fffh, I know you people have all probably heard enough of these noobs coming on and spewing their idiocy everywhere, but god

Here I am.

And I am so lost.

I'm probably posting on the wrong forum anyway, adding yet another level to the "good lord, what is she even doing here".

But

Here I go anyway.

(Please don't hate me ;___; )

So I have been trying and trying and trying to figure out the simplest concepts of game design, but everywhere I go, I always end up hitting a glorious wall of pain.

I've been reading everything I can find on computer programming, and taking up small projects wherever I can go (attempting to write an AI in lisp, a text adventure in javascript, just generally screwing around in python, I've tasted a bit of Perl, read multitudes of c++ textbooks, and basically any other programming language out there) but any time I try to do anything of substance I always end up faced with the fact that every device I have sucks at being a computer.

So here I am, at it again in C++, trying to write a simple game with SFML, but yet again, my entire computer sucks at being a computer.

All of the good tutorials out there for it require visual basic, (which I can't run, whoopee!) or some other program which my computer has the inability to deal with.

So I have to figure out to make a simple game (like Pong or something) with exclusively open-source software, but have yet to find any tutorials on the topic.

And so here I am, floating aimlessly in a sea of C++ with no way to complete any project I want to work on.

so

does anyone know where I should start?

You could try QtCreator. Your computer, even if it's 10 years old, should be able to run Visual Basic. Just maybe not the most recent version.

However, if you haven't yet committed to learning C++, I'd recommend python. If you're already going on C++, then I suggest sticking with it.

Generally, people don't even start with Pong. They usually start with text-based stuff, to learn the basics of the language before they start working on graphical games.

Also, don't reject powerful tools like Construct or GameMaker out of hand. Both have free versions that are really good.

You could try using a light development environment like Bloodshed DevC++. You could also use a graphics library like OpenGL with it or SDL (if you could manage to learn any of them). And also, you could try using a pre-made game engine (Unity3D, probably best for any kind of game, IrrLicht, might need Visual Studio for it) and any tutorials they might come with. And when you say 'my computer sucks at being a computer' you mean its dangerously outdated and has low quality hardware and software right? And also you could always look for 2D and Text-based game design tutorials. I hope my post was helpful and I hope you have a productive day.

Also Vortez, I also used the Nehe tutorials to learn EVERYthing past drawing primitives in OpenGL. And the DirectX turorials were also handy.

minibutmany raises a very valuable point. There have been lots of instances where I would continually struggle with my DX apps only to find it was a simple hiccup such as a mispelling a function or parameter or even expressing a statement the wrong way.

Your only hope is to get a copy of QBASIC, learn some ASM and conquer Mode 13!

I'm intrigued, what is the spec of your PC?

Try running the 2008 or 2010 versions of visual studio(are you getting visual basic and visual studio mixed up?). The 2012 versions are built for windows 8 and pretty much run like molasses on 7 or XP(if you are running vista or before XP, try Linux instead).Is the problem with your computer its age, or is it a cheapy laptop? Beware the seemingly humble laptop, unless you pay big bucks it will have many problems.]Why did you try to learn so many languages? Pick one and focus on it. Even if you can't seem to fix a bug and your getting frustrated, don't give up, just take a break and come back to it later. I just spent 2 days trying to fix a problem where the textures on my buttons weren't showing up, and in the end I had just misspelled the file extension on my PNGs. Have you actually started coding in SFML or are stuck on the setup? I had a really hard time trying to get SFML to work.How much C++ have you done before now? Do you feel like you fully understand variables, classes, pointers, and functions?You may want to spend more time with the cosnsole before moving on to libraries.If you can't wait to make games, consider focusing on HTML/Javascript or Python instead.