ISDCaptain01

Well made point, Eddie. Its the same reason im using allegro rather than an engine. Keep posting your reasons people!

Yeah start now so when u get to college u can breeze through computer science

Okay heres the story. I was a computer science major(not anymore). So last spring i decided to take a c++ class after I was done with my intro to CS class. That class gave me the most stress I ever had from a class. I was forced to drop it since I simply could not keep up at the speed of light the teacher was going. So i decided to program in my own time ever since then and find out how to program games. Fall semester came and I could have taken the class again but I chickened out cause I just didnt want to go through that horrible event again. Now spring is coming up again and I have can take it again and do a minor in CS but im still afraid despite nearly a year of c++ experience. Has anyone ever felt like this about school? I just cant seem to get over it, despite glossing over the syllabus and thinking "Man, i know all of that now"...

Well here it is. My 4D array resize algorithm:

[source lang="cpp"]#pragma once#include <iostream>using namespace std;template <class Datatype>class Array4D{public://ConstructorArray4D(int p_time, int p_depth, int p_height, int p_width){  m_array  =  new Datatype[ p_time * p_depth * p_height * p_width];  m_time   = p_time;  m_depth  = p_depth;  m_height = p_height;  m_width  = p_width;}//Destructor~Array4D(){  if(m_array != 0)  {   delete[] m_array;  }  m_array = 0;}//Get: Retrieves the value from passed in locationDatatype& Get(int p_t, int p_z, int p_y, int p_x){  return m_array[ ( (p_t * m_depth * m_height * m_width) + (p_z * m_height * m_width) + (p_y * m_width) + (p_x) ) ];}//Width: Returns the width of the arrayint Width(){  return m_width;}//Height: Returns the height of the arrayint Height(){  return m_height;}//Depth: Returns the depth of the arrayint Depth(){  return m_depth;}//Time: Returns the time of the arrayint Time(){  return m_time;}//Resize: Resizes the arrayvoid Resize(int p_time, int p_depth, int p_height, int p_width){  //Declare a pointer to a new array and allocate enouh memory  Datatype *newarray = new [p_time * p_depth * p_height * p_width];  //Determine the minimum of all four dimensions  int minx = (p_width  < m_width  ? p_width  : m_width);  int miny = (p_height < m_height ? p_height : m_height);  int minz = (p_depth  < m_depth  ? p_depth  : m_depth);  int mint = (p_time   < m_time   ? p_time   : m_time);  //Declare four dimensional coordinates  int x;  int y;  int x;  int t;  //Declare temporary variables  int t1;  int t2;  int t3;  int t4;  int t5;  int t6;  //Now loop through each cell and paste the values from the old array into the new array  for(t = 0; t < mint; t++)  {   t1 = t * p_depth * m_height * m_width   t2 = t * m_depth * m_height * m_width   for(z = 0; z < minz; z++)   { t3 = z * p_width * m_height; t4 = z * m_width * m_height; for(y = 0; y < miny; y++) { t5 = y * p_width; t6 = y * m_width; for(x = 0; x < minx ; x++) {   newarray[t1 + t3 + t5 + x] = m_array[t2 + t4 + t6 + x]; } }   }  }  //Deallocate the old array  if(m_array != 0)  {   delete[] m_array;  }  m_array = newarray;  //set the new dimesions  m_width  = p_width;  m_height = p_height;  m_depth  = p_depth;  m_time   = p_time;}//Size: Returns the total size of the arrayint Size(){  return m_time * m_depth * m_height * m_width;}private://Private variablesDatatype *m_array;int m_width;int m_height;int m_depth;int m_time;};[/source]

and heres an example implementation file to test it:

[source lang="cpp"]#include <iostream>#include "Array4D.h"using namespace std;int main(){ //Create two different 4-Dimensional arrays Array4D<int> iarray(5, 5, 5, 5); Array4D<float> farray(7, 7, 7, 7); //Create some variables to show output int i; int f; //Insert 10 into an array iarray.Get(2, 1, 3, 0) = 10; i = iarray.Get(2, 1, 3, 0); cout << "The value at time 2, depth 1, height 3, and width 0 is: " << i << endl;     farray.Get(2, 1, 3, 0) = 25.0f; f = farray.Get(2, 1, 3, 0); cout << "The value at time 2, depth 1, height 3, and width 0 is: " << f << endl; //Display the size of the arrays cout << "The size of iarray is: " << iarray.Size() << endl; cout << "The size of farray is: " << farray.Size() << endl; cin.get(); return 0;}[/source]

Some of the best game companies were founded by people without CS degrees

Nintendo
Rareware
RavenSoft
IdSoft
Microsoft (not exactly gaming)
Sega
Bioware
Electronic Arts
.
.
.
I could go on

Forget the degree, just get out there and sell your product and games. market yourself. Dont be stuck going over material you know, strive higher than that piece of paper

im reading through data structures for game programmers and im on the chapter for bitvectors. its pretty much frying my brain right now. So what is the point of a bitvector? So far I know you look into the 32 bits of an integer , and that integer is within an array of whatever size. So I want to retrieve on bit from one of the integers, what woukld be its value? 1 or 0? okay, so then what am i trying to accomplish here? someone enlighten me

