Game development.How to start?

Question

C++ / C#

I took part in olympiads, I am more or less oriented in c++ (i.e. I know it).
And so I wanted to create toys (primarily for the desktop).
Question number 1: How and where to start?. I haven't worked with engines or anything like that.
Question number 2: one relative advised to take the source code (well, for example, an old-school console snake) and just change something, or add something, and not develop something from scratch. Is it so?

Answer 1

Here's the first article you came across about creating a " computer game from scratch ".
It will most likely NOT suit you, and it would be better for you to read several of them, and choose one that suits your skills and interests.

one relative advised ... Is it so?

Judging by your words, he advised you something like that. But is it really so - it is not visible from here.

Answer 2

Pick up the current game "engine" in C ++ and read the office. manual and go through the lessons step by step.
After you master it, you can do something simple on it.
And then - you will already understand where to go.

Answer 3

Now you can get into game development by learning Unity . Anyway, it's the perfect tool for quick and cheap prototyping.
If you know C ++, then most likely another engine will come to you - Unreal , so you can start with it. It is not so fashionable, because the entry threshold is higher, just because of C ++, but you know it. And he's quite good. In some ways, Unity is even better - fewer ready-made solutions (which limit your Wishlist) and more freedom, settings, and opportunities. Beautifully arranged inside. Thoughtful. In general, it is for serious bearded people, and now even a schoolboy can master Unity.
Well, in general, game dev is not only programming. This is art. Moreover, games are usually made not by individuals, but by development teams, which include various specialists (not only programmers). This is art, and music, and game design, and marketing, and much more, all this needs to be put together - and it's really difficult, this is really art, knowledge of C ++ will not help here.
In short, there are two main points to remember:
Ready to go down to hell? Then welcome to gamedev. :) And good luck! You will need it.
PS The relative is clearly far from gamedev. But if you really want to, here are the source codes of the games .

Answer 4

Well, with ++, I know one engine, this is Unreal. Unity runs C# or Java. You can take a ready-made example, but you need to figure out what and why it is written here. Well, this is my opinion.

Answer 5

For a beginner game developer, I advise you to start learning C# and Unity. C ++ is great, but look at C # and Unity, there are a lot of possibilities, desktop, mobile phones, browsers, anything you like, and besides, you can find a lot of information on the Internet both in Russian and in English.
I don’t think that it will be difficult for you to learn Sharp in 2 weeks))
Good luck!)

Answer 6

Start with something very simple. The snake is a perfectly normal example. You can write on anything without digging into the details. 2D, sprites are most likely your choice.
Some time ago I played with https://www.sfml-dev.org/ . Perhaps now there is a better choice, you have to google. Yes, real games are written on big monsters like Unity or Unreal. But due to the high entry threshold, it is easy to quit without getting a result.
It is important to understand that games in recent years have become less and less about programming. During my studies, I had a desire to make a game, but everything usually rested on models, textures and other content.
I do not advise you to start writing your own engine. Even if you look at it as a learning task, it will almost certainly require more effort and time than you have.

Answer 7

Games are not written in C++, game engines are written in C++. But the game scripts themselves are much more convenient to write in a scripting language, such as Python, ActionScript, or Java.
However, a simple game like Tetris or Snake can also be written in C++ using SDL (for 2D graphics) or OpenGL (for 3D). Although my advice is to use Python.

Answer 8

The game is an endless loop in which rendering and processing of events from the user and from game objects takes place. You create various classes for game objects and a class for the game itself. It can be a character, opponents, map, hud elements. Each class has a mandatory method for drawing and recalculating the position in the main loop. The main loop is run from the game class.