29 replies to this topic

[RavenNL]

A relevant Coursera course I got notified of today:


I'm writing to you because you've registered for online courses from Stanford in the past. I wanted to introduce you to a course coming this January.
Join me in the second public offering of my popular course, Introduction to Databases. In Fall 2011, tens of thousands of students joined Introduction to Databases when it was offered as one of Stanford's three inaugural MOOCs. If you missed it then, here's your chance to take the course, once again offered free to the public. Materials have been improved and expanded since the original offering, and the course will be hosted by Stanford's open-source online platform, Class2Go.
Why learn about databases? Databases are incredibly prevalent -- they underlie technology used by most people every day if not every hour. Databases reside behind a huge fraction of websites; they're a crucial component of telecommunications systems, banking systems, video games, and just about any other software system or electronic device that maintains some amount of persistent information. In addition to persistence, database systems provide a number of other properties that make them exceptionally useful and convenient: reliability, efficiency, scalability, concurrency control, data abstractions, and high-level query languages.
This ten-week public course covers database design and the use of database management systems for applications. It includes extensive coverage of the relational model, relational algebra, and SQL. It also covers XML data including DTDs and XML Schema for validation, and the query and transformation languages XPath, XQuery, and XSLT. The course includes database design in UML, and relational design principles based on dependencies and normal forms. Many additional key database topics from the design and application-building perspective are also covered: indexes, views, transactions, authorization, integrity constraints, triggers, on-line analytical processing (OLAP), JSON, and emerging NoSQL systems.
Working through the entire course provides comprehensive coverage of the field, but most of the topics are also well-suited for "a la carte" learning.
The course does not assume prior knowledge of any specific topics, however a solid computer science foundation -- a reasonable amount of programming, as well as knowledge of basic computer science theory -- will make the material more accessible.
Introduction to Databases begins January 15, 2013. Find out more and register here: http://db.class2go.stanford.edu
Sincerely,
Jennifer Widom
Professor and Department Chair
Stanford University

[Lt. Venom]

I will check out Python. In the mean time, whats a good art program to use for designing visuals for more complex games. (I want to learn the art program while coding so when I get far enough, I can use both right away.)

Niddro, on 06 December 2012 - 07:10 AM, said:

Lt. Venom, on 06 December 2012 - 03:12 AM, said:

Just not chemistry, fuck chemistry.

Watch it man, I'm a chemical engineer =P

Then get over here to America so I can sodomize you with a cactus while you explain the chemical make-up of said sodomizing cactus. Then I will, by demonstration as needed, explain the physics involved with fitting spiny plant A into tiny, tight hole B.

I'm just kidding you, of course, I don't want to subject an unwilling cactus to that kind of torture. But seriously, chemistry sucks. Why would I want to write 4 pages of math just to get a single number. I mean physics doesn't go that far.

[DieHardBastionFan]

Hey, since we are on it, I might as well chime in.

I agree with everyone that recommends Python, here's a pretty handy pdf http://inventwithpyt...OCGwP_book1.pdf . It's aimed at people just getting started with programming, but it includes a lot of examples, and it teaches you how to use Pygame.

I also wanted to ask those who know about Java: I want to develop Android games. I have Eclipse and the Android SDK all set up. But as I understand it, you need to code in Java, which I don't really know how. Is that correct, or can I code in other languages?

[RavenNL]

DieHardBastionFan, on 07 December 2012 - 04:04 AM, said:

Hey, since we are on it, I might as well chime in.

I agree with everyone that recommends Python, here's a pretty handy pdf http://inventwithpyt...OCGwP_book1.pdf . It's aimed at people just getting started with programming, but it includes a lot of examples, and it teaches you how to use Pygame.

I also wanted to ask those who know about Java: I want to develop Android games. I have Eclipse and the Android SDK all set up. But as I understand it, you need to code in Java, which I don't really know how. Is that correct, or can I code in other languages?

Yes, that is correct. However, I do recommend looking at http://www.coronalabs.com/ first. It's a cross-compiler for both Android and iOS that uses a C-wrapper (from what I read) to keep performance as good as possible. This is because you write your applications in Lua. I used it for a good year and it's pretty versatile. You can compare the development process to Flash. The biggest downside is Lua, which is (imho) going 10 years backwards. It has no formal OOP concepts, but there are a ton of tricks around a bunch of stuff. On the other hand, it also has a few fun options.

It's free to use until you want to start publishing your applications, which I think is a fair compromise. You can have your first game done over the weekend

[RavenNL]

Lt. Venom, on 07 December 2012 - 03:33 AM, said:

I will check out Python. In the mean time, whats a good art program to use for designing visuals for more complex games. (I want to learn the art program while coding so when I get far enough, I can use both right away.)

I'm assuming you mean just regular 2D art - in that case Photoshop is still the undethroned king.

For 3D, the options are endless. I only fooled around with Maya in the past, but a popular free open source option is Blender. If you want to render landscapes check out Bryce 3D or Terragen, they can both make some pretty stunning backdrops. Water, mountains, trees, sunsets, etc. The whole shebang.

If you are from the Netherlands, then I can link you to some professional game making workshops a friend of mine makes, but those aren't cheap (think buying a new TV-priced) but are given by industry professionals. I don't want to publicly advertise it here (for the record, I'm not making any money of it myself, I just happen to know the guy that created the concept), so you can PM me for that, if you want.

[RavenNL]

Sorry for the mass posting. I suppose I like the subject

For game development in general, you really should check out:

www.gamedev.net
www.gamasutra.com

The latter is a mostly professional industry resource with a lot of whitepapers and such. If math turns you one, there is plenty for you to find there as well - related to game development.

[Lt. Venom]

Math does NOT turn me on.

[RavenNL]

Lt. Venom, on 08 December 2012 - 01:01 AM, said:

Math does NOT turn me on.

Hey, I don't judge!

[Papitoz]

Why not learn how to make apps? May take some time to learn but it'll keep you busy and if your game is good you could make a fair amount of pennies out of it

[Hadley88]

Go and watch SC2! The best sports on the planet, I watch more SC2 than I play games. No better hobby than that.

www.teamliquid.net