Specialising in scripting or programming? Thread

Hello there,

I have recently been making my own games with unrealscript/kismet. I was looking for advice on whether I should be also learning a programming language - I currently don't know any except maybe a little bit of C#.

Does anyone have any stories/experience about making games purely from scripting languages and never having to learn proper coding? Is it going to be helpful at some point? I know certain tech such as Game Maker, Construct etc can be used to create games from scripting langs and gameplay events only, however if I want to create games in Unity I would need to be programming. Or perhaps scripting languages have led you to more of a creative aspect and more of a level design role?

This is really just a question of me moving from 'all-rounder' to focusing on something specifically and I'm not sure if scripting languages are, in a sense, strong enough to stick with and focus all my energy on. Perhaps it is fine to focus on both scripting langs and another lang like C++? Any advice is appreciated!

Cheers,
Ant

Learning a bit of a standard programming language (and why it's different) is never wrong, just to get an idea about it.
Scripting languages like Kismet are often limited to their respective platform (Unreal Engine), but they are often influenced by other languages and use the same programming paradigms, so switching to another scripting or programming language shouldn't be that hard.

And actually there is no real difference between a scripting language and a programming language.
Scripts are often executed by another program, instead of compiled, but I don't know what that means for Java, and I absolutely don't know what that means for Lua.

Edit: I used "I don't know" only in context of the problem, of course I know the system behind Java and Lua. Especially Lua is a perfect example for OPs concerns.

Edited by: MausGames

Yeah scripting and programming are basically the same thing from a concept standpoint. Their definition is becoming increasingly irrelevant.

Yeah it did feel like I was programming... : )

plinkie wrote: Yeah it did feel like I was programming... : )

Unrealscript is very similar in syntax to Java, a C-type language. C# should look fairly familiar.

MausGames wrote: And actually there is no real difference between a scripting language and a programming language.
Scripts are often executed by another program, instead of compiled, but I don't know what that means for Java, and I absolutely don't know what that means for Lua.

Programming is a more generalized and thus obtuse way of writing code compared to scripting which abstracts a lot of the basic tasks away from the user.
Lua can be either interpreted or compiled through C.
Java is compiled into a standard bytecode that can be executed by any platform-specific virtual machine. Which is why it's build once, use anywhere... if written correctly.

Currently the popular languages in game development are C/C++/Lua and C# thanks to Mono/XNA/Unity. Take a peek at both Lua and C#. If you find it difficult to decide and both seem equally appalling then pick them by what games you want to mod.

somonels wrote:

plinkie wrote: Yeah it did feel like I was programming... : )

Unrealscript is very similar in syntax to Java, a C-type language. C# should look fairly familiar.

MausGames wrote: And actually there is no real difference between a scripting language and a programming language.
Scripts are often executed by another program, instead of compiled, but I don't know what that means for Java, and I absolutely don't know what that means for Lua.

Programming is a more generalized and thus obtuse way of writing code compared to scripting which abstracts a lot of the basic tasks away from the user.
Lua can be either interpreted or compiled through C.
Java is compiled into a standard bytecode that can be executed by any platform-specific virtual machine. Which is why it's build once, use anywhere... if written correctly.

Currently the popular languages in game development are C/C++/Lua and C# thanks to Mono/XNA/Unity. Take a peek at both Lua and C#. If you find it difficult to decide and both seem equally appalling then pick them by what games you want to mod.

This. I started on Game Maker (well, did a bit of XNA first) and I'd guess about 90% of the time (or more) it's the same stuff. So don't worry to much and pick whichever one happens to be on an engine you are working with. (UE4 is using C++ I believe)

Edited by: SabreXT

SabreXT wrote:
Unrealscript is very similar in syntax to Java, a C-type language. C# should look fairly familiar.

Based on this theory can I safely assume that programming in Unity will come easier to me now that I can make games in unrealscript?

Edited by: plinkie

I would say: if you know how to cook spaghetti, then it's easier for you to learn how to cook rice.
Sorry, I'm hungry.

Edited by: MausGames

good analogy lol

plinkie wrote:

SabreXT wrote:
Unrealscript is very similar in syntax to Java, a C-type language. C# should look fairly familiar.

Based on this theory can I safely assume that programming in Unity will come easier to me now that I can make games in unrealscript?

Yes. Based on the similar syntax ( how the code is written and looks ) and concepts, C# would be easier compared to Lua.

MausGames wrote: I would say: if you know how to cook spaghetti, then it's easier for you to learn how to cook rice.
Sorry, I'm hungry.

Yes, compared to learning to cook a potato. I'm also hungry.