Need help on how to start
Hi,
I'm quite new to Java game development, and I've got a project for college for which I have to write a game (this was my choice). My basic idea is something akin to chess, whereby you have two 'armies' against each other, playing on a grid, each with different types of pieces capable of different moves. I want to program an AI player who will hopefully learn while playing (i've read a little about machine learning, but not tons, so I'm not quite sure how that would work).
My problem is, I don't really know where to start with this. What do you suggest? Is there some very basic game template I can put together quickly to build on?
Any help is very much appreciated
Opethian
[722 byte] By [
Opethiana] at [2007-10-2 3:12:04]
If you're the type of person who's better served by jumping into something and just making mistakes the way through - start coding and don't look back :)
But if you want to structure it a bit, I'd suggest doing a bit of analasys on what your game is supposed to be. Write it down in basic concepts as to how a user might see the game and start seeing what you have to code. Determine all the classes and data in your program.
The next thing is to put that information aside and let it simmer in the back of your brain - it's time to practice!
Think about all the things your program is going to need to function and make "demos". I find making demos to be a very good way to get a handle on the syntax and best practice coding conventions. Once you're familiar enough with doing stuff in Java, turn back to your book and start looking at how you're going to put your ideas in motion.
Try not to concentrate too much on the visual. Personally, I'm going to start working on a game, and I may NEVER touch a piece of 2D code for a long time. I want to make a solid "back end" to my game first.
This is nice because efforts then are put into making enjoyable and smoothe gameplay.
hi,
thanks for your reply. i do want to structure it a bit, mostly because I need ot include artificial intelligence. that's really what the project is going to be about, the game will just show that the AI can make reasonably decisions based on its situation. I haven't coded AI before though, so I don't know how that'll fit in at all. Does anyone have any links, or good resources (books etc) as to how I can do this?
I've thought about the game elements a bit, I know roughly what I'm going to include. But my problem is still that I don't know how to stick it all together. Most of the things I've done so far have been input-output sort of things, not continuous interactivity.
opethian
on a side note, i've been using the eclipse IDE, which I think is great. One of my friends suggested IntelliJ - has anyone used it? sorry if I should have posted that elsewhere
