Algorithm Building and other Various Programming Questions

[Wictorian]

If I use a characters graphics from street fighter 2, would they copyright me?

[Levent]

yes, thats literally why there are copyright laws. 

http://www.capcom.com/capcom/legal_privacy/legal.php

[straight_stewie]

Are you sure you're ready to make a 3D game? Especially one with specific deployment goals?

Yesterday you were asking how to program without actually knowing how to program.
Today you are asking how to generate game assets without actually generating game assets.
 

Building any 3D game requires quite a bit of specialized work. Since you seem to be asking a lot of questions about how to do this without any work, I would suggest that you take some time to learn about 3D Modelling and programming in general.

Those two things are prerequisites to making 3D games.

[TVwazhere]

-Threads Merged, title changed to reflect subjects. -

 

@Wictorian, it seems like you have a LOT of questions regarding programming. Not every question needs it's own topic. I recommend keeping all your programming related questions into one post, both to not spam the forum and for easier management of all the questions and answers.

[wasab]

5 hours ago, Wictorian said:

What is jetbrains intellij

Best Java ide ever. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. 

[mariushm]

I'd suggest starting with something simple, like a 2d platformer...learn the basics like physics (collision detection, acceleration, gravity), working with sprites or pixel art, sound effects, background music etc etc Or maybe some sort of isometric or top down real time strategy (like dune 2000, warcraft, transport tycoon etc)

 

Have a look at games like Celeste, they can be succesfull without being fps or whatever. You're trying to make something that's usually done by teams of people and I'm worried you'd be demoralized in short time due to lack of progress

[wasab]

2 hours ago, mariushm said:

I'd suggest starting with something simple, like a 2d platformer...learn the basics like physics (collision detection, acceleration, gravity)

Pretty sure if you are using a physics engine(which should be bundle with a game engine), these are all taken care of for you.

[Wictorian]

10 hours ago, wasab said:

Best Java ide ever. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. 

Is it free?

[Mira Yurizaki]

Out of curiosity:

• What exactly are you trying to achieve?
• How much programming experience do you have?

[Wictorian]

On 1/3/2020 at 8:42 PM, Mira Yurizaki said:

Out of curiosity:

• What exactly are you trying to achieve?
• How much programming experience do you have?

I want to create some games,

I have never worked with graphics, just made some little proagrams.

[Wictorian]

Also how can I draw the graphics since I have no experience?

[Mira Yurizaki]

11 hours ago, Wictorian said:

I want to create some games,

I have never worked with graphics, just made some little proagrams.

Create simpler games like tic-tac-toe, hangman, or 2048. You can easily do these things with a command-line interface. The controls may not what you want it to be, but that doesn't preclude that they shouldn't be attempted.

 

Then when you want to make something on your own, you can do plenty without touching a single programming suite.

[mariushm]

From there. you can start with simple 2D graphical games.

Start by learning how to work with an image, how to set a pixel on the screen a certain color, how to draw lines on screen, and so on...

 

Remake the snake game from Nokia phones,as it's something with simple shapes and easy to draw on screen.

Then maybe move on from there to a game like Tetris, which again is simple, made with simple shapes, squares, rectangles etc ... both of these would help you learn about timing and loops and how to update

 

From there, you could move to 8 bit graphics and maybe think of doing something like Mario, or Supaplex... you'd learn about pixel art, working with 256 colors maximum on screen, you'll learn about color palettes, pixel art, you'd learn about sprites. 

Think Nintendo and how they made games in just a few KB of program code.

 

From there, you could try to make a top down game like let's say Dune 2000 , where basically everything is square, multiples of something like 32x32 pixels, see video below:

You'd learn to use transparency to overlay some animation (a car or a soldier) over terrain, make animations for units like soldiers, bikes, tanks, planes etc you'd make your own basic AI to play against the player, you'd learn to make a menu and interface using mouse and so on ...

 

You could look into how a game like Transport Tycoon would have its isometric like engine : https://www.openttd.org/

 

No need to start directly with a fps or something super complex, start with the basics.

There were successful games that were very basic, like let's say VVVVVVV or Thomas was alone and others such games.

 

 

[Eigenvektor]

On 1/7/2020 at 6:38 AM, Wictorian said:

Also how can I draw the graphics since I have no experience?

There's two components to this.

 

A lot of graphics (or "assets") in modern games are created by artists. They will use a combination of traditional tools (pen & paper) to create concept art and digital tools (e.g. Photoshop, Gimp, 3D Studio, Blender, …) to create mockups as well as final images and renders. The same goes for sound, level design, story, world building etc. The more complex your game gets, the more people are usually involved. Its rare that a single person is "good enough" in all of those disciplines (but not impossible). So your starting point would be to familiarize yourself with those tools and get drawing (follow some art tutorials, take classes, …).

