Topic: Programming lessons suggestions

I've always wanted to learn how to program video games, but my last teacher said he was gonna teach me, and he just referred me to a series of video tutorials that already required 30 years in programming experience to watch them, and the app Petit Computer made no sense either so I'm racking my brain for ideas, but I can't think of anything that could teach me how to create programs.

Have you tried learning how developing programs works at all before jumping head-first into video game development?

Petit Computer is what you could call a simplified version of basic which, as you can tell, is already pretty basic. If you couldn't make up heads or tails of that... I'd recommend going back to learning the basics of programming.

That probably implicates reading a lot.

I'd also recommend you to give Petit Computer another chance. Stop trying to make a game and learn to use it by making small text-based programs, then go up from there. It's a powerful learning tool and you will probably have fun with it along the way.

I'll have to ask my teacher he is good at programming I've seen him do it this time I'll explain my issue.

@NightmareXIV: What experience (if any) in programming do you already have?

In my opinion, trying to learn game programming at the same time as learning programming at all is a bad way to go about things. You really need to basics down before you get stuck into video games.

This is for several reasons: video game programming (or other programs that require user input) is quite a bit more complicated than other types of software, due to requiring the use of loops and game states, interfacing with various input, sound and video devices, and requiring more advanced logic than other types of programs.

My advice would be to lay down a solid foundation of simpler programs first. This will teach you good programming practices (guarding against bugs, ensuring you can program logical statements appropriately) and the like. Picking a language like C or C++ will allow you to use a wide variety of game libraries later down the track.

Find some good tutorials on your chosen language, learn the features of the language so you're comfortable with it, and then launch into games since they require a whole new layer of knowledge. Learning both at once is a fast way to confuse yourself and sap enthusiasm due to the high complexity.

I can give you some pointers for C++ if you want them, as I've done a very small amount of C++ games programming, and I'm sure there are others here who can help you with other languages.

As a professional programmer i agree totally with @Wheels2050... you have to learn how to walk before you can run. My advice is to start with C (or PHP) and get to grips with the basic concepts of programming. The first steps are not easy and it soon becomes even harder so it does require stamina and a lot of effort.

I'm no expert when it comes to this stuff, but Petit Computer's SmileBasic can be very confusing as the game lacks a tutorial. Once you learn (Say, C++) and look back at it, you'll see that almost all the coding is similar (albeit some have a Smile twist on them, but they still appear almost identical).
For learning, there are countless Youtube videos out there, and if you have the time, Petit Computer posted an extensive walkthrough of SmileBasic (in Japanese, just use google translate into a word document).

So there is no best place to learn coding, as the language is very similar in most places, so whatever you feel the most comfortable with is a good place to start.

There is no easy way to learn to program. You need to spend time reading so that you understand the basic ideas, then spend time creating a very simple program (not something complicated like a game) to test those ideas one at a time.

Check these links (grabbed from a quick google search) to start:

• http://www.3dsbuzz.com/threads/petitcomputer-tutorials.10282/
• http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/663843-petit-computer/63494042
• http://petitcomputerbasic.blogspot.com/

My suggestion is to forget about graphics right now and focus on learning how to use numbers for math, how to work with variables and arrays to save and change information, and how to create loops in your programs. That might sound boring... but your programs will NEED these features, so learning them carefully is the best place to start.
Once you feel confident about the basics, you can move on and learn how to work with button presses and user input to make things happen on the screen. You will also want to learn what a subroutine is and how you can use them to organize your code and easily repeat some sections of code at different times.

You can look for other "introduction to programming" tutorials, or try learning other languages. Many of the basic concepts are the same so knowing what a variable is or how you can process information usually doesn't change that much. Just remember that Petit Computer isn't as powerful or complicated as modern programming languages on your computer - every language offers different features, advantages, and limitations.

I had it very easy to learn programming. It took me two weeks to learn the basics of C# and XNA. I was able to make a text based "battle test" game, and a Ping Pong Multiplayer game! The reason why it was so easy was probably the great tutorials. But as the previous people said, you have to start at the very basics, which I also did. I'm still a newbie at this, by the way.
Anyway! What language do you even want to learn? My suggestion is that you pick a language that you like most, and start from there, instead of learning one first, then sticking with the other. It could be useful knowledge, but still, it saves you time.
If you want to learn C# and XNA with it, I could send you the links!

Thanks for the advice guys I will start to read up on these languages see what's most corfortable, and try something.

I'd like those links so I can look at them both, and decide which one looks better for me.

Actually, XNA is kind of like an add-on to C# which sort of enables you to create games easier. Something like that.
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C# http://www.youtube.com/user/SaladRaider/videos
Go here first and watch the C# videos in order. His playlist doesn't include all tutorials so you have to look in his uploads, but they are all currently shown on the page I sent.
XNA http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL667AC2BF84D85779
Watch this when you have finished the other C# tutorials. This is where the real fun starts!
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Tip; If there's something you want to know, just google it. Probably every question has been asked before.
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Alright, that's it. Good luck to us both!

No offense, but if I am understanding this is the only experience you have selecting a programming language?
It's possible that your circumstances made this an ideal starting place for you, where others might find more of a struggle.

Citing my personal experience, I started out with the BASIC programming language; less powerful, but also a more friendly syntax than C++ or others.

As someone who's been programming for 30 years, I agree with the suggestions of learning the fundamentals of programming before trying video games. The basic concepts of conditional statements, loops, conditions, and so on, must be well understood before you can attempt to make a game, and this is true regardless of which language you use. (I develop network software and work with databases, both of which are rather complex.)

I'm going to suggest something else:

In the case that you only want to make games, you can try using a game-making software like GameMaker and Unity3D. They don't require any programming to use, though you'd need to know how games fundamentally work from an abstract standpoint to perfectly make sense of them. But I do gotta say that it's virtually impossible to make a game to your liking without some programming background. Also, I got this advice from word of mouth. Hope this helps.