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I just ponder whether video game development and DarkBASIC Pro are really for me. I never planned to become a professional. I just thought it would be an interesting hobby. I'm struggling with learning how to code in general. I keep on going from trying one language to the next. It's sick.

Also, video game development requires not only logic but a big imagination, which imagination is something where I'm very limited. I can't come up with any original assets or ideas, like I'd have to use whatever already exists. I don't know how to overcome this limiting obstacle. Sure, it would be nice to craft a geopolitical world simulation game, but my abilities just feel too limited.

Even though I am a struggling beginner, I always found myself more aspiring to be an OSDever than a GameDever. I find an idea like that would require a lot more use of logic, and less use of pure imagination.

It is indeed


If you have a kindle and are open to AppGameKit try out Daniels E-Book.
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=203773&b=41There is lots of neat stuff in there and he explains everything very well for us noobs. Once you learn the logic and get the hang of things jump back over to DBP if you wish...The two languages are very similar.

I only suggest this because I am not up to date with the DBP threads to point you in the right direction though there are a few good tutorials if you look hard enough


I know exactly what you mean. Its something you just have to work at. Like playing any sport or activity you must train your brain to react to the situation. It gets better over time. Once you stick with it long enough you start to see the puzzle pieces fit together.


Passion/Effort/TGC Forums!

I don't have a Kindle sorry.

I tried a hard copy book but I can't order it from the US.

Also my brain is rotting from having been a home body who will sit in front of his computer for the past 4 years since the end of high school. I so wish I had a job.

I have quite the low end computer setup though. A tiny 2GB RAM and low end processor.

I think all hobbies are healthy (err... in moderation), so don't look at Game Dev as a waste. And there's also nothing wrong with trying one language to the next, think of this like, test driving a car before buying it. No harm in that!

As for requiring a big imagination, how big do you think the imagination was for the genius behind flappybird?

Personally, I think you'd be best to find a simple game (that perhaps even inspires you) and then work on a similar mechanic. Even if you only spend a few days on it but you don't get very far, at least you had a good crack at it. What's the old saying, in that to succeed, first you must fail and fail again?

Baby steps. Open up one of the examples. Make sure it works on your computer and then think of a way you can modify it to do something cool. Small tweaks here and there just to learn the mechanics and learn how to troubleshoot mistakes.

I've been where you are. It took a while to get some traction after high school, but I got a job at a convenience store and went to school for Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. I then spent 30 years in the IT industry doing everything from telephone tech support for Intel products to being a mainframe programmer for the IRS, to IT Dept Manager for a circuit board manufacturing company. Then ran 3 of my own businesses from home.

At this point I'm semi-retired at 50 and playing with 3D printers, a 3D printer modified to be a laser cutter/etcher, and writing a game that I had the idea for 30 years ago when I was 19 and sitting in my bedroom playing Trade Wars on my Apple //e with 128K of RAM.

You are young enough and willing to learn. Learn C++ and Java and you'll be able to keep up in just about any industry involving technology. Including videogames.

Just my 2 cents.

Excellent advice.

In the book Joy of Work, Scott Adams (the guy who created Dilbert) wrote:

plagiarism + lack of talent = originality

I think one of the keys to creativity is curiosity have how things look/work/behave (whatever) and the only way of know is I create the thing myself. If I don't create then I'll never know. You also have to have an ability to play and experiment.

One of the things I like about games development is the diverse set of skills required: it's art, it's logic, it's maths and sounds and colour and science. I can't thing of many hobbies or jobs that require such a range of disciplines.

If logic is more your thing, you might want to try is try to create games or demos in pure code. Don't worry about creating any external media and only use vanilla DBPro, no plug-ins. These limitation will help keep you focused. Also, focus on a single aspect of the game or demo, such as player controls, making something move around the screen in an interesting way, creating a random map or whatever it is you're interested in. This links into what KISTech was saying, keep it simple and don't overwhelm yourself.

The other thing to look as is come up with a simple aspect to look at - say a planet orbiting a sun - and try to come up with different ways of achieving the same effect. I've done a lot of engineering design and this is something that gets drummed into you very early on and it really does help with being creative.

Being imaginative is a little trickier to nurture. However, don't be so hard on yourself as most things are derivative and true uniqueness isn't always appreciated. Just be open to ideas and influences, go to art galleries and museums, try and expand the genres of movies, books, games and music you watch, read, play and listen to.

