games, but I also want to work in places that require a programmer in the meanwhile. I think it might assist me in my "game dev" stage by learning more ways to code and do shit as I work.
>>17255174
Udemy sounds cool. I'll check it out.
>>17255198
Are you in college OP?
If not, I suggest following the MIT OpenCourseWare CS curriculum.
Learn the concepts first in one language. The concepts are the same for virtually every single language and syntax and language specifics are easy to pick up
>>17255224
I am in college, but i'll check this out. Cheers anon.
I am doing my first "fundamentals of programming" class in sept. and im pretty excited.
>>17255143
Math isn't important unless you're doing something that requires math, e.g. physics systems or 3D graphics. Learn trig algebra and especially vectors if you intend to do that.
>>17255168
>Really? Learning languages one ofter another when OP just wants to make a game?
Yeah. Might as well learn from the ground up.
>>17255098
didn't read anything before. but if you want to make games, then focus on that. download the latest unity version and get started by watching the tutorials on their website. they're very good and start from 0. you'll learn programming along the way. and probably way quicker than on stuff like codeacademy, too - because you'll learn stuff you can directly apply to your unity projects and see the consequences. there's no need to look anywhere else really.
DO NOT learn programming separately from making games if your goal is to apply your programming skills to make games. that's a __massive___ waste of time.
>>17255594
Why? A lot of people have done it.
>>17255594
This. Don't waste your time. If you wanna get a job programming, make sure it's in the field as well.
>>17255594
>DO NOT learn programming separately from making games if your goal is to apply your programming skills to make games. that's a __massive___ waste of time.
This is the most retarded advice I've seen on /adv/ in a long time.
>>17255598
the unity tutorials guide you through the process of making a game (or little example game projects) and show you basic game design concepts along the way. you'll learn how to build game systems. once you're finished with the tutorials you'll be an average/novice programmer but you'll have an idea of how to build a health bar or how to detect collisions so you can go from there.
of course you can do a sole programming course. but once you've finished the codeacadamy stuff you'll have some basic programming concepts down but no idea of how a game actually works. you'll also have to watch many of the unity (or unreal 4 or game maker or whatever engine you'll end up with) videos because you're not familiar with the programs. you'll leave codeacademy with a basic understanding of programming but you'll lack the experience of having build something like a health bar or similar.
I'm not very good at english but I hope I got my point across. the idea is that learning a programming language separately from a game engine is a detour. you can have it both in one go
>>17255567
>Math isn't important
Why do people say this shit?
Programming is almost all math. Sure, it's not crazy advanced math, but there's math everywhere. Being able to square numbers, create matrix, tables, addition, subtracting,division, multiplication, algebra, geometry, trig and all that other shit are used constantly. Not to mention mathematical problem solving is fundamental. Like the cliche "train leaving from station a traveling at 60mph will end at the blah blah blah" kinda shit.
It just happens most programmers are smart and understand those things fairly well already through intuition. Again, it's not super-advanced math but there is math EVERYWHERE in everything you do in all languages. An artist, or writer or something that's not all that commonly good at that short of stuff will for sure have to up their math game.
I am a game artist myself(concept art) but at the same time math has always came extremely easy to me. I have tried to talk and work programming with other artists and they had a hell of a time with it.
>>17255625
But what if I do want to work for some other programming place in the meanwhile i make my games?
Will the knowledge i learned from Unity still pull me through?
>>17255681
yes. it's possible to write your scripts in both c# or javascript in unity. you can apply all of that to anything else of course. i mean it's not like you'll learn "less" learning with unity than learning with anything else. it's the same programming language after all.
if you want to do programming work you'll most likely need to know a bunch of languages anyway(which isn't a problem bc it's all more or less the same).
best thing is to just start and not overthink. I know how it is, I've been where you are now. but programming isn't half as complicated as you imagine it to be now. you just have to understand the principles behind it. and you can learn that from any language really. so i know I'm repeating myself: but I highly advise you to see a programming language as a tool to accomplish something. you already know what you want to accomplish: a game. so start making a game and learn it along the way. it's always difficult and abstract/unmotivating to learn something without appliance
>>17255720
Cool. thanks for the words of confidence anon. I feel super stoked to make my own game now.
I'll get started with the Unity tutorials. Hopefully my dumbass will pick up something there.
Do you know of any other resources that can help me out? How's Udemy? Codecademy?
Hi OP.
I'm a game developer, shipped multiple AAA titles and participated in game jams, and made tiny personal projects.
Game Maker is a GREAT place to start, because you don't need to know how to code. There's a lot of logic branches you can follow to create interactive gameplay.
Follow their beginner tutorial, they'll show you how to make basic moving characters, collisions, enemies and interactive objects
>>17255784
Hey, not bad.
Thanks anon.
>>17255784
How'd you get hired? Was it worth it?
believe in urself
