Choosing a Programming language to make your game!

There are wide variety of programming languages when it comes to game making from scratch.
But most of them have flaws, but at the same time they are really good to use. For example: Java, you can comprehend all of the commands and statements but when it comes to actually coding a program, the computer, most of the time, gets REALLY confused. So, when it comes to making a really big game, even though Java DOES have the potential and the tools it need, I really don't recommend it for making such big projects.

One of the most POPULAR Java game, and just an indie game overall is Minecraft. Most people wanna code in Java because of that game, they think if Notch did it, why can't they make one. First of all, he years of experience  in making games for PC so it's not nothing new to him, he just thought it up in his head and connected some statements and code together and bob's your uncle, Minecraft was born. Second of all, you probably can, and even make it better, but when it comes to understanding the code, I highly doubt that you will, you probably would just copy some one else's code or use pre-made game engines to make it. Third, Notch did not make the actual game from scratch, he used some popular game libraries (lwjgl, jInput, etc..), so no person has EVER made a BIG game from scratch using Java. And finally, Minecraft isn't THAT big, it may seem like a big game, but it actually isn't, Mojang made an engine for the game so now every time they wanna add something new they just write a few lines of code and POW, you have a new item, or mob, or block, etc.. The actual game engine for Minecraft is not small nor too big, if it's anything, I'd say it's medium sized. That's what the game is mostly made out of. If you have ever made a Minecraft mod, you would know that when coding in it, it doesn't seem like your coding in Java. So you actually HAVE to study it's Minecraft code. So yeah, if you're just starting out and want to make a small game that doesn't take a lot of work, then yes you should use Java, if you don't then I recommend you use another programming language. (PLUS: THERE IS A LOT OF BUGS IN JAVA).

C++ is one of the most used game making programming language ever used. The reason it that, it is faster to use, it is simpler to code (even though, there is a lot to learn when you learn it, it should just be like reading a book), and all the libraries and game engines that the public post are amazing.

So if you want to start coding for a game then I would recommend you using one of these 4:
-C++
-C
-C#
-Java

Hope this helped
-Rick "Rixel" (TekBird) [Game Dev Help]

JavaScript - Basics 3

lesser than, greater than, equal to

The lesser than and greater than symbols are pretty easy to comprehend. They are the same as in the real world (<,>), but the 'equal to' symbol is pretty different, you would think it should be '=' but it's not, well not exactly, it's actually === (3 ='s), who knows why that is. I can understand if it's 2 ='s but 3? I don't know why that is, I might be missing something. Anyway, the only time you use those are in 'if' and 'else if' statements, as in: if(3>4){} or else if(3==3){} or else if(4<3){}.

lesser or equal to, and greater or equal to

This is more basic than it sounds actually. All you need to do is combine either a '>' or a '<' and after it a '=' (NEVER BEFORE) and that's about it, there is not much to it, I'll give you some examples: if(4>=2){} else if(4<=2){}

and, or, and not

This is quiet important to know if you don't like to type much. By adding one of these it makes your life a WHOLE lot easier when making 'if' and 'else if' statements. Let's see an example of 'and': if(3<4&&9>8){}

The only thing you add is '&&' (2 &'s). Now for the 'or': if(3<4||9>8){}. For this you just have to add '||' (2 ||'s). And now for the not: if(3!=4){} you add ! and = (!=). That's about it

Experiment with those symbols and try different things out to understand it a bit more! (:

-Rick "Rixel" (TekBird)

JavaScript - DIY: Choose Your Own Adventure Game

In this tutorial, we will show you how to start and make an simple "Choose Your Own Adventure Game" on JavaScript. NOTE: To test the game, I recommend you use: http://www.writecodeonline.com/js

To get started, make your story up, now that you have that made you can finally start with the actual game. Well, not yet... you still need your intro log-in stuff.

