I don't know of any platformer tutorials, but here's a pong one if it helps. http://www.adamzap.com/blog/?cat=5 I don't want to discourage you from using pyglet/python for this (and I'd love to see a platformer written with pyglet), but if the kid isn't that interested in programming so much as the end result, you might try using GameMaker. The free version is fairly full-featured, easy to use and can teach some basic programming. It's also designed with platformers in mind. The downside being it's not free software, only runs on Windows and won't teach anything other than its own scripting language. I gave up on it because I couldn't get a handle on some of its idiosyncrasies (and wanted to learn a real language, write cross-platform software, etc), but plenty of people have made some excellent games with it.
Joel On Nov 30, 12:59 pm, lawpoop <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hello everyone - > > I've been asked to help mentor an 11-year-old who's interested in > learning programming, specifically video game programming. He went to > a video game camp this past summer, and astutely realized they weren't > doing "real" programming. From what he told me, it sounds like they > were using some WYSIWYG modding for an FPS engine. > > Anywho, we've met once, and from what I gleaned, he wants to write a > platformer, ala Mario Brothers. He says he wants to learn c++, because > "that's the video game language". He has a Mac laptop because his mom > was nice enough to buy him one, but he doesn't want to use it, since > "everyone uses Windows, even though it sucks". So he has a practical > streak in him ;) As far as this game he wants to write, he's told me > that the character will have a whip. > > I've decide for now that python is the best way to go ( I don't know c > or c++ ) , since we won't have to deal with memory errors, licensing > fees and platform dependence. Specifically, we are going to use > Pyglet. > > I'm trying to figure the easiest way to get him to the payoff zone -- > playing a video game , or part of a video game, that he wrote -- with > doing the least amount of programming for now. I'm not sure he's so > interested in programming, but rather having a more powerful toolkit > to allow him to make video games. His mom is concerned about him > getting too frustrated and then going back to things more rewarding > for an 11-year old, like breaking things or playing with lighters. > > I've found Alex Holkner's pyglet space, and I think that's where > we're going to start off. However, If anyone knows of a relatively > simple platformer or side-scroller tutorial, written in pyglet or > whatever language, please let me know! I've never made a video game, > so I'm not really sure how to handle the platforms. If you know of a > tutorial that covers that, please share. > > If I get a course of study that really engages this kid at his level, > I'll want to roll it into something we can re-use for the local free- > geek chapter here. Of course, I'll release the program under an open- > source license. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "pyglet-users" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/pyglet-users?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
