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So you want to be a video game programmer? - The Specs

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Re: So you want to be a video game programmer? - The Specs

#71

Post by dan00 »

gfodor wrote: post #48
icandoitbetter wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking of self-reflection: a quick look at your profile revealed that you're working at an e-commence company and previously worked at an advertising solutions company. Do you consider those things less superficial than video games? Honest question.

Sure, and a fair one! I think there are a number of tradeoffs you can make when taking on a new project: - Will this make me happy? - Are the people involved good people I can enjoy working with? - Will this develop my skills in the way I want for my future? - Will this enable me to open doors later that are shut now? - Does this have a positive impact on the world? - Will this have a long-lasting impact? - Is this e…

"My original post was pointing out video games certainly, for the most part, fit into these tradeoffs in a common way. (Again, I am talking about applied software engineering in video games, not all facets of video games.) If you're working on fascinating computational geometry algorithms for the next game that lets people run around shooting each other in the head, I think you know where what you're doing falls on these dimensions, and I think it's important to know if you're comfortable there. (Yes, I play and love Quake 3.)"

Ok, you're saying, that you don't judge, but are doing it the whole time.

Your definition of meaningful is very simplistic. It's like saying, that exertion could be without catharsis. No, they can't be without each other. If they can't be without each other, than both are meaningful in the same way.

Re: So you want to be a video game programmer? - The Specs

#72

Post by richcollins »

agavin wrote: post #70
richcollins wrote: post #49

Should be re-titled to "so you want to be a video game programmer at a large studio".

Why? I'm very NOT large studio oriented. I don't think anything stated in my post (which is just part of a larger series I'm writing) is even about studio size. In this particular post I'm just broadly breaking down some of the sub-specialities inherent in the process of programming video games. In a web app you need more network and database programmers, in a video game you need graphics and sound programmers. It's…

Those technical specialties are specific to certain genres of games. You don't have to learn all of them to get started and make good games. You probably do have to shoehorn yourself into one (or a few) of them if you want to work on big budget games.

Re: So you want to be a video game programmer? - The Specs

#73

Post by mahmud »

kiba wrote: post #64
gfodor wrote: post #8

Video games are an interesting phenomenon. They manage to pack many of the most interesting problems of computer science into one of the most superficial, yet profitable, applications. They're kind of like the warping of space time, an anomaly of extremes that manages to relentlessly suck brilliant minds away due to its siren call. And yes, I love video games, and considered working in the field. But, stepping back y…

One game. Dwarf Fortress. It is a game totally worth consuming your life. It have too much depth and there's so much to learn. Designing your own defense system, figuring out how to satisfy and juggle the requirement of your fortress, and so on. It's mind expanding. Other than that, I like killing and skewing globins. Someday, I'll be able to handle trapping globins and use them to automate my fortress.

I have played less than 4 video games in the last decade, all of them either flash or shipped with my mobile phone. I'll give this one a try (helps that it has a Linux port :-)

Re: So you want to be a video game programmer? - The Specs

#74

Post by gfodor »

dan00 wrote: post #71
gfodor wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, and a fair one! I think there are a number of tradeoffs you can make when taking on a new project: - Will this make me happy? - Are the people involved good people I can enjoy working with? - Will this develop my skills in the way I want for my future? - Will this enable me to open doors later that are shut now? - Does this have a positive impact on the world? - Will this have a long-lasting impact? - Is this e…

"My original post was pointing out video games certainly, for the most part, fit into these tradeoffs in a common way. (Again, I am talking about applied software engineering in video games, not all facets of video games.) If you're working on fascinating computational geometry algorithms for the next game that lets people run around shooting each other in the head, I think you know where what you're doing falls on t…

The term 'judging' is a loaded term. It implies that the person doing the judging thinks less of people that are being judged. That isn't the case here. How could I? I've written video games and play them all the time.

If I had said something along the lines "working on your college degree is a better use of your time than gambling your money away in a casino" I'd not be 'judging' gamblers who do so. I'd be judging the acts themselves and how I see their relative merit and the rewards they'll bring the person doing them. I'd also be stirring up less controversy.

It's disappointing that people in this thread have tried to attack me personally or twist my words to be interpreted as 'judgements.' I don't think it's controversial to say that playing video games excessively is, in the long run, not the most rewarding endeavor. The question is, does this extrapolate to making a career of the construction of games themselves (exclusively on the software engineering side, the topic of this thread.) I happen to think that it does, particularly when I look at all the energy and talent that goes into creating them and the draw they have due to the fact that our generation was raised on gaming and that it offers enticing technical challenges.

