5 ms·

Coursera course on game development using Python (first homework due tomorrow)

54 points by bcjordan 14y ago

zemanel 14y ago
well, just signed up. My first programming experiences were actually small games for the TI-83, a humble dream soccer and a bowling game. PC's were very expensive around '95, a fact which also lead me to take computer science for having access to them at school and obviously, gaming :-) Warcraft, Dune 2, Lost Vikings and the sorts. After my first job and subsequently, that fascination on developing games faded away under other things like e-commerce, corporate applications and messing with Linux also sinked a large deal of my spare time etc but haven't yet lost hope of finding a way into it.
eduardchil 14y ago
Almost missed that, thx.
jiggy2011 14y ago
First homework due tomorrow! That brings back some unpleasant memories. When I was a CS undergrad something the professors would enjoy doing was assigning problem sets on the very first lecture of a module that were deliverable by the next lecture (often the next day). I assume it was a mechanism for figuring out people's learning rates. Of course it was great fun beginning a new term and having 2 or 3 such classes on the first day.
zachgalant 14y ago
If you really want to learn game development on the web, you should check out http://codehs.com http://codehs.com You learn how to make games that run in HTML5 Canvas using JavaScript, and there are custom libraries that make graphics and user interaction much easier to deal with. Also, you can take the class at your own pace, so no need to worry about artificial deadlines.
- nosecreek 14y ago
  It looks like Udacity is doing a similar course in the new year: http://www.udacity.com/overview/Course/cs255/CourseRev/1 http://www.udacity.com/overview/Course/cs255/CourseRev/1
ekianjo 14y ago
In the recent news about the course, a headline reads: "Make a student tutorial video, Win an iPad" (https://class.coursera.org/interactivepython-2012-001/class/index https://class.coursera.org/interactivepython-2012-001/class/...) - Sounds wierd to give a non-programmable device to someone who is following a course on interactive programming. Someone did not get the point.
- 10098 14y ago
  In what universe is iPad non-programmable?
  - michaelt 14y ago
    In the universe where, to program it, you need a fully fledged computer to do the development on?
    - 10098 14y ago
      So? You still are able to program it, aren't you? Therefore, it is programmable.
      - michaelt 14y ago
        I can't personally, as I can't afford a mac. But I see what you mean. There are different senses in which the word 'programmable' can be used - you can program a VCR without ever seeing a line of code! What I assume ekianjo meant was: There is a long standing tradition in the personal computing industry of being able to program on the computer itself without costly extra equipment or software. You look at your BBC Micro, your ZX-81, your TRS-80 they can all be programmed on the device. It was the same with mainframes and servers. Even DOS and Windows had QBASIC. Nowerdays, programming tools can be downloaded over the internet in a few clicks. The PC has always been a device which can not only consume software, but can produce it. Many people in the hacking community see this as a good thing - as a democratisation of creative power, and for educating the next generation of technologists, engineers, scientists and makers. The iPad lacks the ability to program on the device itself. It can only consume software, it cannot produce it. It does not belong to the long, revered tradition of self-programmability. It is in that sense that it is not programmable.
10098 14y ago
I think Coursera needs to do a course on game engine architecture with real-world examples (idtech, ogre).
- freehunter 14y ago
  The problem that I see with that is, these engines are difficult to do in one class. Generally, learning that is a full two-year program involving programming, logic, math, 3D design, etc. Using 3D engines gets difficult to teach in a 7 week course unless the student already knows quite a bit.
  - jiggy2011 14y ago
    Should be enough time to understand and implement a basic raycasting engine ala Wolf3D/Doom though.
ichinaski 14y ago
Great. Just signed up. Anyone knows of a similar courses/tutorials for C++ Game dev?
- VinzO 14y ago
  I am also very interested, but could not find this kind of course
- mtoddh 14y ago
  There's the Game Institute (http://www.gameinstitute.com http://www.gameinstitute.com) but they're not free...
tangue 14y ago
Wow, it seems that they're generating js + canvas games straight from Python (the tool used in the course is http://www.codeskulptor.org/ http://www.codeskulptor.org/ ). Never heard of it before
- stargazer-3 14y ago
  They seem to have built it by themselves this summer.
  - tangue 14y ago
    Okay, I had a look and it and its clearly for educational purposes only. Indeed this course is more a "fun" introduction to programming ("what's a function" ... ) than a real course on building games.

