From World Editor to Computer Science

[Ralle]

I have been noticing quite a big number of Hive people studying computer science or the like. I have been wanting to participate more, but on most topics, I don't have much to say, so I figured I would create a thread myself.
I got into programming by making my first map Warhammer 40k TD. You can find it on my profile unless Kael rejected it. I built it with a friend of mine, who knew of Warhammer. I had no clue myself what it was, but he was a great fan of it and I just wanted to be the code monkey and he told me how things should look and what abilities they should have.
I thought it would be cool with a website for my map, where people could post replays and feedback on the map. I got a free forum and linked to it from the map. As things expanded, I felt the need to move the site to a webhost, where I could change around with the files and I moved on from there. At some point we had a maps section, then later other sections and things just got bigger and bigger. Some day we migrated with wc3sear.ch and I wrote scripts to import their database into ours. I learned most of this stuff on my own or with help from Samuraid, who I picked up along the way.
I learned these things because suddenly I had a website and I needed to make stuff for it. I learned things as I needed them and this finally brings me to the day where I realize what I want to do for the rest of my life. I want to code.
Now, I have been on this site for some time and seen many computer science students spawn from World Editor and I find it fascinating.
I would like you to share your own story if you have one yet.

Ralle

 

[Yixx]

I started out by exploring the World Editor of WC3, much like you did. One day I got together with a friend and we had big plans for a map. Nothing worked out and I basically wrote shit in GUI. So the same friend already visited this site for models and such, which is the reason I also started to visit. I started to familiarize with GUI and eventually with JASS, which was the start of my love for programming. A few years and a whole learning process later, I started to study Computer Science at Eindhoven University of Technology. Because I also liked Math alot, I decided to combine them into one study, which was possible. Right now, I am in the second year, and I still do the double Major Computer Science and Maths. Though, if I would have to choose, I would definitely choose Maths by now..

 

[Ralle]

Thank you for sharing your story. So math, huh? What pulls you away from computer science?

 

[Yixx]

Nothing pulls me away from CS, not as long as I can do a double major! But I have learned in the past year that maths seems to have a more exact and precise nature and is way more procedural in my opinion, which is what I like alot!

Though I would certainly not want to have to choose, if the time arises to choose between the two, I would choose maths..

 

[Zakamutt]

There is a lot of overlap between more theoretical comput(er/ing) science and maths, though. They certainly go together; comp sci education around here has quite a lot of math courses.

 

[David]

First,2-3 years ago,I wanted to make games(like every child story ).So I started to do animations in flash,after alot of studying for the program I started to make cool games in flash,but I got bored of it,in the mean time I played wc from when I was 5,I just made some maps there with no triggers...After I qiuted it,I started to learn,more and more for world editor...First I learned how to do the terrain(I still am improving it),then I started with the basic triggers(Cinematics),after that I made campaign's,and spells...I'm still learning world editor.I found a good place to chat with people that do stuff like I do,place where I can learn even more that is The hive workshop .I want to program,make my own stuff etc...(I hate maths btw D: )

EDIT: I forgot to tell that I did some stuff in C++ but,I got bored xD...

 

[Yixx]

I know Zakamutt, also in here there is quite some math, but there are certainly some courses in the Maths project that I would (now) miss when I would only do a CS major. Also the other way around, I would miss some of the CS courses when only doing maths.

 

[Magtheridon96]

For 3 years, I've been doing GUI terribly. Then I came across this site and mastered JASS/vJASS.
While learning JASS/vJASS, I was learning C++ by reading this book called "C++: How to Program" by Paul Deitel.

I'm quite proficient in the language after about 2 years of writing code and making apps to make my life easier, and I even made a primitive 2D game engine with it.

As soon as I finish school, I'm off to study Computer Science in university.

 

[Statharas]

I started off doing Wc3 stuff in 2007, after my godmother gifted me Wc3+TFT.

