C++/C# or C/C++ or C#/XNA

Science & Technology Information Technology, Gaming, Machines, Gadgets
1

Hello guys;

This is related to game programming.

I learned C# programming through out my degree, because it is an upgraded language used in everything today.

It also has XNA GameStudio.NET, practically XNA is the Microsoft.NET framework which does the major work for you, as in building the window and setting up the classes, functions, etc, the only part that you need to worry about is the logic. It is used for game programming fans to set the video game togather. I have been through it and it wasnt that great. By using XNA I maybe missing out the core topics that one learns in Game Programming so I turned and learned C++ by myself and learning Directx these days.

Now that I look back, I see that XNA made things a hell lot easier but I am still not to sure which one to use.

I made this thread to find out what do you guys suggest in terms of game programming.

C++ n Directx

Or

C# n XNA game studio

Or

C# n Directx

I dont know how to make a poll out of this but meh. Any suggestion is appreciated.

Thanks.

PS: Please do not guide me towards UDK ther are 8% of the total game industry uses UDK and only if they need to hit a sixer by creating such games like Batman and all.

22% uses game bryo which is the plugin for 3d Studio Max, Maya, and perhaps Softimage.

The rest of them make their own game engine / game editor. Thanks.

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Re: C++/C# or C/C++ or C#/XNA

c++ is for professionals, for commercial games.
C++/DirectX is just not possible for you, you don’t have the skill or time ( your whole life will be spent on a single game )

use xna/c# if you are a single developer/ hobbyist, you can achieve much more with it.

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Re: C++/C# or C/C++ or C#/XNA

my advice is to stay platform independent … because last time i checked ubisoft presentation .. they said they earn most of revenue from small mobile games … not from big titles

because if you go with XNA you will only stick to Microsoft based product … which will limit you .. no doubt you can port your code but its hard

BTW whats is your target ? what do you want achieve ? Build your own company or what?

Have you check crytek engine :smiley: … or have you give a try to blender ..

writing a game engine from scratch is hard for a signal person … I love blender game engine .. its multi-platform & open source ( i think) .. i tried it but im not a real programmer so didn’t get much out of it

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lol, are you discouraging me for enforcing myself to study Directx? lol

Well thank you for your discouragement but I am half way through, the whole life was not spent but a contant of six months - to a year :@:

Right now i am a hobbyist planning on starting my own thing, and onething I know for sure that XNA game studio will not just cut it. If I want to be debt free I must learn the core essentials of game programming. Which is why I have turned to Directx programming.

So, Softimage XSI, Photoshop, c/c++, Directx, massive maths is what I practice these days.

My Goal: Work my way through the simple small ideas and construct a Game Studio soon. :chai:

How to Achieve it: I am learning how to make the open source engine. Works better if you are creating just a game or two for the test run(s), later on I’ll probebly try to create an Editor out of it along with the game engine to make things alot easier for me and perhaps my studio. But thats talking in a long run (not a life long run)

Blender Game Engine is yet to be perfected, their fluid simulation still lacks too much and so does their flame simulation. You can make the entire good 3d Animation video out of it, it isnt recommended for the commercial still.

EDIT: Uhh…Ubisoft now uses Gamebryo for their games. Its a plugin for 3d app that helps you convert your viewport in 3d environment to a 3d game environment with ground collisions, directly derived animated physics, Models and what not. And for further stunt that they show on E3 was because they have many resources and new personnel for new ideas.

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Re: C++/C# or C/C++ or C#/XNA

I think you don’t need suggestion .. you have enough knowledge .. BUT one thing is for sure you alone can’t master all aspects of game development all alone … yeah you can learn but can’t produce amazing result in all fields ..

so my point is instead of focusing all your energy in all the fields .. try to grab somethings for here n there … Are you planning to write everything by yourself ?

rigid-body dynamics / Physics simulations / fluid , particle strips and blah blah … try to grab open source game engine and improve it where u need it to be perfect / up to mark ..

even some professional engines use technology from 3rd party like Havok and bullet for rigid body sims,

HumanIK for characters …

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Re: C++/C# or C/C++ or C#/XNA

Programming animation/ Game Physics/ render programming / converting .obj to .x so it can be used for the game, Environment.

Actually its best to have all aspects learned and have something on hand before you actually get to declare it. I am using UDK for doodling stuff and all. (for now atleast) But it requires hell of a big shot computer. (which I am least concern about on my part more concerned about the publishing the game will make things hard and only people with the good computer or who have a playstation can play it)

And many companies payed their programming department hell load to come up with an editor That helps them create a walk / run cycle but their fluid simulation wasnt so great (game fluid simulation only) actually I dont recall the last time Blizzard ever used the life fluid simulation but just creating a plane and putting a animated water texture on it.

