4 answers
collin
Student
Grundy Center, Iowa
2
Questions
Asked
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What language should i learn to start making video games
#game-design #computer-games #programming #design #computer
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4 answers
Darren Sandau
Tech consultant
2
Answers
Seattle, Washington
Updated
Darren’s Answer
Hello Collin,
This is a great question! If you're interested in learning coding I would suggest to start with the basics. I great language to start learning is Visual Basic. I suggest downloading Visual Studio and in that you can download different languages. Visual Basic is very simple to understand and can be powerful. As you learn one language it will make others easier.
Have a great day! If you have more questions please ask.
This is a great question! If you're interested in learning coding I would suggest to start with the basics. I great language to start learning is Visual Basic. I suggest downloading Visual Studio and in that you can download different languages. Visual Basic is very simple to understand and can be powerful. As you learn one language it will make others easier.
Have a great day! If you have more questions please ask.
Josh Barratt
Software Architect
20
Answers
Portland, Oregon
Updated
Josh’s Answer
It depends! Games are built in many languages.
A lot of it comes down to the platforms you're interested in working in.
* The average AAA game is still most likely to be written in C++, both on platforms like PC, or consoles, though many PC games also use C# or Java.
* These days there are many web-native games written in Javascript (or Typescript)
* iOS and Android games are probably most written in their most native languages (Objective C / Swift, or Java)
Learning a programming language for the first time can be hard. Starting with a language that works well for a platform you'd like to work in can be very helpful and motivating. The industry evolves quickly -- you should expect to learn plenty of languages as you go along, but every language you learn after the first is much easier. So I'd suggest focusing on a language that you can learn, and that you can use to make small games that you enjoy to start with!
A lot of it comes down to the platforms you're interested in working in.
* The average AAA game is still most likely to be written in C++, both on platforms like PC, or consoles, though many PC games also use C# or Java.
* These days there are many web-native games written in Javascript (or Typescript)
* iOS and Android games are probably most written in their most native languages (Objective C / Swift, or Java)
Learning a programming language for the first time can be hard. Starting with a language that works well for a platform you'd like to work in can be very helpful and motivating. The industry evolves quickly -- you should expect to learn plenty of languages as you go along, but every language you learn after the first is much easier. So I'd suggest focusing on a language that you can learn, and that you can use to make small games that you enjoy to start with!
Shubham Singh
Enginneer
11
Answers
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Updated
Shubham’s Answer
Hi Collin,
Ask yourself another question first… What is your target platform? - By this I mean, do you want to focus on mobile games, desktop games, cross platform games or web based games.
I would recommend C++ for both 2D or 3D, it’s a little harder to grasp at first but once you get started you’ll be on a roll and your body of works will make you someone that will be ready to hire, there are other languages you can learn but it all depends on the answer to the above question.
C++ is probably one of the wider used and most useful languages both inside and outside of game development.
Javascript is useful for making web based, mobile compatible and generally cross platform developments and is not too hard to learn, you’ll be able to release on virtually anything but depending on whether or not you want to target 2D or 3D developments you might notice a significant step in difficulty or issues with devices not supporting things unless you use a well supported 3D framework or html5 engine.
If you want the above with Javascript, look into the Phaser framework, it’s the most useful framework for developing html5 games with JS that I have come across yet, and it’s completely free. If that is the type of development you want to be doing then you’ll absoloutely love the Phaser framework.
C# is a popular choice almost solely because of Unity, there are very few engines that utilise C# for game programming but Unity also supports another language too.
There is another language that is pretty easy to get into, well supported and capable of 2D and 3D developments with a handful of frameworks and engines to choose from… Python.
Alternatively there is Lua with the LÓVE 2D framework.
LUA and Python have to be the easier languages to grasp, but if you want to develop a career not just dabble with game development, then I’d suggest looking into C++ as you’re more likely to get a job after you learn your stuff with C++ than the others, but it all depends on your longer term career goals as well as your personal goals!
Have a little read over the websites for things I’ve mentioned here and SFML which is a C++ framework with a handful of useful learning materials and books, or Unreal Engine 4, which also has an amazing set of resources and a budding community, capable of real 2d and 3d developments.
I hope that helps… Good luck!
Ask yourself another question first… What is your target platform? - By this I mean, do you want to focus on mobile games, desktop games, cross platform games or web based games.
I would recommend C++ for both 2D or 3D, it’s a little harder to grasp at first but once you get started you’ll be on a roll and your body of works will make you someone that will be ready to hire, there are other languages you can learn but it all depends on the answer to the above question.
C++ is probably one of the wider used and most useful languages both inside and outside of game development.
Javascript is useful for making web based, mobile compatible and generally cross platform developments and is not too hard to learn, you’ll be able to release on virtually anything but depending on whether or not you want to target 2D or 3D developments you might notice a significant step in difficulty or issues with devices not supporting things unless you use a well supported 3D framework or html5 engine.
If you want the above with Javascript, look into the Phaser framework, it’s the most useful framework for developing html5 games with JS that I have come across yet, and it’s completely free. If that is the type of development you want to be doing then you’ll absoloutely love the Phaser framework.
C# is a popular choice almost solely because of Unity, there are very few engines that utilise C# for game programming but Unity also supports another language too.
There is another language that is pretty easy to get into, well supported and capable of 2D and 3D developments with a handful of frameworks and engines to choose from… Python.
Alternatively there is Lua with the LÓVE 2D framework.
LUA and Python have to be the easier languages to grasp, but if you want to develop a career not just dabble with game development, then I’d suggest looking into C++ as you’re more likely to get a job after you learn your stuff with C++ than the others, but it all depends on your longer term career goals as well as your personal goals!
Have a little read over the websites for things I’ve mentioned here and SFML which is a C++ framework with a handful of useful learning materials and books, or Unreal Engine 4, which also has an amazing set of resources and a budding community, capable of real 2d and 3d developments.
I hope that helps… Good luck!
Vidhi Agrawal
Network Engineer
3
Answers
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Updated
Vidhi’s Answer
There are different roles that you can follow:
- Multimedia Artist/Animator - Here you will be animating. This is what you see!
There are different animation tools available
- Developer - BUILD THE LOGIC develop the game
Javascript, Java, HTML, c++
- Video Game Tester - Once a developer develops the game you will test the game against different test cases and check if everything is working as expected
C++, Java
- Customer Support Agent - This is where after deployment role, so once the game is deployed you will be supporting the customers if they face any issues
- Multimedia Artist/Animator - Here you will be animating. This is what you see!
There are different animation tools available
- Developer - BUILD THE LOGIC develop the game
Javascript, Java, HTML, c++
- Video Game Tester - Once a developer develops the game you will test the game against different test cases and check if everything is working as expected
C++, Java
- Customer Support Agent - This is where after deployment role, so once the game is deployed you will be supporting the customers if they face any issues