Hi. I want to learn game programming as a hobby, but time and time again I failed to do so on my own. I have enough motivation but not determination to follow past chapter 2 or 3 in quite a few books, some of them being a recommendation for beginners on this website.

So I'm thinking about entering a 2 year CS program right after I get a diploma in the same college I go to. That way I'll be able to skip a lot of prerequisites and save time while I work part time. But how much sophisticated a program will I be capable to creating once I graduate? What I want to make in a nutshell is a rhythm game engine. Something like stepmania, if you've heard of it.

Quote: Original post by akstylish
I want to learn game programming as a hobby, but time and time again I failed to do so on my own. I have enough motivation but not determination to follow past chapter 2 or 3 in quite a few books...

Are you really passionate about it? Why is it your hobby?

A hobby is something you do for fun. If you stop finding enjoyment after the first few pages, I would recommend a different hobby. Something that excites you. Something that you don't need to find determination to do because you are inherently enjoy it.

Programming is work. It is a work that many people (including myself) find to be generally fun, but there are many difficult tasks, many mind-numbing tasks, and many distasteful tasks. You can do it as a hobby, just be aware that it can be hard.

If your enjoyment is exhausted after some mild reading, what will you do when you hit the necessary non-fun tasks?

I agree with the two posters above me. I am currently studying Computer Science and it is definitely *not* a degree in programming. The amount of programming you learn will depend on your school. The university which I attend focuses a great deal on programming, however, having 7 years (~5 years in C++) of practical programming experience before entering college, the programming courses do not benefit me any significant amount.

That said, a computer science degree offers a great deal into computer theory, etc. With the thorough understanding of the computer's computational process (and things of that nature), it can make programming significantly easier. I often find myself learning much more from my theoretical classes than the practical programming classes for this reason. But again, this may be due to what I've studied prior to college. I did not study these theoretical subjects unless I encountered a programming challenge which forced me to explore the concept.

Now, just revisiting some of the topics the other two have talked about. It is extremely important to program on your own. If you don't find you have any time to do it any other time than when your assignments are due, you will not improve as a programmer (or at least not to any measurable degree). Someone such as myself is perhaps a bit excessive (I find myself working sometimes 5-8 hours a day if not more), but it's how I enjoy to spend my free time as well, so that time flies. But I would say at least an extra hour to two on top of assignments per day could simply make a significant difference. Explore concepts which you want to learn, and don't give up on them. Try and try again to wrap your mind around any concepts which make you feel "distraught" so to speak.

As far as reading books go, that can only take you so far. Not to say there is no value in it, but it is very limited. When you're new to reading a programming text book, it's hard to read the books because it is not as easy to "step through" code examples in your mind. That said, reading the text is not helpful if you cannot see or understand the end result. I had this problem and I'm just now starting to get over it. So if you find yourself having these issues, read the book with your compiler open, type up the example, compile it, and run it to see what the words are really saying in practice.

After all that, I would simply like to sum this up saying that a CS degree can be very valuable to any person (programmer or not). The things you will learn will not always (but, again, depending on your school, could be often) be related to programming directly, but will be useful to you when you try to attack a certain problem.

Good luck and I hope this helps and wasn't discouraging! Anyone who really feels like they want to study the subject should give it a go if you ask me ;)

-RageD

I would suggest that you re-evaluate if game programming is your area of interest. If it is, then consider enrolling in a computer programming course instead of a computer science degree because the latter covers all aspects of IT without specific focus on programming that you seek. A computer programming degree on the other hand will help you acquire programming skills. Since you are looking for a 2 year program, you can consider enrolling in a computer programming associate degree program.