“It’s done, there is no way back. We tried, we failed” • Hacker News Board

Re: “It’s done, there is no way back. We tried, we failed”

#321

Post by yareally » Thu, Aug 13, 2015, 2:24 AM UTC

selestify wrote: post #310

yareally wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Salary depends highly on where you live due to cost of living. Starting salaries in Seattle for example were around 30% higher last I checked when compared to much of the Midwest. If you make $80k where I am, I would be expect the same person to make around $105k in Seattle. I'd wager the person you replied to is also somewhere in the Midwest.

That's true. I am curious what sort of work developers in the Midwest usually do? Here it's most big companies, in the Bay Area it's big companies and start ups.

Same sort of development one would do anywhere from my experience. I'm not sure what you imagine when you think of the Midwest, but I live in a city with over a million people (not Chicago). I have friends that work for companies on the East and West Coast and we trade stories that seem fairly similar about our work life. Startups and large companies exist here too and aren't much different. Startups may not be as numerous, but I've worked for some and moved on past that phase to want more stability.

I'm the tech lead for my team at a medium sized company that builds high demand, critical backend services. Customers include small businesses, some well known Silicon Valley companies and some established Fortune 500s. I like what I do and get to see just how well software I work on scales with customers that push it to the limit. I mostly use C# with a bit of C++ right now, but previous jobs I used Python, Java, JavaScript and PHP. VCSs have ranged from SVN, TFS to Git. The one used mostly depends on when the company was founded. Early 00s probably means SVN while the last 5 to 10 years probably means Git or TFS.

Does company culture differ here? I don't think so really. Like anywhere, it depends on where and whom you work for. I work 40 hours a week on average, have a workstation that rivals my own gaming PC at home (we also had the choice of a high end laptop, but I prefer a desktop) and wear jeans/shorts/t-shirts to work (assuming I'm not working at home that day). My brother works for a company with a similar culture to mine and they have their own personal chef that serves them lunch every day. My employer and his are only about 10 to 15 years old, so that probably contributes somewhat to the cultural similarities.

Re: “It’s done, there is no way back. We tried, we failed”

#322

Post by w3ightl355 » Thu, Aug 13, 2015, 2:39 AM UTC

It sounds like their heart was in the right place, an effort driven by passion, but they just ran into too many obstacles. If I had invested, I probably wouldn't feel so bad. It sounds like they tried - like they give it their best, sincere effort. That's all you can do, really.

Re: “It’s done, there is no way back. We tried, we failed”

#323

Post by w3ightl355 » Thu, Aug 13, 2015, 2:39 AM UTC

It sounds like their heart was in the right place, an effort driven by passion, but they just ran into too many obstacles. If I had invested, I probably wouldn't feel so bad. It sounds like they tried - like they give it their best, sincere effort. That's all you can do, really.

Re: “It’s done, there is no way back. We tried, we failed”

#324

Post by jeremiep » Thu, Aug 13, 2015, 2:41 AM UTC

halotrope wrote: post #248

DigitalJack wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The dunning kreuger effect is useless. Dumb people think they are smart, smart people think they are smart. Nothing to be gleaned from that. Only at the very fringe of the intelligent side do the lines of actual intelligence and perceived intelligence cross.

Actually the tendency is, that the more you know the more aware you get of the things you don't know. So while dumb people may overestimate their aptitude the smarter people tend to underestimate themselves. The most extreme manifestation would probably be the impostor syndrome. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome

What I take from Dunning-Kruger is that unskilled people have misconceptions about themselves, not being aware of what they don't know. Likewise, skilled people have misconceptions about others, assuming they know as much as they do.

Its very easy to forget all the efforts invested in learning a skill when you've been using that skill for many years. When it becomes second nature, you assume its also that way for others.

Re: “It’s done, there is no way back. We tried, we failed”

#325

Post by xKingfisher » Thu, Aug 13, 2015, 2:53 AM UTC

gamedude wrote: post #264

EwanToo wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That'll be why every non-gaming software company has a bunch of ex-game developers who now make indie games in their own time...