 

On the programing side, you'd use something like DirectX, OpenGL, Vulcan, SDL, … to create an engine that can then make use of these assets. Many gaming studios don't actually create their own because it can be quite costly (and isn't really your core business, you want to create a game not an engine). That means you'd use something like CryEngine, Source, Unity, Unreal, … as a starting point, customize it as needed and then focus on creating your game. So either start with an existing engine and learn how to use it effectively or try to learn more about the underlying technologies and try to create your own game engine.

 

(Think of it a bit like writing a book. You don't go out there felling trees, milling your own paper, creating your own pens and ink. You sit down in front of a computer, install a word processor and start typing)

 

Both of these topics (art and programming) are complex enough to build an entire career on top of it, so try not to get sidetracked too much. It's easy to start running in a direction, lose yourself in it until you realize you haven't actually created anything because you're way too focused on stuff that ultimately doesn't matter. I'm a developer myself. I like to jump right into coding, but the more complex the system gets you're trying to create, the more easily you get distracted by tiny insignificant details and technical issues that ultimately prevent you from ever creating anything.

 

So before you start with your game, try to get a solid idea of what exactly it is you want to create. Then start building on top of that, fleshing it out, going into more details of what you need to do/what you need to create in order to accomplish that. Then start thinking about the tools that can help you get it done. Having a plan, a concept, a clear goal can help you a lot in staying focused on where you need to go next.

 

(Sorry for the long winded rant )

[Wictorian]

On 1/7/2020 at 7:46 PM, Mira Yurizaki said:

Create simpler games like tic-tac-toe, hangman, or 2048. You can easily do these things with a command-line interface. The controls may not what you want it to be, but that doesn't preclude that they shouldn't be attempted.

 

Then when you want to make something on your own, you can do plenty without touching a single programming suite.

Well, don't get me wrong, I wanna do programming.

[Mira Yurizaki]

12 minutes ago, Wictorian said:

Well, don't get me wrong, I wanna do programming.

I understand that, that's what doing simple projects are for. But if you want to do something more complex, designing the thing comes first. It doesn't matter if you have mastery of OOP if you can't design a fun game.

[Wictorian]

Also I am told not to use many engines, languages and resources but to focus on one language, engine. How correct is that?

[straight_stewie]

4 hours ago, Wictorian said:

Also I am told not to use many engines, languages and resources but to focus on one language, engine. How correct is that?

Generally that's good advice.

Just out of curiosity, what programming languages have you actually written programs in?

[Wictorian]

4 hours ago, straight_stewie said:

Generally that's good advice.

Just out of curiosity, what programming languages have you actually written programs in?

Python and c++, a very little bit of javascript. Still, I am an ameteur.

[Mira Yurizaki]

9 hours ago, Wictorian said:

Also I am told not to use many engines, languages and resources but to focus on one language, engine. How correct is that?

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, yes, you should focus on one thing because it allows you to become more proficient using it. On the other hand, you shouldn't wall yourself in on one way of doing things, and the only way to get more exposure to how things work is to dabble in other languages.

 

Ultimately I'd argue this: the language is largely irrelevant when you're learning how to program. Just program something and you'll start learning the fundamental skills.

[Wictorian]

What software can I use for pixel art and how can I learn it?

[Mira Yurizaki]

15 minutes ago, Wictorian said:

What software can I use for pixel art and how can I learn it?

It depends on what you want your game to be compatible with. I'm sure plenty of game engines or frameworks that support only 2D games support the bog standard PNG or BMP, which you can edit in paint.

[mariushm]

You can use even basic tools like Paint for pixel art, sprites etc..

Something more professional would be tools like Pro Motion NG from cosmigo : https://www.cosmigo.com/

Steam page for it : https://store.steampowered.com/app/671190/Pro_Motion_NG/

 

You can see it used by this artist to make awesome pixel art... but note he's also comfortable using Photoshor or DOS Paint programs

 

 

[Wictorian]

Also should I choose cocos2d or unreal engine?

[wasab]

1 hour ago, Wictorian said:

Also should I choose cocos2d or unreal engine?

How about you create something first?

 

What languages and frameworks to use are something to ponder after you master all the basic concepts. What you are doing is like trying to figure out whether to carry a sub-machine gun or a sniper rifle to a gun fight before even knowing how to shoot. 

 

Stupid analogy but you get the point.