WE was really new for me, so I kept playing maps I downloaded. I must say, I still remember myself playing the first custom map in Wc3. Guess which.
http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/maps-564/warhammer-40k-vs-15-a-76494/
I found that out a few days ago by looking at the minimap of Ralle's map.
The very same thing.
Ralle was the one that brought me here, even if we didn't actually know eachother, or even knew of the other's existance.

After a while of learning GUI logic, I found myself working on a private WoW server which used C++. So I had to learn it. And I did.

Then, a person told me how C# is easier for UI and stuff like that. So I had to learn it. And I did.

Then I found out about the mother of the two, C. So I had to learn it. And I loved it.

So here I am, working on my game in a JavaScript style mono variant inside the Unity3D engine, while having CNC classes.

 

[PurplePoot]

Started playing Blizzard games with Warcraft II after my cousin introduced me to it. Picked up Warcraft III on release day, became aware of wc3sear.ch in 2005 and started lurking it, later registering. I ended up moderating there and later here (maps, spells, world editor development, and later dev in general) as well as being an official map reviewer on wc3campaigns.net and a highly active JASSer in both communities. I had a bit of very basic programming experience from fooling around on my graphing calculator in Grade 9 math (also 2005), but Warcraft was what really got me into the field. In 2009-2010 I finally got mostly tired of wc3 modding and moved on to other things. Being also interested in math, I decided that CS was the logical option for me, although unlike many/most people here I'm not really interested in game dev as a job.

 

[Arcisal]

I used to use my friend's website to post up my own drawings and comics (Not very good ones though). Eventually, I took over the site and along the way I had learnt things from him enough to keep the site going and looking good. Unfortunately I had gotten lazy and the site is now gone.

 

[PurgeandFire]

I used to fiddle with Warcraft 2 with the world editor. It was fun, lol. I made massive amounts of lumber and all that and spammed units. Once I got Warcraft 3, I began to do the same. It wasn't until I found GG&K's Dwarf campaign that I actually began to consider modding. I didn't know wtf forums were, but wc3sear.ch looked awesome with the hosted projects, like Day of the Fish.

I began to mod a bit, and then I went to a site called Maps'n'mods ran by Warnicro (Hemlock, on this site). It was a very small community, and I tried to help out with whatever crappy GUI knowledge I had. There was a map to request systems, and 2 other people and I just began to relay between each other to make random systems because no one would actually make requests. One of those people were Jesus4Lyf, and he would always code his systems in JASS. I suddenly noticed coding in JASS was far superior, so I abandoned GUI and went straight on to learn JASS.

I went to thehelper and lurked this site a bit after realizing I had an account on it. I learned JASS over time, learning gradually. I still didn't really even think of computer science, but my brother saw what I was doing and recommended me to look into it. So I began to pick up books and boom, I got into it. So yeah, Warcraft 3 was what sparked my interest in computer science. It doesn't necessarily mean I will go into game dev, because I also love software/app dev, but what JASSer wouldn't like to code for a game?

 

[Yixx]

I think it's funny how, indeed, alot of people here that are serious about a future as computer scientist, aim to go into game development. Myself, I have given up that dream quite some time ago. At the moment, I would most love to get into Crypto some day.

 

[Ralle]

Thank you all for sharing your stories. I knew there was more stories to be told.

I remember Warnicro. He was very nice. Where is that site anyway? I just tried searching for it but did not find it.

 

[Rui]

I played a demo of WarCraft II first, the first time I played it was sooo long ago. Played WarCraft III too, I loved making triggers on maps which had no purpose other than to see units spawning and fighting endlessly. Then I made a sort of Archimonde's ascent map in which I'd control both sides xP
Back then, I had no Internet.

When I got Internet, I went to Battle.Net and discovered "Battle for Middle Earth" xP and a guy called Sargent-Moose introduced me to the game and helped me discover every mechanism, he was my first BNet friend =) The second was some guy called Bob and then the third was Kenny (I don't remember the exact nicknames for these last two). I was quite the LotR enthusiast, I remember in 8th grade spending the large breaks in the school library reading Lord of the Rings =D just a few days ago I visited my school and went to the library and leaf through the LotR books =') I have copies here at home, but I wanted to feel the nostalgia of having those on my hands, knowing that they had been on my hands so long ago.

