Re: [pygame] Introduction + call to join project for creating game frameworks

[Luke Paireepinart <rabidpoobear@xxxxxxxxx>]

Ian Mallett wrote:
> On 10/3/07, *Andre Roberge* <andre.roberge@xxxxxxxxx 
> <mailto:andre.roberge@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
>
>     I can't pretend to speak for Clare... but I think the idea is to
>     give the students a sense of accomplishment within a short time
>     frame.  Writing a game from scratch can be a daunting proposition
>     - something near impossible to have a bunch of budding programmers
>     do in a short time.    
>
>
> I remember starting Pygame like that :-)
>
>     However, having students start with a game skeleton, and letting
>     them use their creativity to "fill in the blank" could result in
>     something both doable in a reasonable time and fun to do.
>
>
>     I think Pygame is simple enough that if Clare is familiar with it, 
> she could easily teach them.  However, the benefits of a game shell 
> are numerous.  I don't know of such a thing though--game skeletons 
> tend to be specific to the game and not particularly adaptable to 
> various genres. 
I think that's why Clare was asking for multiple frameworks to cover 
each genre.
> My brother would like to learn programming in a similar way, though, 
> if possible...  Is there one?  I'm interested as well.
Sure, but to sufficiently abstract a game framework to where it can be 
used for multiple genres complicates it to the point where learning its 
nuances may be more time-consuming than just starting from scratch, I think.
But I'm sure there's a brilliant programmer out there somewhere who 
could make it work and have it make sense.

I think tutorials that start with very rigid frameworks of only a 
certain genre and then expand until you're hand-coding every facet of 
the game would be a fantastic way to learn game development.  Learn the 
interesting part, and then learn how to mold the parts that take longer 
to reflect results quickly to what you need, since you already know how 
the upper level of the framework works.
An ogre-like layer-by-layer approach. (Shrek reference, not the OGRE 
software)
>     As a teacher at heart, I fully support Clare's idea and wish I
>     could help in a timely fashion.  
>
>
> As do I.
I think I have enough time to be of at least a little bit of help, but 
Clare never replied to me.
Not sure why that is.  Perhaps my message was lost somewhere along the 
way.  (I replied off-list, which is why none of you got the message :) )
>     André 
>
>
>
> Ian 
-Luke