I started when I was about 12, with a book about C++. When it came to “classes”, it started to get way to difficult for me to understand so I dropped it for a few years.

Then I worked on a game in Rpg-Maker with their event-system a few years later, and when I ran into problems with both performance and features, I was kind of forced to learn scripting (which was ruby/rgss). From that, I re-learned c++ “properly”, having a few projects that didn't go anywhere (I was lacking so much experience in code-design, that after a few months of working on them they became virtually unmangable).

Still, when I came to university for a game-dev class, I was already way ahead in knowledge than my peers, and could focus on learning proper design. Thats when I started with my game-engine, and with a lot more focus on good code-design and a lot of refactoring, I've been on it for about 10 years now.

So when it comes to programming, I think you need both perseverance, dedication, the willingness to learn/fail and learn from your mistakes, and never fall into the trap of thinking you know everything (because you most likely don't).

I read books. Packt has some good books.

I started programming in my late teens. The whole purpose was the create my own version of Super Mario World. I love that game and wanted to add my own characters to it. I took it on myself to take a programming class in high school and begin learning C++ on my own.

My first projects were primitive arcade games which were no more than prototypes. I did not have very good abstract thinking when I was younger. This has improved with age and now I can think and solve problems a lot faster! It was not until about 10 or so years ago that I developed my first game in C++, Bluejay's Quest. It is a large platform game where you navigate a bird through Mario-type level except that you fly. A few years ago I set out to build my own game development studio like Game Maker or something similar and to build a large platform game on top of it. If that wasn't enough I wanted to build my own scripting language with it's own virtual machine to program the sprites. So basically, I went for it and completed the game studio as well as the game while having all this run on my web site!

So in short I figured out how to program on my own because I am driven to learn. I've always been curious about things and that has never changed. I am also a project driven person and have great confidence in my skills and learning ability.

I am also very new to programming. Before starting, I had 0 experience.

First thing i recommend is research games that are similar and look at the engines and coding language used to make them. This will give you some insight about which programming language might be best for the game you want to make.

2nd step is googling. I personally found that youtube videos work best for me. I am currently going through a 4hr python tutorial on youtube that has a lot of great details.

DevTraining said:
I am also very new to programming. Before starting, I had 0 experience.

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