Programming video games in Java - Easy?

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

12/20/2010 02:09:04 PM · #1

I'm wondering about picking up a new, cheap hobby.

My wife was playing a game this weekend called "Plants Versus Zombies". I'm guessing it's written in Java, served up as an applet by a website. I don't know, I'm no expert.

How hard, in your opinion, would it be to learn to the point of being able to create simple video games such as Plants Versus Zombies?

Where is a good place to start the learning process? I've done some programming courses way back in high school and university.. Basic, Pascal, Fortran. I spent some time learning Perl(???) on the fly, tweaking Web apps which were receiving credit card payments back in 2000.

Software costs to edit/run/serve the applets?

Just thinking....

Thanks for any opinions. :-)

JaimeVinas

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

12/20/2010 02:15:06 PM · #2

Hey Slippy,
You should be able to do it with ease.

However you might want to start with a smaller game

You will find yourself spending most of your time in design an testing than constructio
Of the game

A strong design and plan will make it easier to code

Mike

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Canon Mount

12/20/2010 02:44:27 PM · #3

if it were me i'd look into developing games for the iphone/android os

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

12/20/2010 03:01:04 PM · #4

Originally posted by mike_311:

if it were me i'd look into developing games for the iphone/android os

That's Java as well, isn't it?

JaimeVinas

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

12/20/2010 04:30:09 PM · #5

Originally posted by Strikeslip:

Originally posted by mike_311:
if it were me i'd look into developing games for the iphone/android os

That's Java as well, isn't it?

No, The iphone apps use a language called Cocoa. Its basically a C++ language.
//developer.apple.com/technologies/mac/cocoa.html

12/20/2010 04:53:01 PM · #6

Hmmm...

Is there a language, or software within which to write programs, which can port to any/several popular languages? Does that even make sense?