   Did I start right?
  I'm a sophomore in high school and am taking a game development course. I tried out some tutorials (and made some small platform games that have 3-5 short levels) and I'm not sure I started right. I know next to nothing about coding (besides HTML if that counts) and I'm having trouble finding a tutorial to give me an idea.Also, I've been using game maker.   
  Wow, your school has game development classes? Thats awesome! I wish my highschool had that. We have computer science classes but nothing specificaly in realm of game design. Does the classes use Gamer Maker? Or do you code in a specific language? I'm pretty sure it's a common belief here that game maker is not the best tool to work with, because most people on here aspire(if not already are) to make games for a living. If that is your goal or atleast you want to make really indepth games at one point you should start learning a game language like C++ or Java. I'm learning C++ right now, I'm too far yet but so far (with the exception of pointers) its pretty easy to understand. I hope this helps, I'm might be wrong but I think thats how many people feel.   ;Quote:Original post by CarlosNYMWow, your school has game development classes? Thats awesome! I wish my highschool had that. We have computer science classes but nothing specificaly in realm of game design. Does the classes use Gamer Maker? Or do you code in a specific language? I'm pretty sure it's a common belief here that game maker is not the best tool to work with, because most people on here aspire(if not already are) to make games for a living. If that is your goal or atleast you want to make really indepth games at one point you should start learning a game language like C++ or Java. I'm learning C++ right now, I'm too far yet but so far (with the exception of pointers) its pretty easy to understand. I hope this helps, I'm might be wrong but I think thats how many people feel.We use game maker.I actually did print a few pages on C++ ( how to show text, leave comments, etc.) but I'm worried if I skip a step I'll regret it much later.   ;  Wow, that really just blows my mind that you acctually have a class like that. LOL.Well, there are some good tutorials out there, and many good books. I just go through it slowly, it will take some time and if your confused just come back here and ask questions. Game Makers good for a while but you wont see the next Half-Life game being made on Game Maker. However if you just wanna do this as a hobby then, go ahead and just use Gamer Maker. Personally, I might want to programming as a career so I'm going to need to learn the language.   ;Quote:Original post by CarlosNYMWow, that really just blows my mind that you acctually have a class like that. LOL.Well, there are some good tutorials out there, and many good books. I just go through it slowly, it will take some time and if your confused just come back here and ask questions. Game Makers good for a while but you wont see the next Half-Life game being made on Game Maker. However if you just wanna do this as a hobby then, go ahead and just use Gamer Maker. Personally, I might want to programming as a career so I'm going to need to learn the language.LOL, anyways, I actually tried searching "Learning C++" on google and found http://www.cprogramming.comI'll start there and see if I enjoy it.   ;  I would recommend against starting with C++, all the language "gotchas" and other nonsense(like the preprocessor) just get in the way. Python with the pygame API or C# with either SDL.Net, SlimDX or XNA would make it easier to "get stuff on the screen".Also lets have non of that "but the pros use C++" argument, he's not a pro and as I've said many times, you can't tell what language a game is made in(it doesn't matter).   ;  I've never used it, but I think Game Maker is perfectly acceptable to start with - it probably gives you some insight in what a game consists of, you get a little familiar with the workflow involved, and you get results pretty fast, which is encouraging. I've created levels for Half-Life for about 6 years, and while it hasn't helped me much with programming, it did gave me a lot of insight in how games can be structured and how various parts can interact with each other.It's probably not very flexible, so for larger or more complex games, you'll want to get your hands dirty with some heavier programming, but even then, a high-level scripting language is often a good choice: people have made fun games with Python and ActionScript, for example. There's no need to use a complex language such as C++ (or, to a lesser extend, Java). These languages take much more development time and in this case, will probably give you little in return: the additional performance gain you may get out of them is likely to be insignificant. C++ has a big name, but that alone isn't a good reason to pick it. ;)EDIT: To clarify, a good programmer knows multiple languages, and knows which is most suitable for the given job.   ;  I didn't say that C++ is the best, I was just saying that the next new game on the market wont be created with C++. I'm trying it out personally just to see how its like. I did say if he does plan on working in the field than Game Maker will work out fine.However if you do decide to continue I like this tutorial a lot more than the one you are about to start.http://newdata.box.sk/bx/c/index.htm   ;  Thanks everyone. Even if game maker didn't really help me in any way, I'd probably still be doing it. Its a great feeling when you have a problem and fix it. Its like building a virtual house.Once again, thanks.   ;  I think learning C++ is a good way to go. It's not exactly the easiest language to start with, but once you have an idea of how it all works it makes picking up any other languages much easier.I'm not saying C++ is the best language out there, it's just a tool, but it's a tool that's well suited for writing games. Every game development studio that I've worked for uses C++ (and assembly) for their game engines and things like python/lua as scripting languages.   