Forum :: Programming :: What libraries to use?

Hello, I finished watching TheNewBoston's C++ Programming Tutorial Videos some time ago.
After that I was like, what to do next? Well, I knew but what I meant was, as I wanna become a Game Developer, which libraries should I use?
I know there's many, but which ones do you recommend, and why?

XNA because it's based on a ridiculously friendly language (C#) so if you know a fair amount of C++ you'll easily pick up C# for sure. The main drawback with it though as DeathX found out with his ESEOClient is that it's apparently very easily decompiled, which forces you to obfuscate the source code before you release it to make it more difficult to reverse engineer. I'm going slightly on a tangent here so to bring it back; XNA has a lot of very good tutorials and starter material for those just getting into games programming :) If you're heading down the C++ route, Allegro is the way forward on that but ofc I don't really know C++ so I won't be much help upon that one. Hope that somewhat helps you.

Dan

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If money doesn't grow on trees, then why do banks have branches?

is c++ easy to learn? 

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Insomniac:I like how in the lounges forum description sausage says "Bitches go crazy." and that's
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Moonie posted: (28th Mar 2013, 12:03 pm)

is c++ easy to learn? 

No. Well, it all really depends on your education. If you're good at problem solving and math it should come easy to you.

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I forgot what I was going to write...

DanScott posted: (28th Mar 2013, 11:56 am)

XNA because it's based on a ridiculously friendly language (C#) so if you know a fair amount of C++ you'll easily pick up C# for sure. The main drawback with it though as DeathX found out with his ESEOClient is that it's apparently very easily decompiled, which forces you to obfuscate the source code before you release it to make it more difficult to reverse engineer. I'm going slightly on a tangent here so to bring it back; XNA has a lot of very good tutorials and starter material for those just getting into games programming :) If you're heading down the C++ route, Allegro is the way forward on that but ofc I don't really know C++ so I won't be much help upon that one. Hope that somewhat helps you.

Dan

I was actually saying to myself not XNA, because I'd rather go with C++, because actually the fact that you mentioned, it's easily decompiled. I've decompiled various games made in C#, such as Terraria, Al War, Sol Survivor etc...
So I was not going to go with C# before I posted this thread, should of mentioned though. I work in C++.

But thanks for your post anyway :)

Jimbo posted: (28th Mar 2013, 02:54 pm)

Moonie posted: (28th Mar 2013, 12:03 pm)

is c++ easy to learn? 

No. Well, it all really depends on your education. If you're good at problem solving and math it should come easy to you.

ok so i prob couldnt learn it i failed math x_x xD

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Insomniac:I like how in the lounges forum description sausage says "Bitches go crazy." and that's
exactly what you do!
Pixel artist | Mapping artist | Alternative artist | Heavenly Karma | oldbie | top 50  |
Attention whore | main player |

Moonie posted: (28th Mar 2013, 12:03 pm)

is c++ easy to learn? 

C++ Is pretty difficult in my opinion, it's like learning a new foreign language like french or german, you have to know in what order to do things. General programming concepts are quite easy to pick up like if you were to go for a language such as pascal that lines out programming procedures and functions very nicely and also the flow of programs within code without complicating things too much with multi-threading (Pascal was my first programming language) but to actually be able to program well and efficiently you do need good maths skills, as the simpler the algorithm you use to handle data, the more efficient and lightweight your application is going to be :) but if you just want to see what programming is all about, I wouldn't say you need good maths skills on an entry level

JuliePK posted: (28th Mar 2013, 03:35 pm)

DanScott posted: (28th Mar 2013, 11:56 am)

XNA because it's based on a ridiculously friendly language (C#) so if you know a fair amount of C++ you'll easily pick up C# for sure. The main drawback with it though as DeathX found out with his ESEOClient is that it's apparently very easily decompiled, which forces you to obfuscate the source code before you release it to make it more difficult to reverse engineer. I'm going slightly on a tangent here so to bring it back; XNA has a lot of very good tutorials and starter material for those just getting into games programming :) If you're heading down the C++ route, Allegro is the way forward on that but ofc I don't really know C++ so I won't be much help upon that one. Hope that somewhat helps you.

Dan

I was actually saying to myself not XNA, because I'd rather go with C++, because actually the fact that you mentioned, it's easily decompiled. I've decompiled various games made in C#, such as Terraria, Al War, Sol Survivor etc...
So I was not going to go with C# before I posted this thread, should of mentioned though. I work in C++.

But thanks for your post anyway :)

yeah that's the main thing that really sucks about C# which C++ handles incredibly well, C++ outputs the executable to raw assembly code if I remember correctly, I'm sure someone will correct me very soon if I'm wrong on that, so even if you did decompile the code, you'd get an awful lot of assembly code which of course isn't an easily decipherable language. Which is why no one has really succeeded in decompiling the EO Client and for that very reason, it does actually make me really want to learn C++ if I had the time :P. I know Hotodog uses DirectX with his EODev++ project so maybe DirectX would be something to look at? 

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If money doesn't grow on trees, then why do banks have branches?

allegro 5 simples

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I am an alien and not crazy!

I suggest learning the directX framework or OpenGL. They are both very powerful graphics API's and is pretty much the standard for game making with c++. Sure you can try other API's such as allegro or even dare I say SDL but they tend to have porting issues when it comes to deployment on other kernels. This is just advice for 2D development. For 3D development I'd program with game engines such as UDK or CryEngine purely because building a 3D engine from scratch takes a fuckton of effort and are only usually comprised of teams of 20+ people. Although if you're persistent enough I'd suggest learning D3D(directX) but they are for the programmers who want to try "new" rendering approaches and to further push the boundaries of known 3D rendering techniques. Which I love to dabble in from time to time. 

All this horse shit about having a strong logic built mind for programming and a good math background is ludicrous. If you try hard enough you will pick up programming with c++, all it takes like anything is persistence and dedication. For most programmers they pick up the strong mathematical mindset along the way. :)

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Hmm.