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OffTopic > How do you get back into programming?

#34093 - identitycrisisuk - Thu Jan 13, 2005 3:18 pm

I haven't written a line of code since the Christmas break - nor written any more job applications, ho hum. I've been ill the past week so really didn't want to do anything but am starting to feel better now and still can't bring myself to start coding again. I just know I had a slightly awkward bit of code to do that I was putting off to start with, I've forgotten a lot of the details of the code and just how I've laid everything out in the project. Sigh, I keep thinking that I'd started with quite a complicated project too and keep thinking of starting again with something like an R-Type style side scrolling shooter, which I might be able to turn out something playable more quickly - though I don't want to forget about the platformer forever.

So what do you all do when you're running low on motivation?
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#34095 - Lupin - Thu Jan 13, 2005 5:27 pm

R-Type is a very complex game... did you ever play it? I am thinking about how the enemies know where to fly (i am not talking about these enemies that just fly straight to the left), especially these enemies that are spawned by other enemies and then have to move their way up to not crash into walls, i wonder if they used paths or some kind of path finding. Also the GFX of R-Type is quite awsome for a GameBoy game (R-Type 2)
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#34098 - sgeos - Thu Jan 13, 2005 5:37 pm

Just start a mini project. Convert English strings into pig latin or something silly like that. As an alternative, you could pick a module in your old code base, reread it and rewrite it (doing a better job the second time, of course. =)

-Brendan

#34100 - identitycrisisuk - Thu Jan 13, 2005 5:41 pm

sgeos wrote:
As an alternative, you could pick a module in your old code base, reread it and rewrite it (doing a better job the second time, of course. =)

-Brendan


S'true, I think I had sorta been doing that while I was putting off other stuff before Christmas. I've still got lots I could do to make my management of the GBA a lot better (Got some ideas for a class that will keep track of free space in VRAM and you just pass it what you want loaded). Unfortunately, even though I'm getting better I still looked through some code today and found it made my headache even worse and I just couldn't concentrate on it :(
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#34102 - sgeos - Thu Jan 13, 2005 5:45 pm

identitycrisisuk wrote:
S'true, I think I had sorta been doing that while I was putting off other stuff before Christmas. I've still got lots I could do to make my management of the GBA a lot better (Got some ideas for a class that will keep track of free space in VRAM and you just pass it what you want loaded).

Sure. Write libs to make things better. Their scope is usually pretty clearly defined.

identitycrisisuk wrote:
Unfortunately, even though I'm getting better I still looked through some code today and found it made my headache even worse and I just couldn't concentrate on it :(

Because you are sick or because your code is ugly? Or a little of both?

-Brendan

#34103 - Touchstone - Thu Jan 13, 2005 5:55 pm

identitycrisisuk wrote:
So what do you all do when you're running low on motivation?

Unless it's for a job I don't do anything. If I'm not motivated to code I don't code. I've found it's much better to not actually write the code immediately when I get the idea. I just let the idea sit in my head for a while. Every now and then I figure out a new way to solve a problem for the idea, and if I find myself still thinking about the idea after a couple of weeks I'm generally so filled up with ideas on how to actually implement it, the implementation only takes a couple of hours, or days if it's something bigger.
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#34110 - tepples - Thu Jan 13, 2005 6:32 pm

Lupin wrote:
R-Type is a very complex game... did you ever play it? I am thinking about how the enemies know where to fly (i am not talking about these enemies that just fly straight to the left), especially these enemies that are spawned by other enemies and then have to move their way up to not crash into walls, i wonder if they used paths or some kind of path finding.

I haven't played R-Type, but I have played Gradius. Most of those games take place in a long horizontal tunnel. The easiest way for enemy characters in one of those games to avoid walls is to look in its direction of movement, turn down if it sees ceiling, and turn up if it sees floor.
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#34113 - identitycrisisuk - Thu Jan 13, 2005 6:57 pm

sgeos wrote:
Because you are sick or because your code is ugly? Or a little of both?

-Brendan


Because I'm sick (though some people could still take that to mean in the way I write my code). It's been a little worrying but the doctor said it was probably just a virus so I'll give it a while longer to clear.
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#34118 - ScottLininger - Thu Jan 13, 2005 7:26 pm

Find a collaborator.

Having another person to bounce ideas around and to motivate you is great.

-Scott