Are there any other fields where employers specifically seek out game engine programmers? This sounds ideal for me, but I like low-level C/C++/assembly programming and wouldn't want to give that up for the web.

From industry people I've talked to, browser/rendering engine teams have had success with and like ex game-engine developers, since the fields have a number of similar requirements.

Re: “It’s done, there is no way back. We tried, we failed”

#326

Post by IkmoIkmo » Thu, Aug 13, 2015, 2:54 AM UTC

aquanext wrote: post #143

I think they are dead on about lack of experience being the cause here. You can't make a AAA game on $72,000 and 6 to 10 people. That's nuts. Just one person's salary is going to be 50-60k if they are paying people reasonably.

> You can't make a AAA game on $72,000 and 6 to 10 people. That's nuts.

You've misunderstood what actually happened, the game had a different budget and timeframe.

Re: “It’s done, there is no way back. We tried, we failed”

#327

Post by Pyxl101 » Thu, Aug 13, 2015, 2:56 AM UTC

yareally wrote: post #305

selestify wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How long ago was that? The undergrads I know make 100k+ base salary alone

Salary depends highly on where you live due to cost of living. Starting salaries in Seattle for example were around 30% higher last I checked when compared to much of the Midwest. If you make $80k where I am, I would be expect the same person to make around $105k in Seattle. I'd wager the person you replied to is also somewhere in the Midwest.

It's very odd to think about how software development in one place costs a different amount than another place, when it doesn't really concern the place at all. All supply and demand, I suppose, but it's just weird to think about how much different the wage is as a result.

Re: “It’s done, there is no way back. We tried, we failed”

#328

Post by rdancer » Thu, Aug 13, 2015, 2:57 AM UTC

weirdPAL wrote: post #318

igorgue wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're based on Antwerp, Belgium, That could make it work. Since the regular salary is $24k I'd expect it to be around $5k per person.

These teams should move to a low cost developing country after a successful Kickstarter. They could live very well for 1k per person. You already have the clients, you already have the investment and hopefully, you already have the team. It doesn't make sense to stay in a high cost area.

It's not like they have any friends or family anyway. Bonus points if they won't know the local language, then they can fully concentrate on work 24/7/365.

Re: “It’s done, there is no way back. We tried, we failed”

#329

Post by rdancer » Thu, Aug 13, 2015, 3:02 AM UTC

spydum wrote: post #17

[deleted] wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

It says they are in bankruptcy and the IP for the game is for sale (no doubt to pay down what they borrowed). Someone else could buy it up and build it, but not them (unless they could come up with cash for their creditors)

Not 100% of it, though. The bankruptcy administrator will try to obtain the best price for the IP; it could well be that the best price is a pittance.

Re: “It’s done, there is no way back. We tried, we failed”

#330

Post by yareally » Thu, Aug 13, 2015, 3:08 AM UTC

Pyxl101 wrote: post #327

yareally wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Salary depends highly on where you live due to cost of living. Starting salaries in Seattle for example were around 30% higher last I checked when compared to much of the Midwest. If you make $80k where I am, I would be expect the same person to make around $105k in Seattle. I'd wager the person you replied to is also somewhere in the Midwest.

It's very odd to think about how software development in one place costs a different amount than another place, when it doesn't really concern the place at all. All supply and demand, I suppose, but it's just weird to think about how much different the wage is as a result.

It's not just software development though. Salaries in different cities and states are all higher or lower depending on the cost of living there. For example, the average 2 bedroom apartment rents here for around $900-$1000 a month. Same sort of apartment costs my friend in Seattle about twice that much. Food and goods seem to be about the same here as there for most items, but that's a pretty big increase in rent.

Going out to lunch here at a decent sit-down restaurant is around 8-10 dollars with tip (assuming you're drinking water). Somewhere like SF or NYC will be much higher.