Talk:Game programming
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[edit] Game programming content
Why was a big section of the game programming content cut-n-pasted to game development? Info about game programming should stay here. Game development, if the article must exist, should be on the much broader scope of game development (and I'd venture not just videogame development). --Mrwojo 01:50, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)
- Yes, I just asked Slike the same question on his talk page. He may pop over here and soon and discuss this issue. I feel the content should stay here too. In short, it talks about game development from the programmer's perspective. It doesn't talk about the other developers' roles at all. An article that discussed everyone's roles would be way too long, so shold be discussed in seperate articles (see The video and computer game design process, for example). — Frecklefoot | Talk 02:28, Dec 24, 2004 (UTC)
[edit] C++ not standardized?
The C++ language has been standardized for a number of years now, and even comes with it's own standard libraries (like the STL). --JamesRB 11:08, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- Not every platform's compilers fully support the full C++ standard--that's what that comment meant. I couldn't figure out how to say that without getting too wordy for the table. Do you have an idea? :-) — Frecklefoot | Talk 16:39, Mar 22, 2005 (UTC)
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- Honestly, I think that's a fairly old argument at this point. It may have been valid as a language 'con' at some point, but not today. I'm regularly writing code for four different platforms at the same time in my current job, and other than minor language differences, it's fairly easy to write portable code nowadays. I'd replace it with something like "can be a complex, difficult language to master" or something like that. In all honesty, I think that's the only thing C++ has going against it at this point. Other than a few holdouts, it's the universal standard for the game industry.
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- Oh, but if you still wanted to just revise the original con, I would replace it with "compiler compliance to language standard can vary" or something like that. It's just that the original text implies there is no standard. JamesRB 20:08, 31 Mar 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Suggestions for Additions
This article seems to have a very broad scope that barely scratches the surface of the topic. This is obviously a good thing since dozens of entire books go into further detail, but perhaps some links to more in-depth subtopics ought to be included. Some possibilities include: scene graphs, resource management, collision detection, curves and splines, matrices and quaternions (could be extended quite a bit to include object/world/projection transformations, linear algebra, etc), finite state machines, lots more AI, meshes, mipmapping (and other texturing techniques), heightmaps, and so on. In addition some of the production topics might be more appropriate in a topic of larger scope such as Game development. I'd be happy to contribute what I can but just figured I'd check for feedback before messing up someone else's hard work. --ChuckChapman 17:35, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC)
- While all of those topics are related to game programming, I think they are far beyond this article's scope. I'm almost certain there is a wikibook on game programming where these topics might be more appropriately covered. But if you really want to include them in this article, how would you work them in? I can see mentioning them as necessary disciplines or techniques, but how could you cover them to any extent in a single article? If you could describe your approach, I'd be happy to give more feedback.
- However, I would like to see game programming during the late '70s and '80s covered in more detail for historical sake. It was less complex and lucrative back then. This is a job for me, I guess, since I started the whole mess to begin with. :-S — Frecklefoot | Talk 20:49, Apr 12, 2005 (UTC)
- Topics such as linear algebra, quaternions, finite state machines, etc. not only have uses outside of game programming, but there already exist Wikipedia articles on these topics. You could just briefly go over the topics here and how they fit in with game programming, and link to the relevant articles for a more detailed explanation of the topics. It would be best to check if an article for each topic already exists, and link to it if it does, and perhaps write one if it does not. Ae-a 23:36, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC)
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- A brief description of their relationship to game programming and a link is indeed what I meant to suggest. I apologize if this was not clear. Just as the article for photography has under "See Also" a bulleted list of photographic techniques, I think it might be useful to list and link game programming techniques in this article. ChuckChapman 22:08, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Game loop
First of all great article, I've lurked over here from the game programmer article! One bit of feedback I have is the "gameloop" section could possibly use fleshing out a little. Could explain how this is the basic logic, but then the overall framework of a game typically consists of modules and gamestates, and the roll OOP actually plays in enabling this kind of system. Maybe it's a bit in depth, but I feel it'd give a nice insight that wouldn't be _too_ lengthy into the kind of project scales for modern games. What do ya think? :) Davedx
- Glad someone likes the article! I wrote the original version, but of course its had several edits by other users since then (I wrote the game programmer article too). On your proposed edits, I intentionally didn't go too in-depth, because this isn't really a "how to" article or an article on OOP (which I favor). Games can be written in many languages, such as C and assembly which aren't OO. Plus, I think we'd like most articles to be digested by the layman (though this is sometimes impossible for highly complex subjects). Lastly, someone did go in depth into a game loop discussion before, but it was swiftly reverted, because it was POV. If you want, you can post your proposed edits here first for some peer review. But since this is a wiki, you can just make the edits to the main article outright. Just don't be upset if someone heavily modifies your additions. :-) Peace. — Frecklefoot | Talk 18:54, May 25, 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Why removed Actionscript??
