Huge Idea, but I'm not sure about some stuff.

[Overload]

Yeah, for old-school console stuff, you're gonna need some decent experience.
I'm guessing a language like C would be your best start.

C is good to start getting the fundamentals down of programming. But I don't know when games moved over to higher languages. I know the NES is all assembly, which is all kinds of hard to do anything big with, and I suspect the SNES/Genesis were still assembly as well.

Interesting, I had no idea they were making games in assembly for that long.

[RCBH928]

out of topic but...

I am not sure how people get into coding. I tried once, and HTML is confusing enough for me.
Although I know how it works and I did websites before, but it is illogical.

I swear to god I follow CSS tutorials line by line it works. I just adjust the sizes of boxes or fonts and the whole thing goes wrong! I tried to learn C++ in '98 , a hello world program. I wrote it and let it through the compiler, it failed! I am sure of it, even the spaces , everything. So the book comes with a CD, and it had all the lessons. So I took the lesson on the CD and let it go through the compiler that came with the CD of the book too. ERROR! How can the author write a book with his lesson with his compiler, a simple program of 5 lines gives me an error?

I do not know how you, or any one does this thing, but its illogical. One website looks fine in one browser, it doesn't in the other. It looks fine in browser 5.0, but not in version 4.9 and older. but it can work on version 4.7 with 800mhz cpu, but not 700mhz cpu. WTF!!!

Not to mention you need a degree in mathematics to use programming in the right way

[ZeroAX]

it's not so hard. but in my opinion one of the easiest languages is java. get started with that. although c++ is the best language for making games you can make some small games with java to get the hang of it.

just buy a good book. and 1 thing, stay away from any microsoft programming languages. the interface is complex, and while it can help you, mainly with web applications, in reality it will be making most of the basic stuff for you, and the basics are fundemental for getting a hang of it.


here is the best c++ editor I've ever come across. (and it's free)

http://www.bloodshed.net/devcpp.html

[RCBH928]

it's not so hard. but in my opinion one of the easiest languages is java. get started with that. although c++ is the best language for making games you can make some small games with java to get the hang of it.

just buy a good book. and 1 thing, stay away from any microsoft programming languages. the interface is complex, and while it can help you, mainly with web applications, in reality it will be making most of the basic stuff for you, and the basics are fundemental for getting a hang of it.


here is the best c++ editor I've ever come across. (and it's free)

http://www.bloodshed.net/devcpp.html

I appreciate your concern.
It isn't that it doesn't get through my head. I understand, the problem is it does not work. I bet fixing bugs or errors takes a lot longer than coding itself. I know some actionscript, which might sound silly easy to some, but how many times have they changed the commands by now? There is the old way of doing things and the new way of doing things, and the new way of things does not work with the older flash players. Why is there so much compatibility worries?

[General Chaos]

Well your idea could be even bigger. You could be setting out to create a Saturn 2...

[ubelaffe]

You might want to try to start with something like dreamcast first. Edit some existing game files and put your own spin on things while you're figuring out how things work. Greenranger has a huge thread and tutorial on how to change DOA(i think it was doa) and that would probably be a great start for you.

[MrPopo]

I bet fixing bugs or errors takes a lot longer than coding itself.

Frequently it does. Hell, when I write some code I'll spend a large portion of my debugging/testing time just getting the damn thing to compile, as I'm sure I've made some syntax errors and missed some includes. It doesn't help that the codebase I deal with at work is a steaming pile of shit.

[Gooseberrysoda]

Thanks so much, guys! This ought to really help. Maybe it'll be done in a few years. I'll keep you posted when I start.

[Jrecee]

Haha, coding. I just use multimedia fusion to make games. Sure that means there's virtually no chance of porting them to xbox live, or any other system, but considering I had to get a tutor to finish sophomore math, I'm never going to learn to program.

[ZeroAX]

IMO don't start with a console, but with a pc game. compability will be much easier, and for starters you won't have problems like ram restriction and stuff (well it will be restricted to the ram of your pc but that makes it easier to test while developing it)