AGE RESTRICTION

Most games have an age-restriction, let's just say for testing purposes that your game can only be played by people 14 years old or over. To make that happen, you're gonna need to know how to use "prompt", "if", and "else". Here is the code I made up:
var myAge = prompt("What is your age?");
if(myAge>=14){
  confirm("You may pass...");
}
else{
  alert("You may play, but I am not responsible for your actions during or after the game, get your parents permission first");
}
So basically I am saying "Declare the variable 'myAge' to the answer you will give me to the statement 'What is your age?', then if the variable 'myAge' is greater or equal (>=) to 14, you may pass, but anything else, you have to get your parents permission first".
That's the simplest way I can put it.

Introduction for the game.

This game is a text game, no graphics, we will get to that later on in some advanced tutorials, with that in mind; we can proceed...

The introduction is just simply the name of the game and who made it, and maybe a back-story if you want it... Here is mine:

alert("Welcome to Gaillard's Kingdom!");

alert("The choose your own adventure game!");

confirm("Are you ready?");

alert("Good let's begin!");

That is just basically making popup screens one after the other, saying the stuff inside the 'alert' and 'confirm' commands (if you don't know what they are be sure to take a look at my last posts). So that is our introduction, I'm sure yours would be better though.

The Game

The actual is basically just questions and answers, but coding wise; it's variables and prompts. Here is a short "Choose your own adventure" game I whipped up in a few minutes:

alert("Here comes BatSpider");

var answerOne = prompt("What do you do? Type 1 for Dance, Type 2 for Fight, Type 3 for Run Away");

if(answerOne==="1"){

   alert("You start dancing, he gets in the mood and starts dancing too");

  alert("You beat the game!");

}

else if(answerOne==="2"){

   alert("You stay to fight");

   alert("BatSpider kills you");

   alert("You loose...");

}

else if(answerOne==="3"){

   alert("You Run Away");

   alert("You didn't win or loose, you big baby");

   confirm("You should go back");

}

else{

  confirm("I didn't quite understand you...");

   alert("Try Again Later");

}

That's about it ^^^^ copy all of that and paste it in: http://www.writecodeonline.com/js to play the game (:

Hope this helped - Rick "Rixel" (TekBird).

JavaScript Basics 2

if, else, and else if

To make an "if" statement you must start out with an "if" obviously. To get a better comprehension, I will give you an example first then we will break it up into pieces. EXAMPLE:

if(1<2){alert("1 is less than 2");}else{alert("1 is greater than 2.");}

It doesn't seem too organized and quiet frankly, just messy. So we're going to organize it a bit and make it more understandable to our programming:

if(1>2){

   alert("1 is less than 2.");

}

else if(1=2){

  alert("1 is equal to 2");

}

else{

   alert("1 is greater than 2.");

}

If you understand that; that's great! If you don't, that's okay, no one blames you, I will show you what it means:

1st Part: if(1<2)

Okay, so this basically means, "if 1 is less than 2...", which of course it obviously is. So what happens now?

Well that's where these squiggly brackets come in.

2nd Part: { }

These brackets are called "curly brackets", and with these you're saying: "Okay, now we know that 1 is less than 2, now do something...". When you call an "if" statement, the computer tries to find out if it's true or false. If it's true; it does what is inside the curly brackets, if it's false it just skips it and moves on. And that is where the else if and else come in.

3rd Part: else if

In this part, you're saying, "Okay, so the first 'if' statement was false, so go to this one and see if this one is true or false". The 'else if' statement is like a normal 'if' statement, expect it only gets called in to action if the 'if' statement before it is false. And from there, it just has the same properties as the 'if' statement. If this one is false too, it will go to the next else if, and if that one is false, then it goes to the next, basically you can put 'else if' statements as much as you like. But if you want a default action where all the ones who are false or get rejected go to, than you are gonna need an 'else' statement.

