How do i learn and become a computer / video game programmer?

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Liz M.

I am a junior in high school and love video games. I am very precise and work well alone. For all these reasons i am interested in possibly pursuing a career in computer / video game programming. But first i need to learn how? I would love any suggestions on maybe a good online class i can take to get me started. Then ideas on how to make it my career. What would be the best way to get a job as a programmer? and how?

Answer
For one, I recommend AGAINST Eli's advice. You will not learn game programming by using the "Easy Routes". If you want to be able to make memory efficient, fast, satisfying games you should look into other methods. (If you ever want to be anything but a hobbyist programmer you HAVE to learn actual programming. Good luck getting a job if your resume only includes "Unity3D" ;D)

My Recommendation:
1: Learn a programming language (C and/or C++)
2: Learn the Windows API (Mainly for tools creation, but minimally for game programming)
3: Learn a Graphics API (DirectX and/or OpenGL)
4: Make EASY games until you are comfortable with the languages/APIs and how they work together (This will teach you the fundamentals of your programming language and graphics API of choice, how they work together, and teach you game related devices required for larger projects such as handling the game loop. This will also make learning to write proper code easier to learn because the scale of the game will be smaller, and therefore easier to manage)
5: Keep creating programs and/or games that are of your skill level, with a few newly added features. Introduce yourself to new topics slowly. Successfully creating a Pong clone is going to aid you a LOT more than failing to create a successful MMORPG.
6: If you enjoy programming, enroll in a college for Software Engineering/Computer Science. Make sure they have classes for Object Oriented Programming and things like that. If you learned a language already in High School, you will have a head start on college, so either way it will be beneficial to start now.

Also, you must work well as a team as well as alone. If you join a game company you will be working with a team and most likely working on code you did not even initially create. Blizzard didn't create World of Warcraft by paying only one man, you know! If you want to be a one man team you will need to expand your knowledge incredibly. You will need to learn how to create, rig, animate, texture models... how to create sound effects, background music... how to program the game (which seems to be what you are after)... and MUCH more. (Nothing is impossible, but as a one man team you will need to rely on releasing Indie games and hope they do well. If they do, you could be a rich, rich human being! If they don't, you might want to sign up for food stamps!)

Good luck! It's actually a lot of fun aside from chasing bugs and memory leaks, but you will not care when you have a finished project. It's just so satisfying ;D Just never forget, technology is swiftly evolving, and Game Programming is like playing a musical instrument. You are never "Finished learning".

PS-
Look into C++ Primer Plus Fifth Edition. It's a great book to learn C++.
As for IDE's to start developing with? It is completely your decision but I recommend Visual Studio 2010 Express Edition OR Bloodshed Dev-C++. You only need one, and Visual Studio is far superior, but Dev-C++ is sufficient until you get into programming graphics (Learning C++ initially will be Console Window based, and therefore a bare-bones IDE will suffice)

How many home gaming consoles have been released to date?

Bill

Not counting portable consoles (Game Boy, Game Gear, Virtual Boy, etc.,) how many home game consoles have been released since the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972?

Now for brownie (best answer) points, can you list them all?
The PC/MAC does not count, but systems like Commodore 64 do count.
Handhelds don't count because the asker (me) is only interested in home consoles. :P

Answer
Magnavox Odyssey 1972 1
Philips Odyssey 1976
Pong 1976 Atari Inc. Arcade
Atari 2600 1977
Bally Astrocade 1977
Color TV Game 6 (Japan Only) 1977 Nintendo
Color TV Game 15 (Japan Only) 1978 Nintendo
Color TV Racing 112 (Japan Only) 1978 Nintendo
Interton VC 4000 1978
Magnavox Odyssey 1978 Magnavox / Philips
Channel F System II 1979 Fairchild
APF Imagination Machine 1979 APF
Bandai Super Vision 8000 1979 Bandai
Computer TV Game (Japan Only) 1980 Nintendo
Intellivision 1980 Mattel
PlayCable 1981 Mattel
CreatiVision 1981 VTech
Epoch Cassette Vision 1981
Atari 5200 1982
ColecoVision 1982
Commodore MAX Machine 1982
Entex Adventure Vision 1982
Vectrex 1982
Atari 2800 / Sears Video Arcade II (Japan Only)
Intellivision II 1983 Mattel
Atari 2600 Jr. 1986
Coleco Gemini (Atari 2600 hardware clone) ~1982
* Consoles of the early 1970s, such as Pong and Magnavox Odyssey were often inaccurately called "analog" but actually discrete logic circuits.

Third generation (1980â1989)
MSX 1983 Microsoft Japan console / Home Computer
RDI Halcyon 1985 RDI Video Systems console
Super Cassette Vision 1984 Epoch console
Commodore 64GS 1990 Commodore console
PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 1987 NEC console
Atari 7800 1986 Atari Corporation console
Sega SG-1000 1983 Sega console
Sega SG-1000 II 1984 Sega console
Sega Master System, Sega Mark III 1985 Sega console
Sega Master System II 1992 Sega console
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) / Famicom 1983 Nintendo
Famicom Disk System (Japan Only) 1986 Nintendo console add-on
Action Max 1987 Worlds of Wonder console
Amstrad GX4000 1990 Amstrad console

Fourth generation (1989â1994)
Sega Mega Drive / Sega Genesis 1989 Sega console
Sega Mega Drive II Sega console
Sega Genesis II (North America Only) 1994[6] Sega console
Sega Genesis 3 (Americas) 1998 Sega console
Mega CD / Sega CD 1992 Sega console add-on
Sega Genesis 32X / Sega Mega Drive 32X / Sega Super 32X 1994 Sega console add-on
JVC X'eye / The Wondermega Sega / JVC console
TurboGrafx-16 1989 NEC console
TurboGrafx-CD NEC console
TurboExpress 1990 NEC Handheld
SuperGrafx 1989, Japan NEC console
Neo-Geo 1990 SNK console / Arcade
Neo-Geo CD 1994 SNK console
Neo-Geo CDZ 1994 SNK console
Memorex VIS 1992 Memorex
Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) / Super Famicom 1991
SNES 2 / Super Famicom Jr. 1997 Nintendo console
Super Game Boy 1994, U.K. Nintendo console add-on
Super Game Boy 2 1998 Nintendo console add-on
CD-i 1991 Philips console / Media player
Super A'Can 1995 Funtech console

Fifth generation (1993â1998
Virtual Boy 1995 Nintendo console
Apple Pippin 1995 Bandai console
Atari Jaguar 1993 Atari Corporation console
Atari Jaguar CD 1995 Atari Corporation console add-on
Atari Jaguar II canceled Atari Corporation console
PlayStation 1995 Sony console
PS one 2000 Sony console
Sega Saturn 1995 Sega console
3DO 1993 Panasonic / Sanyo / GoldStar console
Amiga CD32 1993 Commodore console
Casio Loopy 1995 Casio console
FM Towns Marty 1991 Fujitsu console
Pioneer LaserActive 1993 Pioneer console
Playdia 1994 Bandai console
Nintendo 64 1996 Nintendo console
Nintendo 64DD 1999 Nintendo console add-on

Sixth generation(1998â2004)
Dreamcast 1998 Sega console
Nintendo GameCube 2001
PlayStation 2 2000
PlayStation 2 Slimline 2004
PSX (DVR) 2003
Xbox 2001 Microsoft console

Seventh generation
PlayStation 3 2006
PlayStation 3 Slim 2009
Wii 2006 Nintendo
Xbox 360 2005
Xbox 360 S 2010

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Title Post: How do i learn and become a computer / video game programmer?
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