beginner programmer blues

Just keep on trying, don''t give up.It''s not as difficult as it seems, really !
Even with only the basics, you can make a game.Try something simple first, then work your way up.
Good luck !

Runemaster
Join the Game Developers SiteRing !

Yeah, it really isn''t as hard as it seems... It''s just kind of daunting to realize just HOW MUCH is possible... but don''t let that discourage you, we were all beginners at one point

(that sounded kinda lame... oh well)

I''m just glad that I learned before the big 3d craze came... but even then, the act of writing interrupts, and low-level accessing the input, and oh the things you had to do just to get your video mode into 320x200. It was frustrating, but once done, you could do it over and over and over with just a function call.

Basically, just keep taking baby steps... yeah, there''s amazing things that you can do, but keep reminding yourself that bells and whistles alone don''t make a game.

Everyone on this site still has a lot to learn... hell, even the professionals still learn massive amounts all the time... Sometimes I like to visit this and other sites to see the questions asked, and realize just how much I''ve already learned (plus it feels good to pass on technical knowledge)... Sometimes I visit sites like this to realize just how much more I have yet to learn.

To explicitely answer your question, "How do you keep going without getting discouraged?", that''s simple:

Find something small and rather easy that you know you can implement, even if it means you have to use a text interface for both input and output. It doesn''t even have to relate to games, but I''m assuming that you''re on this site because you''re interested in games as much as programming, so if it has to do with games, that helps you on your way. Now make this small thing work. When it''s done, and you can use it, and it works over and over, take some pride in that. If you really enjoy being a programmer, then it won''t be hard for you to find pride in completing this, or anything.

If you get stuck for ideas on what to make, just find some example problems in books and solve them. Most really good books will have problem sections set aside, though this isn''t usually true for game programming books. Even the game programming books, though, will have something towards the end of each chapter where the author will say something like, "Now, we probably should have put such and such in the engine" or, "This function could have been made faster if we''d implemented a name of algorithm". Implement these things, and when you do, you''ll be proud that you a) did something the author was too lazy to do and b) wrote some code that you didn''t have any instructions on how to do (which makes it YOUR code)

It won''t be long before you''ve got more things to do than you can think about or remember. Write them down! and do the easier ones first... it''ll keep you going while making the next few things even easier.

Good luck in your learning (you''re young, still... you''ve got plenty of time!) and I''m sure if you keep it up, you''ll be coming to sites like this to answer other people''s questions, not to ask your own!


"Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be."
        --William Hazlitt

Blah, blah, blah, blah. I hate long posts! :D

Programming is like drawing. When you start off, you suck. Keep working with it and in a few years, you''ll become good. There''s always someone better then you. What you like is different then what everyone else likes.

If you''re new and don''t know how to type, LEARN TO TYPE! It''s important to be able to type quickly when you have an idea in your head that you want to get into the computer.

E:cb woof!

Learning how to program is actually two different process. The first is to learn the syntax. This usually takes a few months but by then you''ll know pretty much know how the language works. The next part in programming is how to design your program. This learning process will never stop. I''d suggest getting a good book on code design once you pick up the syntax.

A few hours working out stuff on paper will save you days of trouble when you start coding something.


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Andrew

quote:

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Original post by acraig

Learning how to program is actually two different process. The first is to learn the syntax. This usually takes a few months but by then you''ll know pretty much know how the language works. The next part in programming is how to design your program. This learning process will never stop. I''d suggest getting a good book on code design once you pick up the syntax.

A few hours working out stuff on paper will save you days of trouble when you start coding something.


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Andrew

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That''s great advice. May I suggest Code Complete by Steve McConnell?



lntakitopi@aol.com - http://www.geocities.com/guanajam

Its not what you know its how you use it. Some 2d games are better than some 3d games. Use what you know and build on it.

Sorry about the long post...

It''s just that I only post if I really feel like I have something to say... and if that''s the case, I end up having a lot to say.

Another pretty good book on programming design is Efficient C++ (but I haven''t read all of it, so don''t just take my word on it... get to a bookstore and read through a few ones, and find the one that''s right for you)


"Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be."
        --William Hazlitt

quote:

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Original post by void*

Sorry about the long post...