4th Part: else

This is like the most simplest part of the whole 'if' mess... It doesn't include any parentheses at all only the word 'else', a couple of curly brackets, and what action it does. This is where all the statements that were rejected by 'if' statements, and 'else if' statements go to. It doesn't have any standards or rules in this place. It's public.

Here is a little story explaining the 'if', 'else if', and 'else'.

One day, a number one was feeling like he wanted to go to a club, he tried to go to the 'if' club, but they didn't except him, you needed to be more than 3. Then he went to the 'else if' club, but you needed to be more than 2. He tried every other 'else if'' club in town, but none excepted him. He finally reached a club called 'else', they didn't have no rules, no policies, no anything that would keep him from entering. He was happy to see other rejected numbers there too, he didn't seem so alone any more. THE END.

I hope this helped. - Rick "Rixel" (TekBird)

JavaScript - Basics 1

JavaScript a simple and a really easy to comprehend programming language. It is mainly used in the browser when coding in HTML. If you want to implement JavaScript or start coding JS in HTML; you will have to use these tags: <script> JAVASCRIPT CODE </script>. That is the easiest way to start.

Confirm & Alert

When using a Confirm Command or Alert, a screen pops up with the String you put in it. To use the confirm or the Alert command; You first type the word either confirm or alert then open some parentheses and inside the them open some quotes, and inside those type your message. Remember, all commands end with a semicolon, it's like a period but for programming languages (Basically, you tell the computer when you stop a command, or finish one). 

EXAMPLE FOR ALERT: alert("Your Message");

EXAMPLE FOR CONFIRM: confirm("Your Message");

The difference between a Confirm and an Alert is that, alerts make a pop up box with just the button "Ok", and a Confirm command makes a pop up box where you can choose from "Ok" and "Cancel" (These 2 options give off a different feedback if you implement some more advanced code, but we will get to that later on).

YOU CAN TRY OUT ALL THE CODES, AND TEST THEM BY GOING TO THIS SITE: http://www.writecodeonline.com/js/

var

A var is a keyword you use, when you are declaring a varibale. You always have to use that to make one, if it's an integer(Number), string(Letters), or a boolean(True or False), unlike Java. It may not seem like much, but once you get the hang of coding in JS, you're gonna see yourself using this keyword more than you expected.

prompt

A prompt is like a Confirm or Alert, but it's more of a question than a statement. When using this command properly, it should pop up a screen, like in confirm/alert, where it shows the String you want it to show, but it also shows a text box, where you can type anything you want, and that String that you put in the text box, will become a new variable. To sum it all up, it goes like this; You declare a new variable (EX: var myVariable), then you make it equal to a prompt, (EX: var myVariable = prompt) then after the prompt keyword, you open some parentheses just like in a confirm/alert command and all that other stuff (quotes, and semicolon). Here is an example:
var myPromptVariable = prompt("What is you age?");
Try putting that ^^^ in http://www.writecodeonline.com/js/

That's all for today, tune in for some more coding tutorials/tips or email me at tekbird_rick@outlook.com

-Rick "Rixel" (TekBird)

Let me Introduce My Self

This is Rick

I code Java, HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and a bit of XML.

This blog is about helping each other out in game development.

I help you on what you're having trouble on, and you help me. (:

If you have any specific questions about a certain topic of coding/programming/development of a game; Email me on this e-Mail: tekbird_rick@outlook.com or tekbird.rick@gmail.com

Right now I am studying C++ and C# and C, which are probably the most used in advanced Game Development, and I want to study them and get the gist and try to explain as much as I can on EACH programming language. So you will be able to make your own games TOO. There is no need of adding my name to your credits or anything though, this is ALL for FREE, unlike all those other sites that try to help you by making you buy some cheap online book that usually costs less than 5 bucks but make you buy it for around 30...

Well Okay, now that you have an idea of what this blog is going to be about, you can start heading over to my next post which will be about a certain coding language...

Hope it helps..

-Rick "Rixel" (TekBird)