Don't ask whether it's a long journey...

[mathmadx]

...ask whether it's a nice journey.. [this quote not by me, btw]

Well, dear Ogre people; this is my first post here. In order to make things clear, I will introduce myself:
I am a 19 years old boy studying maths and physics at the moment and being interested in gaming since I can remember ( though it's hard to find young man not interested in them ).

Anyways; I am actually interested HOW these games are made, and how the graphics etc. are all made, the usage of physics in games,- I am very eager to begin working on them. Although I was first eager to become "good" at physics or maths, I guess I will go for computer science as , well.., it's easier (but not easy!) for me and more importantly: You can actually SEE what you have done, and the impact on society of CS is much bigger..

I am opening this topic in order to get some feedback how I can climb up and also can make such beautiful artwork as all you here can make. And how I can make [some simple, but 3D including collisions etc] a game.

My roadmap I had in thoughts was as follow: I am eager to get advice from you:
- At the moment I am learning Java as my first programming language. In the coming few months I will continue learning this[ I am nearly finished with it], and before wasting too much time will go for c++.
- I have ordered a Computer graphics book; well suited for selfstudy( as I will mainly do it this way: The CS courses would be not enough alone ofcourse!) , and will work through it , understanding all the maths involved [shouldnt be a problem I guess] and making a simple graphics pipeline.
- After having a solid grasp in graphics and c++; I will begin working with Ogre.

I am awaiting your remarks , comments, suggestions!
Mathmadx

[reptor]

I see from your post that you have already a good plan how you will progress. But I would like to mention something you perhaps didn't consider yet. One good way to get started with game development would be to "mod" some existing game. That way you would get your work playable relatively quickly compared to writing a game pretty much from scratch.

I got my computer programming started by writing scripts for a commercial game (Operation Flashpoint) - it was so fun I just had to study actual programming languages myself. Now I know a fair bit of C++, all mostly self-taught, as in the educational institute I went to they didn't really go beyond the very basics as I didn't major in computer programming.

The one important thing I noticed about the C++ language pretty soon after I started studying it was that it is a really complex beast and don't think you can master it in a short time - it takes years at least and a lot of reading. So don't give up on it if it seems a bit "unnecessarily difficult" or "overwhelming" at first, you just need to read a couple of books about it and practice. And keep in mind you don't need to use the more difficult concepts of the language until you are (quite) sure you understand how to use them - you don't need to use polymorphism, for example. For starters you can write the kind of code you think you understand and leave the more difficult programming concepts for later times until you have read enough. This approach has worked well for me, it keeps me from getting too frustrated with the programming language.

A problem with C++ especially is I think that code that can look right to you and may appear to do the correct thing like you planned, may in fact be broken code depending on some conditions. Testing your programs for failure with many different kinds of input is crucial in catching the bugs early and in learning how tricky a language C++ can be.

I really recommend you read Scott Meyers' Effective C++ books, those books open your eyes regarding how there can be a lot of very subtle bugs in your C++ code and which trip up even very experienced programmers regularly. http://www.aristeia.com/

[nikki]

You can try Game Maker (independent before, now under 'YoYo Games', but the program's the same), a 2D game-development thing. It's how I started out, got exposed to the basic OO concepts (events, inheritance etc.) that way. It's a great way to learn how to organise your game into 'objects'. It does a lot of things for you, so you can concentrate on the 'important' things, without getting lost in technicalities, so when you actually work on your technical aspects you know what you need. After that I just started doing some Ogre game stuff in C++, working on physics, logic, scripting as I went along. Don't worry about what to learn, just keep doing things, and learning what you need to as you go along.

[nullsquared]

At the moment I am learning Java as my first programming language. In the coming few months I will continue learning this[ I am nearly finished with it], and before wasting too much time will go for c++. x

Just FYI: you can't really be "finished learning" a language. Especially when it comes to C++

Good luck on your adventure!

[mathmadx]

At the moment I am learning Java as my first programming language. In the coming few months I will continue learning this[ I am nearly finished with it], and before wasting too much time will go for c++. x

Just FYI: you can't really be "finished learning" a language. Especially when it comes to C++

Good luck on your adventure!

Hehe, I knew I'd get such a comment . With that; I meant understanding the basic concepts, and being able to do some simple things, whilst understanding OO programming. This, as I heard, Java is easier to learn then C++; while they happen to have quite a things in common.

Sure , I have worked with Game maker. I know how it works( Btw; the founder of Yoyo games is a professor at my university ) . But I really want to get into the "real" thing. I will also ask some friends of me whether they'd enjoy working together. It'd be much more fun.
Thanks to all for you for your advice.

[mkultra333]

I don't think you should be put off by the complicated C++ concepts, because the simple C++ concepts will take you a long way, and the higher level stuff just means there's room to grow if the need arises.

[mathmadx]

Dear all great people,

I guessed some of you would be pleased if I'd report something: I have outlined my plan above, and it seems that executing that plan goes smoother then I thought!. I am now full time learning c++, which because of my background in Java is easier then I thought. I have been busy building a ray tracer, which now also can handle refraction/reflection. . Truely an elegant way.
Ofcourse, I won't be using ray tracing when doing Ogre,- however it has helped me a lot to get into the world of graphics in a fun way.

I am now trying to figure out how I can implement Perlin noise,- I am sure I'd have benefit with it when building real games.( Clouds, landscapes etc..).
Besides all this fun stuff, I am actually looking for a realworld friend somewhere here,- well: I guess I'll handle that when the school year begins again in a month time.

[Vectrex]

I use http://libnoise.sourceforge.net for perlin and other noise algorithms. You can use or study that