Beginer's dev console?

whats the easiest ( I know none are easy to program but some have to be easier than others) console to program for. Looking to start game development. I know PC are best to start with.

the hardware I currently own are

GB/GBA Pelican Accessories Games Downloader (256K Flash Cart)
DC VMS with transfer cable

modded systems
GameCube
PS2
Saturn
xbox

James (lwizardl)

 

GBA by far. Its simple, the homebrew sdk are well setup and the system over all is just simple to work with.

It was because of the GBA i was able to get into the VG industry.

gbadev.org has all that you need.

 

yep, I'd go with what subbie says. AFAIK, in order of easiness to hardness, your consoles go:
1 GBa
2 DC VMS
3 Xbox
4 PS2/GC (unsure of which)
and 6 Saturn

 

I do own 1 devkit but its not complete gotta locate stuff first
I have a 3DO Dev Tower also, but I need to get some cash and locate the missing stuff.

james

 

3DO would not be a good choice especially considering you'd be the first homebrew developer ;-)
Seriously, get a simple book on BASIC, Pascal or C and start coding on your good old PC. It'll be much more efficient in the end. The thing that most "I love console <x>. I don't know how to program but I'm gonna make games for it" people forget is that it takes PATIENCE and dedication to learn programming, especially if you want to create something that remotely resembles a game. Give it at least several months of coding using a book, and if you're still interested after that, check back with us

 

Myself I've been intrested for a few years now. I've taken 2 classes on c++ but couldn't get a chance to do much in it becuase of work not wanting to give me the time off for school so i dropped out and started on my own using this book by Ivor Horton i think his name is "Beginning C++" is the title of the book its like 900 pages and 90% of the code won't compile with MS VC++, borland, or Dev-C++. So now i'm in the market again for a decent book that i can trust and not have to keep looking for errata.

james

 

my recomendations. Pick up gba coding now. It's straight forward and uses gcc (free compiler).

As well just my take but good Pc coder != good system coder (damn x86 lets you get away with too much that you shouldn't).

As well having a solid way to apply what you're learning makes learning a faster and clearer process.

 

I don't know about "Beginning C++" but "Beginning C" by Ivor is a really good book IMO, and examples do compile with both Dev C++ and VC++ as well as the *suggested* GCC. Do you know C already? If not, how are you going to learn C++?! And if you strongly know C, the step up to C++ shouldn't be that difficult because you can already write programs and slowly add in C++ components as you learn them.

 

no The college i have in my area only teaches VB & C++. so i figured c++ was better than vb since my end goal is for games pc/console.

james

 

C++ may be a good idea for modern PC development but it's sure not for console games, learn ANSI C the language of choice for most everyone, then try tackling C++. If you don't have a strong computer background, start with Basic like Anti said and work your way up. Expecting to jump into (console) game programming is pretty silly, unless you've have a photographic memory you'll probably need to set aside a few years of your life to get into gear and understand what's involved. Instead of taking a programming language at your college, I'd suggest a computer science course to get you familiar with what your software is actually doing. Depending on the depth of the course you'll at least be ahead of 20% of the professional programmers out there that are still oblivious

 

C++ has become the stanard for game development now. A large margin of the industry is now using C++ and this includes platforms like GBA & DS. Hell even cell phones are completly in C++ (symbian OS is pure C++) for OS Apps (not talking about java).

 

C++ has it's strong points but it's hardly necessary for said console development and as far as using official libraries, I don't think it'll be necessary for years to come.

 

It's not necessary but if he plans to get into the industry, most studios work in c++ and as well wont hire you unless you have a strong c++ background.

 

You can tell that most of the comments here are by non-professionals.

C++ as a language is no worse then C. More often then not, you'll find the underlying core of a C++ to be C.

C++ EXPOSES concepts that aren't in C, but make no mistake that it is no less powerful then it's counterpart. I recommend to anyone to use a C++ compiler, but learn the goods of C and use them intermingled with your C code.

As for the rediculous comment about "x86 lets you get away with too much"... a processor will never let you get away with anything. Just like every other platform, when a hardware level exception is raised, either you can handle it, or you don't. This doesn't differ from any other platform. The matter of this fact is that x86 has been a home consumer computer for long enough, that cheap/free tools and examples are available in multitude more then any other hardware platform... both good and bad code.

 

You can tell that the above post is by an ass. You don't sound too professional yourself buddy.

Who said C++ was worse or less powerful than C? Everyone knows that C++ was developed to supersede C, whether it accomplished that directive is up to the individual.

I think I'm being misinterpreted, I'm stating that it's not very feasible for one with no prior C background to start game development in C++. C is far more studied, easier to learn and there are far more resources available to C programmers to get one started in game programming. Additionally, C is a wise choice because it’s officially supported by Sony/Sega/Nintendo... also only as of late has C++ gained its foothold, which simply evolved from a status thing practiced in only some markets. When C# becomes the in language, will you buy into .NET because of it's proclaimed "superiority"?

Anyways, games come down to the programmer’s understanding of the language be it C or C++, their creativity and ingenuity, their libraries and their knowledge of the platform… Using C++ doesn't guarantee you a better or more efficient game nor does it make you a "better" programmer.

 

Never programed the GB before but in my opion xbox is the easiest to me. It runs off of a modifed DX9 library. ALthough, What I would recomend for any begginer is start on the pc. You can go to a book store and pick up any number of books on game programming. For a begginer look for a book that you feel is easy to understand. and than work your way up.

C/C++ is not the easiest language and if you never have programmed in C get the book C programming for dummies. It is a great book on getting your feet wet in C programming. The book teaches basic fundementals without getting lost in pointers, indirectors or reference to. I know on that subject alone there are complete books and courses for it.

I know I throw around C/C++ loosely since I have been programming for over 20 years and realy what it comes down to is what your client wants and what you need to do to get the job done. be it Ansi C, MFC C++, non MFC C++, C# or anything else. ALthough one thing to note is if doing games stick to a varient of C. I have never heard of any of the modern consoles being done in VB

 

Sounds like your lowest-level experience is C++/Java exception handling I get the impression :smt043
I'm pretty sure he was referring to the instruction set, and if so, he is right. The X86 is by far the easiest system to program in assembly, because it's CISC, just like the Z80 and MC680x0 (architectures you will no doubt run into when doing dev on older consoles/home computers/etc.)
Those architectures were developed to be easily programmed on the machine level, and thus include lots of multi-functional or complicated opcodes. The RISC philosophy, though (now the architecture du jour in all areas but the PC), is based on the idea that less, but more simple, instructions are better.

 

hmmm am i wrong when i say a dane was in the team who made the C language ?

 

My views are more skewed twards consoles which now primarly use RISC base processors. My problems with x86 is in memory access. x86 allows for so much unaligned and illegal memory access (read & write) which makes it a bitch to sometimes get other people's code to properly port over to arm or mips processors.

Also I tend to find PC coders are less mindful of resources compaired to console coders.

 

Subbie it's not true what you said because good pc coders need like all other coders the exact memory and if you believe that a PC game coder can use memory as they want, you're totally wrong. At the moment you wanna develop a professional project, you need to optimize :smt067