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Blowing off steam

Discussion in 'Scripting' started by iflowers, Aug 18, 2011.

  1. iflowers

    iflowers

    Joined:
    Apr 7, 2009
    Posts:
    6
    Hi! I just feel like I need to blow off steam. I have been a 3D modeler for the last 10 years, I've built a few web sites, I worked with Flash and Action Script mostly developing e-learning content. Now, I consider myself a visual person, not a programmer. How do I know that? Because I start every project from establishing look and feel, layout and building graphics, not from opening notepad and Leeeeroy!
    I am applying for a job, that requires: 3D modeling of objects, characters, environments (perfect!), texturing, animating (good), web site design and development of marketing materials (easy!) - but also development of authoring scripts (oops!). Big OOPS actually.
    I know that the company is working with Unity. So, I picked up Unity 3D book last Monday, I went through it, built a few games following the tutorials. And I got really upset last night. I mean, I know my way in Unity now better that I did before. I know the basic things, such as collision, GUI design, basic camera controls. I do understand the script when I am typing it from the book. But if you give me a problem and let me solve it - I will go and shoot myself in the head without even trying it. I just don't get it. I mean, I do get functions and classes and vars and arrays, and i++, I know what they do. But let's say you want me to build a script that will brake things apart and I won't be able to do it.
    In the book that I read it said that some people get programming right the way, some do it gradually. I feel like I am neither of the two types. Yes, I am a girl. Maybe this is the problem... Maybe I should have gone to fashion after all...
     
  2. kieblera5

    kieblera5

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2009
    Posts:
    107
    Post in the Gossip forum next time ;)
     
  3. samloeschen

    samloeschen

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2010
    Posts:
    268
    Need more experience points. Must practice more.
     
  4. Lypheus

    Lypheus

    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2010
    Posts:
    664
    Try focusing on a specific aspect of the engine and doing something from front to back with it, break it down into smaller problems. If you're still having issues, the problems are not small enough, break it down further. Be patient and have fun!
     
  5. appels

    appels

    Joined:
    Jun 25, 2010
    Posts:
    2,687
    Debugging is an important part of the job, I usualy break it up in parts and even start a new project to test stuff out. The more you debug, the better you will understand the errors the engine throws at you.
     
  6. Akinon93

    Akinon93

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2011
    Posts:
    185
    you're probably one of the people who don't get programming very easily. trust me, VERY few people can pick it up and understand it within a week. when I first learned JavaScript (the real JavaScript used in websites), it took me 2 months of trial and error before I finally reached that "aha!" moment and started understanding what this little thing and that little thing does. and I'm actually one of the people who can learn a new coding language relatively fast, but that being my first one, it took me a long time to wrap my head around it.

    so, in short, don't be discouraged. it has absolutely nothing to do with you being a girl. it just has everything to do with you setting your sights way higher than you could realistically shoot for for someone of your capabilities (by the sounds of it at least). I'm the exact opposite of you in a sense, I'm really good with many different forms of coding, but I'm dreadful at anything artistic. I suck at designing website layouts and modeling, all I can really do is placeholder style stuff (although with websites if given a design and color scheme I can make it look nice). so just remember that maybe because you're an artistic person coding isn't necessarily the thing your brain will "click" to right away, and it might take you awhile to get the hang of it.

    Edit: TL;DR - it really just sounds like you're struggling to "wrap your head" around coding for Unity3D, much like a lot of new people I'm sure. I struggled to wrap my head around it when I first picked up Unity3D, and even quit it for many months but when I came back I watched the Tornado Twins tutorial and really cracked down on why I couldn't understand this or that.
     
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2011
  7. tomvds

    tomvds

    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2008
    Posts:
    1,028
    I find that list of requirements quite unrealistic. There are not many people on this planet who excel at both programming and art. Perhaps the scripting won't weigh as heavy as the others in the list and if not, odds are that position has been open for years. Just make sure not to lie about your lack of scripting skill should they ask (but no need to bring it up if they don't ;)). It's quite easy to find out if someone knows about programming or not and nothing says 'don't hire' as much as someone boasting skills they don't really have.

    And if it doesn't work out, there should always be job opportunities from companies with realistic lists of requirements for their artists ;).
     
  8. bigmisterb

    bigmisterb

    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2010
    Posts:
    4,221
    Sadly, the only specific you gave about what problem that you were looking at, is actually incredibly advanced. "Splitting Objects" is not child's play.

    I do concur. Practice more. I looked back on this forum and noticed I have been playing with Unity for about a year now. But I come from Visual Basic.. Javascript.. Web programming.

