How do you program in BYOND? When I program in VB, I think of everything in term of "forms" and "buttons". But I can't do that in BYOND. I prefer a step-by-step programming style.
EG. login, then choose action (with one action leading to another).
When I start learning Vb (still learning it), I start by looking at the tutorials. I would try to learn how to:
1. Print "hello world"
2. Receive user input
3. Read files
4. Preforms actions.
But in BYOND, all the tutorials seems a bridge too far. The reference and the guide is not much help for me. They are too technical. The learning curve is steep.
ID:194475
 Feb 17 2001, 7:44 pm
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How do you program in BYOND? When I program in VB, I think of everything in term of "forms" and "buttons". But I can't do that in BYOND. I prefer a step-by-step programming style. BYOND is a little bit of a stretch for someone who's familiar with BASIC (it was my first programming language, way back in 1982... in my day, we didn't have all them fancy "forms" and "buttons"!), but it's quite masterable, and it does make sense once you get warmed up to it. It may help if, when you think of what you're trying to do, you think about what "gets the ball rolling." Is this something that happens only when a player wants it to? Is this something that happens when the game starts? If you can pinpoint the moment when something should begin happening in the game, then you can translate it into DM code... you'll find yourself returning time and time again to standard procs like Login, Bump, Entered, Click, Move, New, and so on, which are all triggered when something specific happens. And if there is no built-in command that will automatically kick off at the right time, you can always create a monitoring proc that will check to see what's going on, then sleep a few ticks, then check again. For example, in the game I'm working on now, I have one proc like this that is created when the world begins (in the proc world.New()) and every two or three ticks it randomly makes lights blink on all the computers in the game. Another proc checks a list of people who are being affected by depressurization. And if you're stuck on something, don't hesitate to ask on the forums. Sure, it's good to take a moment to think about the problem, and scan through the Reference for something that looks applicable, and maybe search the forums for people who have wondered about similar things... but if you've done a little "due diligence" and you're still stymied, there's certainly no shame in asking for advice! (Also, read through some past postings in the forums, especially Newbie Central... oftentimes, people will include very valuable information in their answers, and will explain things at greater length than the Guide or Reference. Sooner or later it'll all start to click for you!) | |
I have used DM for a week now, and I already have two games online(onnly Sumo is playable). I have only used BASIC before, but not visual so I guess I haven't adopted to forms and such.
Keep on trying!! DM makes a lot of sense when you are used to it, I am not totally used to it myself. | |
When I start learning Vb (still learning it), I start by looking at the tutorials. I would try to learn how to: There's a little helpful section in the printed guide that tells you just how to do that! ;-) 2. Receive user input That's also looked into fairly early in The Bible. (The BYOND Bible, not the Christian translation-of-a-translation-of-a-translation-of-a-translati on.) But in BYOND, all the tutorials seems a bridge too far. The reference and the guide is not much help for me. They are too technical. The learning curve is steep. Hold on... we're still working on 'em! =) (Personally, I have three tutorials going so far. A statpanels tutorial, a bitwise operations tutorial, and bug-fixing tutorial. They're less of tutorials than they are references, but they do have a guided section near the end.) | |
On 2/17/01 10:44 pm sunzoner wrote:
But in BYOND, all the tutorials seems a bridge too far. The reference and the guide is not much help for me. They are too technical. The learning curve is steep. I always have trouble learning new things, so I appreciate the value of non-technical tutorials. Guys (and people with other names too), whatever happened to the tutorial that used to be linked to at the bottom of the reference section on the old site? That one helped me a lot. I can certainly write a small tutorial meant for those uninitiated to OO programming. When I started to learn C++ I had an awful time trying to figure out what the heck arguments were, and how what was passed in related to what was received, and what returned values were used for. In fact I didn't completely understand it until I'd been with BYOND (er, DUNG) for a while. I can try to think back to my first confusions and write a tutorial anticipating those. Does that sound appealing? Z | |
On 2/18/01 11:35 pm Zilal wrote:
I always have trouble learning new things, so I appreciate the value of non-technical tutorials. Guys (and people with other names too), whatever happened to the tutorial that used to be linked to at the bottom of the reference section on the old site? That one helped me a lot. It has been converted to the "Your First World" tutorial. And I'm glad it helped you out! You certainly learned well, grasshopper. I can certainly write a small tutorial meant for those uninitiated to OO programming. When I started to learn C++ I had an awful time trying to figure out what the heck arguments were, and how what was passed in related to what was received, and what returned values were used for. In fact I didn't completely understand it until I'd been with BYOND (er, DUNG) for a while. I can try to think back to my first confusions and write a tutorial anticipating those. Does that sound appealing? Definitely! I think the best tutorials are those that approach the language without any preconceived notion about "how things are (or should be)". Since you have picked up the language from a fresh start, I think your insight for new users would be invaluable. Plus, you make me laugh, which is definitely a plus. | |
On 2/19/01 4:08 am Tom H. wrote:
It has been converted to the "Your First World" tutorial. And I'm glad it helped you out! You certainly learned well, grasshopper. Oh! I looked at it before I posted, but it didn't look familiar. Silly grasshopper. I think the best tutorials are those that approach the language without any preconceived notion about "how things are (or should be)". Since you have picked up the language from a fresh start, I think your insight for new users would be invaluable. Plus, you make me laugh, which is definitely a plus. I seem to recall having confusion with the guide over some terms I just couldn't figure out. It'll be hard but I will try not to take the least little thing for granted. Assuming what a variable is is explained, the statement "assign a value to it" may still be met by utter confusion. I may make you laugh. But we all know you're sick. Z (But thanks.) | |
It's true, but you can bet that when VB first came out it took a while for all the documentation and tutorials to come into place as well.
Check out Your First World which is pretty simple and does much of what you say.
Unlike some systems, because BYOND doesn't want to restrict people from doing complex things it can take a little longer to learn. But in the end you can do vastly more interesting things than most other systems (and you can do them much more simply too, oddy enough).
BYOND is just coming to fruition now, so over the coming weeks and months Dantom and the community will have the chance and the time to create more tutorials and such.
The best way people can help make this happen is by paying attention to what things confuse them, and then when they learn BYOND, to create their own tutorial to help newcomers.
This is standard operating procedure on the net -- if you like a system, get to know it and help make it easier for the people who come after you.
Certainly most of those who have stuck around with BYOND have been trying to put a lot of time and effort into making things easy to get into...