Apologies for the late reply. Lot of interesting stuff packed into your comment. Thanks for taking the time. Also, great to know you're healthier now.
I'm intrigued about your 'openly hostile' target market. Firstly, it sounds like you've thought about your target audience quite a bit. Great sign.
Why would they be hostile about you solving their pains? Is it the price point? Privacy concerns? General mistrust?
Or is it likely you're packaging an anti-depressant as a pain-killer.
(http://pablobrenner.wordpress.com/2011/09/18/neither-painkil...)
You say 'the audience isn't ready for that'. That seems perfectly fine. You can probably think ahead a lot more than they can. But it'd be great to have some validation, even if that means dealing with their hostility, to get through.
-----
I'll echo the advice about starting with a design doc. Once you know what the game should be like, you can start implementing tiny features and learn along the way.
When I'd starting building games (new to programming as well), I had weekly goals that were like "fighter jet moves right/left using arrow keys, over a static background". Next week would have 'implement top-down scrolling background' etc. When you're starting out, its important to take care of your mental state. Things that seem trivial might take much longer. You've gotta keep reminding yourself that its a learning experience too. That with every seemingly trivial item that you conquer, your value in the market increases.
With games, it often is easy to get overwhelmed. You'll need to split yourself into 'designer/manager' and 'developer'. The developer works on the tiniest, most detailed instructions. The designer/manager is allowed only a single day a week perhaps, to write (in detail) about the next tiny feature to implement & to dream of new features.
In my case, I'd get my 'big plan' down on paper(about 2 pages worth about what the entire game was like), from memory, every single week. Just so I'd know subconsciously, where the project as a whole was headed.
-----
Here's hoping you'll be inspiring others with your story soon.
I'm intrigued about your 'openly hostile' target market. Firstly, it sounds like you've thought about your target audience quite a bit. Great sign. Why would they be hostile about you solving their pains? Is it the price point? Privacy concerns? General mistrust?
Or is it likely you're packaging an anti-depressant as a pain-killer. (http://pablobrenner.wordpress.com/2011/09/18/neither-painkil...)
You say 'the audience isn't ready for that'. That seems perfectly fine. You can probably think ahead a lot more than they can. But it'd be great to have some validation, even if that means dealing with their hostility, to get through.
-----
I'll echo the advice about starting with a design doc. Once you know what the game should be like, you can start implementing tiny features and learn along the way. When I'd starting building games (new to programming as well), I had weekly goals that were like "fighter jet moves right/left using arrow keys, over a static background". Next week would have 'implement top-down scrolling background' etc. When you're starting out, its important to take care of your mental state. Things that seem trivial might take much longer. You've gotta keep reminding yourself that its a learning experience too. That with every seemingly trivial item that you conquer, your value in the market increases.
With games, it often is easy to get overwhelmed. You'll need to split yourself into 'designer/manager' and 'developer'. The developer works on the tiniest, most detailed instructions. The designer/manager is allowed only a single day a week perhaps, to write (in detail) about the next tiny feature to implement & to dream of new features. In my case, I'd get my 'big plan' down on paper(about 2 pages worth about what the entire game was like), from memory, every single week. Just so I'd know subconsciously, where the project as a whole was headed.
-----
Here's hoping you'll be inspiring others with your story soon.