Game Engine

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Original post by BFett88 How do you keep from getting frustrated.

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Programming is very frustrating. Here's some tips that have helped me and may help you:

* Move to a foreign location to program. For me, it was moving to the kitchen table away from the Internet, TV, and any other distractions.

* If you listen to music, keep it to relaxing + classical music or none at all. Also, voices in music can be very distracting.

* When you're stressed, get something to eat and walk away from you're computer. Design solutions to your problem on paper while you're away. Monitors can be stressful on the eye.

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Original post by BFett88 What books do you recomend.

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Code Complete - McConnell
Tricks of the Windows Game Pragramming Gurus - LaMothe

DirectX books tend to be specific to techniques and not to general gameplay - for obvious reasons. Jim Adam's Role Playing Book was decent, however, because there was a variety of information presented throughout the book.

[edited by - vnillabrent on May 7, 2004 11:19:48 PM]

Here''s a list of books that I''ve found really helpful in more then one way.

As for keeping from getting frustrated... No idea how to get rid of it, it will happen a lot. The advice given above is prety good. Except for being on a computer away from the internet. I find that having the internet available while programming is a big help for many reasons. You can gather a list of game dev buddies on msn or something and if you have a question you can ask. Then google is probably your best friend while programming too.

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| TripleBuffer Software |
| Plug-in Manager :: DX Utility Engine :: C++ Debug Kit :: DirectX Tutorials :: Awesome Books |

A 3D engine should not be one of your first programming endeavors. It requires knowledge of 3D math and data structures, as well as a host of other computer science concepts.

I think that you should have years of programming experience before attempting one. Start small. Also, it''s good to have a way to test new functions and whatnot by themselves, outside of your entire program.

I have been programming in C++ for about a year and a half now. I understand the basics and the intermediate stuff good. Advanced stuff fairley well. I have an associates degree in Computer programming, it is not much but it is something. I am currently going to a tech school for my bachelors degree in Video Game Programming. We are currently making a 3D game engine in class and it is the hardest thing I have ever done. I still have about a year and a half until I have my degree.

Thank you for all of your help.

About the frustration, have a good nap (10 or 20 minutes) then wake up, spritz your face in water. Suddenly your mind becomes clearer (well for me it helped quite a lot).

Also, frequent breaks help. Talk to a friend about the frustrating problem e.g. about the coding problem at hand.

HTH.

If I get frustrated with a single problem or class, I usually go and work on something else. That keeps me going and once I start coding and thinking about other things, I get much more relaxed and optimistic, and it actually helps me to program the original solution.