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I am studying game dev. I have learnt C++ on my own I would say my skills are about intermediate level but I most of my stuff is done from console games i.e anything text based.

What is the next step I should take? I have looked at some DirectX stuff it does not look to appealing is there any steps anyone could offer?

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2  
The first step you should probably take is reading the FAQ. – Yannbane Dec 17 '12 at 0:56
I see a trend in your comment history... – Inisheer Dec 17 '12 at 0:59
4  
That's not what "console games" means. – jhocking Dec 17 '12 at 3:11
@jhocking +1 funny indeed. – Jake Dec 17 '12 at 8:26
Why is DirectX not appealing? Too difficult? – Jake Dec 17 '12 at 8:27

closed as not constructive by Yannbane, jhocking, Josh Petrie, mh01, bummzack Dec 17 '12 at 15:59

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2 Answers

up vote 1 down vote

I'm not sure if you're question is GDSE appropriate, but this is all I can offer:

Grab a library/engine. Follow the instruction/tutorials. Start building. A lot of stuff is already done for you ( like sound/graphics/controls ) so you don't have to reinvent the wheel. Here is a list of engines ( check the licenses, some might not be free. I havn't checked them all ).

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up vote 1 down vote

There are many components in game programming, e.g. rendering, audio, input, data structures, AI, networking etc. DirectX is a package that offers API for several of that, and as such makes it a relatively difficult package for learning.

For me, as a noob in this area, I learnt other programming lanaguages that offer out-of-the-box GUI rendering e.g. VB6, .NET, JAVA, ActionScript. This removes the need for handling the rendering myself.

Then I play some retro games like Pong, Pacman, Tetris, Space Invaders, Paddle Ball etc and try to implement the same thing with the programming langauges to hone me skills in game architecture.

As I try to make my games better, and from 2D to 3D, I eventually hit hard limitations and then I "upgrade" my technology by using more low level APIs. Doing this allowed myself to appreciate the need and reasoning behind each API's implementation.

When you are expert enough, you can forget all the low level stuff and use an engine like Unity3D.

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