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[SolarShado]

What's GameMaker like? Do you actually have to wrote any code? Can you if you want to?

I've played at least one game (Iji, look it up in Other Games) that was made with it. It's a lot of fun.

[deadlycairn]

You CAN write code with Gamemaker, but you don't have to. I tried it once, long ago, but I was put off by my complete inability to draw sprites of any kind (which is why I'm trying to make a roguelike now )

[Mr Tk]

Java is a good place to start to dip your feet into programming.

The reason for this (before everybody starts flaming me) is that first, you don't have to worry about memory allocation to begin with. Second it's very similar to C and C++ so when you go from one to the other it's not too bad. Third, well documented. Finally it has much less obtuse error messages than C++ or C.

Or get visual studio express 08 and look at C#.

[Muz]

I've felt that Construct is superior to GameMaker if you want to go that way. Multimedia Fusion supports more flexibility, like making Lua stuff.

Speaking of Lua, it's a good starting language, with a very good online tutorial. It's supported by a lot of MUD clients, so you can pick up a MUD and practice scripting for it. Or learn HTML if you haven't, it's not even a real programming language, but it's easy to learn and has many practical uses

I found C and C++ to be tough as a starting language. It's all too easy to make a mistake, especially for a beginner who's not used to it.

I'd think that making a roguelike is a rather tough goal, takes years of experience with general coding to go that far. I've been coding since 10 years ago and I still don't know how to make a roguelike.. but it works better with some code than others. Heck, I know people who are ivy league post-graduates in comp science but can't make a roguelike.

Learning to code is a bit like learning a new language.. it's very hard in the beginning. And unlike spoken languages, programming languages don't work if you make a syntax error. Just be persistent with it and you'll figure it out.

[Darkone]

Python is actually fairly sophisticated. You can do quite a bit with it, and anything you can't, you can use C/C++ (forgot which) modules inside python to do. Even pure python with a couple good libraries is plenty fast. Here is a bit of my own advice- don't use pygame. Use rabbyt, or learn how to do 2d using OGL. Either way, pygame is terrible for anything that requires rotations, scaling, etc etc, as its based on SDL, which is not HW accelerated. While it will work fine for graphically simple games, any real-time game with lots of rotations and other things will screw your FPS.

[SolarShado]

Good idea Muz. Learn HTML! It's not a programming language, but it is a "computer" language.

Tinkering with it can help you get a feel for how computers "read" and get you used to using some of those funny symbols. Plus, once you know HTML, you'll probably want to learn (at least a little) about CSS and JavaScript.

That's acually how I discovered Java... I was teaching myself HTML and the book had a chapter about Java Applets...

[Rysith]

I'll N+1 all the suggestions that you don't try to learn a language to code a roguelike in. Roguelikes are complicated things, and without a bit of practice it will likely get messy and frustrating, no matter what language you use. Especially if you've never programmed before, because programming well requires a certain mindset and some planning.

Instead, I'd go poke around with the languages suggested here, and see if you find one that you like and understand. Once you've found one that you like, practice programming in it. You'll start with some of the basic things (writing a program to compute prime numbers, for example), and work your way up towards programming your roguelike. If you can find an already-written roguelike library or framework (which probably exist), that will make your life a lot easier.

I personally like Java and Ruby, and would recommend staying away from C and C++ if only because of the number of ways that they allow new programmers to shoot themselves in the feet in obscure ways. Python is alright, but a bit C-centric for me (in that I'm not used to programming in the style that it wants).

[chaoticag]

For now, I'll try Java.

[qwertyuiopas]

Actually, although I don't have much experience outside of C, I believe that java is probably more complex than C++, and that is probably more complex than C.

With C, it's just

int main()
{
    //stuff
}

but java needs at least class or something. AFAIK.

Of course, without a good direction when going into graphics in C, you do need outside assistance to find an easy way to do things, otherwise you end up calling the window creation directly, setting up openGL, writing your own bitmap loading and editing functions... I have been there, and although plenty of control comes from it, there certainly is an easier way.


Still, java may work for you, though I don't know enough about it to properly compare the languages.


Edit-before-post:
After a bit of other-window research, it seems that java is probably easier at the more complex parts like graphics. I still believe that it shouldn't be the only focus, but it may work out fine.
I'll stick with C though.

[Jack_Bread]

If anyone is interested, GMRoguelike source I made.
You can code with GameMaker, but it has its own language called GML.

[cowofdoom78963]

Use teh C, Game maker cant make an rpg to save its life. Stay away!

Anyway all codes are pretty much the same, I dont see how people find one more difficult then another...

[Mr Tk]

Use teh C, Game maker cant make an rpg to save its life. Stay away!

Anyway all codes are pretty much the same, I dont see how people find one more difficult then another...

Indenting vs brackets
Garbage collection vs Manually freeing memory
Automatic memory allocation vs Manual memory allocation
Everything is an object vs nothing is an object
-> or .?

And that's just a few differences. . .

[cowofdoom78963]

Use teh C, Game maker cant make an rpg to save its life. Stay away!

Anyway all codes are pretty much the same, I dont see how people find one more difficult then another...

Indenting vs brackets
Garbage collection vs Manually freeing memory
Automatic memory allocation vs Manual memory allocation
Everything is an object vs nothing is an object
-> or .?

And that's just a few differences. . .

Pfft. Its all different means to the same end.

[chaoticag]

This is just sad. I can't even compile the hello world program because my computer is so filled with crap that I couldn't find it to specify which file.

Are all compilers like the java one (it uses the C:\ prompt), or are there some that are easier to use?

[AxelDominatoR]

Use Netbeans IDE if you are interested in Java programming.
http://www.netbeans.org/
It will make your life easier.