I got into programming with JASS, it took me a few tries because I didn't know programming languages at all, I was just trying to understand how JASS worked since people were claiming it was better than GUI. I felt so intelligent when I figured it out x'D

I've always been into computers ever since I was very little, so that's mostly why I've decided to go for something related to informatics and computers.

 

[Da Fist]

The World Editor IMO is like the, telescope for teenagers

Spoiler

( although I'm 12, but that's another matter. )

to what is the world of programming looks like. Being a pre-adolescent teen, I always play games, like Assassin's Creed and Need For Speed and whatnot, and makes me wonder What if, I try to make games too?. Ideas running wild and Imagination going sky-high, I found World Editor to put my mind into the world of gaming. On my early days of Warcraft Editing

Spoiler

( Last year, around October )

, I saw how fascinating programming is. It started by editing only the Object Editor, then making Primitive GUI Triggers

Spoiler

(thanks to THW tutorials )

, to Middle-Class GUI to JASS

Spoiler

(also thanks to THW tutorials | today )

. Now, learning Primitive C++ and Java

Spoiler

( from my cousin who finished CS. )

, I knew this was the right college program

Spoiler

( and I still need 5 years on HIGH SCHOOL )

for me, so I set my eyes towards the prize and will head for Computer Science.

-Da Fist-

 

[Adiktuz]

started modding on offline versions of ragnarok online, then I stumbled upon wc3's world editor, stumbled into this site on 2008, learned that what I was doing in wc3 are super horrible I studied the art of triggering and there I encountered vJASS... TRD somewhat "forced" me to learn it for my first resource which was a missile system...

right now, I'm trying to learn the script used by RPGMaker which is based on ruby...

as for scripting/coding in school, well I'm currently taking up BS Chemical Engineering, bound to graduate this semester but oh well looks like I will be seeing the next semester, and since we in the college of engineering at this university have a subject which focuses on Visual Basic which I'm taking up right now, I've been using VB for maybe more than a year now... made quite a few useful apps myself and helped my friends on their vb projects for that subject...

been trying C++ but so far I can only make simple console-based applications on that... though I can make window-based apps on C++ using Visual C++... but I'd rather use VB for those since C++'s capabilities are far more than that...

that's it so far, aside from VB I haven't had any other scripting language to study at school...

 

[Ralle]

So awesome that you guys decided to reply. Thank you! I think we can expand the topic to artists too. I know a few who actually went into professional art creation, Tarrasque and CRAZYRUSSIAN. It would be fun to get their stories too.

 

[supertoinkz]

Warcraft 3 modding introduced to me multimedia arts and coding stuff. These stuff has been my hobby, doing them in my free time (currently not for Warcraft 3 though, left it a year ago).

I ended up taking engineering. \o\

 

[Tarrasque]

I actually started modding starcraft, I wasn't any good at 3d but I liked to make unit portraits and to play with the editor to make campaigns that never got anywhere. By then ofc I decided I wanted to make games.
With warcraft 3 I begun learning about low polygon models , animation and texturing, etc. By that time I was already at univ studying Systems Engineering. After making a lot of models, learning a lot about 3d and failing at making a full naga mod time and time again war3 started to slow down and a lot of years had passed, I had already finished univ and had to find a job. Then I discovered that normal work wasn't really fun (database programming, commercial software development,... SAP..hate sap) and that I hated suits. So I quit my job and started working online as freelance 2d/3d artist.

I don't really have any super cool game to showcase yet but Ive learned some objective c and have already made a small game for one client. You can check it out =P a big update for it is due next week:

http://itunes.apple.com/pe/app/arcade-battle-tanks-top-war/id544270665?mt=8

So without all the learning I did with war3 as test subject I would have never got to the point of actually living on my art , so yeah thanks War3

 

[bisnar13]

I played warcraft III since I was about 5-6 years old, (2005). Since then I enjoyed playing warcraft games, including DotA and custom games, I was kinda taught by my older brother how to play, so when I was 12 years old, I aspired to make my own maps! Since after my first try, I got better and better, understanding the triggers and how to make things happen and stuff, now, some of my classmates were surprised because, it looked quite cool for a game in warcraft, and having my own game in it. So about two weeks ago, I was also aspired to make my own models , and thank you to Misha, Maestros, TLI-Inferno and others. I learned how to make good ones, now I got a few approved models after just a few days , now I aspire on making a few spells or icons . Well after I have done that, I will make my own map that would include my models, spells, icons and other stuff.

