My journey into C++ game development!!!

[RyanPridgeon]

So, I've been working with C++ and SDL for a couple of months now and I decided to try to make a really basic game.

I've made my own little clone of the original pong with very basic AI, and I love it!! :D

See for yourself, i've even included the messy mess of a source code if you want to have a look at that. It's actually pretty fun, and was fun to make

So here is my first completed C++ game;

http://geon.exofire.net/Gnop.zip
(make sure there's a capital G for Gnop... I don't know why this hosting is case sensitive :S)

I'm not sure what I'll make next.. I guess I'll try to make a little maze/dungeon game to try my hand at level editors and using files etc. I'm not sure yet though, so any suggestions or C/C?

-Ryan

[Falco Girgis]

Very nice, I just got done playing. Looking good.

If you just started a few months ago, that's pretty impressive. And I'm glad to see that you understand the kinds of things that beginners should be making. You're progressing logically, and I'm sure we'll see great things from you. Good luck and good job.

[RyanPridgeon]

Thanks :D

Yeah, I initially tried to do a top down scrolling space shooter as my first game, but then I kinda realised it was too hard, and too advanced for me as a beginner. So then I moved down to making a simple RPG with moving the character around a map with sprites and everything.

Then yesterday I finally realised I should be doing the simplest of simple, and started this

God damn, I'm proud. :D Don't mean to sound like an asshole there

[dandymcgee]

Hey, nice work! It is fun to play.. although I suck at it when it gets going really fast. I quit when it was 3-5 computer on top :P. I like the lines at the beginning, and the Atari effects when you exit, gives it a nice touch.

[cypher1554R]

niice..!

edit: Just played it.. You definitely have potential.

[MarauderIIC]

Haha, that's pretty good. Simple? Yes. Well executed? Extremely :)
Tell me, does it determine rebound angle solely based on where the ball hit the paddle, like the original Pong?

Edit: So, when are we going to see your version of "Tennis for Two"? :)

[dandymcgee]

Tell me, does it determine rebound angle solely based on where the ball hit the paddle, like the original Pong?

I was wondering the same thing.. it seemed like it while I was playing from what I can remember.

[MarauderIIC]

Yeah, I thought it seemed like it too, but sort of hard to tell where you hit it at sometimes, so I thought I'd ask =)

[ansatsusha_gouki]

i got my ass kicked

[RyanPridgeon]

Hha lots of positive replies :D

Yeah, it does calculate the rebound angle on where it hits the paddle, but also still uses the angle that it hits the ball at.

I actually just did it using x and y speeds, so not really angles, but i'm talking about the way you see it :P

I'm not sure what to make next... maybe a simple RPG / dungeon game?

[dandymcgee]

make pong two-player over internet if you're interesting in learning WinSock (or similar) or make tetris? Random ideas.

[Falco Girgis]

I'm not sure what to make next... maybe a simple RPG / dungeon game?

Be careful. The concept of an RPG might sound simple--but you're only thinking about a basic engine. Walking around, fighting things.

But it gets immensely more complicated when you factor in other things that drive an RPG. Storyline progression, get item A to progress, event B has to happen for you to be able to do C, in order for this even to happen, player has to do this which allows him to obtain this... blah blah.

That's why embeddable scripting is so common with RPGs. Depending on the complexity, it's not the basic engine that gets you, it's the actual "meat" of the game. Adding objectives and progression.

Think about it. In a platformer, you make an engine, make levels, bam, done. There's no special logic that has to happen. You try to get from point A to point B. The engine handles everything. There's no special events or triggers for playing through levels.

That's why I believe that while an simple RPG engine may be easier than a platformer, a finished RPG is one of the hardest games to pull off.

[trufun202]

What about a Match-3 puzzle game? In my early days of game development, I made a simple puzzle game, which was kinda like Super Puzzle Fighter.

I called the game "Bop N' Pop", and my friends have given me plenty of shit for that name. So much so, I had a t-shirt made that said, "I made Bop N' Pop, and you didn't."

Seriously tho, having a simple game concept comes in handy. I've ported this game to like 6 different languages. Since the logic and graphics are done, I can focus on learning the language.

And holy shit, I just did a google search, and the java version is still hosted: ( I made this like 5 years ago )
http://www.arcadepod.com/java/details.php?id=4105

Good luck!

[Falco Girgis]

http://www.arcadepod.com/java/details.php?id=4105

That is one of my favorite feelings of ultimate win. I released that particle demo driver for Dreamcast like 4 years ago. I can still Google it and see Dreamcast sites hosting the DC binaries and people who have downloaded it. As far as contributing anything useful to humanity, that's all that I've done, but it still feels good.

[Arce]

And I still bad for not trying out the demo yet...x.x

I promise I'll get around to it. Tomorrow.