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What to learn to be a graphics programmer

blog.demofox.org

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Re: What to learn to be a graphics programmer

#161

Post by raincole »

rustystump wrote: post #137
patch_dev wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a really bad take, sorry. 1. Engine choice is only a factor in performance. If you build an unoptimised game it will run poorly. Doesn't matter if you do it in Unity or your own engine. 2. Terraria, etc did not succeed because they use their own engines. 3. Those bad performance games have bad performance and happen to use an engine, not the other way round. 4. The quality of your game has a lot more to do wi…

I always argued for custom game engines not for performance but so your game “feels” unique. I can spot a unity or unreal game from miles away. They have a smell if you will that is very hard to escape. Every game that has a custom engine just feels unique and interesting in a different way. I think this is why people likely push the custom engine. Any game that passes the finish line on a custom engine often has a l…

> I can spot a unity or unreal game from miles away. They have a smell if you will that is very hard to escape.

Confirmation bias. Are you saying Hollow Knight, Cities: Skylines and Escape from Tarkov have the same kind of "smell"?

It's as ridiculous as saying that you can spot a SaaS written in Rust from miles away.

Re: What to learn to be a graphics programmer

#162

Post by StefanBatory »

sph wrote: post #154
bsder wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Who are you to say their future career prospect is a folly? Someone who watched an industry chew up and spit out far too many young people. That's who and that's why I'm qualified. > The only thing that defines the talents of tomorrow is that they have ignored such advice and then pushed forward the state of the art in ways you couldn't even imagine. This is how progress works. You would encourage an individual to…

> You would encourage an individual to walk a path that is 90%(95%/99%) likely to damage their life horribly in the name of "progress" Are we still talking about graphics programming? Damage one’s life horribly, really? Those poor kids you saw ‘spat out’, are they irretrievably broken? You speak as if people are single-purpose machines, and that there is nothing to learn from adversity and challenge. That skills are…

Dreams are fun but they don't pay. And then you are earning scraps, and you realise that you'd prefer to be rich than to follow the dream for nothing.

I get that. In the time you'd learn about graphics programming, you could learn something else that would be able to give you a boost in the hiring market.

Re: What to learn to be a graphics programmer

#164

Post by fn-mote »

dakolli wrote: post #72
michaelchisari wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nepo baby. Joking (sort of). I can't say I know of any in the fields I'm familiar with. I've watched tech get increasingly top-heavy since the covid hiring boom and bust, although it was already trending that way. There are a lot of fields dominated by boomers on the verge of retirement that are the safest bet for people who want to be good and make a good living but don't care to be extraordinary. I've heard that fr…

Nobody who has ambitions of being the top of their field in engineering wants to be a water treatment specialists, arborist or actuary (maybe actuary if you're a stats nerd). What you're saying is go do something on the based on the potential for you to be professionally successful.. What about people doing things they love? I hate these people telling people who love to do a certain thing that they should just becom…

> I'd rather be in poverty working with computers everyday and doing what I love than make 10k a month being a plumber.

Other people choose a job that pays enough that they do not have to live with the stresses that poverty brings. Even if they do not love it.

When I hear statements like yours, I think that they come from not actually having lived with very little money.

Re: What to learn to be a graphics programmer

#165

Post by legends2k »

andai wrote: post #118
Animats wrote: post #107

Do you want to make games, or do 3D engine programming? If you want to make games, use an existing engine. Unreal Engine, Unity, Godot, and Bevy are good choices. You'll learn the higher level issues of graphics, not how to push pixels around. The real problem is making it fun. If you want to do 3D engine programming, be aware that there are too many bad game engines. In Rust land, where I am, there are three failed…

Two years? Why does it take two years?

Two if you're lucky, and work full time on it. More like 5+ plus if you are inexperienced/part time.

Re: What to learn to be a graphics programmer

#166

Post by legends2k »

Here's my created list I maintain: https://legends2k.github.io/note/cg_resources/ Do learn if it piques your curiosity and have the time. You're in for a blast and a lot of learning, that'll make you a better engineer, in many other fields of computer science too (you understand hardware, system programming, programmer's machine model, etc.).

Don't learn if you do it with a monetary end goal as it's fleeting, ephemeral and not guaranteed in this day and age.

Re: What to learn to be a graphics programmer

#167

Post by Negitivefrags »

Animats wrote: post #107

Do you want to make games, or do 3D engine programming? If you want to make games, use an existing engine. Unreal Engine, Unity, Godot, and Bevy are good choices. You'll learn the higher level issues of graphics, not how to push pixels around. The real problem is making it fun. If you want to do 3D engine programming, be aware that there are too many bad game engines. In Rust land, where I am, there are three failed…

I am not a fan of this take.

It's possible to not make an engine, or use a 3rd party engine. You just make a game. Use SDL or something. It's honestly easier and more fun. Definately don't use Rust.

It doesn't take two years.

The more you focus on making gameplay, and not making an engine the better. Which sounds like similar advice to "use an existing engine", but it's not, because using existing engines is also a pretty sad time. You can waste just as much time farting around in Unreal as you do making your own engine.

At the end of the day, most people are just not serious about making a game. Using someone elses engine, building from scratch, both will work if you are actually making a game and not just wasting time.

Re: What to learn to be a graphics programmer

#168

Post by Twisol »

raincole wrote: post #152
Animats wrote: post #107

Do you want to make games, or do 3D engine programming? If you want to make games, use an existing engine. Unreal Engine, Unity, Godot, and Bevy are good choices. You'll learn the higher level issues of graphics, not how to push pixels around. The real problem is making it fun. If you want to do 3D engine programming, be aware that there are too many bad game engines. In Rust land, where I am, there are three failed…

> This is why most indy games now are 2D. That's do-able. Often in HTML/JavaScript. Most indie games are definitely not in HTML/JavaScript unless you count vibe coded ones.

I can't speak to "most", but the incredible CrossCode displays the HTML5 shield on startup, so indie games on the web stack do exist and can be amazing.

Re: What to learn to be a graphics programmer

#169

Post by optymizer »

legends2k wrote: post #166

Here's my created list I maintain: https://legends2k.github.io/note/cg_resources/ Do learn if it piques your curiosity and have the time. You're in for a blast and a lot of learning, that'll make you a better engineer, in many other fields of computer science too (you understand hardware, system programming, programmer's machine model, etc.). Don't learn if you do it with a monetary end goal as it's fleeting, ephemer…

I've been using this one, maybe others will find it useful as well: https://owlcat.games/learning

Re: What to learn to be a graphics programmer

#170

Post by mcmoor »

gafferongames wrote: post #132

Graphics programming in games is like playing the guitar. It's cool, but everybody wants to do it. Make the bold choice. Be a game network programmer. Nobody wants to do it, it's really hard and it kinda sucks. Play the accordion :)

Any resources? It actually sounds more interesting to me since hearing about Rollback Netcode. Any front-end thing always gives me headache anyway.
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