 

[Ralle]

I played warcraft III since I was about 5-6 years old, (2005). Since then I enjoyed playing warcraft games, including DotA and custom games, I was kinda taught by my older brother how to play, so when I was 12 years old, I aspired to make my own maps! Since after my first try, I got better and better, understanding the triggers and how to make things happen and stuff, now, some of my classmates were surprised because, it looked quite cool for a game in warcraft, and having my own game in it. So about two weeks ago, I was also aspired to make my own models , and thank you to Misha, Maestros, TLI-Inferno and others. I learned how to make good ones, now I got a few approved models after just a few days , now I aspire on making a few spells or icons . Well after I have done that, I will make my own map that would include my models, spells, icons and other stuff.

That's cool! You will be creating everything yourself at some point. Just like Rao Dao Zao

 

[bisnar13]

That's cool! You will be creating everything yourself at some point. Just like Rao Dao Zao

Thanks Ralle

 

[Ezekiel12]

On another site related to Wc3 and the Editor I know many longtime posters which are also somehow related to computers or mathematics by study or profession.

I guess its the fun and curiosity when exploring new things that makes us want to do that in later life.

 

[CRAZYRUSSIAN]

I played warcraft3... when I was... 16ish

got hooked for like 4 years, found this community by accident and began posing my resources. Tried to make my own maps but always got stuck on tigers and never made complete map.
So I left map making for professional map creators, lolz, and decided to aid them with my art things. At that point I played nothing but maps created here.

Stopped playing warcraft then, but never stopped making assets for this community!
4+ years later about +/- 800 icons and other art things created for this community.

Had an honor to be awarded the "best member award" or something like that, then award was removed for some reason.

Through the icons I made for HIVE One programmer found me and commissioned me to create his game MatchCraft Here http://www.gameyeti.com/
That game is about to comeout on Ipad, Iphone, Ipod.

I work now as a professional UI artist in the industry with GaryGames on their new game SolForge http://www.solforgegame.com/ in collaboration with the creator of Magic the Gathering, Richard Garfield.

I got that job because of the UI I created for HIVE, the frozen warcraft UI.

Proudly I show off my work that was created with in this community on my site.
http://antonmagdalina.carbonmade.com/projects/2494254

Happy to be here.
(just wish still had my user award back lolz)

 

[Ralle]

I played warcraft3... when I was... 16ish

got hooked for like 4 years, found this community by accident and began posing my resources. Tried to make my own maps but always got stuck on tigers and never made complete map.
So I left map making for professional map creators, lolz, and decided to aid them with my art things. At that point I played nothing but maps created here.

Stopped playing warcraft then, but never stopped making assets for this community!
4+ years later about +/- 800 icons and other art things created for this community.

Had an honor to be awarded the "best member award" or something like that, then award was removed for some reason.

Through the icons I made for HIVE One programmer found me and commissioned me to create his game MatchCraft Here http://www.gameyeti.com/
That game is about to comeout on Ipad, Iphone, Ipod.

I work now as a professional UI artist in the industry with GaryGames on their new game SolForge http://www.solforgegame.com/ in collaboration with the creator of Magic the Gathering, Richard Garfield.

I got that job because of the UI I created for HIVE, the frozen warcraft UI.

Proudly I show off my work that was created with in this community on my site.
http://antonmagdalina.carbonmade.com/projects/2494254

Happy to be here.

Thank you for sharing your story. Amazing that this was actually basically a resume for you in some fashion.

(just wish still had my user award back lolz)

I will see what I can do.

