Whats the right program for me? [closed]

Question

I would like to learn C++ so I can get a job in the game industry, but there are so many options it a little confusing. I know most of you will say I should read up on C++ before attempting to program it but I learn best by doing things rather then reading. That being said I don't understand some of the thing suggested on other questions, because I've read a few trying to find whats right for me, so putting things in the simplest terms would be helpful. I've been making a couple of games 2d using gamemaker and if theres a C++ equivalent that would be perfect, but if not possible I would like an IDE that allows me to easily continue making 2d games, and is fairly simple to learn. Having a 2d sprite editor would be a nice plus but I can understand if its not every thing I want in one program

Answer 1

I should suggest Cocos2d-x and Unity for you.

Cocos2d-x

It is based on C++ (as you would like to learn C++). It is simple, easy to learn and has multi-platform support.

Cocos2d-x is a multi-platform 2D game engine in C++, based on cocos2d-iphone and licensed under MIT. Now this engine has been expanded to iOS, Android, Bada, BlackBerry, Marmalade and desktop operating systems like Linux, WindowsXP & Windows7.

• iOS: stable, well tested on iOS 4.x ~ 5.x SDK.
• Android: stable, well tested on 2.0~4.0, based on ndk r5 ~ r8.
• Bada: stable on Bada SDK 1.0 & 2.0
• BlackBerry Playbook & BB10: stable, contribued by engineers working at RIM
• Marmalade: stable since cocos2d-x-0.11.0
• Windows: stable, tested on WinXP, Vista, Win7. Please upgrde the drive of your video card if you meet problems on OpenGL functions
• Linux: usable.

Project Resource

• http://www.cocos2d-x.org/
• https://github.com/cocos2d/cocos2d-x

Tutorials

• http://www.cocos2d-x.org/projects/cocos2d-x/wiki/Tutorials
• http://maniacdev.com/2011/08/tutorials-cocos2d-game-tutorials-converted-to-cross-platform-c-cocos2d-x/
• http://www.raywenderlich.com/11338/cocos2d-x-for-ios-and-android-space-game

Community Resource

• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10711047/the-completest-cocos2d-x-tutorial-guide-list

Unity

If you want a better IDE and everything in one program, then i should suggest Unity.

Unity is a cross platform game engine and IDE developed by Unity Technologies, targeting web plugins, desktop platforms and mobile devices.

Project Resource

• http://unity3d.com/

Tutorials

• http://unity3d.com/support/resources/tutorials/
• http://unitygems.com/

Answer 2

I suggest that you start with Python instead of C++.

Why?

If you go the Python route you just start programming - it's a mature language, it's interpreted and widely used in the game industry.

You basically write code and run it. And modify and run it.

With C++, however, you write code, compile, fix errors, link, fix more errors and finally - if you're lucky - you run your program. Really a lot of extra complexity, even for the simplest of programs. You will not only have to fight the language itself, but also spend a lot of time on learning to use the development tools (IDE, etc.)

First you need to learn how to program - and not only that, but also algorithms, good software design, etc.

Python is a more direct and immediate way to program. Definitely more joyful than with C++.

You can learn C++ later, but in the meantime check out:

PyGame or Pyglet for 2D game programming.

And then perhaps Panda3D or PythonOgre for 3D programming.

And, once you got some solid programming skills, you'd be ready to move to C++.

Python or Java is what you learn in introductory computer science classes. Sometimes it's C, but almost never C++. C++ is a powerful tool, I just can't recommend it as your first real programming language.

Python is also extremely well documented - just type help(object) into the Python shell. Another reason to go with Python. It's also the fastest growing language currently. ANd as of October 2012, Python ranks at position 8 in the TIOBE Programming Community Index.