Achievement Milestones

General Discussions
#1

So, I was wondering if some of the experienced members can make a list of things you should do to improve your skills. Like sometimes when I learn about something new and when I’m done with it, I wonder what should I learn next. I believe many of us go through this. So, as an experienced member maybe you can recommend the order in which you learned things. :slight_smile:

#2 


while (true) {
     if (myCurrentProject.IsDone()) {
          myCurrentProject = Brain.Instance().GetNewProject();
          myCurrentProject.Start();
     }
}

GetNewHobbyOrDie();
#3

lol xD

sigh

#4

IMO what you should learn is all relevant to what you want to do. There is so much to learn in programming and you may never need certain aspects of it. For example, when I was going to university for programming my final project was a music related project that worked with MIDI and none of my teachers could help with with it. My teachers never had a need to use the MIDI sequencer in the way I was trying to use it, so they didn’t learn about it…but I sure needed it! I did finally figure it out and get it working out of necessity for my project.

The best way to learn is to work on projects you are interested in and then learn what you need to in order to make it work. Take on difficult projects and you cannot help but learn a lot. :slight_smile:

#5

Thanks for your answer!

#6

What to do to improve skills:

  • use the skills

I think that is all, unless you really want to master something. But usally you get pretty far with a mediocre level, perfection is often just “art for arts sake” and not that useful in everydays work.

Well, usually I have a wish or an idea, "I want to do ", and then I try to figure out how to do it. This is the frist period of learning, kind of research phase. Then the actual doing comes, a second phase of learning, the practical learning.

I don’t learn stuff because I might use it some day in future. Most often, the world has changed so much until I reach the point when I actually do it, that the stuff learned is no longer of use.

So it seems better to me to wait with learning until there is a real need.

Exceptions - you can always learn basics, these don’t change frequently. Math is the best example, the basics won’t change anymore. Same for basic geometry (if you don’t consider that part of math). Basic data structures and algorithms. Knowledge in technical mechanics ans some basic in cybernetics and control theory also will help with some sorts of games.

Tools, programs, APIs and such change much more frequently. These make only sense learning when you need to actually use them.

#7

best way to improve is just make games… not just a vague idea, but actually complete them for end users to enjoy.
If gameplay doesn’t work, find a way to make it work (which improves your skills as a designer)

and when the game is done, create your next game and make it better as you take all the stuff learned from your previous game and put it in the next.

and always strive to have the finished product be something you would BUY if you are a customer…
and try to make it commercially comparable to other games in the genre, cause that’s the standard gamers are used to

#8

Sounds like a lot of work, but thanks for the answer!

Now, I am clear about what I want to do :smiley: