   How do you know you want to be a programmer?
  Well I am a beginner in c++ and have lately been trying to learn directx but I am getting my butt kicked in directx.I used to think c++ was complicated until I started studying directx and I cant even make heads or tails of directx. For every 1 thing I learn, or thought I learned there is 100 other things to learn to go along with it.I have read dozens of tutorials and parts of about a dozen books. When I am not getting anything out of a particular book anymore I stop reading it.I know that going to directx so soon, (me being a beginner in c++), is a bad idea but I just cannot stand C++ anymore, it is boring, directx and 3d on the other hand is exciting and does hold my attention but I dont understand it.I just want to make 3d quality games without programming Is that possible? Dont answer that.Seriously though I am very discouraged right now, wondering if programming is for me, I am not passionate about it, and I dont know if making 3d games is for me and if I will be very interested in that. I really think that I will but how could I know? In order to make 3d games I have to spend 1-2 years learning all the boring crap first.The only reason that I am still fighting to learn c++ and directx is because I think I would really like making 3d games but even then I am not positive I would like making 3d games because I have never made one. So how could I possibly know?I could give a crap less about console text games, basic 2d games etc. The only thing I am interested in is 3d.I wish there was a way to make a 3d game without serious programming, even if it sucked it dont matter. Just so I could see if I like making 3d games, then if I decide I do I could come back and take the time to learn c++ right and then directx right.What about those game maker packages thingies? those programs that say you can make a game with their editing tools or whatever? I have seen a couple of those floating around.I dont know if I want to be a programmer.Do you have any advice for me? 
  well you could get a package where you just click together games like with 3d game studio. or if you sort of do want to still program your games yet don''t want to go into direct x or anything (opengl is a lot easier and almost as powerful as dx imo though) you could make mods with like the q2 or 3 engine or whatever.depends where your interests lie. if you do want to code make mods for q3 or hl or d/l the q2 source and use it''s engine. or if you just want to design games and don''t want to do too much coding then 3d gamestudio will be your best bet imo ;  Ussually, you can''t think in any other thing you would like to be doing but to be coding. You dream awake about coding the first real artificial intelligence, the best game of all times or the more cool OS ever.If you still want to be a programmer when you realise all that is impossible to be done by your own in less than 24 hours. Then, Congratulations! You are a programmer. ;quote:Original post by owl  Ussually, you can''t think in any other thing you would like to be doing but to be coding. You dream awake about coding the first real artificial intelligence, the best game of all times or the more cool OS ever. Honestly? do some of you really think about coding 24/7?Are people really that passionate about it?Sadly it is becoming more and more clear to me that I might not be destined for programming.I found a program called the 3d gamemaker and it seems to be what I am looking for, you can even put your own 3d models in it and You can make 3d decent looking games with it without programming. So I am going to buy it and take a break from programming for a while. This way I can get a taste for what it is like to make a 3d game. Ansd if it is really something that interests me I will come back to c++ and directx because I am sure the 3d gamemaker is limited. ;quote:Original post by mx1  Honestly? do some of you really think about coding 24/7?Are people really that passionate about it?I''m equally passionated about everything I like. If I like it enough, I''ll do it 24/7. I don''t think obsessive behaviors are a requisite for being a programmer. You just have to like it. Plain and simply. ;  I think you answered your own question when you said:"In order to make 3d games I have to spend 1-2 years learning all the boring crap first."Programming isn''t so much about the games, it''s about the process of making the game.  You seem to be looking at it from a "I want to play great 3d games that I made" viewpoint, whereas a lot of programmers look at it from the "I want to make great 3d games" - the playing of the final game is the icing on the cake, not the sponge.I know that when I was learning all "the boring crap" I would learn one thing, and would be thinking about all the cool ways I could use that.  I wasn''t thinking how boring it is.  The only exception being MFC which I hate with a passion - fortunately there''s WTL or Borland C++ Builder Especially when I learn the basics of 3D and 3D related maths.  I think about how it all fits and what amazing features could be developed using this knowledge.  If you can''t see C++ and the basics of DirectX/OpenGL as nothing but "boring crap" then you''re probably right, programming probably isn''t for you. ;  If you don''t really enjoy it (your comment about ''boring crap'' leads me to believe you don''t) then it isn''t for you.  The best programmers I know love programming and learning new stuff.  Some of of us even have dreams about code.While programming might not be your thing, there is more to developing games than programming.  There may be an aspect that you enjoy more. ;  Whoa... 3d gamestudio looks good.Does anyone here use it? can you comment on it?It also seems to use a simplified c++ language for the editor.This could be just what I need right now. ;  Also, try something like BlitzBasic or DarkBasic for an easier start to game programming. ;quote:Original post by mx1  Seriously though I am very discouraged right now, wondering if programming is for me, I am not passionate about it, and I dont know if making 3d games is for me and if I will be very interested in that. I really think that I will but how could I know? In order to make 3d games I have to spend 1-2 years learning all the boring crap first.The fact that you''re not passionate about programming andthat you think it''s "all the boring crap" means you''reprobably not suited to be a programmer.You may want to be a "Game Designer", but with little or noknowledge of programming, I wish you good luck. Kami no Itte ga ore ni zettai naru! 