the_ellio

You're an awesome duder, Jeff Gerstmann. That's about all I need to say.

Hello gentlemen and gentlewomen! I am in dire need of your assistance!

Recently, I have been trying to delve into the world of video game programming, and was wondering if I could get some straight-forward advice and step-by-step assistance as to how to get started.

To be brief, I have no experience with programming whatsoever (I'm currently trying to learn the "language" of Java and understand terms such as "variable" and "string" and "double." Is learning terms like these relevant if I were to delve into video game programming or am I wasting time?). I have no background in computer science, whatsoever, to be honest.

Really, all I've got is the desire and a lot of free time to learn. So basically, I'm asking you all what the heck should I be learning!!! Where's the best place to start, and where should I go from there?

Thank you for your time, and best of luck to all of you!

I just wanted to say a little something on the power of video games. I know I might get a corny and dramatic, but it was something I really wished to comment on.

To make it quick, I sided with the geth (did not have the option to make peace between both sides) and witnessed the complete decimation of the Quarian fleet. Actually, I meant to do the Collector base side quest beforehand (which would have opened up the paragon/renegade options, ironically enough) but selected the wrong mission instead. Funny how things work out.

Anyway, what was crazy was that I personally had become so used to choosing the "good" course of action, ignorant to the point where I thought selecting the geth option would lead to happiness and joy and peace and so on. Of course, I was proven wrong and realized that my single decision wiped out an entire civilization. It was crazy, especially to the point where I had to turn off the game and just sit and reflect.

But what I mainly wanted to throw out into the GB community is that games like ME3 have become smarter and deeper in regards to its stories and the way they unfold. More importantly, I think what this strange experience has done for me, at least, is show what exactly people mean when they say that the world is "full of gray". Giving the geth their independence, their chance at life, their own humanity, these feel like the clear "good" choice. And yet, I paid the price and allowed thousands of Quarians to be slaughtered by the geth fleet. There is no right answer. And that's what's crazy. And maybe I could have saved both of them by just doing that one mission and maybe I could go back and redo everything, but in reflection, I've never seen the power of choice captured so perfectly as in this single moment.

When a video game can move you, fill you with awe, and force you to consider your own decisions, that when it becomes more than entertainment. So what I want to ask you guys is when has a game ever led you to reflect deeply upon life, good, evil, justice, morality, whatever it may be?

Here me out here...
Remember when ever other shooter on the market was a WW2 shooter? After all, we had Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, and others (i.e. Brothers in Arms) all setting themselves in that little 6 year timeframe known as World War II and by the time Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare came out, people were ready to put down their MP40s and Tommy Guns for M16s and badass sniper rifles. It definitely was a great change (with CoD 4 essentially reinvigorating the shooter market and spawning a multibillion dollar franchise), but at this point, shooters of today are all either about finding a hidden stash of destructive weapons of mass destruction, special ops soldiers, and lots of night vision. Remember the chaotic excitement of the Russian campaign? Remember fighting hordes of Germans in El Alaimein as a British desert trooper? Remember going that one climactic scene with you and your fellow American GI's crossing the Rhine River into the heart of Germany?. What I'm trying to say is bring back the battlefields of history! I'm not preaching to developers to create a game about the fight against Hitler and them Nazis against, but give me something that isn't about being the most badass and dangerous motherf'ing special ops dude with a grenade launcher on his assault rifle. I want to be the French Revolutionaire fighting for Napoleon. I want to be a British grunt fighting in the trenches of World War I, charging blindly at the enemy with my bayonet. I want to be an American naval officer during the Boxer Rebellion in China during the 19th Century. These are things I want to see in video games that give me an experience I've never seen before.

Must... have... now! Hopefully I don't get motion sickness or anything from this :l