Re: So you want to be a video game programmer? - The Specs

#75

Post by davedx »

gfodor wrote: post #19
davidsiems wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Get off your high horse. You could say the exact same thing about books, TV, movies, paintings, etc. Games are just like any other form media. Yes, many of them are superficial, but a lot of them tell incredible stories, teach life lessons, and evoke powerful emotions. To top it all off they can also be incredible teaching tools. Just because you think something's a waste of time doesn't mean other people aren't deri…

This is the inevitable response that I get when I dare suggest that those of us with the gift of being able to program computers in such a interesting time choose wisely where we place our efforts. I'm not saying it's immoral, unrewarding, or not plain fun to play and build video games. I'm saying that in life you get to choose how you spend your time, and in my view building the next killing simulator when you have…

"Wisely"? "Self-reflection"? I find your attitude to what others choose to do with their life incredibly patronising.

Re: So you want to be a video game programmer? - The Specs

#76

Post by johnyzee »

gfodor wrote: post #48
icandoitbetter wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking of self-reflection: a quick look at your profile revealed that you're working at an e-commence company and previously worked at an advertising solutions company. Do you consider those things less superficial than video games? Honest question.

Sure, and a fair one! I think there are a number of tradeoffs you can make when taking on a new project: - Will this make me happy? - Are the people involved good people I can enjoy working with? - Will this develop my skills in the way I want for my future? - Will this enable me to open doors later that are shut now? - Does this have a positive impact on the world? - Will this have a long-lasting impact? - Is this e…

I would rather tell my grand kids that I made a cool game that a lot of people had a lot of fun with, than try to explain how I helped an insurance company limp along without succumbing under the weight of their legacy IT architecture. Or contributed to make the world a better place for advertising. Etc. That kind of thing is how most programmers pass their lives.

Re: So you want to be a video game programmer? - The Specs

#77

Post by pacomerh »

gfodor wrote: post #8

Video games are an interesting phenomenon. They manage to pack many of the most interesting problems of computer science into one of the most superficial, yet profitable, applications. They're kind of like the warping of space time, an anomaly of extremes that manages to relentlessly suck brilliant minds away due to its siren call. And yes, I love video games, and considered working in the field. But, stepping back y…

"stepping back you realize there are more important things to work on, and more useful ways to spend your time. "

Video games can be artistic, inspirational, stress relievers (In my opinion one of the greatest invention for men ever), they stimulate imagination, and have been proven to help real professionals like surgeons be more precise at work.

How is your e-commerce vocation more useful for humanity exactly?, its still consumerism no?

Re: So you want to be a video game programmer? - The Specs

#78

Post by johnyzee »

kiba wrote: post #64
gfodor wrote: post #8

Video games are an interesting phenomenon. They manage to pack many of the most interesting problems of computer science into one of the most superficial, yet profitable, applications. They're kind of like the warping of space time, an anomaly of extremes that manages to relentlessly suck brilliant minds away due to its siren call. And yes, I love video games, and considered working in the field. But, stepping back y…

One game. Dwarf Fortress. It is a game totally worth consuming your life. It have too much depth and there's so much to learn. Designing your own defense system, figuring out how to satisfy and juggle the requirement of your fortress, and so on. It's mind expanding. Other than that, I like killing and skewing globins. Someday, I'll be able to handle trapping globins and use them to automate my fortress.

As cool as Dwarf Fortress is, I really don't think we should go along with judging games by the metric that is suggested by the GP ("killing simulators"). It is like forcing kids to only play with Lego, because 'cops and robbers' is a 'crime simulation'.

Re: So you want to be a video game programmer? - The Specs

#79

Post by alanfalcon »

davidsiems wrote: post #33
joelburget wrote: post #31

I wish people would stop glorifying how many hours they work and how little sleep they get, "You need to live without sleep (4 hours a night every day for years baby!)." Sounds juvenile to me.

Agreed, a good lead would be doing everything within their power to _prevent_ this from happening to themselves and the rest of the team.

I think foregoing producers definitely makes this very difficult. We had some wonderful producers at Blizzard (web team) that came on and turned the team around from hours of OT every night to projects being done on time without OT except in rare cases. Leads don't have (quite) as much on their plate, devs don't get burnt out, and things just run so much better.

Re: So you want to be a video game programmer? - The Specs

#80

Post by alanfalcon »

gfodor wrote: post #56
SoftwareMaven wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the problem is you appear to be judging others by the stick you are measuring yourself with. Everybody gets to decide what they feel is important, but HN'ers don't like others telling them what should be important to them.

On the other hand, sometimes being slapped in the face to think about what your working on and it's larger purpose can be like getting dunked into a pool of ice water for the first time.

Insult after insult. I think a vast majority of those on HN are self aware enough that they don't need your comments to make them stop and think about their lives. Seriously.
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