Here are 4 Free Websites Where You Can Learn The Basics Of Game Development
Lazy Foo’s Tutorials
Lazy Foo has been around for many years, and it was one of the main resources I used when I first delved into game programming. He’s written plenty of tutorials on both SDL and OpenGL, two graphics libraries that are cross-platform and can handle 2D and 3D graphics, respectively. His tutorials are well-written, straightforward, and will get you acquainted with both libraries using the C++ language as the coding medium.
Aaron Cox’s Tutorials
The tutorials on Aaron Cox’s site were another core resource that I used when learning how to program video games. His tutorials focus on 2D game programming using the SDL graphics library, so you can use these tutorials in conjunction with Lazy Foo’s above. Aaron provides his own SDL overview, and they provide a great foundation, but they’re nowhere as in-depth as Lazy Foo’s.
Game Development @ Tuts+
Tuts+ is just a great resource in general when it comes to learning new computer skills, and game development is one of the things they teach. The game development section of Tuts+ has a great “Start Here” article that introduces you to the site, the kinds of articles you’ll find there, and a roundup of great links for you to check out as you learn more about game development. When you’re ready, you should also check out their roundup of fantastic game development tutorials from around the web.
GameDev.Net
Lastly, we come to GameDev, an online community of game developers from around the world. It would be a grave sin to talk about game development websites without mentioning GameDev, which has been a formative and central website for many novice and advanced game programmers alike. It’s been around for almost 15 years, and there’s no sign that the site will die anytime soon.