Thread: Good learning path?

  1. #1
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    Good learning path?

    So I'm really just a C++ console programmer, but recently I started wanting to learn about graphics and movement. As such, I thought it would be a good idea to do some game programming, to get a feeling of how the graphics move on the screen and all those things.

    I decided to try SDL yesterday, since it's probably a better idea to start in 2D and move to 3D later. I managed to build some blocks and move them around, and while it might have seemed a bit overwhelming at first, I'm now getting the hang of it.

    I was thinking of making some simple games like tetris or breakout with SDL, and afterwards move to OpenGL, try to port these games myself and move on to more complex games.

    My question is, is this a good learning path (to eventually reach OpenGL and 3D programming)?

    Thanks in advance

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    Sounds good!

    Just make sure you are having fun along the way.

  3. #3
    spurious conceit MK27's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Litz View Post
    My question is, is this a good learning path (to eventually reach OpenGL and 3D programming)?
    You can do 2D stuff in openGL (and it is much simpler than 3D); in fact the first tutorial you do will be in 2D. 3D is like lesson #6 or something. The problem is, most openGL resources are in C.

    I learned 2D then 3D OGL and soon I'm gonna move on to SDL, which AFAICT uses OGL for 3D. The problem is, most SDL resources are in C++, so I will have to learn C++...

    I don't really dig games, tho. I wanna write some point & shoot home accounting programs, with my own soundtrack ;|
    C programming resources:
    GNU C Function and Macro Index -- glibc reference manual
    The C Book -- nice online learner guide
    Current ISO draft standard
    CCAN -- new CPAN like open source library repository
    3 (different) GNU debugger tutorials: #1 -- #2 -- #3
    cpwiki -- our wiki on sourceforge

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    That C part kinda draws me back.. I don't really know C (and I'm not really interested in learning it just for OpenGL). Is DirectX more C++ oriented? I could always just learn that instead of OpenGL since I use Windows anyways.

  5. #5
    spurious conceit MK27's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Litz View Post
    That C part kinda draws me back.. I don't really know C (and I'm not really interested in learning it just for OpenGL). Is DirectX more C++ oriented? I could always just learn that instead of OpenGL since I use Windows anyways.
    Hmmm...well I'd wager if you want to make it to the level where you are working on modern 3D games, you might as well get comfortable with BOTH.

    So it's now, or later. But I see your point; it could be later like "tomorrow" or later like "next year", that probably doesn't matter. There are C++ bindings available for openGL, and I'm sure it's common to code that way. You should have a poke around "the official" OGL forum:

    http://www.opengl.org/discussion_boards/
    Last edited by MK27; 06-02-2009 at 03:34 PM.
    C programming resources:
    GNU C Function and Macro Index -- glibc reference manual
    The C Book -- nice online learner guide
    Current ISO draft standard
    CCAN -- new CPAN like open source library repository
    3 (different) GNU debugger tutorials: #1 -- #2 -- #3
    cpwiki -- our wiki on sourceforge

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