Help finding the *RIGHT* tutorials???
BlitzMax Forums/BlitzMax Beginners Area/Help finding the *RIGHT* tutorials???
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| Hello. I'm completely new to programming. I was at Barnes and Noble about a month back however and found a copy of this book and thought I'd give it a shot since I've always been curious about making my own games. The book focuses on programming in Blitz Plus, so I tried it out until the free trial of blitz it came with expired. When it did my mother decided to suprize me and buy me a copy of blitz so I could keep playing around with it and the book. Problem is she got me BlitzMax instead of BlitzPlus. I've tried to tinker around with it some using code from the book but it seems there's quite a few inconsistancies between the 2 blitz languages and it constantly shot off one error message after another when I tried to run the example the book had me type up. Later, after looking in the max library, I ran across a file that was included in the ide that supposedly will allow it to run blitzplus and blitz3d code, but I can't seem to get it working for me. I still keep getting a bunch of errors any time I try to compile and run anything I've made. At this point I've pretty much given up on the book since nothing in it seems to work with BM, but I still want to figure this stuff out so I'm going to shift my focus to BlitzMax instead since it was already purchased for me. Considering that the "tutorials" that came included in blitzmax aren't exactly geared towards people new to programming, would anyone mind suggesting/pointing out a couple of the easier to understand "new people" type tutorials that are around here? O.o?? I already DLed version 10 of the beginner's guide, but if there's anything else like that out there, or I dunno like a BlitzMax for dummies type thing, I'd appreciate being pointed in that general direction. I did look around in the tut section for a while, but almost everything I saw there seemed to be geared for people that are already at least somewhat aquainted with programming in Max. :/ I dunno, maybe my search-fu is just off today? Anywho thanks in advance, and my apologies if I posted this in the wrong section. I did consider posting this in the tutorial area, but I wasn't sure if that was the right place to ask for help or not. |
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| Well, you could try Maneesh's other book for BlitzMax since you started there. |
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| This is a good start http://www.2dgamecreators.com/tutorials/gameprogramming/ You can find some documentation here http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/BlitzMax |
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| CGV: Was not aware that a newer version of the book was out dealing with the Max IDE. I'll pick up a copy next time I get some cash. Czar: Trying to work through the tutorials in the 1st link. Seems pretty decent so far. I'm not really sure what the value of the wiki link is, (reads more like a history lesson on Blitz than an actual knowledge base of what you can do/how to do things within the IDE) but I favorited the page just in case I ever need any of the info listed there. Thank you both very much. Appreciate the help finding this stuff. :D |
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| @DesTroll- I think there are a few tutorials that come with Max that are worth looking through. There's a lot of 'depth' available to you in Blitzmax via the modules (built in functions written in BlitzMax that you can call for all kinds of functionality). The important thing to realise as a newbie - and a mistake that so many people make- is to realise that you can program away to your heart's content without getting bogged down with a lot of these details. Forget using the converter to use code from other blitz languages. It's not very good and will just lead you to frustration. Good luck! |
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| best programming book that ive read, although it may have gone out of print? I hope not its a great read. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Games-Programming-Absolute-Beginner-Blitzmax/dp/0955377102 |
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| You can find an index of useful content here: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/BlitzMax/Modules Most of it is just lifted from the documentation though. |
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| IMHO, the Maneesh Sethi book is not very good. The other one might be better - I haven't read it. The most helpful stuff I found was Wave's guide, and Assari's tutorials. The other thing that can really help is to ask questions here on the forums. You'll almost always get a very helpful response. BlitzMax is a great language and especially good for first-time programmers, I think. I spent a long time trying to get somewhere with programming and I kept feeling that I just wasn't able to do it, until I tried BlitzMax - it's still hard, but because it makes it so easy to get stuff on the screen and moving around, it really encourages you to keep trying and in the end that's all that's needed. (Same could be said of GameMaker, but BlitzMax is much more of a "real programming" environment than GM is). |
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| Unfortunately, my book is out of print at the moment. I've been busy at my full-time job and it's not been possible to run the book and the full-time job together. I still have a couple of physical copies and I'm toying with the idea of releasing an ebook (pdf..?) version of the book. |
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| Sloan, an ebook would be great. Been hunting for a copy of your book for a while. :) |
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| I would very much like to see an ebook too! |
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| I would be more inclined to pickup e-books. You could let it sell it's self on ebay and collect the cash at the end of each month and go buy a sports car. |
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| hehe I wish :) I actually made a loss selling the books (believe it or not) self-published does not pay the bills!! -- Just had a thought that these posts might be construed (sp) as offensive given the forum name. Apologies to anyone who thinks I'm trolling, just genuinely trying to help out. |
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| @ Sloan I don't see anything offensive! Would you ever be willing to part with one of your physical copies? And if not, what do you think the chances are that you'll ever release a pdf version? It sounds just like what I'm looking for.. Very curious to see what all the praise is about! |
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| @ Sloan Just resurrected your old thread about the book... Is there anywhere I can get a copy of the source code these days? I started going through the book again and realised I no longer had the code! |
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| @Sloan - you say you've still got a few physical copies about. Can I buy one directly from you? Nowhere on the web seems to have it. |
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| The web site is, unfortunately long gone. Luckily I kept a copy though. So if anyone wants the source code I've uploaded it http://hotfile.com/dl/57275143/02747e7/CompleteSourceCode.zip.html I have virus checked it, but the usual "downloader beware" warning is coming next. There are a few more bits of source code not included in the book - they fell through the cracks, and they're included in the full zip file. -- WARNING -- Anything you download from the internet can potentially contain harmful material. You should perform a thorough virus check on any file. I, Sloan Kelly, cannot be held responsible for any damage that this file may cause. -- END WARNING -- Edit: Thank you Gfk! Changed 'harmless' to 'harmful'. |
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| @lesslucid I'll try and set something up. I have 4 physical copies of the book left. |
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| Anything you download from the internet can potentially contain harmless material You mean harmful, surely? |
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| @gfk Whoops.... Yes. It's 50/50. It's either going to be harmful or not :D I'll edit the post -- thanks!! |
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| @Sloan - Have you considered publishing your book on the Amazon Kindle, and other ebook readers. No issues with them going out of print that way. |
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| @Sloan - thanks! I'm sorry to hear that you managed to sell all your copies and still didn't make money on it. I've just been reading Bertrand Russell's autobiography and he talks about the fact that he and Whitehead worked on Principia Mathematica for 10 years and, since the publishers wouldn't touch it unless he promised to cover their losses, they ended up paying 50 pounds apiece so it could be published. So you're in good company at least. :) Anyway, physical copy or ebook or in whatever format, I'm happy to pay for a copy. My email address is guyhungerford at gmail, so when you're ready, let me know. :) |
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| @ Sloan I'm also interested in a copy for sale in any format.. will continue to watch these forums! |
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| me too please :) |
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| @Sloan Thanks for the code again! @All I have both books (I got the new 3rd edition one to see if it helped to have a different perspective) and Sloan's is by far the best! I am sorry to hear that the book cost you money it was without a doubt the most useful thing I have bought when it came to teaching me the basics of game programming! |
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