How to start?

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    • How to start?

      Hi all,

      I just bought the book and I'm currently in chapter 5. I try to code along with the book because I learn better that way.

      However, I find the code in book jumps all over the place and hard to follow. When I try to look at the source code for comparison, I found that much of the code has changed.

      I feel lost and really don't know how to learn this book properly. I would appreciate any help that point me to the right direction. Cheers!
    • Start at the bare basics, begin by learning how to create your application layer, get a basic program running using this. You are then able to code sub systems to plug into the application class, once you have a good idea of how those work, move to the game logic class, which depending on how you connect things, may be connected in your Application Class, once you have a good knowledge of the game logic class, move on to a Game View, preferably your Human View, which will allow you to start to visually see your engine.

      This is only one way to do it, but once you have a firm grasp on each component of the engine, you can do it in any order (However I always start with the Application Class)
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    • Originally posted by mholley519
      This is only one way to do it, but once you have a firm grasp on each component of the engine, you can do it in any order (However I always start with the Application Class)


      That's the same way i do it as well.

      MrT, what edition of the book are you reading? I would say there is a significant difference between the 3rd edition and the 4th edition, but the architecture is still mostly the same.
      How much programming experience do you have? (not trying to call you out, I just don't know if you're a beginner or and expert) It may be that you might want to hit some c++ primer material before digging further into GCC.

      When I first read the 3rd edition, I did find it a bit hard to follow as well. However, after looking at the code for awhile, and trying to mess around with it I finally started to connect what I had read with what was in the code. Then when I picked up the 4th edition it was much easier to follow along with.
      I think this is mostly due to the fact that the concepts are so new and different from what I was used to. So it took a bit to actually wrap my brain around them.

      So I guess my advice is to keep plugging away at it, and you can always ask specific questions here. Mike and Rez are really good about responding to questions quickly.

      Good luck!
    • I have another suggestion that will hopefully help - make sure you have the source code compiling and running on your machine. Then, as you go through each chapter, you can play around with the code to see what effect it has on the game.

      If you use SVN to get a local copy of the source code, you can always compare your changes with the working copy on Google Code, and use that comparison to increase your understanding of why a change worked the way you expected, or perhaps why it failed to work.

      I've always learned equally via reading a book and playing directly with some source code. I find that I almost never start with a blank slate and just look at reference material - that road leads to madness.
      Mr.Mike
      Author, Programmer, Brewer, Patriot
    • Woah thanks for all the replies guys!

      A bit more info: I'm reading the 4th edition. I've been working in the industry for about a year now, doing UI. I want to learn more about how the rest of the game works, thus buying the book.

      @mholley: when you mention the application layer, do you mean just a basic windows app or the actually Application Layer: GameCodeApp in the book?

      @mrmike: Mike, are you talking about the Teapot Wars as in "the game". As far as I understand, GameCodeApp is just a lib, but it compiles fine on my machine.
    • Yes - "The Game" I refer to above is Teapot Wars.
      Mr.Mike
      Author, Programmer, Brewer, Patriot