Opinion Need help choosing a gift for my coding enthusiastic son!

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TheDanishFather

Guest
Hi all

My son has just turned 14 and as he has had good fun using the tutorial of the GML we have bought him a license for creating games for the windows, mac, ubuntu platforms.

But Christmas is coming up and we wondered if there were any good support books or other that we could give to help him keep his enthusiasm about coding.

Any suggestions you have will be well received.

thank you for all you help.

best

TheDanishFather :)
 
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zendraw

Guest
or maybe you can buy him a resourse pack with graphics and sounds so he can experiment with them. or just buy him a normal toy.
 

chance

predictably random
Forum Staff
Moderator
If your son is interested in programming, the best gifts are general books about this subject. Not necessarily focused on one particular language, but dealing with general principles.

Code Complete: A Practical Handbook
by Steve McConnell

Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software
by Robert Martin

Both are available in bookstores and online. And they'll be more useful in the long run than a book focused on GameMaker.
 

ksb

Member
If he's interested in programming then buy him a really comfortable chair ?
He's using GMS2? consider a 21:9 ratio monitor or a 4K ... we all love GMS2 but it's no secret that even HD feels a bit cramped for dev.

mmm what else for programming?... ah yes, a years supply of Diet Coke and Pizzahut vouchers :)
 
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zendraw

Guest
If he's interested in programming then buy him a really comfortable chair ?
He's using GMS2? consider a 21:9 ratio monitor or a 4K ... we all love GMS2 but it's no secret that even HD feels a bit cramped for dev.

mmm what else for programming?... ah yes, a years supply of Diet Coke and Pizzahut vouchers :)
good idea about the chair... mine is custom made. not sure bout the 21:9 monitor, like who uses that ratio, and wwhat is it good for?
 

PNelly

Member
You might look into arduino or raspberry pi, which would push your son a little bit outside of the GMS box and help him to start understanding computers at a deeper level.
 

ksb

Member
good idea about the chair... mine is custom made. not sure bout the 21:9 monitor, like who uses that ratio, and wwhat is it good for?
21:9 is absolutely superb for gaming and gives acres of space for development. I had much the same reaction as you when I first heard of them, then bought one and was gobsmacked with it.

MY Son nicked it (and my PC) when he went to university, so I'm now using an iMac 5k, which gives plenty of work space but imo is not as versatile as the previous setup. To the extent that I am pondering selling the Mac.
 
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zendraw

Guest
21:9 is absolutely superb for gaming and gives acres of space for development. I had much the same reaction as you when I first heard of them, then bought one and was gobsmacked with it.

MY Son nicked it (and my PC) when he went to university, so I'm now using an iMac 5k, which gives plenty of work space but imo is not as versatile as the previous setup. To the extent that I am pondering selling the Mac.
from the looks of it its good for aaa games and such, not sure about GM games thou.
 

ksb

Member
from the looks of it its good for aaa games and such, not sure about GM games thou.
That is probably quite true, but it's still a great dev workspace.

So perhaps a nice 21:9 monitor *and* a good HD one for runtime, along with a chair, some razor headphones ... this kid is gonna have a great xmas :p
 
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zendraw

Guest
im sure its a great dev workspace, but now that you mention, the OP didnt specify a range of expense for this gift.
 
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Coded Games

Member
When I was around that age my parents got me a website through Webs.com. It doesn’t sound like a very good gift but I thought it was awesome and was the first step to build my company. Wow I sound like an ad. Anyway I don’t recommend webs if you are capable of building a website yourself. Honestly every web host I have used have been garbage but webs is good for learning the basics of having a website.
 

ksb

Member
When I was around that age my parents got me a website through Webs.com. It doesn’t sound like a very good gift but I thought it was awesome and was the first step to build my company. Wow I sound like an ad. Anyway I don’t recommend webs if you are capable of building a website yourself. Honestly every web host I have used have been garbage but webs is good for learning the basics of having a website.
Sounds like an ad dude :p
 
E

ethanscott

Guest
Hi all

My son has just turned 14 and as he has had good fun using the tutorial of the GML we have bought him a license for creating games for the windows, mac, ubuntu platforms.

But Christmas is coming up and we wondered if there were any good support books or other that we could give to help him keep his enthusiasm about coding for kids.

Any suggestions you have will be well received.

thank you for all you help.

best

TheDanishFather :)
If your kid is really interested in coding, then it is indeed an excellent thing.
Kids usually don't tend to go for these things early in their life
There are plenty of books such as coding for kids by carol vorderman that is an excellent source of knowledge for kids.
The book is quite descriptive and teaches a lot about coding.
Alternatively, you can sign him/her for classes that are basically coding for kids so that they can get well acquainted with the skill. A mentor will ensure the best is taught to your kid and nothing less.
 

Posho

Member
Hi all

My son has just turned 14 and as he has had good fun using the tutorial of the GML we have bought him a license for creating games for the windows, mac, ubuntu platforms.

But Christmas is coming up and we wondered if there were any good support books or other that we could give to help him keep his enthusiasm about coding.

Any suggestions you have will be well received.

thank you for all you help.

best

TheDanishFather :)
Hey! It's so wholesome to see a daddy-o go all the way here for such a specific gift.

Here are some ideas right off my head:
  • A Mobile GM:S licence. When I was like 14-16, I jumped out of happiness from seeing my lil' games running on a new device.
  • If your son is into more than GameMaker, then I feel like you can not go wrong with an Arduino. It's incredibly customizable and it'll expand your son into the horizons of robotics. If your son still doesn't know any regular language other than GML, then I would encourage you to get him a LEGO Mindstorm set, which will allow him to make robots using LEGO pieces and program them using a Drag-N-Drop interface similar to GameMaker's.
  • A mini arcade cabinet. This one may be a hard one to buy/build, but if your son manages to put his games on a little machine, it'll mean the world to him.
Unlike the rest of the bunch, I would advise you against giving him a book. Books are for loser nerds who deserve to get bullied. In all seriousness though, your son probably learnt all he knows through YouTube or Google. Unless he is the bookworm type, he will leave the book on a corner and get back to learning the way he's been doing it all this time.

Hope this helps! Let us know what you got him in the end!
 

chance

predictably random
Forum Staff
Moderator
The poster asked this question about Christmas before last (2017) and he hasn't posted since. It's probably safe to say he won't be reading these replies.

But maybe we can keep this topic active until his son is old enough to buy a copy of Studio for his own son.
 

Posho

Member
The poster asked this question about Christmas before last (2017) and he hasn't posted since. It's probably safe to say he won't be reading these replies.

But maybe we can keep this topic active until his son is old enough to buy a copy of Studio for his own son.
I have faith in the daddy-o.
 

Bluetail7

Member
I have been always interested in trying my projects on a game cabinet, so I can get that feel of "what would happen if I made this back, when videogame machines were available to everyone for rent"

TLDR: a game cabinet to get that retro and professional feel of something being finished, so people can play it anytime.
 
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