 

[CRAZYRUSSIAN]

Thank you for sharing your story. Amazing that this was actually basically a resume for you in some fashion.
I will see what I can do.

Well, cant put fan art for resume.
But yes, it is in my portfolio of the work am proud of.



About the awards... I think mods or admin removed that one because of some issues people had a while back, so I doubt they will reinstate it.

Thanks anyway.

 

[General_Anon]

I don't usually share personal stories, but because Ralle is a hell of a guy I will.
Computers run in my blood. My father did it for 30 years before he passed away 2 years ago His skills far exceeded that of the CCNA certification. When I first started joining forums, much like this one, I got more interested in web development, and it has become a freelance job for me. Working with the world editor and other programmers in forums like this have pushed my interest into application programming, but I'm afraid I do not yet have time for it. As far as profession, I am currently A+ certified, and plan on having my Network+ by the end of next month. I am currently on externship with a company called Higher Information Group as a Network Technician until December, and they will most likely hire me. Future plans include going back to school for other sciences such as EE and Robotics.
"Don't worry; I'm a professional"

 

[CRAZYRUSSIAN]

I don't usually share personal stories, but because Ralle is a hell of a guy I will.
Computers run in my blood. My father did it for 30 years before he passed away 2 years ago His skills far exceeded that of the CCNA certification. When I first started joining forums, much like this one, I got more interested in web development, and it has become a freelance job for me. Working with the world editor and other programmers in forums like this have pushed my interest into application programming, but I'm afraid I do not yet have time for it. As far as profession, I am currently A+ certified, and plan on having my Network+ by the end of next month. I am currently on externship with a company called Higher Information Group as a Network Technician until December, and they will most likely hire me. Future plans include going back to school for other sciences such as EE and Robotics.
"Don't worry; I'm a professional"

Thanks man.
It is good to know a bit of something about people I spent 7+ years with on this forum.

 

[Ironside]

I started coding before I discovered Warcraft 3. I wasn't good at it, but JASS didn't really ever teach me anything I didn't learn in another language before.

I'm currently doing last year of high school, then I'll see where it takes me.

 

[Ralle]

I don't usually share personal stories, but because Ralle is a hell of a guy I will.
Computers run in my blood. My father did it for 30 years before he passed away 2 years ago His skills far exceeded that of the CCNA certification. When I first started joining forums, much like this one, I got more interested in web development, and it has become a freelance job for me. Working with the world editor and other programmers in forums like this have pushed my interest into application programming, but I'm afraid I do not yet have time for it. As far as profession, I am currently A+ certified, and plan on having my Network+ by the end of next month. I am currently on externship with a company called Higher Information Group as a Network Technician until December, and they will most likely hire me. Future plans include going back to school for other sciences such as EE and Robotics.
"Don't worry; I'm a professional"

Thanks for the support. I appreciate it
Too bad about your father. It's tough when your loved ones pass away.
It's nice with some work experience on the resume. Robots since exciting. I have always wanted to add a layer of "controlling physical things" on top of my current education. I want to make home automation things and remote control the coffee maker. Make a web site where I can unlock my door. Stuff like that.

Thanks to you all for your participation in this thread. I found it highly interesting.

 

[RED BARON]

Hmm while this is slightly necro posting I find it a great topic and would like to contribute given that I feel myself included in the category.