54 points by bcjordan 14y ago

well, just signed up. My first programming experiences were actually small games for the TI-83, a humble dream soccer and a bowling game. PC's were very expensive around '95, a fact which also lead me to take computer science for having access to them at school and obviously, gaming :-) Warcraft, Dune 2, Lost Vikings and the sorts. After my first job and subsequently, that fascination on developing games faded away under other things like e-commerce, corporate applications and messing with Linux also sinked a large deal of my spare time etc but haven't yet lost hope of finding a way into it.

eduardchil 14y ago

Almost missed that, thx.

jiggy2011 14y ago

First homework due tomorrow! That brings back some unpleasant memories. When I was a CS undergrad something the professors would enjoy doing was assigning problem sets on the very first lecture of a module that were deliverable by the next lecture (often the next day). I assume it was a mechanism for figuring out people's learning rates. Of course it was great fun beginning a new term and having 2 or 3 such classes on the first day.

zachgalant 14y ago

If you really want to learn game development on the web, you should check out http://codehs.com http://codehs.com You learn how to make games that run in HTML5 Canvas using JavaScript, and there are custom libraries that make graphics and user interaction much easier to deal with. Also, you can take the class at your own pace, so no need to worry about artificial deadlines.

nosecreek 14y ago
It looks like Udacity is doing a similar course in the new year: http://www.udacity.com/overview/Course/cs255/CourseRev/1 http://www.udacity.com/overview/Course/cs255/CourseRev/1

ekianjo 14y ago

In the recent news about the course, a headline reads: "Make a student tutorial video, Win an iPad" (https://class.coursera.org/interactivepython-2012-001/class/index https://class.coursera.org/interactivepython-2012-001/class/...) - Sounds wierd to give a non-programmable device to someone who is following a course on interactive programming. Someone did not get the point.

10098 14y ago
In what universe is iPad non-programmable?
- michaelt 14y ago
  In the universe where, to program it, you need a fully fledged computer to do the development on?
  - 10098 14y ago
    So? You still are able to program it, aren't you? Therefore, it is programmable.
    - michaelt 14y ago
      I can't personally, as I can't afford a mac. But I see what you mean. There are different senses in which the word 'programmable' can be used - you can program a VCR without ever seeing a line of code! What I assume ekianjo meant was: There is a long standing tradition in the personal computing industry of being able to program on the computer itself without costly extra equipment or software. You look at your BBC Micro, your ZX-81, your TRS-80 they can all be programmed on the device. It was the same with mainframes and servers. Even DOS and Windows had QBASIC. Nowerdays, programming tools can be downloaded over the internet in a few clicks. The PC has always been a device which can not only consume software, but can produce it. Many people in the hacking community see this as a good thing - as a democratisation of creative power, and for educating the next generation of technologists, engineers, scientists and makers. The iPad lacks the ability to program on the device itself. It can only consume software, it cannot produce it. It does not belong to the long, revered tradition of self-programmability. It is in that sense that it is not programmable.

10098 14y ago

I think Coursera needs to do a course on game engine architecture with real-world examples (idtech, ogre).

freehunter 14y ago
The problem that I see with that is, these engines are difficult to do in one class. Generally, learning that is a full two-year program involving programming, logic, math, 3D design, etc. Using 3D engines gets difficult to teach in a 7 week course unless the student already knows quite a bit.
- jiggy2011 14y ago
  Should be enough time to understand and implement a basic raycasting engine ala Wolf3D/Doom though.

ichinaski 14y ago

Great. Just signed up. Anyone knows of a similar courses/tutorials for C++ Game dev?

VinzO 14y ago
I am also very interested, but could not find this kind of course
mtoddh 14y ago
There's the Game Institute (http://www.gameinstitute.com http://www.gameinstitute.com) but they're not free...

tangue 14y ago

Wow, it seems that they're generating js + canvas games straight from Python (the tool used in the course is http://www.codeskulptor.org/ http://www.codeskulptor.org/ ). Never heard of it before

stargazer-3 14y ago
They seem to have built it by themselves this summer.
- tangue 14y ago
  Okay, I had a look and it and its clearly for educational purposes only. Indeed this course is more a "fun" introduction to programming ("what's a function" ... ) than a real course on building games.