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Coffee Is Hard

stilldrinking.org

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Re: Coffee Is Hard

#21

Post by drankula3 »

whatshisface wrote: post #11
TurkishPoptart wrote: post #10

I really like this guy's writing and am grateful that he shared some of the coding challenges. I'd really like to be able to program games like this, and while I'm not a programmer, I'd like to learn how. In TFA he shares some of the code to check the coffee "state": >'LOOK AT COFFEE MAKER': () => { if( State.scene.state.coffeedrunk ) { return "The coffee maker has done its job and mercifully drained the last life ou…

It looks like JavaScript to me. Yes, these games are usually coded in scripting languages like JS or Python, even back in the day they were programmed in custom scripting languages running on the engines of yore. Finally, yes, these kinds of games are a great way to learn programming because they map very well on to basic control flow constructs (if, else, while) and don't usually require additional computer science…

For python, check out pygame. It's outdated and only works with 2.7, but I think it can be installed with apt on Ubuntu and will teach the basics like rendering loops, frames, etc.

Re: Coffee Is Hard

#22

Post by aidenn0 »

raldi wrote: post #19
aidenn0 wrote: post #18

As an example of one of the more notorious puzzles in the Sierra games of yesteryear, in Space Quest, you have a sand skimmer (think Luke's sand speeder). When you get to where you are going, you need to sell it for money. If you get out without removing your keys, it is stolen. Then someone offers you enough money to continue on in the game. If you say yes, then much later in the game you die because you don't have…

This is a major piece of the linked article.

Wow, I totally skimmed over that.

Re: Coffee Is Hard

#23

Post by Loughla »

monktastic1 wrote: post #16
godot wrote: post #6

As a geek and a fan of 80s-90s PC games (not just Sierra but also LucasArts adventure games and so on), this was a super entertaining read on its own; but I also enjoyed some of these insights about life in general from it: > Living is mostly a series of repetitive and unrelated tasks. It makes sense that the most tedious things to code are the tedious things that just have to be done. There are no life lessons or gy…

At the risk of sounding hippie, "tedious" and "boring" are emotional reactions to the chores, and not attributable to the chores themselves. We don't have to do that. "Everything in life is miraculous. It rests within the power of each of us to awaken from a dragging nightmare of life made up of unimportant tasks and tedious useless little habits to see life as it really is, and to rejoice in its exquisite wonderfuln…

Not to sound too much like a hippie, either, but I learned (actually after having a kid as well) that when people talked about enjoying the ride, that's what they were talking about - the tedious stuff.

I always assumed it meant travel more and look for adventure, but I have come to understand that 'enjoying the ride' in your life, not always just pursuing some next thing is about enjoying the tedium.

Some of my favorite memories of my young children is the time we spent washing dishes together or watching them vacuum up the rugs and chase the cat with the broom.

It's all about enjoying the ride, man.

Re: Coffee Is Hard

#24

Post by OnlineGladiator »

monktastic1 wrote: post #16
godot wrote: post #6

As a geek and a fan of 80s-90s PC games (not just Sierra but also LucasArts adventure games and so on), this was a super entertaining read on its own; but I also enjoyed some of these insights about life in general from it: > Living is mostly a series of repetitive and unrelated tasks. It makes sense that the most tedious things to code are the tedious things that just have to be done. There are no life lessons or gy…

At the risk of sounding hippie, "tedious" and "boring" are emotional reactions to the chores, and not attributable to the chores themselves. We don't have to do that. "Everything in life is miraculous. It rests within the power of each of us to awaken from a dragging nightmare of life made up of unimportant tasks and tedious useless little habits to see life as it really is, and to rejoice in its exquisite wonderfuln…

I agree with your point that it's all about perspective, but you can easily spin it negatively.

"Life is suffering" -Buddha

"Tedium is the worst pain" -Grendel

I realize that first quote is meant to be encouraging, but you can take it at face value to mean what it is: most of life sucks.

Pessimism and optimism are choices we make on how to interpret reality based on our experiences. This might sound like some feel-good comment that you can easily just see things better if you try to frame it differently but it's not. I am profoundly cynical and genuinely believe the world would be a better place if more people would replace their unfounded optimism with skepticism. Sometimes there really isn't a reason to be optimistic other than a desire to feel better about the situation.

Re: Coffee Is Hard

#25

Post by jacobr1 »

TurkishPoptart wrote: post #10

I really like this guy's writing and am grateful that he shared some of the coding challenges. I'd really like to be able to program games like this, and while I'm not a programmer, I'd like to learn how. In TFA he shares some of the code to check the coffee "state": >'LOOK AT COFFEE MAKER': () => { if( State.scene.state.coffeedrunk ) { return "The coffee maker has done its job and mercifully drained the last life ou…

The original games uses a custom scripting engine that manages this called SCUMM. For a good description see: https://www.monades.dev/scumm-internals-syntax/

Re: Coffee Is Hard

#26

Post by ctdonath »

I'd be happy to articulate the hard way to make a really good cup of coffee, starting with ordering green coffee beans and proceeding thru barista tools few are familiar with. (Might take a while to write.) Plenty of ways for the process to go wrong, including lethally.

