Noob looking for help!

[Lemmington]

Hi guys!

Here's the deal, I'm practically a complete stranger to programming but i would really love to know how to. I do realize that this might actually require some effort on my part, but hey I think I'm up for the challenge!

So here's the deal, I told my friend that I wanted to pick up programming and he told me that first of all I should consider what it was I wanted to create.
I thought about it for a while and then decided that I would like to create a small mini-game. Nothing to fancy or too ambitious, though i'd still want it to pose as somewhat of a challenge. He then referred me to this site and thus began the lurking.

I've now been lurking for a while using this forum as well as google in order to find a suitable way for me to learn how to use LUA and get to know what programming really is but so far I have been unable to find anything useful (but hey maybe I'm just blind).

I have found very few free guides, and those I've found all focus on different things. I've tried reading them all severals times, but i still can't code anything at all, i don't even know what they mean by "print" (though I assume that it's some kind of way to "execute" the code you just wrote)

It all boils down to a few questions:
1. How did you learn LUA and what would you have done differently?
2. Do you know any good places to learn how to script LUA? I'd even be willing to pay some cash for a really good, extensive guide.
3. Is LUA even what I'd want to be getting into?

Thank you in advance internet, I have faith in you!

PS. I'm sorry if my english is a bit rusty and I'm also new to this whole forum-community thing so please bare with any noobish misstakes.

[TechnoCat]

You could try starting here and just running with it: http://love2d.org/wiki/Getting_Started
Followed by this: http://love2d.org/wiki/Tutorial:Hamster_Ball
and then this: http://love2d.org/wiki/Tutorial:Callback_Functions

The main answer you'll get is PiL though.

[Lafolie]

I'd say that Lua is a decent enough language to get into. It's pretty simple. While that won't teach you the all various complexities involved in programming, it will teach you the joy of programming with it's more gentle learning curve and large sense of reward - it's easy to get something going in Love. I think the Hello World example is 3 lines of code, which will get you a window drawn in OSX, Windows or Linux complete with text output. And we're not talking command-line prompts or whatever! An actual window ready for drawing operations. It's pretty amazing how simple it is to operate.

I personally got into Lua because of Löve. I've used Java, JS, ActionScript (ugh) and bunch of other stuff before, so the transition wasn't too difficult. I'm self-taught and it's taken a long time to get into the programming mindset. But then, I'm more of a right-brained person so there's a bias there.

Anyway, if I ever need to refresh my memory on a particular Lua function, a quick Googley always does the trick. I usually search "Lua [method]" or "Lua [concept]" and to be honest, the I'm Feeling Lucky button would probably be alright! It's as simple as that. There's the PiL, which can be difficult to read for a newcomer, but there are plenty of Lua tutorials knocking about on the internets. If you can get a grasp of functions, variables and flow control (if, or, while e.t.c.) then you're away.

One of your first stops should be the Löve wiki. Once you've read up a little and have had a few little experiments I'd suggest grabbing an IRC client and jumping on there for a bit, it's pretty fun and there are lots of people willing to have discussions and show off their knowledge (ha). Plus, you often get to sample games BEFORE they get posted anywhere else, which is not only fun but it's a chance to get involved in the community and also to get some (sometimes) working projects full of examples of what (not) to do when working on your own games.

If there's something you're struggling with that you might consider "noobish", chances are there's already a forum thread on it somewhere, so a quick search can go a long way too.

[Lemmington]

Thank you guys, this means a lot!

I will get started right away and thanks for the fast replies!

Oh god... I'm falling in love with a website....

[TheKraigose]

I'm a newbie to the forum as well! I hope you enjoy your stay, regardless.

Here's a tip about Lua - it's really easy to get into, and with love2d, it's really powerful once you get used to some quirks. I recommend the best way, as I did, is to dive in.

A tip - comment often - specifically at the top of each function or each lua file. This will help you remember what function does what in detail. It may seem weird but trust me, it's good practice

Love2D is by far the very coolest, simplest yet powerful game engine I've seen. In less than a week I got an alpha-test of my Love2D game running. And I was a complete newbie to Lua/Love2D too. (But not programming in general)

The catch is: persistence. Do not give up even if you get stumped. Keep motivating yourself to keep going, and act on that, and you will solve whatever problem you stumble on.

I started out by drawing a PNG image and rotating it. That's all I wanted to do. Then I worked on getting it to do other things. Then it went on and on until one of my projects could be actualized with this engine/framework.

I'm sorry if I'm rambling, but I know how it is to not know where to start. I wish you luck with your Love2Ding.

[Robin]

By the way, if you're not familiar with the PIL Nevon referred to, you can find it here.

i don't even know what they mean by "print" (though I assume that it's some kind of way to "execute" the code you just wrote)

Back in the day, computers didn't have monitors. If you wanted the answer of a calculation, you let the computer literally print it on a piece of paper. Later, when monitors with simple text-only communication arrived, the term "print" was kept, even up to today, where we have love.graphics.print, to put some text on the screen.

As for the absolute basics of programming, I suggest you learn them before getting started with LÖVE. If you're able to write small programs like the Fibonacci function, or a small text only game or something, you can start much more easily with LÖVE, since writing even a simple game can be overwhelming if you are not yet familiar with the basics.

[TechnoCat]

As for the absolute basics of programming, I suggest you learn them before getting started with LÖVE. If you're able to write small programs like the Fibonacci function, or a small text only game or something, you can start much more easily with LÖVE, since writing even a simple game can be overwhelming if you are not yet familiar with the basics.

The first game I made was on my TI-83 titanium. It was Guess the number. It randomly generated a number from 1-100 and you guessed, it would tell you if you were too low or high, then when you got it, it told you how many tries it took.

[Robin]

The first game I made was on my TI-83 titanium. It was Guess the number. It randomly generated a number from 1-100 and you guessed, it would tell you if you were too low or high, then when you got it, it told you how many tries it took.

Very good suggestion.

[nevon]

By the way, if you're not familiar with the PIL Nevon referred to, you can find it here.

As for the OP, just dive in and try. Once you manage to draw a picture on the screen, try making it move around. Once you can do that, see if you can make it play a sound when you press a certain button. Once that's done, you're well on your way to making a space shooter. You're going to get stuck, that's just a fact of life, but when you do, there are all kinds of (sometimes overly) friendly people in our IRC channel #love on freenode that can help you out.

[Robin]

Oh, right. Must've mixed up something. Sorry for falsely accusing you.