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Don''t worry, dog was just joking... right dog?



lntakitopi@aol.com - http://www.geocities.com/guanajam

Want to do some cool 3D stuff? Try "nehe.gamedev.net". You''ll feel better after doing some of his tutorials!

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quote:

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Original post by dog135

Keep working with it and in a few years, you''ll become good.

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?

I''ve only been coding for a year and a half. Does this mean I suck?

- DarkMage139
++++++++++++++++
I can do things, things you never knew,
I can change your world if you only knew.

I can do miracles if you want me to.
Anything is possible, I'll prove it to you.

Thanks for the nice posts guys

You''re right, I''m only 16, I still have lots of time. I know how to do very basic stuff (you know, little number guess games and the like) hopefully I''ll get a directx book and get some skills from nehe''s site. then mabye i can do something cool

thanks again, later

hey, i feel as if i''m in the same situation, but i feel even futher behind than you. I don''t yet know c++ to write a single program without refrence and opengl/direct3d seems way out of reach. luckely for my i already know some vb (1 year hs beginning vb) but i learned alot from it and can make some neat programs, anything i learn there can almost always be transfered to c++. the same is true for any cool ideas you may have, remember to try to go for goal that are within reach, but still difficult to achive, that way you are always streching for the next step, furthering your knoweldge of c++ and bettering yourself as a person, and employee.

-mike

"The more you practice, the luckier you get" - Gary Player ( South African Golfer )



Green Erick Software

Well i''m 14, I did begin programming at 12 with mIRC script, after that I was 13 and I did a lot of Visual Basic,... but at 14 I began to know the basic of C++ and I jsut finished the book Windows Game Programming For Dummies....... Wow I feel like I learned 3 years in one.. and it was easy!

I guess I have learned the basics of C++, windows programming, and almost all of Direct Draw (dang directX 8, dang you! no more direct draw) in about a year. Remember, anything I can do, you can probably learn to do almost as fast.

We don''t get discouraged because we''re more l33t than you! And most of us are younger, too!

Err, not really. Or something like that. All I know is that I saw it in a movie once and the guys made out with some hot chicks at the end.

I hope my attempt to elevate myself over him didn''t scare him off... smileys would have helped my last post.

Dan,

Don't compare yourself with others. It is a very bad habit I am still overcoming myself. What purpose does it serve? It serves the purpose of making you feel unworthy, small and insignificant. You merely cripple yourself and your TRUE potential. When in fact you have the desire for a reason! Everybody has something unique to contribute. And everybody was a helpless fetus at one point, too.

If you are truly, deeply moved to create something, you were born this way for a purpose. By your sheer inspiration will the right conditions materialize, so long as you believe they will.

Believe me - what you believe is real, IS real to your world. If you saw the movie The Matrix, this is a great demonstration of what I'm saying. Maybe Earth is not really ruled by machines and humans are not really part of a "matrix." But in my experience, what one believes is real IS real for that person. A wise man once said (paraphrasing):

If you believe it is not so, you are correct. If you believe it is so, you are also correct.

Rent The Matrix. Awesome film!

Oh, also, focus on YOUR own vision, your own steps (baby steps, as another said before). Don't be so concerned with where others are at.

Edited by - Chai Peddler on August 22, 2000 12:05:40 AM

Whenever you begin a new phase in programming when you''re a beginner the tasks can seem insane. (like learning Windows) I remember when I first read the syntax for creating simple windows and stuff it seemed impossible, and I was pretty new to the c++ syntax. But eventually the more you aquaint yourself with new techniques, (even if you''re just reading code you don''t understand) the easier it it gets until you can write the code yourself. Don''t worry, nothing is beyond reach it just takes time. And the more techniques you learn the easier it is to learn new ones.

Hey, it''s only a few more years of learning before you write that killer 3D engine.

- DarkMage139
++++++++++++++++
"Shut up and give me the freakin code" -unknown
"Ask and you will be shot" -snes16bit
"Not again!" -SHilbert (upon being assimilated)