Re: Coffee Is Hard

#27

Post by shantly »

LunaSea wrote: post #13
godot wrote: post #6

As a geek and a fan of 80s-90s PC games (not just Sierra but also LucasArts adventure games and so on), this was a super entertaining read on its own; but I also enjoyed some of these insights about life in general from it: > Living is mostly a series of repetitive and unrelated tasks. It makes sense that the most tedious things to code are the tedious things that just have to be done. There are no life lessons or gy…

Interesting! What kind of life optimizations did you use before?

Having money and spending it to make other people do your boring stuff is a pretty effective life optimization. Cleaning, laundry, cooking, lawn care, car maintenance—even driving—can all be bought, so you barely have to do any of it again, if you've got money. You can—and most with means do, I think—just make almost any of this "this is what life mostly is" boring crap go away, unless you actually enjoy it more than what you might be doing instead.

Making the tedious parts of raising a kid go away is a lot more expensive than making the normal adult boring stuff go away, though. Also if you're not fairly damn rich (i.e. rich enough not to need a real job) the boring parts will be most of the time you spend with your kids by a large margin, so you'll be reluctant to outsource that even if you can afford to. That's even more true if you're not paying to have the rest of your boring stuff done by someone else ("sorry honey, maybe we can play blocks later, I'm cooking dinner because if I don't we won't, you know, have any" but then later it's bath time then story and bed and maybe you squeeze in 10min of blocks if you're lucky)

Re: Coffee Is Hard

#28

Post by mikestew »

OnlineGladiator wrote: post #24
monktastic1 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the risk of sounding hippie, "tedious" and "boring" are emotional reactions to the chores, and not attributable to the chores themselves. We don't have to do that. "Everything in life is miraculous. It rests within the power of each of us to awaken from a dragging nightmare of life made up of unimportant tasks and tedious useless little habits to see life as it really is, and to rejoice in its exquisite wonderfuln…

I agree with your point that it's all about perspective, but you can easily spin it negatively. "Life is suffering" -Buddha "Tedium is the worst pain" -Grendel I realize that first quote is meant to be encouraging, but you can take it at face value to mean what it is: most of life sucks. Pessimism and optimism are choices we make on how to interpret reality based on our experiences. This might sound like some feel-go…

but you can take it at face value to mean what it is: most of life sucks.

Boy, howdy, have you misinterpreted the Buddha. I believe most would agree that in context, Buddha was saying, "Life is suffering because $REASONS. But it doesn't have to be, because $OTHER_REASONS." A vast oversimplification, yes, but I feel that it is a much more accurate representation of the quote.

Re: Coffee Is Hard

#29

Post by ckcheng »

godot wrote: post #6

As a geek and a fan of 80s-90s PC games (not just Sierra but also LucasArts adventure games and so on), this was a super entertaining read on its own; but I also enjoyed some of these insights about life in general from it: > Living is mostly a series of repetitive and unrelated tasks. It makes sense that the most tedious things to code are the tedious things that just have to be done. There are no life lessons or gy…

> a long series of repetitive and routine work every day...aspects that are frictions / repetitiveness / tedious routines...this is what life is

Thanks. Just reminded me of this:

"One always finds one's burden again... He too concludes that all is well... Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night filled mountain, in itself forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy." (Camus, http://dbanach.com/sisyphus.htm )

Re: Coffee Is Hard

#30

Post by OnlineGladiator »

mikestew wrote: post #28
OnlineGladiator wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with your point that it's all about perspective, but you can easily spin it negatively. "Life is suffering" -Buddha "Tedium is the worst pain" -Grendel I realize that first quote is meant to be encouraging, but you can take it at face value to mean what it is: most of life sucks. Pessimism and optimism are choices we make on how to interpret reality based on our experiences. This might sound like some feel-go…

but you can take it at face value to mean what it is: most of life sucks. Boy, howdy, have you misinterpreted the Buddha. I believe most would agree that in context, Buddha was saying, "Life is suffering because $REASONS. But it doesn't have to be, because $OTHER_REASONS." A vast oversimplification, yes, but I feel that it is a much more accurate representation of the quote.

If that's the case you're right and I'm completely wrong about that quote. I don't pretend to be a Buddhist so you're more likely to be right than me. I have not bothered to verify this as of this writing.

Another famous quote that everybody gets wrong because they cut it short:

"Distance makes the heart grow fonder"

That quote means separation is good for couples, but almost nobody knows the actual quote:

"Distance makes the heart grow fonder for those nearer"

This is saying distance destroys relationships and you will look for affection from someone who is available.

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