kotshka wrote:
I took an entire course on visual basic in high school. I was the only one in the class who couldn't grasp how the code worked. I can do if...then statements, but beyond that I'm totally lost. I think what I really need is for someone who understands how my mind works to sit down with me and walk me through the process. I say something concrete that I want to do, and they tell me how to do it, explaining each step - what it is, what it does, how it fits in with the overall program. I think in this way I could make progress - but I don't have anyone in my life right now who knows how to code. I've read plenty of books and tutorials and it just makes me stressed. I'm quite intelligent and have no problems with logic, or with language in general (I learn foreign languages very quickly and even difficult grammar comes very easily to me). So when I can't do something that it seems just about everyone else in the world is able to do, I get extremely stressed and anxious and it tends to end in tears.
Tutorials are useless. I searched tutorials and found this one. It started like this:
Quote:
He will move to the left if I press left key, to the right if right key is pressed, and so on.
So the first hero actionscript will be:
onClipEvent (enterFrame) {
if (Key.isDown(Key.LEFT)) {
_x--;
}
if (Key.isDown(Key.RIGHT)) {
_x++;
}
if (Key.isDown(Key.UP)) {
_y--;
}
if (Key.isDown(Key.DOWN)) {
_y++;
}
}
It’s easy, isn’t it?
And there we go, I already want to cry. WHY does that make something move? What on earth do all those things MEAN? And how DARE that jerk say it's EASY? I can read a reference manual explaining what every command is supposed to do, but it's like picking up a Swahili to Swahili dictionary - all the definitions just reference other things I don't understand. How do people learn what all this means to begin with? Why were all the beginner students in my class able to figure it out immediately and without help after reading a chapter in the textbook, while I just stared at the wall of text feeling lost? I learned to read when I was 3! I should be able to do this.
I did pass that course, by the way, by creating a final project. The other students were making clones of Space Invaders and the like. My project was a program where you enter text into a box, then set a number of seconds as a timer, then hit a button and after that number of seconds, that message would appear on the screen (as a prank error message). I think the teacher would like to have failed me, but he took pity on me because he saw how hard I worked. He advised me not to move on to C++ the next year with the rest.
Quote:
But if I were you I would learn and have fun, you may be suprised how much you learn in a short time.
I've been actively trying for 15 years. I am not exaggerating. Now and then I get overwhelmed with discouragement and quit for a few months, but I always come back and try again. No luck. It's the worst kind of frustration to not be able to do something after trying so hard for so many years. And when I have an idea for a game or digital artwork and present it to some programmers, they all say the same thing:
learn to code and do it yourself. It's like a slap across the face every time.
Kotscha, I am in pretty much the same position as you. I mean that genuinely, I suck at maths and everytime I look at a screen full of code i want to cry. Which is a bum deal considering I'm a prospective home game developer albeit struggling with programming. However, I am currently doing a distance learning game development course (specifically in design though not programming).
I'm currently having to compile a portfolio project for my coursework and I am finding it tough not least because of having next to zero programming ability, but also because i have to provide photographic evidence of a game work in progress. I can model and render 3d models, I can write up concept documents for games but the programming end is where i get stuck.
What i did though, was explore different game development environments and weigh up the pro's and con's of each. Eventually I decided that a good language to start with is C#. I started to learn XNA which is a extension of Windows 2010 studio framework ( a development environment that uses the C# language). After reading some books on it I made some modest progress.
One reason i like C# is because from an autistic perspective, the Windows 2010 express studio is nice to read because the different entities from the command library are broken up into different colours. It makes no end of help when you can clearly see where one method ends and another starts. I think this is where i was getting stuck when learning the programming end. Its not necessary to understand what every bit of code means. If you understand the concept of the 'game loop' then you are halfway to understanding how programming a game works.
You may also want to check out Gamemaker on the Yoyo games website (
link). Gamemaker is a drag n drop game making tool aimed at people who want to make games without learning to program. The pro version which unlocks all the features and doesnt leave a watermark on your finished game isnt free (its about $30) however you should be able to create some basic Myst style point n click games similar to the sort of genre you're talking about. If you're serious about becoming a professional game developer though it would be better to learn how to program because you will end up using drag n drop as a crutch.
If you want any more help, PM me and we'll talk. I would be more than happy to help you on this. You've got a good game idea going there and I wish I'd thought of it first.
29 Sep 2012, 3:58 pm
