How should I proceed next with my programming skills? [closed]

Question

I am currently studying at University of technology in Brno (Czech Republic). This semester is almost over and I might say I have some knowledge of C. Since I went to this school just for the purpose to become a game programmer I would like to start programming a game asap.

My school project are almost done so I have been thinking about writing something already (story driven game running in terminal ^^). But this won't satisfy me.

My question is how should I proceed next? I did my homework and went trough similar questions but I didn't get the answer. I hope this question won't be closed. People are usually mentioning C++, C#, OpenGL and others and I simply don't know which one to choose.

I am currently interested only in 2D games and that won't change for some time. I don't want my game to run on a mobile device yet and I want to make games for PC and Mac, not for consoles obviously. Which language does fit my needs the best?

Answer 1

Since you seem to know a bit of C, you could always try to use C++ with SFML, or C with SDL for 2D games. It frees you from having to handle OpenGL directly. It's also cross-platform on the PC, Mac and Linux.

Since you have no wish to bring your game to mobile distribution, I suggest that you stay away from Javascript for the time being. It is not very appropriate for graphically rich or long-drawn out games like the adventure/story games you mentioned you wanted to do.

However, if you just want to create some basic games for experience, then of course, go for Javascript! Javascript seems to have a lot of potential and is capable well enough for simple arcade games.

Answer 2

I would recommend to try C++ for the following reasons:

• it continues being relevant for a long time, so it would be useful in multiple scenarios. Even Windows 8 will support Metro-style apps development with C++;

• it is pretty much a standard in traditional mainstream gamedev;

• it is easier to move from C++ to modern languages than the other way.

Answer 3

I would start with java because it is a multi-platform language that can run on any Operating System and it is very similar to c++. It is also widely used in 2d and 3d games over the internet usually as browser based games, e.g. Runescape and if you ever wanted to migrate over to the android mobile device it would be simple, because android apps are written in java. Also you might want to try DevianArt for the concept art of your games. You can find an artist who will draw sprites,portraits,start screens and pretty much everything else, for reasonable prices or maybe even free.But to really get started just go to you tube and look up some game development tutorials i recommend TheNewBoston because he teaches free tutorials on Game Development in many different languages.

Hope all this helps you on your decision!