I have always been a gamer from the first time when I got a computer at the age of 8 (Old DOS - with the game Captain Kaper (First danish produced computer game) on it and Larry). I then moved on when we got a machine running windows 1995 (that being the one I was allowed to play on) and about 2 years later I got my own comp. It was running 1998 and I played a lot of RTS on it - and played with the editor if they had any (usually just to mass units and other random stuff). (Among those were Warcraft - Warcraft II - Battlenet). My old computer then exploded and I got a new one with the fancy XP and one of my first new games for it (besides age of empire II) was Warcraft III. At first I just played the campaign, then I moved on to Battlenet and then finally seeing what others had done I moved to modding it with the intention of actually creating playable maps. My first maps were bad (I still have them), for one thing I didn't know about triggers at all, but while working on it and playing it with others on battlenet I improved upon it, and finally moved on to a new map with increased knowledge. I wanted to make a James Bond map, which brought be first to attempt it with only editor stuff, but then seeing as other people had used models in their maps I went on the Internet to search for such and how to do it. Which brought me to wc3sear.ch (Btw you can still access via the Internet archive, even some of the models can still be downloaded). There I had some fun trying to learn how to model, doing some 2D art..later got interrogated by Kimberly (when she was known differently) in regards to a picture I had made by happenstance while playing around with photoshop. Then the Hiveworkshop took form in connection with wc3sear.ch though for me it took a while to move. But during all of this I learned more about the editor, got a notion how to model, how to use triggers and I continued to play with it for years to come quickly coming to the fact that I enjoyed helping people almost more than I did making something for myself. So I have a whole bunch of maps, icons, models laying around that I began on - but never finished. I have everything saved from back then - except some of my earlier work as I lost them due a lightning strike that burned my computer (Insurance granted me my next much better computer). I was active on Hiveworkshop during most of my study, and more than the editor I believe that Hive was instrumental in what I ended up doing. After taking the most geeky line I could in the gymnasium (similar to college preparatory high schools), I ended up going to college and taking an education in medialogy. So now I have a bachelor of science and is currently taking a master degree in science with focus on visual design - which if everything goes as planned I will have in half a year. I'm also part of a game company which me and a couple of friends from the study have started and we're developing our first game where I serve as one of 4 3D artist.

So yea, Warcraft 3 and even more Hiveworkshop have had a huge impact on my life. It bears a large responsibility for what I dedicated 5 years of education to and it will likely be part of what I will be working with the rest of my life. So for me its natural to hang around and help when I can/have the time.

So yep, thanks for wc3sear.ch and even more thanks to Ralle for creating Hive. Damn this place have memories.

 

[Ralle]

Thank you very much for sharing your story .

 

[RED BARON]

Thank you very much for sharing your story .

Hehe no problem - found this and considered it a perfect thing to post in.

 

[Rui]

I'm considering in requesting change of course from Informatics Engineering (similar to Computer Science from what I've heard) to Biomedic & Biophysical Engineering this week and then try to get onto Medicine by June, but am unsure if I want to do this. Multimedia and webpage development doesn't seem to be one of the focuses of my course, I'm learning Assembly and Java right now and am starting on C next year, I understand them and sort of like them, but am in a bit of a "meh" state — my original application was for Medicine. Though, I have no guarantees that there will be any openings for Medicine through the Course Change regime. What should I do?

 

[Ralle]

In regards to computer science, the job market is almost impossible to saturate and I suspect it will be this way for many years to come. If you can, this would be extremely valuable for your economy for the rest of your life. I can only recommend it. If it's easy for you but you are like meh, then maybe do it anyway. It can only get more fun when you get to chose what to make and actually build cool stuff.
But you also have to take your heart into consideration. Can you live with this? Can you see yourself doing this for the rest of your life? You may want to compare it to medicine in that regard, but I think it's easier to get a job with computer science.

 

[BlinkBoy]

I think many people started in this community before actualy trying some studies in the related field. I started modding wc3 at the age of 14 and it was thanks to that, that now a days I'm studying the software engineering master at Univertaet Stuttgart.

I think most people who started modding at a young age are very grateful for what this community has offered them. Many no longer mod, but deeply inside their heart they still recall how their experience here allowed them to decide what they wanted for their future and what they would turn out to be.

[Wow my 1500th post and it's a thanks to the community, i'm so happy about it]

 

[Ralle]

Wow that's cool. It's also cool to see you back and posting, it's been a while. I hope you're well. Thanks for sharing your story

 

[RED BARON]

I think most people who started modding at a young age are very grateful for what this community has offered them. Many no longer mod, but deeply inside their heart they still recall how their experience here allowed them to decide what they wanted for their future and what they would turn out to be.

