Beginning C++ with games
Hi, im just wondering where i should start learning how to make games using SFML/SDL and c++
i found a book
beginning c++ game programming (john horton), it looks promising but it has 0 reviews on amazon so i dont know how it is, im currently reading the Michael Dawson book but its a little bit boring so i was hoping to get into something fun soon
any tutorials you know of or books?
thanks
i found a book
beginning c++ game programming (john horton), it looks promising but it has 0 reviews on amazon so i dont know how it is, im currently reading the Michael Dawson book but its a little bit boring so i was hoping to get into something fun soon
any tutorials you know of or books?
thanks
Learning to program and make games properly is boring because the language has a lot of rules you have to become accustom too. Finish Dawson's book and then take a look at this site ( http://www.gamefromscratch.com/ ).
You could also invest money into getting the SFML Collection of books:
SFML Essentials
SFML Blueprints
SFML Game Development By Example
Procedural Content Generation for C++ Game Development
Dawson's book will teach you the C++ language, but you may have to invest in either C++ Primer (not to be confused with C++ Primer Plus) or The C++ Programming Language as reference books (make sure they are the newest ones that cover C++11 and 14).
SFML Essentials cover getting familiar with SFML and create working programs that you can modify to your needs according to projects.
SFML Blueprints teaches SFML, but teaches you to build Asteroid, Tetris, Gravitris, and Tower Defense.
SFML Game Development By Example has you build Snake, a side scroller, and a simple online RPG-style game.
Procedural Content Generation for C++ Game Development is just a nice addition to round out your game programming skills.
Of course you can also go to the SFML official site http://www.sfml-dev.org/ where it has basic tutorials on how to use it and even has a community forum where you can ask questions. Not to mention you can ask questions here too as some have experience with SFML and most are veteran C++ programmers.
You could also invest money into getting the SFML Collection of books:
SFML Essentials
SFML Blueprints
SFML Game Development By Example
Procedural Content Generation for C++ Game Development
Dawson's book will teach you the C++ language, but you may have to invest in either C++ Primer (not to be confused with C++ Primer Plus) or The C++ Programming Language as reference books (make sure they are the newest ones that cover C++11 and 14).
SFML Essentials cover getting familiar with SFML and create working programs that you can modify to your needs according to projects.
SFML Blueprints teaches SFML, but teaches you to build Asteroid, Tetris, Gravitris, and Tower Defense.
SFML Game Development By Example has you build Snake, a side scroller, and a simple online RPG-style game.
Procedural Content Generation for C++ Game Development is just a nice addition to round out your game programming skills.
Of course you can also go to the SFML official site http://www.sfml-dev.org/ where it has basic tutorials on how to use it and even has a community forum where you can ask questions. Not to mention you can ask questions here too as some have experience with SFML and most are veteran C++ programmers.
Can't believe you are leaving out the gold standard for SFML books https://www.amazon.com/SFML-Game-Development-Jan-Haller/dp/1849696845 ;p. Seriously best SFML book out there. Just thought I would add it to BHX's list.
Also for a more "advanced" game programming book I would recommend checking out "Game Coding Complete 4th Edition". Goes in depth into a few subjects and designs that are common in the game industry that other books tend to skip over.
I also really like that it puts a lot of effort into explaining how all the different systems of a game come together, a lot of books will go into detail about each subsystem of a game (Graphics, AI, Audio, Entity Management, Resource Management, Physics, etc.) but very rarely teach you how to put them all together in a way that is easy to use and maintain.
Pretty much everything that they go over in that book can be used inside an SFML project, just requires you to be somewhat familiar with the SFML framework.
https://www.amazon.com/Game-Coding-Complete-Fourth-McShaffry/dp/1133776574
Also for a more "advanced" game programming book I would recommend checking out "Game Coding Complete 4th Edition". Goes in depth into a few subjects and designs that are common in the game industry that other books tend to skip over.
I also really like that it puts a lot of effort into explaining how all the different systems of a game come together, a lot of books will go into detail about each subsystem of a game (Graphics, AI, Audio, Entity Management, Resource Management, Physics, etc.) but very rarely teach you how to put them all together in a way that is easy to use and maintain.
Pretty much everything that they go over in that book can be used inside an SFML project, just requires you to be somewhat familiar with the SFML framework.
https://www.amazon.com/Game-Coding-Complete-Fourth-McShaffry/dp/1133776574
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| Can't believe you are leaving out the gold standard for SFML books https://www.amazon.com/SFML-Game-Development-Jan-Haller/dp/1849696845 ;p. Seriously best SFML book out there. Just thought I would add it to BHX's list. |
Oops! Forgot about that one, it was further down on my Kindle book list by the SDL Game Development book. I own them all and even Game Coding Complete. I hesitated to list advanced topic books since he was just starting out, but glad you went ahead as that is a great source of information.
So should i just finish the Dawson book then begin reading SFML-Game-Development? currently the dawson book is a bit boring and some concepts are hard to grasp but ill keep trying
I would find an engine you like first and then pursuing the languages it uses that way you have a bit more of a mindset of what resources come to light
Yes, that is the advice I gave you in my first post. It will help you understand the C++ Language while the others will help you get into and understand graphical game programming (as opposed to terminal/command prompt game programming) using SFML. Each of the SFML books have you build actual games so you are reinforcing what you learn in Dawson's book and learning SFML and getting working examples to help build your confidence. Then the techniques in Game Coding Complete, as Zereo pointed out, can be applied to SFML once you have a solid grasp on the framework.
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