Hello. I'm blink aka wize1. I've been playing RPG games ever since I was 5. I'm 27 now and I've got a strong hankering to try and create my own RPG!

I've started reading a c++ programming book (it's a little too advanced for me), doing tutorials, analyzing source codes, downloading softwares-- but I'm still struggling. I'm looking for someone who can work one-on-one with me and help me get started on the right path.

Add me on skype, my email is [email protected] and my username is the same

If you knew anything in Basic, I could help you translate from Basic to Quest...
Then we would learn together... (I'm new with Quest, but worked with Basic since 1981, or so)
Besides reading other people's code, which could be more confusing than a can of worms,
Is to start simple...
Step 1:
You know RPG, make a map with several connecting rooms, maybe one from one of your games...
Just a player room mover where the player moves from room to room...
(I'm more of a code viewer than a user interface operator... so...)
look at your creation both in the UI and code view...
make changes, break it, fix it... learn it...

Step 2 to follow...

What does "Basic" mean?

Basic is a programming language that first came about in the mid 1970s--a port of the language is actually how Microsoft made it big. It's a fairly good beginner's language but isn't super used industry-wise (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about that).

I would learn JavaScript as it's really unintimidating and there's a ton of great resources available. If you decide to go down that path, you can hit me up at [email protected] with questions.

hey blink, I'd be glad to help you, though I'm not to interested in using skype (though it does have IM which makes it easy to communicate - definately wouldn't do voice/video though, lol) nor email. But, if you don't mind, I can help you here. Make a thread (or we can use this one), and I'll help you with learning to program.

I've been playing RPGs even longer, laughs. I too wanted to learn to program and make my own RPGs (I'm working on a skyrim-like rpg with quest... not making much progress though, laughs). I found quest 5 years ago, and learned to program from quest and the people here who've helped me (Jay especially). I'm now taking programming school classes, and had a really easy time with the first classes (basic scripting/learning the programming languages), which surprised me at how well quest helped me with learning programming. Though, I'm struggling a bit with the next classes as they involve stuff that I've not been learning from quest for the past 5 years.

Anyways, also, I can help you with learning: C++ (I use Visual Studio), Java, Python (slightly), and MASM32 (assembly language) (slightly), though, it's been awhile for some of them... I'll have to refresh on some of them, lol.

Also, I'd recommend downloading notepad++ ( https://notepad-plus-plus.org/ ), it's a very good (and free) text editor for coding (reading, writing, and troubleshooting), ask if you need help with how to use it (mainly just at the menu bar at the top, you click on 'languages' and select the programming language, you're coding for, and it'll color code the lines for you. It also has a lot of useful editing features and etc that I need to learn more of, lol.

also, this is a really useful software download site (has some programming software, as well as other software):

https://ninite.com/

and there's also lots of online programming sites, such as 'codecademy' ( https://www.codecademy.com/ ), and/or their coding forums. There's also 'Udemy' (though I've not tried it yet)

wiki history of programming languages:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_programming_languages

Fortran, Basic, Pascal, Logo ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logo_(programming_language) ), MSDoS, COBOL, VB (Visual Basic), etc etc etc

@ benergize, I would correct you, but you may be right... LOL...
But any language a person learns can become powerful...
But I would agree, like Fortran, COBOL, Assembly, they each had their day...
I guess Java and JavaScript is the new Basic...

The 'big 3' (general/main) programming languages are:

C++, Java, and Python

also there's:

C, C# (C Sharp), etc

online:

JS (JavaScript), HTML, HTTL, XML, etc

and obviously there's tons more (such as for mobile devices, servos: robotics, etc etc), but I don't really know too much of them...

here's some links on BASIC:

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/BASIC_Programming
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASIC

The easiest way to start learning Quest is to just dive right in making a game. You could write a game from start to finish using the graphical editor and then keep looking under the hood in code view to see how the changes you made affect it. Then you eventually find working in code view easier and start poking at more advanced stuff. That's how I learned anyway.

Quest has its own language which won't be transferable to anything else. So not the best route to start learning a specific language although the logic will be transferable to some other languages.

Sorry. not interested in making my programming questions public. Email me or add me on skype for IM if truly interested in helping.

I learned Basic by buying game books with type in basic games...
With the internet, typing in the games is bypassed...
So now it's download it, play it, look at the code, change it
usually results in breaking it, fix it, and learn something.
And repeat until your changes don't break it...

"Sorry. not interested in making my programming questions public. Email me or add me on skype for IM if truly interested in helping."

Not sure how much joy you'll get requesting personal tuition given most people are busy with their own stuff.

The best way to learn is to get stuck into something then ask questions when you get stuck.

For the advantage of everyone here, ask in public. Also, with more people to see the question, you can get better answers.
Besides, someone else may have the same question...

They're frightened we might steal their game idea. Lol

That's the problem with an open source environment... What's to keep me from looking at the code and using the idea anyway???
I will admit, playing a game here or there, then thinking, with a tweak here, a change there, I could do better...
But, who would play another game that is a 98% copy of someone else's???
But, pull a idea form one game, add it to a piece from another, grab the NPC dialog code from another, place it into the game I'm working on, and I could short cut the coding by not struggling with the nuts and bolts of working out a problem that someone else already solved.
Right now, I've got 2 ideas sitting on the back burner, both original, and hopefully, epic...

the main thing that makes interactive fiction work is the writing.

I've seen many a game win plaudits when the writing is good but programming weak. Never when the programming is strong but the writing is weak.

So nobody can steal your idea. We already know how to program better than you, otherwise why ask for advice?

But we don't know your story and never can.

This thread is hilarious.

It is now you've arrived.

Silver!! She said hilarious, NOT pathetic!

Just kidding, Marzipan! ;)

Uh, there's an entire board here dedicated to sharing libraries and codes and another specifically for coding questions. And IF games, regardless of the program used, are structured pretty similarly and rely on so many standardized commands.

So yes, this thread is funny. I just imagine someone not wanting to play a game because the code involving typing N to move north was OBVIOUSLY stolen from another game, did you think I wouldn't notice, come on. :[

If anyone wants to steal X3 from me and finish it, I'd be most appreciative!

You really need to finish that one. Think of the humiliation you'll face if I finish a WIP before you do.

It's also possible to steal ideas via private communications. Have they considered that possibility, huh?

OR... look at the flipside...
You come up with (you think) a great character generator...
Would you be upset someone copied your idea...
or...
proud that your idea was good enough that someone else wanted to use it???

sorry - ideas can't be copywritten. ;P