{"assets":[],"author_link":"author\/crowbeak\/","author_name":"Crowbeak","cat":"LD #25","categories":["LD #25"],"comments":[],"epoch":1355200500,"event":"LD25","likes":12,"metadata":{"p_key":"78372","p_author":"Crowbeak","p_authorkey":"0","p_urlkey":"287382","p_title":"Considerations in Preparation","p_cat":"LD #25","p_event":"LD25","p_time":"1355200500","p_likes":"12","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":null,"us_name":null,"us_username":null,"event_start":"1355443200","event_key":"14","event_name":"LD25"},"source_url":"2012\/12\/11\/considerations-in-preparation\/","text":"<p>I\u2019m coming into Ludum Dare 25 with rusty programming skills and limited knowledge. This post outlines what I\u2019ve done in the distant past, how I fell out of programming for a while, and what I\u2019ve been doing recently\/where I am at now.<\/p>\n<p>At the bottom is my bulleted list of where I stand (or think I do) in programming capabilities (in terms of hardware, software, and know-how). It kinda includes notes-to-self on things to try and figure out this week. Any suggestions\/tips you guys might have on that would be much appreciated. xD<\/p>\n<p><strong>My Personal Programming History<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A long time ago, when I was in high school, I started learning to program. I had already taught myself HTML, JavaScript, and some CSS \u2014 then in its early stages \u2014 in middle school and early high school. My school district offered vocational classes ranging from Auto Repair to Cosmology to Computer Science to all high school students at a location fairly centralized in the city. I signed up for the CompSci class, and spent the mornings of my senior year learning first A+ certification material and then programming, with C\/C++ as the language of instruction.<\/p>\n<p>I was set on making video games for a living. I didn\u2019t choose my college very well, being a first generation college attendee influenced by unrequited love, but I lucked out and got into what I still feel was a good Computer Science program. However, as I started trying to keep up with news in and about the industry, I started seeing horror stories about how employees were treated, particularly at big companies. In decided to be prudent* and changed majors from Computer Science (which is, of course, useless if you\u2019re not going to make video games) to Japanese Studies (which was and still is interesting, but also brings to mind the delightful opening song from <em>Avenue Q<\/em>, \u201cWhat Do You Do with a BA in English?\u201d).<\/p>\n<p>And so it was that I just kinda stopped programming for a while. If we fast forward several years \u2014 like, eight \u2014 we come to last spring.<\/p>\n<p><em>*Oh, the foolishness of youth.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Forget Prudent, I Love Games<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It was the middle of my first year of teaching English in Japan via the JET Program, and I was already looking ahead towards the end of my tenure. I had already extended my contract to last until August 2013, but I had signed that contract extension about a week before the SOPA issue exploded and I found myself wondering if I should stay the maximum five years I\u2019d originally planned on or go back to the USA and try my hand at activism. Eventually I realized that I would make a terrible activist, but aside from that,\u00a0many of my English-teaching friends had chosen not to recontract, and several of them had been accepted to graduate school in the fall. I realized that I needed to figure out what I planned to do after JET. If I decided to do something that needed more higher education, I wasn\u2019t going to make the same mistakes I made the first time around. Besides, graduate school applications have to be in really early.<\/p>\n<p>So I soul searched and researched. Did I want to teach at the primary\/secondary school level back in the States? No. At the university level? That would be awesome, but after a lot of consideration, I threw that one out, too. I considered a few other things but discarded them, too, before realizing that I really love games (not just video games), more than anything else, and that is where I should direct my efforts. In looking for ways to take all my years of Japanese studyies and put them to use in relation to gaming, I went through a process which can be summed up as follows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Consider video game translation.<\/li>\n<li>Research\u2026 Oh hey, game localization looks way more awesome than translation, and my programming experience should help.<\/li>\n<li>I have to have translation experience first? Hmm\u2026<\/li>\n<li>Talk to translator I know: I have to have a second degree to be a translator?!<\/li>\n<li>If I\u2019m gonna get a second degree, why not finish the computer science degree I already started?<\/li>\n<li>If I\u2019m gonna do that, why not make video games like I originally planned?<\/li>\n<li>If I\u2019m going to do that, why not teach myself to program again and just build a portfolio to try to get jobs with and\/or be an indie?<\/li>\n<li>Alright, back to Plan A (from high school \u2014 making video games) it is, then.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>And Now. . .<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Now I\u2019m working on the whole teaching myself to program thing. I\u2019ve been learning Python and brushing up on my computational thinking with a little help from MOOCs. I\u2019m starting to feel like I have a good platform to start working on more advanced things.<\/p>\n<p>I learned about Ludum Dare, and by extension the existence of game jams, right before Ludum Dare 24 happened. I was unable to participate at the time due to complete inability to make anything. Now, my toolset is limited but extant, and in spite of my disadvantages (including the time difference pushing the end of Ludum Dare halfway into my workday on Monday), I am gonna do my damnedest to produce something. If I have to, it\u2019ll be a text adventure which can only run in the Python IDLE, but by God, I will make <em>something<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>My Situation and Limitations, with Thoughts<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>My primary computer is a Mac laptop.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I do own a Windows 7 laptop.<\/li>\n<li>However, I bought the Mac because the old laptop was severely in need of replacing and\/or a Windows reinstall.<\/li>\n<li>Said reinstall hasn\u2019t happened yet because I decided this was the perfect chance to learn to install and use Linux (dual-boot), but I\u2019ve been busy with work, studying, League of Legends, and Borderlands 2.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The only programming language I\u2019m really familiar with at the moment is Python.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Thankfully, there are libraries out there designed for game development in Python, such as Pygame and Renpy. I need to look more into what they can do.<\/li>\n<li>Otherwise, the only graphical stuff I know how to do is scipy\/numpy plots.<\/li>\n<li>If I didn\u2019t think that would overly complicate things, I would try to do all my graphics as plots. It does sound fun.<\/li>\n<li>The games I\u2019ve played that were made with Renpy were visual novels, but I read somewhere that it\u2019s also designed for simulation games.<\/li>\n<li>I need to figure out how to compile in Python so I can distribute my game. xD<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I don\u2019t know how to make games in HTML 5 or Flash at all.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Though a couple of nice people have already pledged to play the game in Python. <img alt=\":D\" class=\"wp-smiley\" src=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-includes\/images\/smilies\/icon_biggrin.gif\"\/><\/li>\n<li>This seems like a very supportive community. &lt;3<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I could theoretically use C\/C++ even though I\u2019m rusty, but I don\u2019t really know how to use XCode.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I don\u2019t have a C\/C++ compiler installed on the Windows laptop, either.<\/li>\n<li>I don\u2019t have a personal library of code built up. <img alt=\":(\" class=\"wp-smiley\" src=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-includes\/images\/smilies\/icon_sad.gif\"\/><\/li>\n<\/ul>","time":"December 11th, 2012 4:35 am","title":"Considerations in Preparation","title_was_empty":false}