Python Book Must Have
Sunday, October 7th, 2007
Taking up some advice from Brian Green of Meridian 59, I bought some Python books (targeted towards game development) and started reading up on this relatively easy to learn language. I am still learning C++ as well, but it is good to know more than one language, and Python is being used more and more by commercial games (including Eve Online and even Stargate Worlds).
I am amazed at just how simple it is to program in Python. It is a language that is much closer to approximating the English language than say C++, no compiling to test (its an interpreted language), and things such as no need to declare variables, etc.
I have installed the latest version of Python (2.5.1 as of this writing) along with the latest version of PyGame, which includes SDL - an open source graphics library, and I am already writing little programs that can move sprites around the screen.
I would like to recommend an excellent book - Game Programming - The Express Line to Learning from Wiley. This book is an excellently written tome that will have you writing games in Python in no time. No previous programming knowledge is required. Even with what I know, I still find this book informative. It is easy to follow and gets you into the meat of 2D game programming very quickly. You can pick up a copy here:
Back in ‘the day’, as they say, there was a little game on the Commodore 64 called Elite. It was a vector graphics funhouse of space combat and drug running from star system to star system. Docking was manually done to the tune of the Blue Danube, and hours of my young life were wasted as I blasted and traded my way up the ranks of better ships and galactic infamy. Enter Eve Online, stage left. I’ve had my eyes on this game since it first came out. Could it be the Elite replacement I always yearned for? Could it recapture my love for space games the way Privateer did? For a long time, I avoided downloading the game. Now, here we are end of year 2006, and I finally gave in, installed the game, and forced myself to go through the incredibly long tutorial (I’ll get back to that shortly).