Learn How to Program C++ Games with Microsoft Visual C++ 2. Express Editionhome » tutorials » game development » introduction to c++Let's face it: the heart and soul of any great video game is the code. Without great code you might have slick 3. D models, a great soundtrack, and an interesting story, but you don't have a game. So if you don't know anything at all about programming, how do you get started?
Every programmer on the planet started by learning the basics. Learning how to program is a bit like learning math, only a lot more fun! You start out by learning simple concepts, practice them until you know them by heart, and then move on to more advanced concepts. I can't emphasize enough just how important it is to practice what you learn!
Each lesson in this tutorial will provide you with a simple program to type in and experiment with. It is important that you actually take the time to enter and compile the code yourself. If you want to become an ace programmer, you have to treat it like a professional sport and spend as much time as possible practicing what you learn. If you want to become a game programmer, you have to know this stuff in your sleep! In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a simple C++ application that prints text to the console using Microsoft's free Visual C++ 2. Express Edition IDE (integrated development environment). If you've never programmed before, don't worry: I'll walk you through each step and explain every detail.
These contain useful or interesting information, but aren't required reading. I include lots of links to Wikipedia and other online resources to make it easy for you to follow up on whatever strikes your fancy but don't try to follow every link: you'll go crazy!
Visual Basic.NET 2010 Express. When you write a program in any.NET 'managed code' language, the.NET Framework does most of the work.
Official Visual Studio 2010 Samples for C# 4.0. Visual Studio Integrate; VSIP Program; Microsoft.NET. Introduces Visual Basic for. Learning to program might seem. Hi I have a little experince in programming vb 6. VS 2010 How to control a lot of labels. Visual Basic.NET; Beginners PHP; C#.NET; Java for Beginners. This Home and Learn computer course is an introduction to Visual Basic.NET programming for beginners.
The links are there to help you understand the concepts on a deeper level, or to see how they connect to other concepts. They can be safely ignored the first time through; everything you need is right here in the tutorial. Ready? Let's get started! Why C++?: Why should you learn C++ if you want to program video games? Because C++ is the language of choice for serious game programmers. C++ is built from the ground up to be fast and efficient and provides programmers with low- level access to hardware that is concealed by other languages, making it the perfect choice for bleeding- edge games. C++ isn't the only language you can use, of course, and I certainly encourage you to see what you can come up with in other languages once you've got your programming chops down, but it is still the most widely used and supported language for programming games.
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If you can master C++, you can master any language. Do you need to learn C before learning C++? C++ includes everything in C plus a lot more. Besides, C is based on procedural programming, an older programming style which is not suitable for games. C++ is designed specifically for object- oriented programming, the modern way to program, and a style more suitable for game development. It's actually easier to develop games using C++ than it is to use C, even though the language is harder to pick up at first. Trust me: C++ is the way you want to go.
Download and Install Microsoft Visual C++ 2. Express Edition. There are plenty of C++ compilers out there, but there aren't any as good as Microsoft's Visual C++ 2. Express Edition for programming games. MSVC++ (which is what I'll call it from now on) is a powerful, sophisticated, and complex application; but, best of all, it's free! Although you could literally spend months studying all of MSVC++'s features, I'm just going to show you the features you need to know to successfully compile and run the programs used in this tutorial. Compilers vs. Interpreters: A compiler is a program that translates human- readable source code into machine- readable object code before the application is used. An interpreter is a program that translates source code into object code while the program is being used.
A compiled program can be used by anyone who has compatible hardware and a compatible operating system. An interpreted program can only be used by someone who also has an interpreter. That's why you can download and play games without owning a C++ compiler, but you need to install Java to use Java applets on web sites. You can download MSVC++ from Microsoft here: Download. ISO/IEC Standards: All of the programs in the C++ portion of this tutorial are ISO/IEC standard compliant, so they should compile on any compiler that follows the standard. Don't feel obligated to use a Microsoft product if you don't want to! Later portions of this tutorial, like the Windows and Direct.
