Question

All reality is a game.

Iain Banks, The Player of Games

My initial fascination with computers, like that of many kids, originated with computer games. I was drawn into the tiny computer-simulated worlds that I could manipulate and in which stories (sort of) unfolded—more, I suppose, because of the way I could project my imagination into them than because of the possibilities they actually offered.

I wouldn’t wish a career in game programming on anyone. Much like the music industry, the discrepancy between the many eager young people wanting to work in it and the actual demand for such people creates a rather unhealthy environment. But writing games for fun is amusing.

This chapter will walk through the implementation of a simple platform game. Platform games (or “jump and run” games) are games that expect the player to move a figure through a world, which is often two-dimensional and viewed from the side, and do lots of jumping onto and over things.

This is a book about getting computers to do what you want them to do. Computers are about as common as screwdrivers today, but they contain a lot more hidden complexity and thus are harder to operate and understand. To many, they remain alien, slightly threatening things.