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A feeling I'm sure you're all very intimate with, I've recently had a burning desire to make something (whether it be a game, program, module, etc.). I'm dying to stretch my programming muscles since I'm only taking theory based programming classes right now, and I have no idea how to pinpoint exactly what I want to make. What do you guys usually do to figure out what you want to do in this situation?

I just think like "What would be pretty cool to have?". I myself am not very creative so I doubt what I said would help much haha. And me personally I am kind of like a plugin guy so I take what people want and try to put my own spin on it.

But one thing I can think to maybe get you to push your envelope is some sort of AI like Siri or Google Speak. You ask it a question and it tries to answer and if not, it will search for you and learn the answer for the future. So maybe you can take that and put your own spin on it

62896dude wrote:A feeling I'm sure you're all very intimate with, I've recently had a burning desire to make something (whether it be a game, program, module, etc.). I'm dying to stretch my programming muscles since I'm only taking theory based programming classes right now, and I have no idea how to pinpoint exactly what I want to make. What do you guys usually do to figure out what you want to do in this situation?

A feeling I definitely know well, the mistake is to spend the time when you are motivated like that thinking about what to do or make, instead of just doing it. When i get that feeling i have a few pet projects that i go back to and add more features to, helps me feel like i'm using that motivated feeling.

If you are just starting out programming, maybe something like a text adventure would be a good exercise, or similarly installing unity3d and building a game, or trying your hand at app development might be ideas for projects to start on.

This board is always full of ideas, if you need something specific to work on.

When I hit this high motivation/low idea phase, I generally start looking at retro game videos on YouTube and usually something will eventually inspire me. The inspiration may be to make a browser game, a an online game, a retro-style game or not, etc. Sometimes the idea I get really has nothing to do with the game that gave me the inspiration. Sometimes even awful games give me inspiration, such as this video showcasing the horrible game "Star Wars: Yoda Stories", which was a really simple randomizing Star Wars adventure game seemingly built using Visual Basic in the 90's. The game looks awful, but it gave me inspiration to write up a design for a completely randomizing mobile, single-player RPG. Anyway, I highly suggest to check out that video. I love JonTron.

Thanks y'all! I appreciate the advice, I'll start digging around and see what comes to me!