Some Great Downloads That You Can Install On Your Computer.
This page will be dedicated to make seemingly difficult video games into easy to understand code. I will take you step by step into the world of game programming. The trick to good programming is patients with trial and error; identifying any problems your program might have; understanding your problem; writing down alternative solutions to your problem; picking the best solution to your problem; writing down a set of instructions for your solution; and finally evaluate the solution.
The first thing a programmer needs to do to get started is have some experience playing video games. There is a lot to learn from somebody elses video games. Start checking out the simpler games first. There is no need to dive into programming a long complicated game that you will not be able to finish, because it's to hard to understand. The second piece of good advice is Learn a programming language well enough to feel comfortable programming a game with. If your just learning how to program, the code used will be difficult for you to understand, but that doesn't mean you can't check out these games anyway. Don't be discouraged if what you see doesn't make sense to you at first, just work with it, it will come sooner or later.
The third thing a programmer needs is tools !! The tools I'm talking about are compilers. There is code that will work on some compilers and not on other compilers, so with that in mind, I will make a few suggestions. I use a Borland 3.1 DOS compiler for my DOS based programs. The environment from DOS to windows is very different. The graphics code I use for my DOS games will not work in a windows environment compiler like Microsoft's 6.0. The 6.0 Windows compiler is the best for graphics and sound, but is a little more complicated to use than the Borland 3.1. when programming in C or C++. I also use the 5.0 Visual Basic compiler from Microsoft for programming in VB.
Even though DOS is dead, below there are some DOS games that I wrote, check them out, let me know what you think. If there are any questions e-mail me and I will try to answer them the best I can. I have added my own libraries in the H files zip file also. I will be using these libraries in all my DOS games. The most common library I use is the "vga.h", this library is what is needed to get into the 256 color vga mode in DOS. The functions used are: VGASrceen() and TextScreen(), just include my libraries and you can use these two functions wherever you like. These functions are made with assembly code, which gets used a lot in game programs, because of the speed the code can perform. The second library is: "sound1.h", this is used for creating sounds with your game, the functions used are: buzz(int), quiet(), key_tap(), win(), lose(), space(), ship(), pong(), shoot(), hit(), beep(), these are also done with assembly code. You can build your own sounds by mixing the fuctions buzz(int) with quiet() and delay(int), and all the other functions as well.
I would like to receive programmed games or utilities anybody is willing to share with this web site. You can include your source code if you like or you can just send the executable, but it must be your original. I will post it on my visitor source code page.
On certain text programs I used the bitmap header file "Black41.h" to get colored letters in my program, and to have a closing effect at the end of my games; I didn't need anything else from this file. I could have programmed these games without the "Black41.h" file and all the others associated with it. With this in mind, remember, there is no need to understand all that is going on in these header files, just use the functions in any DOS program you wish . Also, I used the Borland 3.1 compiler to compile these programs.
Java is a language engineered by Sun MicroSystems for the use of applets on web pages and other advanced things as well. This language is based on C++ with a twist, so if you are a C++ programmer, Java will come easy. I have wrote a couple of programs to get you started. Check these programs out and let me know what you think.
Visual Basic is one of the best languages to start programming in windows, because making a window takes far less code than any other language I know of. Some say this language is not that powerfull, but there is a lot a person can program using Visual Basic. All Microsoft's office suite is programmed in visual Basic, making me believe this language is powerful enough to satisfy most applications.i Check out some of these games and tell me what you think.
Microsoft Foundation Class or MFC, win 32 API, and DirectX is rich with graphics and sound. Once a programmer gets to know this environment, they will have the most powerful tools known for games. The source code needed for VC++ programs is extensive, but worth the effort.
The game Avenger needs WINMM.LIB, MSIMG32.LIB, and all the DirectX libraries from the SDK 8.1 or higher to compile.
Some VB programs, like Creatures, Earth Defender, and my Browser require the Agent Install zip to run, so download this first, then download the program zip file of your choice. Make sure you have Microsoft's latest framework.
C# is a relatively new language engineered by Microsoft. This language looks like a cross between: Visual Basic, C, and Java all put into one. You can get a beta version C# compiler for free on Microsoft's official website.
VB.Net is another relatively new language from Microsoft. If you know Visual Basic, VB.Net will come real easy. There are some differences you need to know. Like C# and Java, everything is in classes. All forms are assigned class names, and a programmer has to Instantiate them before using any form varaibles in another form. Type structures now have the name, Structure instead of type, but are used in the same way. I liked to use the dataset with the datagrid material that is available in VB.Net, so I have an Address Book example to show how to use these datasets to display in the datagrid. It is like creating a database without having to have a database. I also have a wavfile zip file with all the source code.
