Should I just give up now?
Hi all,
I suffer with CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) and have been teaching myself C++ for roughly two years now. I've been doing this with the aim of being able to write simple, fun games.
However I'm having trouble getting my head around the whole "Initializing DirectX" thing.
I'm trying to get it to sink in by writing new projects from scratch, including creating windows and initializing DirectX to render simple cubes to the screen.
But I cannot for the life of me remember everything needed to render a simple cube to the screen. I keep having to return to the web-page tutorials to finish of the functions.
Is this a problem that everyone suffers with? Should I take the approach of Einstein of "Never remember anything I can easily find in a book"?
Any encouragement and advice is greatly appreciated. I understand that Game writing is pretty much the most tasking of coding tasks, and I don't want to give up. But sometimes my condition can make forging on ahead an absolute nightmare.
Like I said, any direction would be greatly appreciated.
Mike
I suffer with CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) and have been teaching myself C++ for roughly two years now. I've been doing this with the aim of being able to write simple, fun games.
However I'm having trouble getting my head around the whole "Initializing DirectX" thing.
I'm trying to get it to sink in by writing new projects from scratch, including creating windows and initializing DirectX to render simple cubes to the screen.
But I cannot for the life of me remember everything needed to render a simple cube to the screen. I keep having to return to the web-page tutorials to finish of the functions.
Is this a problem that everyone suffers with? Should I take the approach of Einstein of "Never remember anything I can easily find in a book"?
Any encouragement and advice is greatly appreciated. I understand that Game writing is pretty much the most tasking of coding tasks, and I don't want to give up. But sometimes my condition can make forging on ahead an absolute nightmare.
Like I said, any direction would be greatly appreciated.
Mike
I'm not sure of the implications of CFS, but I'd say it doesn't really matter so long as you can get it done and working.
I'd recommend dual screens or something to that effect to where you can search and work if you continue having that problem; would make reading + writing a LOT easier - simultaneously, I mean.
I'd recommend dual screens or something to that effect to where you can search and work if you continue having that problem; would make reading + writing a LOT easier - simultaneously, I mean.
| bitani wrote: |
|---|
| I'd recommend dual screens or something to that effect to where you can search and work if you continue having that problem; would make reading + writing a LOT easier - simultaneously, I mean. |
Or (windows users) start+tab ;)
@Mike do not let anything in life get you down. And trust me, we all refer to the some resource at some point, you just need to get past the initial learning curve.
Hey guys,
Yeah I've basically been doing the whole ALT+TAB thing to write and read.
I'm glad that it's not just me that finds there's an initial learning curve. That alone gives me more hope.
@Script Coder, my friend has ordered "Programming a multiplayer FPS in DirectX" by Vaughan Young, and I have "Tricks of the game programming gurus" (which doesn't cover Direct3D), what other books would you recommend?
Thanks for the advice guys!
Mike
Yeah I've basically been doing the whole ALT+TAB thing to write and read.
I'm glad that it's not just me that finds there's an initial learning curve. That alone gives me more hope.
@Script Coder, my friend has ordered "Programming a multiplayer FPS in DirectX" by Vaughan Young, and I have "Tricks of the game programming gurus" (which doesn't cover Direct3D), what other books would you recommend?
Thanks for the advice guys!
Mike
I was exactly the same when I first started, even doing REALLY basic stuff. I'd keep having to look in a book for the simplest things. Eventually, I found that I did the simple things so many times, I just remembered what to do.
I also found that it's much easier to remember some code snippet if you know what it does and how it works. For example, instead of thinking "Oh, this needs to go here. And this thing needs to be here. Uh, I think NULL goes here" I would think, "Okay, I need to remember to initialise the graphics, set up the window, load all the files etc etc".
What I'm basically saying is, don't give up because it's tough to start. Sometimes it's fun starting something new, sometimes it's just tricky. Keep going and don't be put off because you're having trouble remembering stuff!
I also found that it's much easier to remember some code snippet if you know what it does and how it works. For example, instead of thinking "Oh, this needs to go here. And this thing needs to be here. Uh, I think NULL goes here" I would think, "Okay, I need to remember to initialise the graphics, set up the window, load all the files etc etc".
What I'm basically saying is, don't give up because it's tough to start. Sometimes it's fun starting something new, sometimes it's just tricky. Keep going and don't be put off because you're having trouble remembering stuff!
Topic archived. No new replies allowed.