Video game programming is one of the most striking sectors for many users. Although creating a video game a few years ago was considered a very complicated task, today anyone with minimal knowledge can create their own game. In addition, the video game industry is one of the most important and one that generates the most money, so, for many, it is even a way out and a job opportunity, whether in a large company or independently.
The way of creating video games has changed a lot. What used to take hours of work and design can now be implemented very easily using an API. In addition, today there are tools that allow users to create their own games even without knowing programming.
As always, there is no perfect tool or programming language for creating video games. Each tool and each language have their advantages and disadvantages. And, therefore, in this article we are going to analyze what are the best alternatives that we can choose to start unleashing our imagination.
Programming languages to create video games
Although it is true that games have been created in the most unimaginable programming languages, if we really want our games to have a certain quality, certain professionalism and not be more complicated than we should, we must focus our development on one of the following languages.
In addition, we must bear in mind that the games are not programmed in plain text (unless we want to), but that thanks to the complete and simple programming IDEs this is done through scripts that are loaded in the programs that we will see later.
C ++
One of the most used programming languages in video game programming is C ++ . This programming language is object-oriented and among its main features is that, if we have programmed the scripts and all the code correctly, the execution time is very low, and allows developers to have control over the hardware, which is translates into much superior game performance.
C ++ has a fairly simple learning curve, and mastering it helps us learn to program in other languages. Most programming IDEs support this language, and it is also the most widely used to create large-scale games for PlayStation and Xbox.
C #
This is another of the favorite programming languages among video game programmers. C # is characterized by being easier to learn than C ++, but it is also somewhat more limited. This programming language is not as flexible and compatible as the previous one, but some engines, such as Unity, allow programming in it.
As with C ++, mastering this programming language can open many doors for us outside the world of video games, since in Windows environments it is one of the most widespread.
Java
Java is another of the most used programming languages in the world. This language is characterized by being multiplatform and having great flexibility, so we can do anything with it. At the level of utility and design it is similar to C ++, and thanks to the large number of frameworks for 3D development we can do everything with this programming language.
The problem with Java is that it runs inside your virtual machine, which implies a loss of performance when running games. Performance loss that, in other languages like C ++, does not exist.
JavaScript
JavaScript is also one of the most popular programming languages that we can find on the net. This language is well known and used within web development, so there are a lot of resources to help us make our ideas come true.
Many video game engines, such as Unity, officially support this programming language, so if we have experience with it we can use it to create all kinds of in-game scripts. In addition, it has a large number of libraries and frameworks designed for the creation of 3D programs, such as games.
Other programming languages
In addition, other programming languages can also be used to create video games. Brand languages, such as HTML5 and CSS3 , are also widely used when creating games, especially if we want them to be cross-platform and can be run within any web browser, regardless of the operating system.
Python is another great very flexible and cross-platform programming language. This programming language can be used for practically anything we need. And, of course, for the creation of video games it was not going to be less. Python has several frameworks focused precisely on game programming.
Programs and tools to create video games
We already know the best known programming languages used in game development, however, what software or tools do we need?
Depending on our knowledge, skills and the type of project that we are going to create we can choose some tools or others. For example, if we are thinking of creating a 3D game we must choose a powerful engine like CryEngine, Unity or Unreal Engine.
We can also find all kinds of programs and platforms on the net designed to allow us to easily create games, even with minimal programming knowledge.
RPGMaker, for example, is one of the most popular tools for creating all kinds of RPG games for PC, mobile and even consoles. GameMaker , on the other hand, is a much more complete and professional tool to also create all kinds of games, not just RPGs, but of any kind. This tool is more complete, and complicated, than RPGMaker.
Cocos 2D is another C ++ based graphics engine for creating all kinds of games. It is not as complete and powerful as the first engines, but it does outperform RPGMaker and GameMaker. As for difficulty of use, it is somewhere in between.
Of course, game development is not based solely on programming. We must also have all kinds of audiovisual resources that allow us to shape the game. For this it is necessary to resort to software such as Audacity, for audio recording, GIMP or Photoshop, for 2D photo retouching, and Blender for 3D design and modeling.
