Im getting th ebasics of c++ down and im wondering if its worth my effeort to go into game programming. I know its a long journey from here on out. Im looking into winapi and directx. im into rts and anything to deal with strategy. Im open to all suggestions wheather they be good or bad. thanks in advance!

What kind of suggestions do you want? Whether it''s worth it or not to go into game programming? That depends on you - if you love programming then definately. If not, then just go out and buy the games as they hit the store shelves.

Im only 16 and im planning on going to college to be a computer sci bs. (or master) whatever i can handle. I would like to go into the industry but i heard its a bitch to get into(pardon my french =D). I dont want to get hooked to it only to find out ill never belong to a company. I think its a hopless cause but atleast i will learn. I dont know if anyone has a job in the industry ,but if you are shine some light on the subject please.
thanks in advance for your time!

Edited by - IKill on January 22, 2002 6:22:00 PM

I don''t have a job in the game industry but I program games. I do it on the side. I get a lot of personal enjoyment out of it. Whether I work for a company and make oodles of money at it really doesn''t matter to me. Now if someone wants to hire me, cool. Otherwise, i really don''t care I do it because I like it. If you don''t do it for that reason, you won''t do it for long.

Always remember, you''''re unique. Just like everyone else.

I love to code also I love games but from what I read its hard to even hard to get your foot in the door. I wonder what im to expect right after college. Will i get a job in the industry or will I be in a different area of programming. I plan on working on my programming skills and my game programming skills. I just want a little ray of hope that I might be able to get the position. But who knows i may change my mind somewhere down the road. I was wondering if it would be a good idea to join in on a project and get some exp, or get some exp from tutorials first. Im looking into direct x and win api.

Ill give you guys some background info on me so you can see my position...

I live in a small town in indiana. Im the only person at my school who can program(even my comp teacher... go figure). So in witch case i have no help from anyone in my town. One of my mah teachers has a freind in the buisness of programming. He is in a contract programming company. I get alot of help from him through email, but i cant rely on him for long. I chat alot on Mirc to get some tips once and a while but in all totality im the only person who has the will to program in my town. I plan on using this forum for what its worth then goto college to get a bs in comp sci. I have a few freinds who thnks they a 1337 haxors but they are mild manered and have no skills at all. So thats my background. O yeah btw there are ~200 ppl a my high school. ~55 in my seinor class.

Im glad there is a place such as this to get info so I plan on coming back and helping the newbs when im a little better.(making the world go round).

Well im off to go program I need to motivate myself(heh)
To bad i dont goto a bigger school. I guess ill have to wait till college to have fun.

FINGERS CRAMPING... OUch

Hey! You''ve got the inspiration to be great. Unfortunately, you''re stuck somewhere that you can''t express it. That''s okay. You mentioned that you''d heard it''s next to impossible to get a foot in the door of the gamedev industry. While you can''t expect to get a top-dollar job at first, it''s possible to get a beta testing or technical writing job and, though you won''t get paid much, it''s considerably easier to move up once you''re already inside. Also of great importance is a portfolio of work that you''ve done (complete games are a definite plus; they''ll also want well-written code, along with demos), so just know that the work you''re doing now will not go to waste. Every bit helps. You understand that it''s a long path. Just take it one step at a time.

Hope that helps.
Good luck,
ZE.


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I can see it now.
Im destined to a loser job. j/k

btw have any of you read "Ender's Game".
It was one of the best books ive read. lots of things about people fears.

Edited by - IKill on January 22, 2002 9:24:57 PM

Yeah buddy! Ender''s Game is the greatest! Speaker for the Dead, Ender''s Shadow, and Shadow of the Hegemon are all worthy sequels. I''m reading Xenocide now. I also have the entire "Earth" series, but I just don''t have enough time to read. OSC is the man

later,
ZE.

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Trust me IKILL you''re not alone.Everyone who has ever gone through high school and excelled at one subject or went to college and completely emerged themselves into one major has wondered if it will be worth it at the end of it all.There''s no real easy answer for the question but here''s some general suggestions.
1.If you want to get involved with programming you have to get around programmers and yes you did well by coming here but also out there in the real world to.If you''re in college maybe you can look into an intern program.Sometimes they have them but don''t tell people about them unless they ask.That way you get to see what your future career will be like before you commit yourself totally to it.
2.Never ever put all your eggs in one basket.What I mean by that is like I love to draw.I want to be a comicbook artist among other things.I love Marvel comics but when I go looking for a job I won''t only write to Marvel but to DC ,Image and probally some small ones too.Under that same token when you start searching you shouldn''t just send to 3DO and no one else because what if they have everyone they need.Spreading yourself around is a great way of upping your chances of success
3.And last one and I''m getting off my soapbox.You.Most of the time the only thing that is holding a person back is himself.His doubts,his fears.Look at yourself,your skill level honestly.If possible get someone else''s opinion maybe a classmate or a close friend, maybe a teacher if you''re desperate.Ask them about your skill level and tell them to be honest about it.You may find that you''re a lot better than you give yourself credit for.That''s it for my sermon.Goodluck to you IKILL

thanks for the replies. Im still looking into game programming but ill probly end up with a regular programming company. I will be doing game programming on the side because its fun. I do feel isolated here but it will change when i get to college. I got an old ver of vc++ that he got from college but he forgot most of what he knew. As for secondary talets or hobbies: Drawing and Writing. I know i dont like to write that much but im very good at it. Drawing id just a little hobby(for those boring times). I''ve looked at most of the tutorials here and some site i found at Http://code.cjb.net and i''ve looked at some sources at Http://www.planetsourcecode.com . I viseted some colleges allready and I have looked into their comp sci corses. I personaly like IU(Indiana university Bloomington) its about 45 min from my home town. Hopefully ill excell and suceed in my goals.