> The noobs have a "sandbox" to play in by modifying the game. First they follow tutorials or copy/paste code into patches. But eventually something remarkable

> The noobs have a "sandbox" to play in by modifying the game. First they follow tutorials or copy/paste code into patches. But eventually something remarkable happens when they start to modify that logic to accomplish their own goals. It's at that moment a programmer is born. This is almost exactly my first programming experience. I discovered GORILLAS.BAS [0] on our family computer and, after playing it for awhile, discovered that I could change things about the game by modifying the strange text on the screen. First I was changing colors. Then simple drawing changes. Eventually, I had a version that replaced the buildings with mountains and the gorillas with artillery guns. Gave it out on floppies to a few friends with simple instructions on how to play it. It was at that moment that I realized I had created something pretty awesome. Never forgotten how that felt. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorillas_(video_game) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorillas_(video_game)