What language should I learn?

[cantab]

I want to create a 2D console-style RPG, in the style of the old Final Fantasy games. I'm wondering what would be a good language to do this in.

Or indeed whether I should code from scratch at all. I'm aware of kq, http://kqlives.sourceforge.net .However, I think it's a bit _too_ crude graphically, though it plays quite well. I haven't looked at the code to know whether it would be easy to modify it to higher resolution. I haven't come across any other free software projects that are similar to what I envision.

I'm also considering not only what's best for this project, but what's best to learn more generally.

Since most people unfortunately still run Windows, I'd like my game to be easily portable to that OS.

What do people recommend?

(BTW, the game's going to be GPLed)

[sithlord48]

Re: What language should I learn?

you should prolly learn c++ since thats probly the easest to port, however you could always use an interperted language such as java , that way there is no porting just have the interperter installed and play...

[Gediminas2]

Re: What language should I learn?

java is good for mini-games, but I wouldn't use it for a bigger project. I would probably go with C or C++.

BTW, is java considered as a programming(like C, C++) or scripting language?(like bash) I can't make myself call it a programming language.

[gdoutch]

Re: What language should I learn?

Yes it is. It's the likes of python, perl et al that are considered "scripting".

[sithlord48]

Re: What language should I learn?

i know people who swear up and down HTML is not scripting ... , i was not suggesting java exactly, but rather using it as an example of an interpreted language. however if your new to c/c++ learning a bit of java might help you understand c/c++ a bit better, as my computer science teacher used to say java is like c++ for dummies.

[cantab]

Re: What language should I learn?

Those people are right. HTML's not scripting. It's markup.

Scripting is a type of programming, specifically programming of or using other programs (excluding the OS). Javascript runs in a web browser, bash scripts usually call other programs, stuff like that.

[sithlord48]

Re: What language should I learn?

no by that i ment there are people who feel html is a programing language.

so have you put any further thought in to the language your going to learn for this here project ?

[cantab]

Re: What language should I learn?

Well, you're suggesting C++. Certainly that's a language well worth learning, and could result in a very good game, but I fear the learning curve may be a bit steep.

Linux Format did a series of tutorials about Python and pygame. I reckon I might give that a try. I think it has a good chance of going well.

[sithlord48]

Re: What language should I learn?

if you know java, that would be good primer for C++ , as there similar in their syntax and program flow.

sorry but i don't know much about python.

[kyonides]

Re: What language should I learn?

Just in case you didn't know, follow my advice, don't ever try to develop a game based on ruby or something based on ruby... It still has no good support for graphics since it's more a command line based OOP language. Of course, there are some other add-ons like wxRuby, fxruby, Tk/Tcl and others that might let you create windows and menus and buttons, but the rest is still in development I think.

[kyonides]

Re: What language should I learn?

Just in case you didn't know, follow my advice, don't ever try to develop a game based on ruby or something based on ruby... It still has no good support for graphics since it's more a command line based OOP language. Of course, there are some other add-ons like wxRuby, fxruby, T and others that might let you create windows and menus and buttons, but the rest is still in development I think.

[gdoutch]

Re: What language should I learn?

if you know java, that would be good primer for C++ , as there similar in their syntax and program flow.

sorry but i don't know much about python.

Try doing this in a shell:

$python

then paste these lines in:

import sys
from PyQt4.QtCore import *
from PyQt4.QtGui import *
from PyQt4.QtWebKit import *
 
app = QApplication(sys.argv)
 
web = QWebView()
web.load(QUrl("[url]http://kubuntu.org"[/url]))
web.show()
 
sys.exit(app.exec_())

That's from http://techbase.kde.org/Development/...ebKit_Tutorial btw

In short, Python is a dynamic, interpreted language. It works cross platform and doesn't need to be compiled. It reads like psuedo code, meaning it's much easier to pick up old / someone else's code and figure out what's going on. It's great for scripting as well as making larger applications.

In terms of execution speed, it's much slower than C / C++ / Java, but for many applications that's hardly an issue. Developer productivity is usually more critical and the time it takes to solve problems using Python is usually much faster. If execution speed is an issue, it's great for prototyping the logic, which can then be re-written in a faster language. The tagline is "Python where we can, C++ where we must".

http://www.python.org/about

[cantab]

Re: What language should I learn?

Don't have the modules (cos I'm actually running (Gnome) Ubuntu, just still use these forums because I prefer them), but I take it that produces a web browser.

[gdoutch]

Re: What language should I learn?

Yeah, there's pyGTK for gnome:

http://www.pygtk.org

But I'm sure you can easy_install the modules you need anyway.