X tutorials, are obviously not ISO/IEC standards compliant so you'll need a Windows box to utilize them. I plan on writing Open. GL tutorials eventually, too, though, so if you're really not a Windows fan there is light at the end of the tunnel.
IEC = International Electrotechnical Commission. These are just international standards committees.
Don't worry: I'm not going to test you on this. You can probably find it in the Start menu under All Programs - > Microsoft Visual Studio 2. Express - > Microsoft Visual C++ 2.
Express. If you installed it somewhere else, you may have to go looking for it. I recommend you create a shortcut for it on your desktop, you'll be using it a lot! Once you've got it started, you'll be greeted by the start screen, which looks like this: The Start Page has a web browser built right into it that allows you to view various help files at the Microsoft Developers Network (internet access required).
I recommend you spend some time reviewing the documentation here alongside my tutorial. In my experience, you will learn more if you study more than one guide. People (myself included) tend to forget details or explain things in unusual ways that can be cleared up with a second reference. Although I'm going to try and make this the best introduction I can, it doesn't hurt to shop around! Create a New Project.
The first thing we need to do is create a new project. If you look at the top of the window, you will see a menu bar with options like File, Edit, View, etc. To create a new project, select File - > New - > Project from the menu. Microsoft makes it pretty easy to get to work! Projects and Solutions: A project is a collection of source files and resources that make a complete application. Technically, you don't need to create a project to create a C++ program. Many tutorials skip this step entirely and start you off with a simple source file.
All serious applications use project files, however, and since they're not hard to create, you might as well get in the habit of setting up a project for every program that you write. MSVC++ has one additional level of organization: solutions.
A solution is essentially a collection of projects, just as a project is a collection of source files and resources. When you create a new project, MSVC++ will automatically create a new solution with the same name. Our first project is going to be a Win.
Console application, so select that option from the New Project dialog. Give your project a name where it says 'Name' at the bottom of the dialog window.
Console: A console is a text- only user interface to a computer, or a command- line interface. It is also often called a shell. Instead of pointing and clicking on objects with a mouse, the user types commands using the keyboard at a command prompt. Often, the words screen or monitor may be used to loosely refer to the console, but the console is really a special sort of interface. Before graphical user interfaces (GUIs), people used to do everything through the console.
Graphical applications (like Windows apps) are somewhat complicated to program, so most introductory programming courses teach you how to use the console first. You can open a console on a Windows computer by opening the Start menu and selecting All Programs - > Accessories - > Command Prompt. You'll get something that looks like this. You don't need to know anything about using the command prompt to use this tutorial.
Anything you need to know will be explained at the appropriate time. If you're curious, however, you can check out Wikipedia for a list of MS- DOS commands. Click 'Next' to fill out the application settings. On the Application Settings screen, the 'Application type' should be set to 'Console application'. Under 'Additional options', click 'Empty project'.
Select 'Finish' to complete the wizard. The wizard will close, and you will see your empty project in MSVC++. The next thing you need to do is add a source file to your project. Add a New Source Code File. Right- click the Source Files folder under your project name in the Solution Explorer and select Add - > New Item. In the Add New Item dialog, select 'C++ File (.
Click 'Add' to add it to the project. Type in the Source Code. In the empty file that appears, type in the following code exactly as it appears. Pay very careful attention to the punctuation and spelling.
If you make a mistake, your program will fail to compile!// Victory is Mine! Although there are a lot of weird symbols in your source code, computers don't understand source code at all. In order to turn your source code into something the computer can understand, you need to compile it.
Compile Your Source Code. To compile your program, press the green arrow icon on the toolbar where it says 'Debug'. Debugging and compiling are closely related procedures, so MSVC++ performs both of them at the same time. MSVC++ will display a pop- up informing you that your project is out of date and ask you if you want to build it. Say 'Yes'. When the compiler is done compiling your code, it will inform you of any errors or warnings in the Output window at the bottom of the screen. You will probably get warnings about PDBs (program database files) like I did which you can see in the screenshot below. These particular warnings are harmless, but I'll show you how to correct them after we see our program in action.