Getting back on the horse!

[Ethinolicbob]

I want to get back on the horse with programming. Specifically making mods for games like Minecraft & Project Zomboid.
So about 10 years ago I studied programming at university. I found myself failing, inconsistent to how I felt I was doing.
After a few years I gave it no more thought, put my studies on hold and went to work as Uni had left me strapped for cash.
I end up taking another direction (engineering) and studying and hit the same wall.
So I picked up work again until I had a bit more cash.
Later, I picked up electronics and once again, hit a wall.
So I moved on and got work at a place doing electronics and have been working there for a few years.
Recently I did a computer course, not because I needed the knowledge but because I had to have something behind my belt before I could take over the IT side of things at work.
However this time I made a breakthrough.
I did not complete the course within the required allotment of time, however analysing my results I found on the practical assessments I was getting ~100% and I was flunking on the theory side of things.
I found out that some of the theory I was flunking on was aced in practical.
I have recently just realised that this was the same with everything else.
Every assessment that I had to do the task, had been Highly marked.
Every assessment that I had to explain the task, I failed miserably on.
I suppose it is a little quirk of my brain.

For awhile now I have been considering in revisiting programming. I have had such inspiration as FC with BTW and more recently, kaos78414 with his BTW addon that he is working on. I have had ideas of my own.
Then even more recently I played Project Zomboid.
Back in my early years of studying me and a great friend of mine had a great zombie game Idea.
Later we revisited that idea and so we started to jot down all the Idea.
We revisited the idea and added a little bit to it (mostly in our heads but some of it was written)
Over the next couple of years we continued to add to it. Whether it be drinking, smoking (not tobacco) or general lounging about we slowly had this little Idea.
After I fell away from programming I put the Idea away to never get realised.
While I played Project Zomboid I realised our idea for our zombie game got partially realised. Project Zomboid seems to parallel the beginnings of the Idea that had been so long in thought.

This got me thinking. Perhaps I could take up programming again. I never had any problem with the actual programming.
Perhaps if I am in an environment where I learn programming by actually doing it, and the only examination of my skill is whether or not my project was successful, I might actually be able to progress towards my old Idea.
So for a start I want to re-learn programming with modding MineCraft in mind.

TL;DR

If any of you can offer any advice as to a good way to get me started with relearning Java and modding for Minecraft I would very much appreciate it.
Whether it be personal advice, guides and resources, preference for certain text editors & compilers.

I have searched and gotten mixed results.
I know a few of you are experienced with programming and others are in the process of learning, and would be a trustworthy source of advice.

PS.
Thank you all who read the whole thing.
I have lurked here for long enough then, leaving comments here and there but have not really introduced myself to the community.
I am Ethinolicbob AKA Eth.
I am probably somewhat introduced.

[SterlingRed]

Good luck! I've had introductory classes to vb, python, and c++ (1 class each in either highschool or college) and I enjoyed it but I knew I didn't want to be staring at code my whole life. I had a little trouble with the more abstract programming aspects initially, until I started thinking of it in terms of math and I used variables and equations internally in my code just so that I could keep track of where I was and could understand what the program was doing. Obviously I got my degree in engineering, which has worked out extremely well.

I can't offer much advice with the code side of things, I wrote c++ in notepad+ and used a shitty microsoft freeware compiler. Probably not the best route for developing mods. Good luck, start off doing it in small pieces rather than all at once. If you hit a wall, don't give up, but maybe take a break and work on ideas for mod features etc and get back to the programming part.

[RaustBlackDragon]

my advice:

When I started making mods, I had very little java knowledge. What I did first was I made a sort of balancing patch for minecraft, where I searched the code for values I could recognize from my experience playing the game (such as how much food healed, how stack size limits, etc.), and tweaked them. From there, I went on to doing more advanced things as I got a feel for the codebase and what everything did, and finally moved on to making my first "real" mod. It's a fun and easy way to get into modding, and I highly recommend it :)

[rhacer]

The best advice I can give is pick something small you want to do and then do it. As you get your hands around the small things you'll be able to chain them together into bigger and bigger things.

One of my best ever learning projects was something I did that is still part of (at least I think it is) the Samba distribution. It started very small to scratch my itch, and then people started using the damn thing and asking for features and filing bug reports. It's still relatively small, but I learned a lot doing it.

[Ethinolicbob]

my advice:

When I started making mods, I had very little java knowledge. What I did first was I made a sort of balancing patch for minecraft, where I searched the code for values I could recognize from my experience playing the game (such as how much food healed, how stack size limits, etc.), and tweaked them. From there, I went on to doing more advanced things as I got a feel for the codebase and what everything did, and finally moved on to making my first "real" mod. It's a fun and easy way to get into modding, and I highly recommend it :)

Cheers!
I suppose the MCP would be the first step?
What do you know about Eclipse? Should I stay away from it for a start and use ol' notepad?
It's weird throwing myself into the ocean that is modding and not knowing the best direction to swim.

[RaustBlackDragon]

Cheers!
I suppose the MCP would be the first step?
What do you know about Eclipse? Should I stay away from it for a start and use ol' notepad?
It's weird throwing myself into the ocean that is modding and not knowing the best direction to swim.

If you want to quickly reach the point where you can start seeing the results of your work, I'd hold off on setting up eclipse, I get along reasonably well without it. It's got advantages though, if you're patient enough to wait before you start seeing results. No need to set it up immediately though, it can be set up at any time I think.

[ialdbaoloth]

I hardly know how to use most of Eclipse, and it still seems very helpful.
MCP sets things up for you, so you just need to open the right
directory when it starts up. The right-click menu's options for
cross-referencing declarations and uses is great for understanding
how things fit together.

Also, I think the minecraft code is pretty approachable, in the
sense of the start of this interview.