Hacking Homebrew Games

[tipsy]

I have a few questions:

1. Do you absolutely have to have knowledge of C++ to be able to program a game? (could someone give me a comparison? Like would it be something like you absolutely cannot create and code a website if you do not know HTML?)
2. Is it difficult to program a game? Why does programming seem to take so long? Because I know sometimes people say they can create a website in a few days, but if they were to work nonstop, it would really probably take only a few hours -- so approximately how many hours would it take to program your average game?

[sorry I'm more of a designer; programming seems to come really hard for me]

Just curious. Would appreciate answers.

I'm willing to work and spend a lot of time creating the game I have in mind, but thus far the tutorials I've read have been quite complicated and seem to skim/speed through the whole process, making it difficult to understand.

 

[Flozem]

1. Do you absolutely have to have knowledge of C++ to be able to program a game? (could someone give me a comparison? Like would it be something like you absolutely cannot create and code a website if you do not know HTML?)
I think being skilled in C++ or similar languages will help. If you know C++ I think you generally will have an easier time programming for the DS, since most programming is done through this language. Otherwise you'll be busy half your time looking up what the proper syntax is compared to other languages.
Compared to HTML you need mathematics skills for any other programming language. Most-times you are writing your own functions and objects. Not saying I think of HTML as a programming language btw... it's a notepad text editor.

What makes programming in C++ much more difficult compared to HTML or PHP, is that you need to work with memory allocations - never went on with my study of C++ after encountering this cuz it's a pain imho. Also PHP for example is forgiving calling variables, where in C++ a string is a string and an integer an integer.

QUOTE2. Is it difficult to program a game? Why does programming seem to take so long? Because I know sometimes people say they can create a website in a few days, but if they were to work nonstop, it would really probably take only a few hours -- so approximately how many hours would it take to program your average game?

In general programming in C++ takes more time in planning and testing due to the stuff mentioned above.

 

[chuckstudios]

For programming the DS, I would recommend C over C++ due to the overhead C++ produces.

 

[Issac]

Sure you can create a game without the knowledge of C++ or any other programming language, but it's not like making a homepage... there isn't a DS game dreamweaver

It will be hard, and it WILL take a long time... but on the bright side: You will also learn a bit of C (C is more commonly used over C++ in gba/ds programming).
So try it out! I think it is fun, and I learned a lot of programming that way.
And Once you've started understandning the basics of programming, it's not all that hard really. Most programming languages are like normal languages... Once you've understand one language, for example English, you can write a letter in english, use a dictionary, and translate it to Spanish... or whatever.
The same goes for programming: Write an application in Java, use a Programming dictionary (reference guide or whatever) and "Translate" it to C or C++ or... yeah.. what ever you want!

You can also use pseudo code, very useful!
I've explained that in another thread, here:
http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=55290&hl=

basicly: You write in simple english (or swedish, or any prefered language) what you want to do, and then you translate it in some programming code.

CODEWhat you want:
Use the existing program Calc to calculate the variable x, each time with a different number to use (i), and do it 8 times.

Pseudo Code:
Loop this 8 times.
calculate variable x, with time.
end.

Real Code:
for (int i=0; i