There are various ways to create video games, some spend thousands of dollars on software programs or even millions of dollars on consoles. Others prefer the more ‘classic’ method of creating games which is writing them yourself with a programmable computer. This method has been around since some very early computers, that date back into the 1950’s through the present.
The very first computers were not designed with games in mind, but after a few years it became apparent that computer programs could be created to play some sort of game. In the beginning the technology required to write a program was far too advanced for most people so there wasn’t exactly a big market for personal computing, let alone video games.
What is the first programming language used to create games and why was it chosen for that purpose? Which computer was it written on?
The first programming language used to create a video game was Fortran. What is Fortran and why was it chosen for that purpose? Which computer was it written on? It wasn’t until the late 1960’s when computers got small enough and advanced enough to allow people other than large corporations or governments use them. This allowed the advancement of personal computing and with it came the first computer games.
The very first computers used for video game programming were mainframes or minicomputers, which are more powerful versions of earlier generation computers, but not quite as advanced as modern computers. The reason they aren’t called ‘modern’ is because they use analogue sound and graphics, opposed to digital. The first programming language used for video game creation was Fortran, which stands for Formula Translation Language. It is one of the oldest high-level programming languages still in use today.
Where did the name come from?
Formula translation means that it translates mathematical formula into code so that computers can recognize it. It was chosen because it allowed the creation of computer programs to be quick and easy, which meant more time could be spent on making games.
The first minicomputer used for video game development was Digital Equipment Corporation’s (DEC) PDP-8/S . This has a memory capacity of only 4K bytes, which makes it one of the first non-mainframe computers to use this. The first computer game created on a DEC PDP-8/S was ‘Spacewar!,’ not only the first programming language used to create games, but also one of the earliest video games ever made.
What programming language are most games written in today?
Most games are built with C or C++. These languages allow for both advanced computer graphics and advanced game play features like artificial intelligence (AI) .
So now you know, the very first programming language used to create video games was Fortran! Have fun with your new knowledge of computers! Try out some coding yourself or check out a tutorial on YouTube.
What were some of the first games created in this language?
The name of the programming language is Fortran, which stands for Formula Translation Language. It was chosen because it allowed programmers to write code quickly and easily so they could focus more on making a better game rather than writing thousands of lines of code like other languages used to take. The first games made with Fortran were mostly text-based games, which means that all the graphics and sounds were represented by a symbol of some sort.
Conclusion
The first programming language used to program games was Fortran. Written by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, the two created a viable computer system, which they called ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer). It was completed in 1946 and could calculate ballistics trajectories exponentially faster than any other machine at the time. That is why it was one of the first computers used for video game creation, writing a program that calculates a ballistics trajectory took just a matter of seconds rather than hours with other machines.
About Author