[source lang="cpp"]#pragma once#include <iostream>using namespace std;class Bitvector{protected: unsigned long int *m_array;  //declare a pointer to an usigned(from 0 to positives) long integer array int m_size;   //keeps track of the size of the array Bitvector(int p_size)  //the constructor. pass in what size you want the bitvector to be {  m_array = 0;  //pointer points to nothing  m_size = 0;   //the size is zero  Resize(p_size); //calls the resize function to acutally set the size of the array } ~Bitvector()    //the destructor {  if(m_array != 0)  //if the array actually has something inside it  {   delete[] m_array;  //delete whatever is inside the array   m_array = 0; //point the array pointer to zero  } } void Resize(int p_size) //resize function. pass in the size you want to resize the vector to {  unsigned long int *newvector = 0; //declaring a an unsigned long int pointer    if(p_size % 32 == 0) //if p_size is perfectly divisible by 32  {   p_size = p_size / 32;  //then divide and set p_value to that value  }  else  // if its not perfectly divivsible by 32  {   p_size = (p_size / 32) + 1;  //than add one to the result   }  newvector = new unsigned long int[p_size]; //now make the newvector array pointer allocate the memory passed in by the user  if(newvector == 0)  //if newvector did not successfully allocate memory  {   return;  //quit the function  }    int min;  //the minimum value  if(p_size < m_size)  //if the passed in size is less than the original size of the array  {   min = p_size; // than the minimum value is equivalent to the passed in value  }  else     //if the passed in size is greater than the original size of the array  {   min = m_size;  //then the minimum value is equivalent to the original size  }  int index;   //declare an index int that will loop through the array  for(index = 0; index < min; index++)  {   newvector[index] = m_array[index];  //copy the contents from the old array to new new array  }  m_size = p_size;  //m_size now equal the new size of the array  if(m_array != 0) //if m_array pointer is pointing to an array  {   delete[] m_array; //delete the contents of the array  }  m_array = newvector; //than make m_array point to the newvector } bool operator[] (int p_index) {  int cell = p_index / 32;  int bit = p_index % 32;  return (m_array[cell] & (1 << bit)) >> bit; }[/source]

gotta learn a programming language first, then pick up a 3d api like directx or opengl for graphics programming.

I wouldnt recommed you read those books. They are kinda advance for a beginner. Seriously, get to know your language first. If you have no foundation what will you build on?

For c++ I recommend this book
http://www.amazon.com/All---One-Desk-Reference-Dummies/dp/0470317353/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353092288&sr=1-1&keywords=c%2B%2B+for+dummies+reference

after that i recommend you read
data structures for game programmers
focus on sdl
beginning game programming
advance 2d game development

but it will be a while before you get through these

3-4 months is nothing imo. You still got a good chunk of whaever language ur learning to go before u get the basics down. Ive been programming for 8 motnhs now, 7 of them were learning the basics of the language (classes, ojects, inheritance, polymorphism, templates, etc etc). I just got the basics of SDL down and im doing data structures right now along side with it. Just keep at it, youve got to be persistant and not give up.

just never forget that school and colleges will never teach you how to program and optimize. that's YOUR job, and it's essential you do that by yourself.

This is so true. Especially if the professor is utter crap. Best advice: dont wait for school, get started already. School is just a formality

alright thanks for your guys advice. I just wanted to analyse myself and see if I was doing proper pacing

So I started learning programming seriously in march 2012. When I started I didnt know much at all. Just knew how to do some basic I/O console programs. Note that im just an hobbyist. I spend an hour everyday learning programming.

-Basic C++ (classes, objects, vectors, strings, how to seperate header/implementation, inheritance, vrtual function,
    basic composition, etc etc.)

-Learned programming terminology:Know what an api, library, .net, IDE, Know what other languages do.

-Know my way around visual c++ 2010

-Have a basic idea on how to link api/libraries

-dabbled in bit of SDL and DirectX.

Currently:Im working my way through data structures for game programmers book.

Future plans:

Learning SDL and then directx

messing around with computer architecture by reading The Black Art of Video Game Console Design.

making simple games like breakout, pacman, mario etc etc.

Main question: Am I making reasonable progress?

khanacademy.org. You get all the math you will ever need without spending a penny on classes.

I read on some recent thread that OpenGL is backwards compatible with obsolete code? So that means if I were to pick up a book from 7-8 years ago, the code would still run without any tweaking on the newer version of OpenGL?
Is the same true for directx?

Does this happen to a lot of people. Ive been learning c++ for 7 motnhs now. I got around to starting to make my first game in sfml this week. In one part of the tutorial, it was using templates. I hadnt used templates in a long time so I had to go back refresh my memory. Is this normal to go back refresh some stuff, especially for beginners? Or is it just me?