gaming languages

[DarkMonarch]

hey guys,

i`m still a marketer for the year to come, then i`m throwing away the tie. I want to invent stuff, help people ... have a job that i have fun doing.

so i`m recycling myself into programming and for next semester i need to make a choice to specialize myself in one of the languages offered in my University courses.

That would be Java, C++ or C#

i`m an addict gamer, played rpg, 1st person shooter, startegies, LOL even the boring Sims series.(no offense to those who like it, personnal opinion) so why not go that way.

i`m just wondering what are the main languages used in the gaming industry ?
i`ve look around and saw that EA and Ubisoft are using C# alot and i know that the android platform is using java.

the future job i will maybe looking for is more with the 3d engin, AI, anything that is programming.

and no i won`t limit myself to those languages, python looks popular for online apps, just want to make a good choice for a solid fondation for a fresh startup. i`m aiming the gaming industry, but who knows where the future brings us. been in the IT industry for the past 15 years, maybe some contacts will have a job for me, but i rather change everything. that offer will be my last resort.

anyways, any suggestion ? any of you guys work for a gaming company ? where did you start?

thx

Dark

[deviantghost]

I don't work for any game companies but i have developed my own little game before with a legit game engine I used Unity which is free to download it uses java as its programming language.I would highly suggest looking up what companies such as bungie or blizzard use to create their games because different game engines use different programming languages hope this helps just a side note if you learn C++ it will help you allot in the future if you are to continue programming in university.
here is a link for the unity 3d game engine
http://unity3d.com/unity/download/
I would highly suggest to start with Unity you can import different models from 3ds studio max and multiple other animation software
hope this was helpful if you have any questions about 3d modeling or creating a virtual environment send me a message.

[phoenix_2000]

Depends on a lot of factors: casual if you want to make casual games, unity (and thus java) might be a good start.
However, i've never heard of a "hard-core" game made with those simple engines, they are made with proprietary engines
like the unreal 3 engine, the cryengine or frostbite engine. the first one can be used freely for non-commercial use in the form of the UDK (unreal development kit),
and the second one comes with the game Crysis (2)

Those engines have their own specializations: i believe the UDK uses a modified version of c.
I assume you want to write engines however: what coding languages are being used differs from studio to studio and i wouldn't be suprised if the used a combination (for performance reasons).
The most used languages i hear off for game development are c++ and c#, but them being both an evolution upon C, i imagine it isn't hard to learn one if you know the other.

Java i'd use for cross-platform (windows, linux, mac) games, and android games (android == java)
but for the hard-core windows games, both C languages look good.

maybe you could mail some companies, ask what they are using? also, maybe your teachers can help you make the choice.