Cheat Engine

[Cheat Engine User]

I made 2D games with VB once, it was a little platform using bitblt and a bit of imagination. I would certainly go with the language there seems to be the most support for. Go look for a forum that discusses this kind of thing, look for sources and examples, but never forget to get to know the basics first!

[markiecork]

Visual C#, search for a program called Microsoft XNA Studio, its a free program for programming 3D games for PC/Xbox 360, it uses C++ and is a light version of Visual Studio.

[NINTENDO]

[a13x12246]

Defiantly you should use c++
for the game side of what you want get the DarkGDK extension for the visual c++ compiler.

[atom0s]

There isn't a 'best' for stuff like this. Each language has it's ups and downs. You need to lay out some other guidelines and questions based around your game to find the language best for your needs.

Such as:
- Do you need cross platform support?
- Do you need low-level access to hardware and such?


Using XNA in C# would be, in my opinion, the fastest language to develop a game in currently. XNA wraps a lot of helpful things into .NET for you to make coding a breeze and lets you mainly focus on your design and game itself. Along with XNA, you have the ability to port your game to run on Windows, Xbox360, ZuneHD, as well as the new soon to come Windows Mobile 7 phones.

The downside to C# is that it is a Windows language, and native support on Linux does not exist. There are bindings created by users for Linux to run .NET applications, but it is not supported directly by Microsoft so it is a risk to take if you plan to support other operating systems.

C++ in my opinion would be next. There are thousands of game engines already created which you can use as a base for your game and expand on top of which also helps with faster creation of your game. A lot of the engines are free as well, some of which can even hold their own against some of the more professional engines of today.

Along with that you could even create your game as a mod for other engines such as the Half-Life 2 engine. Having the full engine pre-made for you leaving you to fill in the blanks. (Just an example, there are a lot of other engines you could look into.)

[jiiui]

C++ for the core, but IMPLEMENT A SCRIPTING LANGUAGE and use that for the game logic.

[Noz3001]

I do like Java + jMonkeyEngine3. Quite easy and fast

[yoni0505]

More important then which language you would use is which 3D graphics library would you use?
Cause this is what really makes the difference...

If you want to learn something that can become handy when you get more experienced I would recommend OpenGL.

BTW I don't think Flash capable for serious 3D games. 3D graphics are usually hardware accelerated (Graphic cards) and I don't believe Flash support such a thing...

[atom0s]

[Cryoma]

Flash is terrible for 3d games like FPS or whatever, but you can use 3d animation just fine.
But I doubt that's what you're looking for, and flash games gobble up RAM and CPU like a motherfucker because of vector graphics and shit so you're better off with C().

[hcavolsdsadgadsg]

the first hit on google says you can handle drawing yourself per pixel. i've played a flash port of quake 1 before and it worked fine.


i don't doubt that java would be the superior choice though if you were gunning for an in browser game. you will have much more control, especially since you get access to all the nice low level opengl stuff.

[M.CORP]

Start with C++ and OpenGL since it's much easier than DirectX. As you gain experience try moving onto Direct. That's what i've read on the internet when i was looking for FPS game programming tutorial.

[hcavolsdsadgadsg]

erm, I wouldn't really say it's easier. those nehe tutorials are horrible.

all that shit has been depreciated and both directx and opengl are now entirely shader based. fixed function is gone.

[ipivb]

I wouldn't suggest starting with C# or C++. Sure they are fast, but as an indie developer, you will never get to the point where you need that slight extra speed to squeeze out the absolute most you can to get that last bit of detail in the graphics.

The thing is, you will need to use a rendering engine. Not because you are developing as indie game, but because that's just how it's done. The very best games are made using a commercial rendering engine... even Gears of War (Unreal Engine) and all the Grand Theft Auto games (Renderware).

The one you use is a matter of preference, but I highly suggest Xors3D. It's Directx 9c, and its based off of Blitz3D (making it utterly simple). It has wrappers for C++, but you can make your own for any language because it's just a simple DLL you can call functions from.

Making your own OpenGL/DirectX render engine is not just pointless... it's an entire project in itself. It would take a very, very long time and not help you at all learn how to program games. For AAA titles that actually use their own proprietary engine, they have a whole programming team just for developing the engine that has nothing to do with programming the game itself.

So in essence, it doesn't matter which language you use. Use whichever that you feel most comfortable with. Whats more important is what rendering engine you use. Go for simplicity. You can get the Unreal Engine Development Kit, but it's a bitch to use, and in the end, your games wont look any better than if you used a Directx 9c one.

Directx 10/10.1/11 have no graphical improvements really, it's just speed improvements. I challenge anyone to prove me wrong.

[hcavolsdsadgadsg]