Pixel Cat

Three cats in a trench coat pretending to be a human.

[pixel-cat-dev]

Intro Post

Hi I'm pixel cat!

I started coding a couple of months ago and fell in love. My goal is to get a masters degree in computer science but in the meantime I'm working through the CS50 courses and making my first game.

This blog is my way of staying on track, keeping myself accountable, and sharing my journey with you. I'm planning on posting semi-regularly.

[pixel-cat-dev]

Day 4 of 100 Day of Code

It's not really day four and I have been away for a long time but it doesn't hurt to pick up where I left off.

So, far learning how to code as been a messy process for me. Switching from Python to CS50X and learning C it felt like all my time learning python was a waste.

There is such a gap between the information taught in the lessons and the information required to complete the problem sets. I've considered watching C tutorials just to bridge the knowledge gap before jumping back into CS50X.

But it kinda feels like a waste of time. I want to make games and I have a foundation in python, so it kinda feels like I have been dilly dallying on things when I could just be jumping into pygame. A path that would taking me to the place I want to go to without all the burnout of having to take a tutorial just so that I can complete a course.

All of this to say... I'm throwing in the towel with CS50X and I'm insteading going to focus on making games with python. Which is both exciting and nervous racking and a little bit ambitious but I'm nothing but recklessly stupid so wish me luck

I also want to thank you all for the support that I have gotten from the Codeblr community and and thank you for bearing with me during this very unstable journey. So, yea, have a happy rest of your day everyone!

[pixel-cat-dev]

I have always been someone who dreams big and falls short. A person of many ideas but little action, and why would should I change? Why act? If I can get the dopamine and the thrill of imagining myself fulfilling my half baked ideas, why would I do the hard work?

I think this isn't just something that happens to me but to many people. I think that why people abandon hobbies as quickly as they pick them up, we are filled with ideas or more realistically, falsehoods. Which is why we impulse purchase things, get too much for us to realistically get started, why we binge videos regarding the hobbies we want to start instead of actually starting them.

Because it's easier to fulfill that fantasy if you never come to terms with reality and when people give their hobbies a shot for the first few times they abandon it. Either because it didn't live up to the idea of how much fun it was going to be in their heads or didn't live up to how easy they thought it would be to pick up.

All of this to say... Ideas are nothing, that's why you can't patent or copyright ideas, because they don't exist. Don't think of yourself at the finish line before you put on your shoes, don't think of yourself as a great runner before you even get on the track. You'll be sorely disappointed if you do.

I don't mean to say this to you too bum you out or because I want you to feel bad but because this is something I need to hear as well. Ideas aren't bad, my point is don't entertain them when you can be fulfilling them. Don't do empty, busy work just to say your busy instead of actually working towards your goals, and yes, your ideas.

[pixel-cat-dev]

Throwback Thursday To My Scratch Project for CS50x

Restarting CS50x Reminded me of this project and I just wanted to share it with you all. I remember putting like 1-2 hours just getting this little fetch quest to work inside of scratch and the pixel art took me like another hour.

By the time I was done I forgot to add sound effects, but I was just so giddy with what I had made I didn't really care to add them.

Also, the white squares are there to block out my name. I don't have the original file, but I did have this recording which I sent to a family member.

So, what was your guy's first project or what was the first project that you really enjoy creating?

[pixel-cat-dev]

Day 3 of 100 Days of Code

Progress is going a little slower than I want it too but I'm just trying to really understand everything that I am learning and not just race through the course. I haven't been sleep too well these past few days I have been pretty busy with some other stuff, but I'm about more than halfway done with lecture 1 of CS50.

Good news is that they are final speaking my language. =^. .^= 

[pixel-cat-dev]

Day 2 of 100 Days of Code

I'm steadily making progress in learning C. Transitioning from Python hasn't been too challenging since I already have some Python knowledge. My main struggle has been with the syntax, particularly remembering to include semicolons.

I'm using CS50 codespace for these first few lessons they are using a library that I've had difficulty installing on VSCode. I don't know if anyone else has been having problems with the new codespaces but I have been having some library and terminal issues with it. Fortunately, a couple of months ago, I set up an Codespace, which is still working. I just need to remember not to update it.

Also, Thank you to everyone who showed me so much love on my previous post. Your support means a lot to me. When I signed up for Tumblr, my intention was mainly to have a space to document my progress, expecting my posts to go unnoticed. However, you all have pleasantly proven me wrong in the best way possible. <3

[pixel-cat-dev]

Day 1 of 100 Days of Code

It was a couple of months ago that a family member recommended that I tried coding and after watching a couple of videos and competing lecture and problem set 0 for CS50x, I fell in love.

It has been a bit of a struggle these past few months, I have felt a bit overwhelmed and intimidated. I stopped taking CS50 and tried to go on my own path. I started to learn python because it's what people recommended and overall my learning experience has felt a bit... unstructured. Like yes, I know the syntax of python but I skipped over the basics and now I don't know how to make anything with it.

During october I had kinda been debating on whether or not I should start again with CS50X, but I felt bit intimidated having to learn a new and lower level language, especially after pouring hours and breaking my head trying to understand python.

I don't know who said this or if this was a saying I came up with after reading hundreds of motivational posts but it kinda goes, "If you aren't uncomfortable, then your staginate."

To me learning C feels like a kick in the face, like I wasted all my time learning python just to have to admit defeat and learn, what I could have learned, months ago if I hadn't been so prideful.

But, looking back at the past few months, I haven't made much progress on my own. I'm stagnate. And the more I let my pride get the best of me the more I'm going to fall behind on my goals.

So, I guess after some fighting with myself I decided to continue with CS50x. And for the next 100 days I'm going to be working towards completing it, as well as CS50 Game Development if time permits.

[pixel-cat-dev]

A TIP FOR GAME DEVS

If you're ever in a pinch for placeholder sprites or backgrounds, Canva is a lifesaver as it offers a surprisingly solid selection of pixel art options

Take this backdrop I whipped up in just 20 minutes as an example. Normally, creating something like this would eat up at least an hour or two of my time. It might not be the most cohesive when it comes to style, but as a placeholder, it gets the job done beautifully.