c# - Where to start writing games, any tutorials or the like?

I'm actually an industrial systems developer with knowledge of .NET C# and VB.NET, C/C++, Delphi, and an intermediate knowledge of 80286 Intel assembly language.

I would be interested to learn how to develop games while taking as fully as possible advantage of my already acquired experience.

My first objective is to learn the differences between management and game software development so that I may make my mind up as to what is important to think about as a game developer.

Any hint as to where to start to learn is appreciated, such as game writing tutorials, the kind of "Hello World!" program, if I may say.

Besides, these following tutorials were found while "googling":

1. C++ Game Programming;


2. C and C++ Programming Games and Entertainment Tutorials;


3. C++ Game Programming Resource Center;


4. Creating a game in C++.

Are they any good?

The answer that will have guided me the most will be accepted. Thanks for your help! =)

Answer

With your .NET experience, I'd suggest getting read up on XNA. It's a .NET framework for creating games on Windows, Xbox 360, and Windows Phone 7.

The "Hello World" of the games world is probably a very simple game like Pong or Breakout. There are plenty of tutorial on XNA:

http://create.msdn.com/en-US/education/catalog/tutorial/2d_chapter_1

http://www.riemers.net/

And check out the http://www.gamedev.net forums as they currently have an XNA 4.0 workshop going on.

That's just a taster of what you can do and getting a basic sense of game architecture. I'd recommend getting Game Coding Complete (any edition) by Mike McShaffry. It offers a good overview of all aspects of game development without bombarding you with irrelevant facts.

EDIT:

With regards to the tutorials that you have found, personally, I don't like the look of http://www.cppgameprogramming.com Simply because it looks like a C++ wrapped around C. If you're using C++, I'm of the opinion that you should be using the object-oriented features in C++.

I haven't used SDL, but have heard a lot of good things about it so I would read up on it and use Jari Komppa's link to it.

The last link is also in C, so I don't think it's completely relevant.

Just to clarify, I'm not against the use of C for game development at all. I just think a game that is designed using an OOP approach is easier to understand (and therefore implement in code), especially when you're starting out with game dev.

Hope that helps.

Ray