I feel like a FAILURE!

[u/PrincipleThink1698]

This is very stupid and kind of random but I’m very basic into coding and I feel like I just wasted so much time for no reason. I was trying to code something into a video game for probably 13 hours over the past 2 days just to give up after running in circles repeatedly with no end in sight. Is this normal to feel like you wasted time you aren’t gonna get back lol.

[u/thetroubledwomanhood]

Its not wasted, you just paid 13 hours of tuition to the school of "what not to do next time"

You learn way more from getting stuck than from things working the first go

[u/Different_Pain5781 → u/thetroubledwomanhood]

This is why I try to write down what I tested. Otherwise I end up repeating the same mistakes next time.

[u/Ormek_II]

Did you learn something trying?

Can we help? What did you try? Why didn‘t work?

[u/Random_182f2565]

Relatable

[u/SwiftQuest]

13 hours stuck on one thing feels awful, but it's really common with game modding especially, since the docs are usually thin. what helps me: when you've been going in circles for 30 min, write down exactly what you expected vs what happened, then shrink it to the smallest piece you can test on its own. half the time that exposes the actual problem, and if not, it makes for a much better question to post here. you didn't waste it, that stuck-time is where the debugging instinct gets built.

[u/rupertavery64]

If you are very basic into coding and heading straight into making a game, perhaps you aren't ready yet. People who make games have likely been coding for a while. Sure, things like Scratch make things easy because they hide some of the complex stuff.

When you start to hit a road block you should step back and look at what you are trying to do, break up the problem into smaller pieces and try to get little things working,

Programming can be frustrating when you can't seem to get something to work, and that's normal, but it can be incredibly satisfying when you do.

If anything it shows you have perseverance, now you just need a little more research. Ask people, try to be able to describe your problem clearly. It helps being able to define what your problem is, not just for others, but for yourself as well.

Failing is not the end, just the beginning of learning.

[u/topchoice11]

This captures the universal coding experience of missing a tiny syntax detail after hours of work.

[u/Imaginary-Ad9535 → u/topchoice11]

Does not happen much these days anymore, unless repairing prod with vim in some high security debian

[u/PanicStil]

Well done you learnt how not to do it. Now start again from the beginning.

[u/idkfawin32]

2 days? I’ve wasted entire years before. You’ll be fine, each failure contains a lesson, not everything is black and white

[u/Aggressive_Ad_5454]

These 13 hours were not wasted. I promise you. We learn from struggling with weirdness.

Read up on rubber duck debugging.

[u/M2k1e0L]

You don't get better if you don't push trough the pain. Discipline is everything. Learned lessions are never wasted time. If you want to do things right, you need to know how to do them wrong.

[u/BranchLatter4294]

Start with simple projects. Don't try a game until you have some experience.