[quote name='rubsnick' timestamp='1300746515' post='4788840']
Define "project".... last thing I did was some stupid text reader in assembler language about 6 months back.

When was the last time you worked on something game related?, You might have more fun programming a simple game than doing real world applications for your class =p
[/quote]

... I've never programmed anything gaming related.... hence my frustrations... the other day I got pong to work in freeglut (just the graphics) But nothing works. Just draws the 2 bars and a ball.... closest I've ever gotten to a game.

I generally feel like I get the most out of the things I fail horribly at multiple times. We've all been stuck and frustrated, but I daresay only a fraction of people understand the sheer joy one experiences after figuring out a bug six hours in .

Quitting at something you enjoy doing because it is challenging is, in my opinion, a very poor decision.

[quote name='rubsnick']
What a joke of a programmer. I've been really down on myself and I just don't see how I can even compete with some of you people. I just think I should cut my losses and just go work at best buy and focus on my photography.... honestly seems to be the easiest way out. I just need some advice, encouragement anything whatsoever. I just feel like a huge failure right now
lately.... I've been in a funk. I can't seem to program like I said before. I know that I love programming but... I don't know how long till I can keep going with this.... This stress... I don't understand thigns no matter how hard ... I don't have the skill to do it. It's so damn far away..... I have so much to learn and I feel like I don't have the capacity to do it... I feel like I won't find a job or support my family with this, I feel like I'm nothing special in the programming world.
[/quote]
Dude. Your university has counselors. Go see them. Avail yourself of the good things your university has in place for your benefit!
And talk to your professors, too. Especially the teacher of the course you're having so much difficulty with. He can help you zero in on your problem areas and work through them. He's not just there trying to flunk you. Quite the opposite.
BTW, this probably belongs in Breaking In, so I'll move it there.

I've never programmed anything gaming related.... hence my frustrations... the other day I got pong to work in freeglut (just the graphics) But nothing works. Just draws the 2 bars and a ball.... closest I've ever gotten to a game.

I can't speak from personal experience, but I have heard that some of the programming techniques you learn from a straight computer science approach don't mesh well with game design. edit: (take that line with a grain of salt!)
I would hate to semiquote a kevin bacon movie, but it sounds to me like you have the BCD and you don't have the A of game programming.

the quote from hollowman: "Genius is the ability to go from A to D without having to go through B and C." Sebastian can do that, but for me, I gotta have the B and C.

[quote name='rubsnick' timestamp='1300746820' post='4788844']I've never programmed anything gaming related.... hence my frustrations... the other day I got pong to work in freeglut (just the graphics) But nothing works. Just draws the 2 bars and a ball.... closest I've ever gotten to a game.

I can't speak from personal experience, but I have heard that some of the programming techniques you learn from a straight computer science approach don't mesh well with game design.
I would hate to semiquote a kevin bacon movie, but it sounds to me like you have the BCD and you don't have the A of game programming.

the quote from hollowman: "Genius is the ability to go from A to D without having to go through B and C." Sebastian can do that, but for me, I gotta have the B and C.
[/quote]

I appreaciate the post... but I don't fully understand it.... with game programming my main problem is the graphics. I have no idea how to do the things taht need to be done. I know the desing but don't know how to do it.

I appreaciate the post... but I don't fully understand it.... with game programming my main problem is the graphics. I have no idea how to do the things taht need to be done. I know the desing but don't know how to do it.

Well ask away there are plenty of people here to help you, do you need information on getting your game loop setup?, how to draw your screen? the generic flow of a game?

[quote name='yewbie' timestamp='1300748001' post='4788855']
[quote name='rubsnick' timestamp='1300746820' post='4788844']I've never programmed anything gaming related.... hence my frustrations... the other day I got pong to work in freeglut (just the graphics) But nothing works. Just draws the 2 bars and a ball.... closest I've ever gotten to a game.

I can't speak from personal experience, but I have heard that some of the programming techniques you learn from a straight computer science approach don't mesh well with game design.
I would hate to semiquote a kevin bacon movie, but it sounds to me like you have the BCD and you don't have the A of game programming.

the quote from hollowman: "Genius is the ability to go from A to D without having to go through B and C." Sebastian can do that, but for me, I gotta have the B and C.
[/quote]

I appreaciate the post... but I don't fully understand it.... with game programming my main problem is the graphics. I have no idea how to do the things taht need to be done. I know the desing but don't know how to do it.
[/quote]

I've always liked this quote by (Well not confirmed he said it, but likely anyway) Thomas Edison, when someone asked Thomas about failing to create a lightbulb a 1000 times:
"I have not failed a 1000 times. I have successfully discovered 1000 ways to not make a light bulb"


Essentially this is the quote that keeps me going when I hit another brick wall in my learning process. For me the quote's like this:
"I have not failed a 1000 times. I have successfully discovered 1000 ways to not make a video game"

If Game Development is what you're passionate about, remember that quote, always pick yourself back up, and re-do it until you find the right way. If you've tried every way not to do it, there's only one way left!

Thanks for the advice... thing is I've wanted to Make video games since I was 3. That's been my dream.

Making games is very different from playing them.

Age 3 is awfully young to be deciding your adult career path.

Programming games requires a passion for making software. Games are just software. The work environment is a little different from other industries like banking or health care systems programming, but the principles of software engineering are unchanged. If you can't find work in the game industry you may need to fall back to regular business programming, so if you hate it you may be in trouble. It is also a stressful job.

Imagine what may happen if you finally get your dream programming job, and you discover that it is just a job. You will have difficult stressful deadlines, problems that you struggle with, and days that you really hate working. If you are passionate about programming and what you do then you can work through those bad days. If you aren't passionate about programming itself then you will be miserable.

While programming might be your future, make sure you've honestly evaluated your passions now that you're an adult.

I would strongly recommend not to give up! You haven't got long left and you can still come out with a useful and worthy degree out of it. Throwing that and your past work away would not make much sense.

The feelings you have are not uncommon in degrees, and spending massive ammounts of time on certain study tasks and not seeming to make much progress is also not uncommon. If something is easy, its not an interesting achievement.

I literally poured blood, sweat and tears into my Physics degree, and it was worth everything I put into it, though in hind sight I should have put even more into it (I was lazy and having fun most of the time, resorting to extremely intense periods of activity to get the required study done).

Keep at it, ask for help from friends and tutors, and get over that hill! You can do it

I would like to tell everyone here thanks for the encouragement! Honestly I was in a slump but after I took a break and started programming with a clear head and what not. I was able to complete it in a cool 2 hours. XD I realized all my mistakes and my God it's pathetic. And I should be coming back here with my Pong code to learn collision detection. I once again thank everyone that helped me out here. ^^ Oh and yes I know what the work entails... and I find it exhilarating. I've just been on a personal and professional slump. I guess i'm not super human after all. XD