Keep chipping away

Hey all,

I'm one of those people who believe that when things get really hard, the only thing to do is to take one task at a time and not focus on the big picture. Looking at all of the things that are difficult at once only makes the individual tasks look too large.

This doesn't work for everyone though.

The reason I bring this up is because of my latest post (before this one, duh) in which I ranted about all of the things that I had to do. Everything is under control now, all I had to do was focus on one little thing at a time. I actually feel like that whole experience made me grow a bit, helping me understand how to work with other people and integrate into systems I'm not familiar with. I can tell I'm getting better purely in my own private work, I notice my design sensibilities are improving and my overall output speed has increased. Its strange, I code faster despite writing less code on a day to day basis, I guess when I've been deprived of coding I want to work that much faster.

So yeah, all I well, and to those having a hard time: try not to focus on the big picture if it is too daunting. Focus on one thing at a time and you'll be through the worst of it in no time.

Jimmy

Stuff doesn't get any easier

Hey all,

I really can't seem to catch a break today, from the being torn apart in a code review, to having been put on hold for my project and waiting for my superior to step in (that's embarrassing, by the way), to having nobody help me out on an issue with getting my environment set up for this other team, and then having autocorrect having me accidentally calling a coworker "nana". To be fair to me, her name is "Nan". That's not a Freudian slip, I've never called anyone that!

Everything is running slow, I'm tired, and then the things mentioned above, I've kinda just had it today. I barely get enough sleep, I haven't stayed home to recharge my batteries for a week, plus some.

Oh yeah, and I'll be on call starting tomorrow at noon.

Sorry for the ranty post, but I need a place to total the stuff that's happened today.

...

Life owes me one.

Jimmy

Still Making Things

Hey all,

I decided that I should provide an update as to what is going on with the game, my life, etc.

I've been working at Amazon for a few months now. Working there has been interesting, since I've stopped working in games and moved onto web development things have slowed down a bit. Games require much more of immediate results and less about getting the ideal solution. Your peers judge you in different categories other than just being fast. I feel the pressure in different, unfamiliar ways. Honestly, I get frustrated in different ways too, I often don't get as much work done as I'm used to, only getting in a solid 4-5 hours of coding in.

With that, I do love the new life opportunities that Amazon has given me. I've met some valuable friends and live a much happier situation.

I NO LONGER HAVE ROOMMATES! :D

To clarify that: I moved out of my apartment to go live on my own, it's something I've wanted for a little while now. I still live in Redmond and everything, just now I don't have to clean up after anyone else or deal with a landlord on behalf of three people.

Also, don't live at Trailwood, that place sucks. One of the worst places I've ever lived in.

About the game, I've been working on the editor for the past few days now. The editor is almost complete and I look forward to making levels and events within the game quickly and with minimal delay. It'll be fun! I would also love to release the engine code on GitHub for people to download and use for free. I will probably move the editor into the engine code at some point, but for now it exists within the game side code.

More updates to come! I'm keeping this one short to get back to work and junk.

Jimmy

Everyone has a good game idea.

Hey all,

So I thought I'd chime in about those people you know who have "a totally awesome idea for a game that would make you millions of dollars."

Fact is, everyone has a good idea for a game. People are good at creating high level concepts, it's when you ask someone to design the low level aspects where most people will fall out. It's like this: everyone knows what a good, well built table looks like, but not everyone knows how to build a table of that quality.

Making games is an art, games are art, that doesn't mean that all games strive to be high art, looking at you God of War. Carpentry is an art form too, it's also very practical, I like to think of game development in the same way. There are various components that combine together to form a complete game, and a game is only as good as the quality of its parts.

Anyway, that aside, everybody thinks they have a great game idea, and when you're judging the idea, it isn't just about it being fun, but do they have the guts to actually make this idea real? That may seem a bit judgemental, but if you choose to work with people who don't have the guts to see things through, you'll fall with them.

Choose your coworkers carefully.

Jimmy

To Aspiring Game Developers

Hey all,

So, I thought I'd take the time to talk about getting started in games, what it means to be a programmer or a designer.

Getting started in the games industry is certainly a trial, and your rewards are going to be mostly self awarded. You will be taking pride in parts of the product that many people will not even see. Hell, you may spend a ton of time working on something for the game, only to have that feature cut, it happens. You will be working long hours, you will probably not be rich, and odds are, you may never make a AAA project or work at Nintendo.

But you will be making something amazing that may inspire many people for many years to come. Your game may entertain many, and maybe somebody will say "Oh _______, that game is amazing!"

I guess what I'm saying is, you're not going to be doing this to be rich, or to make people love you, you're doing this because you love it.

