   Creating a Vertical Scrolling Shooter
  I have recently begun an interest in programing. At the moment im learning C and i have been toying with an idea with a vertical scrolling shooter. I have looked at numerous tutorials and source code but cannot find what some of the basic things i need to create one.Im doing this just so that i can learn. I want to do a game that is like the old NES game 1942. You will have the ability to use different kinds of planes that have there own attributes and special weapons. At the end of each level there will be a big boss you would have to defeat. These are only the basic details i have written out more on paper.If someone could point me to some source code or a tutorial that would be greatly appreciated.   
  As long as you are comfortable with C/C++, that's a start. And then you must learn and be comfortable with some sort of graphics library.For this kind of game, I would recommend SDL. You can get it at LibSDL.org. Then, play with that quite a bit, get used to it, write a couple simple demos with it. That way you can get more comfortable with the library.Then, you can go to Cone3D for more tutorials, even when you start learning SDL. He also has a tutorial for a simple scrolling shooter. It's a horizontal scrolling environment, but I'm sure you could convert it to vertical.Just make sure you're comfortable with C/C++ and the graphics library you use. Others may have other recommendations, but this is just my opinion. =)   ;  Heres a tip from someone in the middle of a vertical shooter - there're a lot more complicated than it first looks [grin]. The core bits are:- Different player ships, with different weapons and different behaviours- Lots of different bullet types, shapes and movement styles- Lots of different enemy types, attack formations, attack weapons- Bonus items, when they're dropped and what they affect- Level sequencing, timing, difficulty balancingIndividually they're not too bad, but trying to get something where they all hang together nicely is the tricky bit. You're not realistically going to be able to come up with some grand all-encompassing design that works from the outset - start with some kind of simple framework and just go with it. By the time you've made a few mistakes (I know I did) you'll have a much better idea of which bits are overly simple and which bits need something a little more thought out. Trying to do something that's all-singing all-dancing from the offset is just going to make things big complicated and ugly.Pick yourself something simple(ish) to start with and just aim for that - say, one player ship and one type of enemy, both of which can shoot each other. Figure out all the little details you'll need (like: draw objects to screen, accept user input, detect collisions between objects) and look for specific methods for dealing with each in turn.Good luck. [grin]   ;  Ok thanks for the help. I will probably just code it in bits so that i can get used to useing  SDL. I was planing from the start to just work in sections, like get a main screen with buttons, then go on to initalizing the player and bullets and then move from there.   