programming software

[Debbi]

What computer programming software would you use to create a Bible Trivia game on the internet or on CD-ROM? Something like Visual Basic or Perl? How hard is it to create a game with animation? I took computer classes in college but not programming but i could take a programming class if I knew which. Would Dream weaver work or is that the wrong kind?

Debbi

 

[Durelen]

Simplistic answer? You can do it fairly easy in javascript. You can even do Trivia games in Basic if you have not learned basic yet. You should always start with Basic if it's your first language.
I wrote a trivia script bot for use on IRC long ago which was fun to do, but there were no graphics of course.

Graphics are not too hard to work with. You would find it pretty easy working with graphics in Basic. At least we don’t need to program all our sprites by hand any longer with all the editors out there. You would not need to work with collision detection or anything like that so it would be pretty easy to add graphics to a trivia game.

For CD-ROM distribution? C/C++, VisualC++. C/C++ is a valuable language to know but it's not a beginners language. Some begin in C though.

And if you are aiming to sell your game then you need to get a compiler that is licensed for you to use for creating applications that can be sold for profit. Most compilers have a freeware or low cost version for non-profit projects but you must pay for a license or Professional version of the compiler if your project is for profit.

 

[Dominus Fidelis]

If its going on the Net you have a couple of choices...

1. Java Applet
2. Perl with some HTML

The easiest learning curve would probably be Perl, but you also need to have some knowledge of CGI processes in general, and some idea about web servers

 

[Durelen]

You did not mention if you wanted your game to be capable of being played online against others (multiplayer). There are no multiplayer options with Javascript. Java would be exclusively good for online multiplayer but it would be difficult to distribute a CD-ROM version for off line or network playing. You would also need to run a server for the game to work for anyone. Still a good choice though. It just depends on what your plan is.

I mention C because it’s a portable language that is widely used in the programming industry. It’s not only a fast language for games but it’s what they use to write operating systems and compilers with. You can write a game for windows and fairly easily make/port a Mac or UNIX version. You can also make it multiplayer over TCP/IP and do direct connection or server multiplayer if you want. There are lots of language choices concerning how to do this project of course.

Oh, and You don’t need to take a class to learn a language but of course it’s nice for advanced training and accreditation.

 

[MyLeaderisJesus]

Yes, MVS 6.0 is a great Programming Tool.

 

[Debbi]

What is MVS? I just wanted really to create something more like a shareware or simple Bible trivia game with some animation. I didn't want to sell the game, just want to be able to use some simple programming language stuff without having to take college algebra to do it or draw pseudo graphs either. I played with a little Visual Basic at college but don't know where they get the animation. Didn't want to do Colbal or Fortran or some really old programming stuff in DOS. what is Dreamweaver? So, Perl or C is best for learning simple programming games?

 

[Debbi]

How hard is it to start with a game with the idea of Jesus the Good Shepherd, looking for his lost sheep. some sheep get saved, some the lion (devil) gets them, some fall over a cliff and Jesus climbs down on a rope to get them. Can use the verses in John 10, maybe. At the end of the journey, the good sheep (people) go to heaven and Jesus welcomes them home. What programming software would be good to do it with? It's just an idea about a game I'd like to create.