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I've been learning some C# for the last year, now I'd like to make a graphical game. I'm in the research phase of my development now.

3D games are fairly popular, but difficult to make. 2D games are much easier to make, and suitable for a team of one, me. Therefore, a 1D game would be even easier and a perfect to start with.

Does anyone know of any tutorials for creating a game in one dimension? I'd like to make it with a simple character than can move left or right only (maybe even run).

UPDATE

I want this to be a simple side scrolling game like Mario, except there would be no enemies and no jumping, just 1 dimensional movement.

Little fun, much LEARN :)

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So are we talking 1.5D where it's 1 dimensional gameplay with 2 dimensional graphics? Or do you want 1 dimensional graphics aswell? – Jeff May 2 '12 at 17:39
Mario with no jump is still two dimensions. You still have width and height. – Byte56 May 2 '12 at 20:36
I've updated your question for clarity, please let me know if I've misrepresented your question in any way. – Byte56 May 2 '12 at 20:42

closed as not a real question by Byte56, Jonathan Hobbs, Tetrad♦ May 2 '12 at 22:14

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.

2 Answers

up vote 1 down vote

One dimension is impossible to represent in any visible form (computer game or real world). There is no such thing as a one dimensional game, therefore no tutorials exist. If this is your thought process, you may want to think a bit more about, well a lot of things. But really think about how you use computers to present data to the user. Your screen is two dimensional, that's what you have to work with. You can either use those two dimensions or you can simulate a 3 dimensional environment.

UPDATE

To address your update, it's clearer now that you intend to make a 2D game. Tutorials for making 2D games abound. Simply ignore the jumping parts and the vertical movement parts of the tutorials. As your question stands right now, it's likely to be closed. After some confusion, you've essentially just asked for a tutorial on how to make a 2D game. That's too broad for this site.

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Was going to down vote, but you're essentially right. I will say 1 dimension is not impossible to represent on a computer and certainly not in the real world. As 3D uses 3d vectors and is converted to 2D screen space. It is feasible to convert 1d to 2d screen space as well. Think of a curve, then remove the horizontal axis (you have a point going up and down on the screen). But you're stuck on the details. There is clearly a language barrier here, he is referring to 1d controls, not 1d visualization – brandon May 2 '12 at 20:14
Yes, clearly there are ways to represent 1 dimension, for example: data, math, or time. But you cannot represent 1 dimension in graphics or in physical objects. Clearly there is a language barrier, but he also "uses logic" to break down 3D to 2D to 1D in degrees of simplicity. The controls for a 3D game need not be different than that of a 2D game, only the graphical representation need be different, so I assume the OP is implying graphical representation. I see the OP asking about controls in passing, but they are mainly asking for a tutorial to make a 1D game. – Byte56 May 2 '12 at 20:26
answer has much of denigration. why insult ? 1 D is possible for simulate just as 3 D is possible for simulate. all is 3 D in brain even 2 D game liek MARIO. look to back ground mountains !! – PRASHANT P May 2 '12 at 20:29
No insult intended. Please describe how you would graphically simulate 1 dimension. – Byte56 May 2 '12 at 20:30
10 LEDs lined up (but we're missing the point I think, hes talking about locking on the y and z axis) – brandon May 2 '12 at 20:50
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I don't think it's possible to create game with reasonable amount of complexity in one dimension only. Even if your player is moving in only one dimension, other game objects are still use others (like in BreakOut). Still such games is rather simple and can be done in some 1000 lines of code depending on framework used.

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