5 ms·
Programming is a craft, game programming even more so. Passion runs high; people will work longer and harder for less money than at other jobs. The competition
by newobj 10y ago
Programming is a craft, game programming even more so. Passion runs high; people will work longer and harder for less money than at other jobs. The competition in the workplace and in the market is intense.
Willful moderation can never be applied systemically in this industry. There are two ways out: 1) six sigma industrial engineering type management of your processes, and 2) lucking into a clever idea that's not hard to implement. 1) leads to a safe, if well-loved, game. 2)is great of course, like in the way that hoping you'll win the lottery is great.
Might be tempted to add a 3) de-risking by middleware, but all that does is raise the bar for everyone. Good for consumers, not helpful for devs.
My opinions are based on working in the game industry for ~6 years, with months of 100 hour weeks under my belt. Stressed to the point of bleeding out of random parts of my body.
Just can't see it ever changing. I just lol at unionization.
- eru 10y agoDo people working on game engines licenced so other companies work hours more in line with the rest of the software industry, or more in line with the rest of game development? What about people working on cloud-y games (like WoW) that don't have one big bang release, but have more continuous development?
- newobj 10y agoDon't know. I worked in the industry when Quake, Unreal, and if I'm being generous, maybe RenderWare and LithTech, were the only real middleware options, and most people still just rolled their own engines. I ultimately burned out while working on an MMO, so I think the answer to your second question is that it's no different... because the launch is for sure a very, very big bang release.
- eru 10y agoThanks. I was thinking more after the initial release of the MMO. There's probably also a difference between people closer to the creation of new content (for all the updates and expansion with firm deadlines) and the people keeping the infrastructure running.