If you wish to use the IK bones for programming you have to be very very precise while making it in Maya (I take it?) I wish to create them in your programming you still have to be precise but a simple array would make things alot easier for you…(I think…not doing soo many practicals will make you think otherwise…my apologies)

I just wanted to know if you or anyone have tried this stunt that I said in the OP. If so, what language did you prefer and how did you achieve it.

Also, by the way. If you are refering to an OGRE 3D engine it is fit to your basic needs just right enough for you to understand how basic game engine should act like.

More over:

The Game Engine programming does recommend it because most of the books (game programming books) per say either enforce you to code the lines and understand their purpose, or they would rather have someone elses work in front of you to help you understand it.

but it have one fallout of it. You have to stick that license paragraph they give you along with the engine to stick it somewhere in your game agreement.
There arent many sources to learn OGRE 3d directly except for the very website and few books that I have yet to buy. (along with the game engine programming and render programming books)

Right now I am just trying to learn enough to create an open source block of code (not the engine) but raw game programming without using the engine according to the Frank D. Luna’s Introduction to game programming with Directx 9.0. It is possible and it is also on the basic level.

When I am done with that, than I’ll be concerned about writing my own game Engine.

This is how it works right?

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Re: C++/C# or C/C++ or C#/XNA

no idea :ahaa:

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Re: C++/C# or C/C++ or C#/XNA

Actually…I guess I’ll go with OGRE3d and see if it is worth a try.

According to their basics. Its just a basic game engine with a GNU license (free for commercial use)

and one can always expand from there…

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there is a reason why Blizzad or other companies avoid realtime fluid sims .. because it is not possible to generate N number of particles on current hardware .. even the best software for fluid simulation RealFlow / Xflow .. take too much time to create realistic sims .. ( best water i see was in crysis by crytek engine )

i don’t think so right now people care about realistic fluid sims in game … ( game development use cheats to give realism ) like you can’t create realtime shadows on mobiles so you will cheat by only putting a black rounded circle below character

Now a days most 3d / other resource intense application are switch/expanding to GPUs ..

check out CUDA ( powerful right now lot of resources but only limit to Nvidia GPU) and OpenCL ( open source but it is in initial stage can code on any thing CPU / GPU ) .. if they can help in game dev .. right now they are really useful in 3d rendering

For 3d animation new rendering softwares are coming and they are dam fast because they started using GPUs(260+ cores) instead of CPUs (4 core= single cpu)

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that what im saying from beginning

check this out

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I’ve been playing around with XNA/C#. I’m just doing it as a hobby for now.

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No you said “you are better off using the UDK or some free open source engine rather than creating your own.”

As I said earlier I will be using open source engine until I create one of my own.

This how I will know how things work. :slight_smile:

@FS: XNA and C# is good for hobbyists, not good for production. Unless you have an xbox live you will be able to sell your game for I dont know…$10s? :S

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Why isn’t XNA good for production? It’s not an XBox Live account that you need to sell your games, it’s a membership with the Creator’s Club, which costs about $100 USD per year.

If you can get something on XBLA, you can sell it for $10-15 USD. For Indie games, they can go for up to $5 USD, which isn’t too bad. The Indie game that made the most sales last year sold for a dollar.

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Re: C++/C# or C/C++ or C#/XNA

I follow Game industry mentor, something and in those interviews they said it clearly, that XNA is good for understanding but not highly recommended for game industry.

Indie games, perhaps.

But not for big industries.

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That’s interesting. I was under the impression that the development for the XBox 360 was done using XNA/C#. Do you remember why he said it wasn’t ideal for the games industry? You think you can find the article? I would be interested in seeing it.

At this stage I’m just a hobbyist anyway.

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Re: C++/C# or C/C++ or C#/XNA

http://www.nuclex.org/blog/gamedev/50-why-beginners-should-start-with-xna

reading this atm…it is recommended to beginners to step in the scene but it isnt recommended for game industry.

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Interesting article. However, it was more about the adoption of XNA in the industry and not so much its performance/capability and that for gaming platforms aside from the XBox 360, C/C++ is still widely used.

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Re: C++/C# or C/C++ or C#/XNA

yes…that is why I intend to stick with C++ and use Ogre3D until I understand how things work in the game engine and create one of my own…:chai: