I have been a computer programmer, I have made only 5 games. But still…I want to make it my living with computers(possibly Microsoft or Nintendo) Someone please understand and help me.
A bit of advice:
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As far as next-gen systems go, unless you have access to a lot of cash, a great idea, and a decent sized support team, getting into the console market will be next to impossible. The xbox may change this, but I’m honestly not sure. Sony and Nintendo are very selective as far as their gaming SDK kits go.
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Sticking with consoles though, there are resources available as far as the old school consoles go (NES, SNES, Gen, etc.), so you may be able to produce your own ROMs (you may already be doing this.
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There are resources out there (if I were home, I’d hook you up with some links) for independant developers trying to market their games. You said you have 5 games already, so go for it if you like them. Even if they are clones… check out the $5 rack as some computer stores… full of clone games.
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Pick a programming aspect and learn it well… be it gaming (narrow that down even more… be it FPS, MMRPG, RPG, RTS, etc.), databases, scientific, business apps (.NET would come in handy here), online apps, or whatever you like… you have years to get into a good groove. But don’t deny yourself the time to at least get familiar with things not in your genere… in the job market, being very diverse can mean the difference between work and no work.
I wish you the best of luck. I’m starting to pick up WinAPI and DirectX, and I find them interesting to say the least.
Learn to write code that other people can understand with minimal effort.
Install Linux on a home computer. Linux is a great development platform in general, and learning it won’t tie you down to Microsoft-owned properties. Plus, the average Linux distro comes with really good development tools, such as the gcc compiler, a Perl interpreter, the gdb debugger, and a whole load of great editors (Emacs, Vim, and others). Most importantly, Linux is Open-Source Software, and Open-Source Software is written for it. That means you can look at the source code of the programs you’ll be using, and that practical experience builds good coding practice.
You can create a dual-boot machine by partitioning your hard drive, allowing you to keep your Microsoft OS.
The professional IT market has changed. The days of hiring computer whizz kids by business IT companies are over.
While learning Linux and other computer programming skills now will certainly not hurt you, you will need a computer science degree by the time you can legally work for Microsoft, et.al.
In the meantime, enjoy middle/high school and find a few ordinary jobs. Once you attend college for that comp sci degree, try and get into working with computers any way you can.
um…Derleth, where do I find this Linux program> Would it interfere with my Windows '98? How much is the price. And I appreciate all of your information. Yes i have made a few roms…and c++ is pretty basic. Sort of.
If you’re looking to do console games, Digipen University in Vancouver is specifically geared towards game programming. Had a friend who went there – many moons ago, apparently in the inaugural program (would have been around 1995 or 96, I think) – and ended up working for Oddworld Industries in CA for a while. He now works at some gaming company in Vancouver.
www.digipen.edu – the link isn’t working right now, but hopefully it’ll be back up soon…
http://www.game-junkie.com/News/1998_February/Feb19_Digipen.html – but just in case, this article which is working has Digipen’s mailing address at the bottom.
Linux is an Operating System. It is completely independent of any other OS, like MS-Windows or Macintosh. Try http://www.linux.org for more details.
wow DIGIPEN??? I’ve heard of it…its a programmers dream…but then again Im not even in High-school yet. lol Thanks for the link Derleth! 
If you want to focus on games, you can buy a Linux kit for PlayStation 2. It’s not as complete as an official development kit, but it’s a good way to start programming for the PS2.
Or you could pick up a book on DirectX or OpenGL programming. DirectX is good for targeting PCs and Xbox, OpenGL is good for making cross-platform computer games (PC, Mac, Unix).
wow! Thanks as well Mr2001! On the buying part…I can’t buy it…I dont have a job yet…I think I’ll pick up the book you reccommended and a book about c++ from my friend. Thanks Again.
Buy books. Practice programming. If you want to do game programming, C and C++. Work with other people. You’re not God, learn to deal with criticism.
Go to college. GET A DEGREE. Don’t go to Digipen. Go to a real college, get a real CS degree.
Don’t try to be a high school whiz kid, kid. Trust me, you WANT to go to college, and hell, a CS degree after being a programmer would be hella easy.
Linux is a great thing to understand. The entire system from nuts to bolts to the rest of the car, out there to see. Pick a project. Do it.
The best advice I can give you is don’t focus on the “programming” part of things. By that I mean the actual writing of code, getting it to compile, and debugged. I have found that of the process of creating an application or whatever the actual coding is by far THE EASIEST part. Focus more on problem solving, enigineering and theory.(Basically the stuff they’d teach you in computer science or Software Engineering.) Learn how to solve stuff, preferably abstractly. Definitely read books on theory, what makes a good algorithm, etc. Once you get that skill set down you’ve got the important stuff down. You’d be surprised how much better a program turns out when you think about it appart from the final language, decide what needs to be done, engineer and document it and then finally actually get around to coding. I might have said make sure you have programming basics down but really, you’ve probably already done that.(Yes, there’s a reason in a CS program you might spend a course or 2 learning a language and the rest is how to solve and analyze stuff.) I know this is anecdotal but where I work those of us that are big on the engineering phase and not the grunt coding do better work.(And the guy who’s just wants to go right to coding doesn’t.)
Hey, I was a “high school whiz kid” and it’s served me just fine. If you already have an idea of what you want to learn, a lot of college will be wasted time and money… time that could have been spent gaining experience.
That said, Dave_D is right about the engineering aspects. I learned to code first and gradually picked up the rest of it, and that worked for me because I’ve been at it a long time.
Well like I said…im only in Junior High. So I’ll do fine in High school probably. So your saying not to go to college? hmm…
If you want to be guaranteed to fail, then yes, not going to college is the right option for you.
Look…I’ll go to Digipen probably…or mabey FastSail…
The best advice, probably regardless of any degree you might earn, is get your work seen by the right people at the right time. At least, if you want to get paid for writing computer programs which you enjoy writing. (Actually, I’d bet this is true for just about any career path.)
I enjoy the programs I write for work, but they’re not games (that would be ideal, but I doubt it’ll ever happen at this late stage). I first got paid for my programming talents when I was 14. Went for a beach vacation with the equivalent of 1,600 quarters in my pocket - absolutely hedonistic for the arcade-game junkie I was 22 years ago.
But I digress. The short story is that this professional programmer (of 18 years now, and counting) got his talents seen (with few machinations by himself) by the people who could make a difference in his career, at the times it mattered. A degree probably would have helped speed things along, but so far I’ve only got one simple-stupid Microsoft University course under my belt, along with a week-long OOAD seminar at which Yourdon himself spoke one day.
Heck, I even opted out of the programming classes we had in high school, because I thought they’d be boring (and judging from what my classmates were showing me, they were). But still, at 36, I’m thinking about trying to find the time to actually get a degree, because the stuff that my coworkers have told me is taught at post-graduate levels is actually interesting.
Also, a BS in IT or computer science would further help my career, I’m sure. A masters degree would be icing on the cake. “Doctor W.” from a PhD would be, once again, ideal, but probably unrealistic at my age (and also considering what tuition reimbursement is like from my company, pbbbbt) - but “staff sceintist” has such a nice ring to it as a job title that I can’t help but dream about it.
Ultrafilter’s “guaranteed to fail” is a bit strong, to my mind, but I will readily admit that my own successes have involved a lot of luck. But you can’t depend on my luck for your own advancement. Getting a degree is probably the best route for anyone at your age, thinking about computers as their desired field. I’m still not completely sure that programming is what I want to do when I grow up, and I’m well over twice your age.
As an aside, one of the customers I had years ago told my boss that anyone who claimed to be a programmer but didn’t have long hair was full of crap. Go figure. Funny thing, my boss decided he needed to grow a ponytail after that.
I’d post the long version of my story, but I worry that the hamster is overworked already.
10 years ago (when I wasn’t a whiz kid, but knew them) that worked… it doesn’t seem to happen as frequently now.