Noble Kale

Do you have any programming buddies?

Actually, EmployeeNumber8 makes an awesome point. I'm noticing that my productivity and motivation stay at much higher average levels from working in a team - I also have a bunch of other gamedevs on twitter and we keep each other on track. You can lone-wolf it if you desire, but you'll be thankful for at least a little bit of a support network. Helps to wave off the depression...

Do you know why we rewrite code? Because we've learned things which allow us to envision better solutions. If you're rewriting your code, it's because you're improving your skills.

This person gets it completely. Coding is about constantly evolving your product.

Has anyone ever felt some-what of what I'm feeling? Does anyone have advice for me? Should I be in such a rush to get things done at my my age? Or Should I just give up, and move onto something else? Such as: programming applications with Qt, web programming, or perhaps security penetration testing (i.e. ethical hacking), or whatever else. I'm just not sure what I want to do when I'm actually a programmer, I love low-level stuff, but I'm not sure.

People get depressed, tired, lose morale... it's all pretty common. Here's some advice:

• Stick it out,
• Put in a constant effort (do something every day, even something small).
• Keep a notebook of your ideas
• Play games! (See what others do right, learn from their mistakes and also take the time to relax)
• Have a life outside gamedev! (remember to have friends and keep other people around you)

It sounds patronising, and I shudder to say it but you're young! At 17, you're still young enough that you should just be powering along and building up your skills. The general consensus is that it takes 10,000 hours of an activity to make someone into an expert - that's a lot of hours!

Depends upon your end goal.

Do you want to just have fun coding, or do you want to release something?

If you start work on an engine, you will rarely finish it....