It is more of a language suited for game programming than some of the other ones mentioned here on this page! And since AS2.0 but at least with the upcoming AS3.0 it is alot more powerful that nobody can complain! Very disappointing to see such info getting just removed from one day to the other!
[edit] Video Game Programming
I'm going to be a freshman at college and I'm not sure about my major in Computer Engineering. I'm hoping to become a video game programmer and don't know if a BS on Computer Engineering would be the best choice for me if I do pursue that career.
I've heard that people with Computer Science degrees have better chances at programming games, but if I do decide to major in Computer Engineering, would I still be on the same boat as the people with CS degrees?
- It depends. If the Computer Engineering degree focusses on computer hardware, it'll have little applicability to game programming (it'll be somewhat applicable, since it will probably involve some assembly, which is useful for some console stuff). If it focusses on programming just as much as the CS degree, it'll be just as applicable.
- Whatever you do, don't--DON'T--get a "game programming" degree. If I had two candidates, all other things being equal, and one had a game programming degree and another had a CS (or Software Engineering) degree, I'd always choose the one with the CS/SE degree. — Frecklefoot | Talk 15:27, 12 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Merge with Error level
From what I saw of the article (one sentence!), it is a dictionary definition, not really worthy of an article at all. If it needs to be merged with something, why not merge into Level design instead? — Frecklefoot | Talk 14:50, 9 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] E3 Demo?
I was just reading this article, and read to the part concerning the importance of the E3 demo. However, it is known that the structure of E3 is going to change drastically, while it would still exist in some form. How should we approach this? --Pifactor
- Well, since it is an ongoing event, I think we should wait until the next E3 to see how things pan out. I'll take a look at the section and see what I can do to may it currently relevant until then.
- Please sign your posts. You can do this with either 3 ro 4 tildes (~~~ or ~~~~). The latter is preferred since it also adds a timestamp. :-) — Frecklefoot | Talk 14:03, 11 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Unix/C?
In fact, the Unix operating system and the C programming language exist because the original programmers wanted to play games.
Excuse me? Games cannot be developed using another languages and OSes? --Yonkie 09:20, 3 November 2006 (UTC)
- Of course they can, but the point is, for these two technologies, they weren't. Both Unix and C were originally developed so the developers could play games:
- Unix was developed so the programmer could play a space travelling game
- C was developed so the programmers could write the operating system for an unused computer in their office. They needed an OS so they could write an Asteroids-like game.
- Computer games can be written in a myriad of language for any number of operating systems. But the point is, both these technologies were developed because of the developer's desire to play games, no loftier goal than that. — Frecklefoot | Talk 15:34, 6 November 2006 (UTC)
"In fact, the Unix operating system and the C programming language exist because the original programmers wanted to play games."
lol? definitely needs citation here.. Pulseczar 03:15, 21 December 2006 (UTC)
- It's fairly well documented, but I agree a citation would help here. — Frecklefoot | Talk 17:34, 26 December 2006 (UTC)
