Need Help as a Complete Beginner to Castle Game Engine

[JPF12141999]

Hi everyone,

I didn't specify I was autsitic and took directions very literally, which might have been part of the problem,

but I did specify I was approaching the usage a free game engine, called "Castle Game Engine" that can be downloaded right here, from the perspective of an absolute beginner that doesn't know the ins and outs of the particular language's details, but knows in general that "var" means variable, or "begin" and "end" begin and end a specific block of code, and they need to happen for the code to work compared to multi line blocks.

When I would ask for help in this particular thread, I got good responses initially, but on the last pages here and here, I was getting more and more elitist responses by the so-called "helpers", even after I pointed out the compiler wouldn't be specific enough about what the problem actually was, so how the heck could I learn if no one was willing to actually explain anything to me clearly?

I get that for example, in the last two pages I cited, that the procedure was invalid because I didn't do it in the correct order, but it should have explained it was because I didn't do it in the correct order, rather than just saying "invalid procedure" and forcing me to randomly guess the actual reason why, especially because I followed the correct formatting for defining the procedure on the line where I declare the procedure itself, and that is where the message says the error is.

This was something I brought up in my final posts on the very last page.

Does anyone with professional insider knowledge/experience with the Castle Game Engine want to help me, as it is clear that they just want to keep referring me to the manual/telling me to RTFM even when I point out the manual doesn't actually clarify the kinds of issues I have, as the errors are always either extremely vague or contradicting what the examples and manual tell me to do directly?

 

[JPF12141999]

And I would assume you guys would follow the link yourself for the evidence to see how bad it is yourself, but some of them were so elitist they were saying stuff like "this kid's post is pure comedy gold" or "don't change the code then complain that it doesn't work", when I was pointing out in all of my posts I wasn't changing it willy-nilly, but following exactly what the examples told me to do, word for word.

 

[JPF12141999]

More bad news: the last reply I got on the thread was another elitist attitude, saying "the Free Pascal compiler gives you much better warning messages than most compilers which are more esoteric, and you just need to get used to it and Pascal language in general", IE I should be grateful that it isn't even more beginner unfriendly than it already is.

I can get used to Pascal language, like any language, if I try hard enough, but I need someone actually willing to walk me through the details patiently than giving me a big "RTFM!" sign.

 

[tree]

Which are you more concerned about?
Receiving comfort for what you perceive as slights on another forum?
Or learning how to use the thing?

 

[JPF12141999]

Which are you more concerned about?
Receiving comfort for what you perceive as slights on another forum?
Or learning how to use the thing?

I don't want to recieve comfort or condolences, I just want someone to help walk me through the details that almost everyone actively refuses to spell out for me, and the compiler isn't clear at all about where I go wrong. How am I supposed to learn if I am not told in clear and precise language what my mistake actually was?

 

[VictorR]

I'm going to provide some general information / guidance here. You may notice that some of what I'm saying here echos the advice that you have been provided on the other forum.

---

Online forums are... online forums. Especially so for specialist forums that discuss or offer support on a given topic, there are often more people asking for help than there are offering help. Most people are more than happy to answer some questions from someone new to the field, but if the questions are persistent, and turning into a "homework" variety, this may lead to the helpers being burned out and frustrated - they're there for general peer support, and they are not there to be your tutor.

That doesn't mean you can't keep on asking questions, but some things you may wish to consider are:

1. How can you show that you're trying to find the answers yourself, rather than simply asking and hoping/expecting someone to hand it to you on a silver platter? Showing that you're making efforts to learn will make others more willing to lend a land.

2. How are you contributing back to the community? There can be various ways, including offering help where you're able to, or perhaps buying a membership or merchandise to help support the upkeep.

3. If you are seeking someone to basically do some "hand-holding" tutorials / guidance, then you should be honest in stating that upfront, and also state what remuneration you are willing to offer, since that's not something that people generally do for free.

Separately, I will note that appearances of being ungrateful, including stating that you're considering leaving and going to other communities, when you have been provided with free help, is generally going to turn potential helpers against you.

 

[jsilver256]

I haven't used Pascal in quite a while, but I will attempt to run your code later tonight. I cannot give you directives on how to use CastleEngine correctly, but I might be able to at least diagnose the compilation / annoying errors.

 

[Hypnalis]

@JPF12141999

@VictorR's post is right on point. A quick way to see where you are:

* You don't have the foundation skills you need to achieve what you want.
* The forum suggested practical ways for you learn those skills, but as yet you haven't followed their advice.

Those people seemed to be knowledgeable, helpful and patient, but for now they're almost certainly just waiting until you learn the basics.

Do this (copied from here: Castle Game Engine (Cross Platform) - Need Help with Drawing a Raycast Vector ):

Please follow the Pascal learning resources we pointed out ( More Resources to Learn Pascal | Castle Game Engine ) to learn how to use units, how they can use one another.

 

[Levitator]

nerds

 

[JPF12141999]

@JPF12141999

@VictorR's post is right on point. A quick way to see where you are:

* You don't have the foundation skills you need to achieve what you want.
* The forum suggested practical ways for you learn those skills, but as yet you haven't followed their advice.

Those people seemed to be knowledgeable, helpful and patient, but for now they're almost certainly just waiting until you learn the basics.

Do this (copied from here: Castle Game Engine (Cross Platform) - Need Help with Drawing a Raycast Vector ):

Please follow the Pascal learning resources we pointed out ( More Resources to Learn Pascal | Castle Game Engine ) to learn how to use units, how they can use one another.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense - I was approaching it as someone who needs help with the basics, but I was pointing out the manual has hundreds of pages and the rules aren't given to you up front, but their point, just like your point, was that in those types of communities the rules aren't given to you up front, but rather have to be figured out by reading the manual - do you guys know good communities oriented toward absolute beginners, cause they're clearly more about someone with more programming experience, which is fine given that it's free?

 

[JPF12141999]

They would also tell me to do a scavanger hunt to figure out the answer myself is the main point of my first post, which again is fine for a community where you don't pay for help, but I wanted someone to actually walk me through the details one on one to make sure I wasn't missing anything, as the manual doesn't cover everything.

 

[Hypnalis]

You have the classic beginner's problem: you don't know what you don't know, so you can't make a plan to teach yourself

I understand enough about game engines to help you a little (not this one in particular, but they all share similar principles). But I need to know more.

First question:
Are you interested in making a game, or learning this particular gaming engine, or learning to code?
Or something else (e.g. creating and testing dynamic 3D graphics)?

 

[Levitator]

This looks really neat, but I'm kind of bewildered by the use of Pascal, which they note as 'modern', followed by the recommendation to use something called a "Lazarus" compiler, which seems fitting, since I thought Pascal had been utterly forgotten, and yet here it won't die. I always thought of it as the poor syntactically ugly predecessor which was not good enough to be 'C'.

The project, overall, look really neat, though, and I was trying to find whether there are any games based off of it already.

 

[Levitator]

I was kind of excited at first, but it looks like the only interesting thing it offers is tile-based environment composition, which would behelpful for rogue-like development and procedural dungeon generation. I think the initial prospect is that it would include a bunch of physics for structural alteration of defenses, like from rams and trebuchets, and other siege-specific features, but I'm not seeing it right off. It does look really efficient and good-looking given the hardware that's recommended for it.

 

[jsilver256]

I spent a couple of hours trying to get it working on Apple Silicon, and could not.

My recommendation is that you clear your mind, take a step back. Work through this Pascal tutorial. You can play with Pascal online here. @Levitator is correct, it is indeed a very odd thing to develop a game using Pascal. Maybe this will be a better fit for you.