paulscott In reply to EjLowell [2012-05-16 05:17:47 +0000 UTC]

Don't need to thank me. I really just go around faving stuff to track artists for when I get bored later.

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EjLowell In reply to paulscott [2012-05-17 04:52:57 +0000 UTC]

Well thank you for being bored then.

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paulscott In reply to Dnxviral [2010-11-10 21:33:47 +0000 UTC]

I'm way to busy to do much of anything. I have around 60 to 80 hours of classes+homework a week.

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Dnxviral In reply to paulscott [2010-11-10 21:50:07 +0000 UTC]

aww its ok. good luck with school then ;D

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paulscott In reply to feather-tail [2009-12-07 04:10:02 +0000 UTC]

I'm using Java. I'm working on two new projects.

The first one is with a team. Which has some mildly over serious NDAs.

The second one is a new 2D platformer(for myself) that was originally for a 48 hour challenge, but I wasn't fast enough(was fast enough to make a mario game though if I wanted to go all the way through). Going to be a megaman like platformer(physics) with gravity warping mechanics.

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feather-tail In reply to paulscott [2009-12-07 05:17:14 +0000 UTC]

Hm, interesting. ^.^ Is Java good for writing games in, do you think? I mostly hear about C++, pyGame and XNA.

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paulscott In reply to feather-tail [2009-12-07 15:24:43 +0000 UTC]

No it's not the best programming language to write games in. However it can be very programmer friendly, especially in teams if you let it.

Another "truth" of the matter is that unless you have a full professional team spending 40+ hours a week. You probably won't hit the "limit" of your programming language, just hit the "limit" of how well you write code.

When using Java for games people "rarely" mean that they're using pure Java. Especially when using 3rd party libraries to make things like graphics/sound easier. Often times people will use nifty language linking features to take the hardware level stuff Java is bad at and use something more suitable.

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feather-tail In reply to paulscott [2009-12-07 16:50:52 +0000 UTC]

Interesting! Yes, Java's a bit too abstract to have as much power on the hardware level, but it probably does make coding a bit easier than in C++. ^.^

How do its libraries compare with XNA? The open-source ones I mean; I know Jagex has some nice toys that they're probably not sharing. (Runescape is win though!)

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paulscott In reply to feather-tail [2009-12-07 17:45:52 +0000 UTC]

JMonkey(never used, video shows professional work towards end) [link]

I'll be using Slick [link] or Pulpcore [link] for my solo game. Right now I'm using the default Java2D stuff, but switching over to something else won't be hard with how I'm managing rendering/timing.

For the team game probably using Java3D in later projects

While not related this is an amazingly good programmer working on a 48 hour challenge [link] (Basically the WOW programmers like that do exist level)
_____

There are lots of other libraries. The most interesting part is that they are quite a bit more consistent with documentation, use, and similar than what you would find in other languages. Part of it is how Java is set up, another part is how you're trained to write Java.

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feather-tail In reply to paulscott [2009-12-08 08:52:08 +0000 UTC]

That last video is serious wow. o.o I think the only impressive programming feat I can think of that compares is this one: [link] Supposedly the guy was a professional animator who learned programming and wrote the whole thing in 8 months, in XNA. And then won some contest for it. (Of course, it only runs on Windows and XBox 360 ... )

The impression I get is that Java's pretty powerful compared to most other languages, but it has so many libraries that it takes a while to really grasp what's going on and what tools you have ... of course, I'm mostly just trying to learn PHP / WordPress, so your mileage may vary. >.>b And Java has an edge on XNA in that it's open-source and compatible. How hard is it to learn, though?

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paulscott In reply to feather-tail [2009-12-08 14:46:31 +0000 UTC]

It's pretty close to C#, C# basing quite a few things about itself on Java.

Basically it's a long ways from being the hardest and a longer ways from being the easiest. Although if you want to use it for games it becomes a bit more difficult. I wouldn't recommend trying any other langauge till you're comfortable with PHP, since it's your first.

________
8 Months from animator to making a really good 2D game is pretty darn amazing. I've been slowly learning since I was 16(now 21), and I'm probably not as strong of a programmer as I "should" be.

The last video is basically someone that's like those people who have been playing the violin since they were 5.

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feather-tail In reply to paulscott [2009-12-09 19:05:30 +0000 UTC]

My first was actually BASIC. I teethed on 80's computers. ~.^

And the answer to "How good of a programmer should I be?" is never "As good as (X programmer here)." It's always just "Better!" Any other approach = madness.

There need to be more game libraries for Javascript ...

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