So I play this online game that involves cards, sort of like Pokemon. I would like to build a program that can calculate the strength of a card and how it will do in levels of the game.
There’s a excel spreadsheet that already can calculate it, but it’s kind of tedious to use as you have to input all the stats for each card you own. Plus I think it might be fun to figure out how to do this. But I’m not really sure what language I would need to do this. It seems like something that would require a database? I don’t know.
There are a vast amount of languages you can do this with.
You can use databases with almost any of the popular languages.
Python, Javascript, R, C++, Java and and lots more.
Since you like games, you might get interested in making an interactive gui and game-related stuff later on so I suggest C++ or C# but thats upto you. If you’re new to programming , start out with simple languages like html, javascript and get a good feel of how things work/done. (You can make games with javascript actually but it might not be as powerful as C++ or C#). If you master the foundation of a language, it will be easier to get a grasp of another language you learn later.
Game development isnt a really easy task . It involves writing a lot of backend along with the gui or what you see on your screen.
This is just my opinion.
Edit: You dont always need to use databases to card info. Stuff like arrays or objects are honest-to-good enough to mantain basic card info. I also dont think exel is used for making databases since its a spreadsheet tool. Yes, you can but there are way powerful and advanced database tools at your disposal. So I suggest not leaning onto exel that much.
Oh, I won’t be using excel! Someone already made an excel spreadsheet that can do the calculations. You have to input the card stats into the sheet, then it does the math and sees if the card score matches the level. I would like to make a program that does the calculations without me having to put in all my card stats.
So you think something like JavaScript would be enough? I’m currently studying it right now, but I’m still learning the basics. Also thank you for your response. I didn’t realize that JavaScript could be used with databases. I’ve always associated it with web sites.
I didnt mean using javascript directly to access the database. You might have to use frameworks or libraries. Since you’re learning javascript, you’ll get there soon.
Yes, there are libraries that you can use to access or connect javascript with exel.
If you just have static data then I don’t think you need a database. You can just store it in a json file that you load into the program and convert to a JS data structure. You could even put that file on the internet somewhere, like an S3 bucket if you need to update it from time to time. I think you’d only need a DB is you are going to need the data changed by user interaction.
Or as mentioned, there are ways to have JS load the data from excel. You’d have to rewrite your calculations in JS (I assume).
But yeah, JS can do all of this. Really, just about any language can.
I’ve googled static data and I think I might have dynamic data? The card information could be static, since each level will have a fixed stats assigned to it. But the player would have individual stats that would change based on what sort of training they’ve done, so that would be changing. Could that still work with JS?
For the most of the part, you can do anything in any modern, general purpose languages. That includes JS. The main advantage of JS is that you need that if you want it in a web page.
The card information could be static, since each level will have a fixed stats assigned to it.
Right, that sounds static, a bunch of data that doesn’t need to keep changing.
But the player would have individual stats that would change based on what sort of training they’ve done, so that would be changing.
Right… JS can handle changing data - that’s what variables are for. The question is, do you want the data to persist and how. If it is a web page…
Do you care if they start over every time they open the page? That they lose their place if they close the web page? Then you don’t need a DB.
Do you need to store data for that user, but don’t need access to it on other devices or by other users? You could use a DB for that, but you could also just use the browser’s Local Storage. You can store data there and it will persist as long as the user doesn’t clear his browser.
Do you want dynamic data that is accessible across multiple devices and accessible to multiple users? Then you’ll need a DB. There are free DBs like firebase or mlab or you can build your own and find some place to serve it.
All this is 100% doable in JS. If you want it to be a web page it pretty much has to be JS or something that compiles to JS. If you did FCC certificates 1, 2, and 5, you could completely do this. Getting 1-5 would be even better.
If you want to do this outside of a web page, then things are a little different.
I’ve made something similar for a mmorpg game some years ago. It was a heal calculator but I think is not too different to what you want. I made this one with php because I needed as phpBB mod and later remade in vanilla javascript, I think you can make this in almost every programming language.
