[imdajuggernut]

Hey all,

It's been my dream to create an 8-16 bit style game from scratch.

What programming language(s) should I learn? Or is everything done through software these days?

Thanks in advance!

[fekmmg3]

Not java at least. As far as I know there is no JVM supporting 8-bit processors. That said I would, without any deeper thought to it, say that the best language to develop an 8-bit game in, is a language having compiler/assembler supporing the hardware architecture. This would likely be an assembler (likely needed in any case to be able to build a compiler) or a C compiler, since these are easiest to build.

Regarding optimization I would say the same. Assembly or C. While a 64-bit compiler can support an almost infinite amount of RAM, a 8-bit compiler can only have 2^8 bytes of RAM. The reason for this is that a pointer would be 8-bit and thus can only contain 256 memory locations (of which each location normally is one byte, but something special might have to be done here). Add to that the 0 would be a null pointer. Also, computations would be heavier. So this would mean that an 8-bit platform would need high resource optimization and C and Assembly is best on optimizing these.

[imdajuggernut]

Not java at least. As far as I know there is no JVM supporting 8-bit processors. That said I would, without any deeper thought to it, say that the best language to develop an 8-bit game in, is a language having compiler/assembler supporing the hardware architecture. This would likely be an assembler (likely needed in any case to be able to build a compiler) or a C compiler, since these are easiest to build.

Regarding optimization I would say the same. Assembly or C. While a 64-bit compiler can support an almost infinite amount of RAM, a 8-bit compiler can only have 2^8 bytes of RAM. The reason for this is that a pointer would be 8-bit and thus can only contain 256 memory locations (of which each location normally is one byte, but something special might have to be done here). Add to that the 0 would be a null pointer. Also, computations would be heavier. So this would mean that an 8-bit platform would need high resource optimization and C and Assembly is best on optimizing these.

Thanks very much for the info! I have my homework to do now!

[SunSetXXX]

Hooooooold up. WAIT! WAIT!! WAIT!!!

If I am correct you want to make an 8-16 bit style game, not necessarily 8 bit in architecture just the style Am i right?

If I am, than I would need more information of your background (ie your programming skills and such) and aside from 8-16 bit style what kind of game (RPG, Platformer, Writing adventure ec).
Also I wouldn' t really recommend starting from scratch, most of the people in programming have the idea that they have to start from the absolute minimum, while this can be a great learning experiment almost everyone abandons this be either in web development, OS, or game development. It takes a loooooot of time to make a competent system and work out everything and depending on the game and stuff it could even take years just to really start to develop it. (Tho i am making realistic 3D game, a pixel type Mario would not take that much time ofc).

There are a lot of FREE or cheap game engines that you could use and with little learning you could push out games where you could focus on gameplay and the experience instead of the small details of programming.

[shack5932]

pls dont start with java

[hakimdes]

Amusing, fairly cool

[dlewtop]

I had this goal in mind in middle school way back and found BYOND by pure chance. Admittedly, it can look like a hot mess to work with, but it's a good start. I spent nearly a decade just dissecting other's work to learn how they... worked.

There are definitely better options, but here's one that'll do the job to am extent.

[SingedRyze]

It sort of depends on what you mean with "programming games for PC" do you want to be an engineer type that creates graphic frameworks or do you wanna create it all. If the latter I recommend GameMaker: 

RE: What language should I learn for programming 8-16 bit style games for PC?.

Registered Members Only

You need to be a registered member to see more on RE: What language should I learn for programming 8-16 bit style games for PC?.
Login or Sign up to get access to a huge variety of top quality leaks.

 
It's a great plattform for making 2D games where you code the game logic and you can make the graphic low-level if you want.

[marlowe8]

@SunSetXXX is on point - do not start writing a game literally from scratch until you know what you're doing or have a lot of time and patience.

It's much easier and less painful to start by using an engine.

For retro-looking games Unity and Godot are good starting options.

[StingRay]

The best would be to learn C# and Unity - Unity uses C# as the basic language for coding its internals.

From my experience, Unity is the most robust (and free) tool for programming - it may be not as well-organized as e.g. Unreal Engine, but it's simpler to use and learn.

Just a side note - C# is not actual language that the code uses under the hood, it's something like front-end specification that game designer/programmer uses for interacting with game, so you don't have to learn totally everything - you can start with learning the basics and the API and based on A LOT of tutorials, begin creating some amazing stuff

[dsflkjlkj]

I would suggest not actually programming against an 8 (or 16) bit architecture, but rather going for the look-and-feel of 8-16-bit. This will be much easier for you. This way you can go Unity (or another engine)

[masooj223]

Hey all,

It's been my dream to create an 8-16 bit style game from scratch.

What programming language(s) should I learn? Or is everything done through software these days?

Thanks in advance!

Grab an emulator for a relevant system and learn to code in it's machine language

[Saiyan-Dude]

If you are looking to make mod of a existing games. You try a emulator and learn the native language. But you are making from scratch. Unity is brilliant engine with lots of resources and tutorials.

[Kannes]

Do you know 

RE: What language should I learn for programming 8-16 bit style games for PC?.

Registered Members Only

You need to be a registered member to see more on RE: What language should I learn for programming 8-16 bit style games for PC?.
Login or Sign up to get access to a huge variety of top quality leaks.

? It's made for programming games easly.

[thecat]

Well, I think You can start with some game engine like Godot or Defold.
Are free to use and quite friendly to start.