Programmers: You will be responsible for actually making the game, or making tools that enable others to do so. You have to be great at logic and problem solving. Good math skills are a huge plus. But here's something no one ever says: Have a backbone, tell people when they're being dumb, if you feel like you know better, prove it. Also, take ownership of your work, don't provide excuses. Language is not important, know your fundamentals.

Designers: You are responsible for working out all the details of your game. You have to be a strong communicator, and must be willing to argue to see your vision come to life. Sometimes you must put your foot down and compromise very little to see your project to reality. A designer doesn't just write something down on paper, they also make levels, plan the in game economy, get the feel right, write in game scripts (assuming the programmer put a scripting language into the game engine), and direct the team. Designers are busy people.

Both of these parties have to work closely together to deliver a product smoothly.

Making games isn't easy, and if you're just starting a company or indie group, start small so that you can get a feel for how your team works. A lot of people make the mistake of aiming high (guilty), and not realizing just what that means.

Hopefully this short read taught you something you didn't already know, but I wrote this on the bus, so it may be a bit scatterbrained.

Jimmy

Life Be Changing

Hey all,

So, a lot has happened in the past few months. Namely, I changed jobs. I now work for Amazon instead of Fugazo Inc., though I'm not gonna say what I do exactly.

Frankly, I left Fugazo because working there became a real chore, lots of arguing and debates. Also, although I wasn't experiencing it directly, I felt like people we're being mistreated as employees, not being respected. I was being overworked at some points, managing programmers in the company plus coding up three different web servers that each used their own technologies... It was a lot. This would all be fine if I was paid the right amount, but I really was being paid pennies in comparison to my peers, I was hoping to raise everyone's pay by making a successful project... Never happened.

For my thoughts on publishers, you can read the previous post, I'm not gonna write it again.

Although I grew to dislike working at Fugazo, I love the people there, and I'm not done with games! I want to re-enter the games industry on my own terms, and make the games I want to make. I would like to run a small indie group where the fans would help us dictate what we would make. This is a far off dream though, though that's never stopped me from trying!

Project Chang'e is moving along smoothly, I just need art and this project can really get rolling. I've been teaching myself to draw with terrible results hahahaha.

So that's an update so far on what's going on, hope it was at least interesting to read.

Jimmy

Where did the fun in making games go?!

Hey all,

I figured that I would chime in on my perspective on my thoughts on modern gaming, because this has been something I've been meaning to talk about for a while.

Honestly, I'm a little peeved at the gaming industry, mostly at mobile. It feels like big money has gotten their hands onto gaming and put it in a stranglehold. I'm not innocent in terms of not contributing to this, I didn't really realize it until recently.

The pattern really began when I noticed that fewer and fewer games were keeping my attention. I also noticed the fact that 2013 saw such blockbuster hits as Aliens: Colonial Marines and Ride to Hell: Retribution. Let's not forget the post E3 fiasco with the Xbox One, or the terrible sales of the Wii U, or the - never mind, let's just say 2013 was a terrible year for gaming.

Games feel like they're taking fewer risks, trying to figure out how to best gain profit first, then figure out how to make the game fun and polished. Never is this more apparent than in mobile. I can't tell you how many times I've integrated another ad sdk, Facebook sdk, metrics sdk, you name it, delaying the product another month, which has NOTHING to do with how fun the game is, and has EVERYTHING to do with getting the game exposure or money on the side. Seriously, with almost any game you play on mobile, every single button you press is probably being recorded and sent for research purposes, so that companies can figure out how to best market to you.

I have seen game release schedules delayed many, MANY times because the marketing department wants to track more activity or wants to integrate another ad sdk to generate more money which, as I said before, have NOTHING to do with making a fun game.

Let's talk free to play games. I swear these titles are built primarily around how to convince you to spend a dollar, more so than being built around clever mechanics that test your wit. I have seen design sessions for free to play games where everyone was talking about how to get money from the player rather than actually coming up with fun mechanics.

"What if the game is like real slot machines where you put in real money?"
"What if the game allows you to gamble real money on fake races?"
THESE AREN'T MECHANICS, THEY ARE ATTEMPTS AT CASH-GRABBING (Poorly executed, if I might add)

A more honest free to play idea (and better, in my opinion) would be:
"How about an on rails shooter, like Killer 7, with branching paths and puzzle solving. The puzzles will be brain teasers with clues to the solution being strewn about the level. If the player wants to see past the puzzle, they can either solve the puzzle or use a key. Keys can be either bought with real money or found in a treasure chest the player can open once per day. Guns can also be unlocked by earning in game money through beating levels, or can be bought with real money directly." I literally wrote this on the spot.

I feel like money has started to make game development into more of a chore, and less than fun. It seems like the fun in game development has moved onto the indie scene, and has left the professional space. It just feels like professional games have become all about money. I understand the need for a business to stay afloat but, at the same time... Where did the phrase "Do what you want and the money will follow." go?