[Wow my 1500th post and it's a thanks to the community, i'm so happy about it]

So true, and congratulation on that 1500th post Also very good to see you here again. (I feel with the grateful part of it, which is why I still look in and help out if able).

 

[BlinkBoy]

Wow that's cool. It's also cool to see you back and posting, it's been a while. I hope you're well. Thanks for sharing your story

Thought it would be helpfull. I always come and have a look at how are things going around.

I still try to help as much as I can, even though my areas of interest differ from what the community needs now-a-days.

So true, and congratulation on that 1500th post Also very good to see you here again. (I feel with the grateful part of it, which is why I still look in and help out if able).

Thanks I’m also glad to see you guys around.

I wasn’t planning to extend my post further, but I do believe I should. Therefore, I would like to share some other interesting points which I've learned and I hope anyone who is starting knows a bit of how modding can really change your life. Some important points:

Modding, at a first glance, is just a hobby, something we do for burning free time. However, it may be more than what it looks like. I believe modding is, for many of us, our first work experience. We learn to work in teams, we set objectives and we work them out from our own self motivation in order to achieve the creation of artifacts which could make our main hobby (gaming) more interesting and delightful. During my experience, I was: an artist, a mapper, a programmer and a 'lecturer'.

As an artist, I produced material in order to incorporate my own imagination and passion for the things I liked (history for instance) into the different mods who saw my creations as key elements for their creation to take shape. This discipline instructed me to be precise, learn of perspective and actually look to the shapes and colors deeper than I could ever do before. As I had specialized in 3d animation, I learned to understand movement and how to achieve certain human like effects in a very systematic way.

As a mapper, I produced maps for creating new ways of playing a good game which people could find interesting and enjoyable, as well, as useful for future maps and ideas. From this experience, one learns to design, brainstorm ideas, talk with clients/customers as well as learn values like humility(which to my own shame was something that sadly took me a while), honesty, empathy, gratefulness, to be willing of mind, as many others.

As a programmer, I used my knowledge of logic and math to systemize ideas and bring them from a very abstract view into real solutions to many of the problems presented in other disciplines. It was programming who taught me to be organized, methodological and visionary on my ideas. It teaches you to think out-side the box and learn to solve problems in a very organized way. Not only that, but the science itself behind it, Computer-science, can be used to solve many of the problem present now-a-days within the market (not only software wise as many of s tend to ignore).

As a 'lecturer', I used my experienced before mentioned to help newcomers travel along the hard path of each discipline. Using your knowledge to help others, teaches you about many aspects of social interaction, like learning to express your ideas, learning to give your ideas from one person to another and teaching yourself the importance of intellectual sensibility(how to be on their position).

Among other important things: the modding community is an international community; one learns to work with people from different cultural backgrounds and how can you synergize within to make more creative products than you could from just one perspective. Furthermore, the need for all of us to communicate in one common language (English) different from our own mother language (Spanish in my case), gives us linguistic skills and helps us learn to express ourselves in a more fluent way.
It is for all these reasons that I believe my time here was completely worth it. I'm grateful for being part of this community and grateful to all the different people in it which opened their heart and shared what they had. There's no more and better thing to say, that thanks to that I became a better man and i was able to improve to some point i could have never imagined.

With great joy I say these words, Fernando Andreas Sahmkow Beicos, aka BlinkBoy.

 

[Ralle]

Well written BlinkBoy. Thank you for elaboration to your story and the points.

 

[Silverfish423]

I think many people started in this community before actualy trying some studies in the related field. I started modding wc3 at the age of 14 and it was thanks to that, that now a days I'm studying the software engineering master at Univertaet Stuttgart.

I think most people who started modding at a young age are very grateful for what this community has offered them. Many no longer mod, but deeply inside their heart they still recall how their experience here allowed them to decide what they wanted for their future and what they would turn out to be.

[Wow my 1500th post and it's a thanks to the community, i'm so happy about it]

I'm in a similar boat man, I don't think that I actually want to be a computer scientist, but I regained my love for wc3 modding just recently and I have been doing this for roughly 4-6 years? Coming back stronger is the way to approach everything and anything