    My approach is different than yours though. I approach code visually, not knee deep in classes and functions. I put a cube out there long before I write a piece of script to do anything. In my mind's eye, I wanted to make a space game. I made a ship, I got to looking at asteroids, planets and kept going. Then I said.. Well How does the ship work, what type of controls. Physics, math, how do you make it all work?

    I honestly looked at every source I could find. I had to "relearn" how to program a completely different way. In PHP, I coded top down. Everything had to be in order. Gaming is no where near that. I had to learn what Update and LateUpdate and FixedUpdate and why we had so many damned UPDATES. Better yet, I had to figure out what a Coroutine was and why Updates really didn't fit the bill for everything.

    Honestly, it sounds like you don't have the actual time to learn how to use Unity at 100% capacity before your interviews. If you get the job, thats great. Tell them there is a prefectly good Unity coder here. lol (BTW, I do fit the mold of what that list requires.. Artist, Programmer, 3d, 2d, fine arts.....

    Don't let that stop you from learning Unity. It is a wonderful platform.
     
  9. DevWish

    DevWish

    Joined:
    Jun 26, 2011
    Posts:
    11
    iflowers in Va, you'll be FINE!

    If you work on a good team, they'll help and you'll learn fast. If you work on a GREAT team, they'll utilize your talents and lift you with their success.

    In short, stop worrying about what you don't know and concentrate on solving problems in simple, small pieces as was recommended above.
     
  10. iflowers

    iflowers

    Joined:
    Apr 7, 2009
    Posts:
    6
    Thank you very much for all your support, it really makes a big difference to me that Unity has such a great community.
     
  11. Overunity3d

    Overunity3d

    Joined:
    Sep 5, 2010
    Posts:
    14
    @Iflowers,
    I feel your pain. I am one of those gifted with logic and art. When every expanation starts out with code my mind instantly tries to get pictures.
    I thrive on pictures, diagrams, heirarchies then the code.
    I have been a computer artist since Autocad 1(1982) and ten years in Moray/POVray and Swift/flash.
    If you were to document the artistic view of all this you would make a killing. Try youtube too. There you can see the motion of the user interface instead of just a line code.
    What I find intruiging is the amount of explanation it takes to get a problem across to then get a code answer or an answer that makes no sense. There have been some good explanations though. I am having a current problem where there seems to be no answer or I am 'thick as brick' :cool:
    I need tumbling objects in a spinning world. The objects always go in the initail direction of the viewer, the universe spins, the objects position rotates in space but the direction always reverts to the inital or deflection direction. I need to put a youtube up to show this. It has been weeks
    and I too have not the answer that will suffice. It is in the coding or understanding. This is the key of where the mind has to be. The commercial books out only take you to the brink of destruction or flight.

    Also the Unity interface shows a heirarchy down to some level then the panels show the properties. And then the thing has scripts that hide what should be apparent but are not. So everything is not always apparent.

    But on a happier note:
    Oh the thrill of having something that was privately in our mind now visible to the world and it moves! This is the final goal...
    But the viewer misses out on the greatest step.: the process of making it real! Keep on truckin'
     
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2011
  12. justinlloyd

    justinlloyd

    Joined:
    Aug 5, 2010
    Posts:
    1,680
    Programming has very little to do with writing code. :)
     
  13. W4RH4WK117

    W4RH4WK117

    Joined:
    Feb 6, 2011
    Posts:
    129
    Where did you find this book?
     
  14. Alienchild

    Alienchild

    Joined:
    Oct 14, 2010
    Posts:
    364
    I started coding in C, moved to Java and stayed there for a few years. Those years working with classes and functions, looking up stuff in the JDK and understanding the pattern really gave me a good understanding of the basics behind OO-programming. But Unity is modular and the framework at which Unity works is somewhat different, and so I had to re-learn a few concepts. The books I chose to purchase (there was only 2 at the time, but I can't remember their name) did a rather poor job at introducing the programming aspect. I remember thinking that if I was starting from scratch - which I was in some ways since I hadn't coded many lines in the past 5-6 years, it would be a bad idea to start with those books. They simply have too much ground to cover!

    In my point of view there is a progression that needs to be followed;
    1) Pick a language (C# or JavaScript) and learn it outside of Unity. www.learnvisualstudio.net have some fantastic C# classes, and although it costs a few bucks it is definitely worth it if C# is your way to go.
    2) When you get to the point where you understand that a Transform is not a magical thing but simply a class with 3 vectors (simply put) and you understand that every other class is just that, not part of the language but just another class, start coding in Unity. You will be a lot less intimidated and have a clearer overview.