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Pre-designed programs?

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Started by nooblet May 26, 2011 07:00 PM

6 comments, last by Telastyn 12 years, 11 months ago

nooblet

167

Author

May 26, 2011 07:00 PM

Hey all,

To start this off... I'm not too sure what to search for in terms of keywords, so please be aware that I would search if I knew what to search for. I'm looking for pre-designed programs so I can practice C++ programming a bit more. The problem I'm having at this stage, is I can't think of how to design my programs. I'm decent at programming after on-and-off years of practice, and a few classes in college as well. I just simply can't think of a way to explain my programs, or have an outline of the program before I begin development. This leads to so many failed projects, which is a bit discouraging. Is there a website that provides design documents for programs so I can practice? If you need further information, I'll try and explain as best as I can. As you can tell by this thread alone... I'm terrible at explaining myself

.

Thanks in advanced!

boogyman19946

1,487

May 26, 2011 07:11 PM

Perhaps the projects you are trying to tackle are tougher than what you can actually handle. Have you tried working with something simple? My last game I designed in modules, that is, part by part as I went along. It's not that I didn't feel like designing it fully, I just didn't know what I was supposed to design. Having done three games before that one, I was able to piece the previous knowledge and deal with the new concepts as I went along, plus the game was fairly simple (hard for me because it's only my fourth one).

Yo dawg, don't even trip.

inavat

317

May 26, 2011 09:27 PM

Well this is easy.

Write Tetris. Requirements are.. it should behave exactly like Tetris.

And when you're done with that, write Bejeweled. Requirements are.. it should behave exactly like Bejeweled.

And when you're done with that, write Doom. Requirements are.. it should behave exactly like Doom. Except look better.

mmakrzem

1,037

May 28, 2011 05:15 AM

I created a 3D dungeon crawler game called Ghost Toast and documented the entire design process on my site. Have a look if you are interested

--- @www.CreateStones.com

nooblet

167

Author

May 28, 2011 08:06 AM

Thank you for your help, everybody. It's much appreciated!

[color="#1C2837"]Perhaps the projects you are trying to tackle are tougher than what you can actually handle. Have you tried working with something simple? My last game I designed in modules, that is, part by part as I went along. It's not that I didn't feel like designing it fully, I just didn't know what I was supposed to design. Having done three games before that one, I was able to piece the previous knowledge and deal with the new concepts as I went along, plus the game was fairly simple (hard for me because it's only my fourth one).[/quote]

It's possible, but the issue isn't that I can't create the application, it's the fact that I can't think of a way to tackle the problem; if that makes any sense? Like, I've already had an object-oriented class and I was actually one of the best students in the class, but when I try to design a text RPG and think of the functionality my Player class will have, I just draw a huge blank. Perhaps I'm over-thinking the problem, which has been something I've done for years on end with programming. It's not hard for me to write a program that's already laid out in pseudocode, or that has a flowchart with it. But having me design it from a blank sheet of paper? Forget about it... .

[color="#1C2837"]Well this is easy.[color="#1C2837"]
Write Tetris. Requirements are.. it should behave exactly like Tetris.

And when you're done with that, write Bejeweled. Requirements are.. it should behave exactly like Bejeweled.

[color="#1C2837"]And when you're done with that, write Doom. Requirements are.. it should behave exactly like Doom. Except look better. [/quote]

I appreciate you posting, however, I'm not even looking into 2D graphics of any sort at this time. Right now I'm looking into bettering myself in object-oriented programming, and learning things like STL, templates, linked-lists, etc. I completely skipped vital C++ concepts a few years back to work on 2D games, and I even wrote my own 2D fighting game. I'm just looking to practice those concepts, so I guess what I'm looking for is pseudocode explaining concepts as such, so I can implement them myself in code.

[color="#1C2837"]I created a 3D dungeon crawler game called Ghost Toast and documented the entire design process on my site. Have a look if you are interested [/quote]
I definitely will! I've browsed your site a while back, but completely forgot about it . I have it bookmarked now! Thank you for sharing!

jbadams

26,386

May 28, 2011 10:11 AM

It's possible, but the issue isn't that I can't create the application, it's the fact that I can't think of a way to tackle the problem; if that makes any sense?
[...]
It's not hard for me to write a program that's already laid out in pseudocode, or that has a flowchart with it. But having me design it from a blank sheet of paper? Forget about it...

It sounds to me like you're able to understand and write code, but that you have trouble with problem solving -- which unfortunately happens to be one of the most important skills for a programmer to develop. Based on that, in my opinion you're looking for the wrong thing: you already know how to create a working application based on pseudo-code or a flowchart, so you don't really need to practice coding programs that have already been designed; what you need to work on is your problem solving skills -- you need to learn how to start from scratch and create your own pseudo-code or flowchart, from which you would then be able to continue on and develop a complete program.

If that sounds like a good idea to you as well, then my suggestion would be to check out CodeKata and Project Euler. You might also be interested in the books Code Complete (here's the Amazon page) and The Pragmatic Programmer (Amazon page).

You could also take a look at Thinking in C++ Volumes 1 & 2 (both available free online).

Does that help?

- Jason Astle-Adams

nooblet

167

Author

May 28, 2011 05:22 PM

Yes, that actually sounds really good. I appreciate it so much, oh man! See what I mean? I can't even explain what I want, and have to have other people assist me in finding my own desires

. Again, much appreciated, and especially with the suggestions you've provided as well

. Cheers!