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Re: [pygame] Re: game design techniques



>> Josh, I'd hold off on the Game Gems for now, they mainly cover
>> more advanced topics, and it sounds like you're still just
>> beginning. The books won't help you with the original questions.

I'll second that. The Game Programming Gems books are more tips and techniques for those who already know the basics (or even far more than the basics). A lot of the tips are quite specialized.

> What about game programming in python? Would this be good? Or would
> it be reinventing the wheel, since I think that's probably what
> pygame is doing.

Pygame is Python friendly interface and extension to SDL. Think of Pygame as a service provider and translator that talks to a bunch of specialists (SDL). You ask Pygame to draw something on the screen and Pygame asks the specialists to do it using their own dialect.

Game Programming in Python adds another layer on top of Pygame and OpenGL. It teaches about the very things you've been asking about such as organizing code into systems, collision detection (with interpolated checking), and more. It's a good book that teaches some of the modern concepts of game design like treating the system as a simulation.

> I suppose I just have to look through a lot of source code to get a
> good start, then ask more specific questions when they arise.

Reading code is something that can help you learn quickly. There are lots of Pygame games and gamelets that provide full source so you can learn how the author does things. Just keep in mind that there are *many* ways to create program structure and you'll see lots of good ways, and lots of bad ways. Eventually you'll learn to discern the good from the bad but it takes time.

Many people learn faster if they just try something and then build on it. I've learned so much writing my game over the past year that it has been re-written three times so far. As it got bigger I would find flaws and large obstacles so I took what I had learned and started over. It's finally at a point where I'm comfortable with the system and it's modular enough that any re-writes or changes will be isolated to specific systems.

There are also many online resources that have tutorials or forums. At the very least check out:
http://www.gamedev.net/reference/
http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/

That should keep you busy for awhile. :)

-Pat
www.gamesinmind.com