A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Could you deny it? You are trying to write a (retro)computer game, and you realize for yourself that it is a long way to go, along which it is all too easy to fall “face forward” before you have really started. Wouldn't it be better if someone accompanied you on your way? Here, now you can grasp what the purpose of this guide. I advice you as soon as possibile: I cannot solve all your problems, but I will try to anticipate those pitfalls that can easily meet your path.
With the advent of ugBASIC, the creation of (retro) games is finally within the reach of even the most inexperienced programmer. Forget the machine code! Forget weird contortions to get an executable! Forget about debugging nights, or abstruse syntaxes: ugBASIC provides everything you need to produce games on many retrocomputers.
This is the complete list:
The only ones to become a video game programmer are a general understanding of the BASIC programming language, a little imagination, and most importantly, a little hard work. That's all!
Throughout these pages, I will present a detailed guide to creating software of various types, from an ultra-fast arcade game to a text-based adventure. Make yourself comfortable as it will be a long journey, although I will try to make sure you can see many interesting places along the way.