Next Level for Advanced Programming?

Question

Hi everyone,

I consider myself a very good programmer. I can learn a new language in less than a week because I understand the programming concepts very well. I created tons of applications, web applications and databases.

I am interested in becoming a consultant and create applications for clients. What more do I need to know? My applications usually have very few files (Usually just the executable file). But other applications usually have dozens of files, dlls, registry entries...etc. Is it possible to make a simple video game by myself???

I am actually not sure what I am looking for. Any ideas/adivces/books?

Thanks

Answer 1

Well hard to give advice when I still don't know what langs you know, but since you can learn in a week, I would suggest that you try C# if you already don't know it. If you are as good as you say you are, the fact that C# is so user friendly and Visual Studio IDE is the best IDE I've used so far, then have at it. the dot net framework is da best. Along with the fact that there are so many APIs and you can incorporate any C++ both managed and unamaged code well it is quite a beauty. While there are very few key words, just learning all the types, libraries, and subset languages if you aren't familiar is very daunting. You are probably familiar with the concepts of regex and of course xml and all the db langs out there so you should have not trouble learning the libraries for them.



If you want to create games I suggest you take up XNA game studio which is just a C# library. This will allow you to make games for the PC and XBOX.

Answer 2

What languages do you know? It's actually really easy to make even a complex game in Pygame, for example. Plus points that Python is piss easy.



You can learn languages that are popular in games, like Lua.



You can also try modding current games with powerful editors first. It's a good first step. Far Cry and other CryEngine games are examples of this.

Answer 3

Well first, congrats thats awesome you know so much, I'm just a newbie programmer myself.



As far as making your own video game, its possible, but not probable, since the best video games have tons of graphic designers etc. However, you probably could create a cool internet game by yourself, since low-graphic internet games have really hit it big.



I know there is a program on the msdn website for making your own games, you could try that, but I don't know if its what you are looking for.



Good Luck, whatever you decide to do.

Answer 4

I would also suggest Python and pygame for a simple 2d game. Python is not only a great language but pygame also makes it much easier to elaborate.