project-navigation
Personal tools

Author Topic: new to programming what language is the game in?  (Read 3536 times)

Offline masssiveego

  • Rookie
  • ***
  • Posts: 16
    • View Profile
new to programming what language is the game in?
« on: May 10, 2010, 12:10:14 am »
Hello, I'm horrible at programming, and would like to learn to help improve the game.  

There are a ton of features I'd like see added to the game I'd like to experiment with,
so I'm not sure where to begin on learning how to program.  I have only the most
basic computer skills, so how about what language is the game made in?  

Offline bayo

  • Professional loser
  • Project Coder
  • Captain
  • ***
  • Posts: 733
    • View Profile
Re: new to programming what language is the game in?
« Reply #1 on: May 10, 2010, 09:16:10 am »
I really dont think it is the good way to learn programming.
Game developpmeent is not a game... changing things need a lot of time and work, and knowing the better way to do it need a lot of skills. As a result it will turn your stomach about programming.

Anyway if you really want to learn, the game use C, LUA, and self scripts. Tools use C, C++, Python... Then there is many way to contribute to the code.
« Last Edit: May 10, 2010, 09:18:02 am by bayo »

Offline Duke

  • Administrator
  • PHALANX veteran
  • *****
  • Posts: 1037
    • View Profile
Re: new to programming what language is the game in?
« Reply #2 on: May 10, 2010, 10:09:12 pm »
As bayo said, learning to program with UFO is probably not the best way. At least it's the *hard* way.
On the other hand, wanting to see a certain feature can be a strong motivation ;)

You should start with reading through one of those:
http://ufoai.ninex.info/forum/index.php?topic=3923.0

Offline Destructavator

  • Combination Multiple Specialty Developer
  • Administrator
  • PHALANX Commander
  • *****
  • Posts: 1908
  • Creater of Scorchcrafter, knows the zarakites...
    • View Profile
Re: new to programming what language is the game in?
« Reply #3 on: May 11, 2010, 01:57:43 pm »
UFO: AI is a rather large and complex project now, as it has been worked on for years, so I'd have to agree that starting by trying to help code such a project wouldn't be the best idea.

I'd suggest something simple first, if you're moving beyond a "hello world" type of thing I would start with picking one of the easier 3D graphics engines and making a small, lightweight dumb little game that you don't intend to flush out into anything huge or complex.  In fact, I've heard many programmers say that if you're new and want to get into serious game programming, you should actually make several simple little classic games, in increasing complexity, before you take on a real project that you really want to make something serious out of.

I did that myself, I started with C++ and the Irrlicht engine, simply because it is extremely easy to work with as a 3D graphics/game engine, although there are also other good choices out there.

If you stubbornly stick with it long enough, you can then "graduate" onto something big like UFO: AI.