It may be that games development isn't for you but it may be that aspects of the process are. If you like the logic side then create your "geopolitical world simulation game" using text and menus. Turning such a game into a spread sheet is probably closer to how it's done in real life anyway.

TL/DR



I love how false this statement is these days, If you have a modern day smart phone/device or a desktop PC/Mac then you DO have a Kindle, just you are unaware that Amazon has a Desktop variant for download for free... as well as free apps on all major systems these days...

Just saying...

I might come back to read this thread later, battling a headache right now :/

I find that the biggest hurdle for game dev is trying to make a living doing NOT game dev. Unfortunately, someone's got to pay the bills.

Thanks for the advice KISTech, 29 games and BFM.

I did not finish learning C++ or Java, but can recommend what KISTech said based on working with guys who did. Learning an industry standard language can also teach you how to better use the other languages; in particular the C language is quite similar to most popular scripting languages, interpreted and compile languages out there, and is a stepping stone towards learning C++.

Some guys who have been programming for decades say they do not have a favourite language, just the best one for the job; be it for Apple's Objective-C or Oracle'sJava. They can comfortably work on a number of projects in various languages with no problem.

The point is that the more you learn the easier it becomes; but starting with C and C++ will help you to practice and make perfect, rather than practicing the imperfect.

As for DarkBASIC and AppGameKit, these have a place in your toolbox, but they should not be the whole toolbox.

Your facing a closed door and imagining what is inside... with game dev, creativity is something that needs to be inspired. I think the fact that you have an idea for a project you want to do is half the battle, because a solid idea is more valuable than all the pottering about in the world.

Consider what your game needs and target your learning at that - if your game needs sprites, then load up some examples and mess around, learn how they work and what can be done with them. Knowing that you might want say, little buildings on a map is the best way to learn how to have little buildings on a map... how do you make a sprite... how do you make a big background map sprite... how do you detect when you tap or click on a sprite... how do you make a sprite look different when clicked on...

Then you soon realize you have a map with buildings and user interaction and the logic flow becomes clear and a path to the complete project opens up. If you are interested in how something works, then that helps a bit to learn it, but if you NEED to know how something works, then you will learn it.

That's how it is for me at least, I didn't learn a lick of C++ until I needed to, same applies to DB really and probably most things I've learned. As I said, you have a game idea so flesh it out and imagine yourself playing it. The community is here to steer you in the right direction - no matter what you want to do in AppGameKit or DB, someone here will know how.

Back!

After reading through the whole thread...

I concur with learning C first and then C++ after... you do not need to study the whole breadth just the foundation basics which should allow you to move up and onwards, you might have already studied these, so a short revisit would never hurt...

Personally at the start I read through these two lovelies:

HODBPro1
http://www.thegamecreators.com/?m=view_product&id=2161
HODBPro2
http://www.thegamecreators.com/?m=view_product&id=2162
I have the PDF variants so you can use ADOBE Reader [pukes] or any other good PDF viewer... these are added to your TGC account for download... the Physical books I believe are shipped from the UK... these two got me through the fundamentals of DBPro and coding practices in general and I went from there and I am now moving into C#.NET...

And for:
C
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1840785446
C++
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1840784326
These two were fantastic starting points and great for fast revision/reference... I have them in Physical and Kindle...

I can recommend some other books for other aspects but they are in the range of £25-50+/$40-100+...

But I strongly advise learning some other aspects of game development, maybe look into Game Production to see where you fit in...

On another note as touched on earlier... If you are good at logic, and lack in asset creation, focus on the coding side, use stand in assets, heck even a cube does the trick for many studios/home devs... and then go to some places like turbosquid or the TGC Asset Store [TGC Store] http://www.thegamecreators.com/?m=view_product&id=2103 for now it is a download app, I think the website version should come in the future at some point... and then grab a book on using Blender or simpler apps like MilkShape3D... and create your own assets slowly... or save up a bit of cash and pay someone for some models, there are quite a few amazing Modellers on here!

As for Ideas... those come from anywhere and at any time... as suggested, ingest material, process those and output some thoughts of how things correlate and boom you will hit on an idea and then set about putting it into practice... [Famously that guy from Nintendo was gardening and came up with the idea of that game called PicMin?]Not all ideas go beyond drawing a relational chart or something on paper... but keep trying... personally I have put quite a lot of ideas to paper and only followed some 1-5% of them so far in just 5 years of dev'ing...

Good Luck! and hope this helped somewhat...

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