A few questions

[Chris]

Hello,

 

I'm a college SWE student. I'm wanting to develop simple video games in my free time to utilize what I learn in my classes. I mainly code in java at the moment, but I'll probably use C++ or lua when using LE. Before I buy anything, I was wondering what other software I will need. Mainly, what development environment will work well with LE. MS visual studio is a bit above my price range, and I would prefer to use eclipse or another free/cheap environment. Are these compatible with LE?

[Canardia]

MS Visual Studio is free (Express). The commercial versions (Professional and Enterprise) don't have anything which you need for developing games (except the UML diagram generator maybe, but you should use Nassi-Shneidermann anyway), they are mostly targeted at Microsoft fallen companies.

[Roland]

Hi Chris.

 

With these free softwares you will ha a good start.

 

• 
   
  
• Visual Studio 2010 Express for programming C++
  
• Blender 3D is a nice 3D modeler
  
• GIMP a very capable paint program
  
• Audacity edit sounds and save to ogg
   
  

 

Good luck

[AggrorJorn]

It has been said already: if you you are going to use C++ then use Visual Studio. When you are going entirely with Lua, you just use the script editor that comes with the LE SDK.

[Chris]

Thanks very much. I'm just starting to research these things, and I didn't realize there was a free MS Visual Studio. It'll probably be a while before I have the extra cash to buy LE. Until then, I'll try these out. Thanks again!