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I wonder what the point is of these crazy hours. We are encouraged at work to not make overtime too often because it decreases code quality. More of a "go home,

I wonder what the point is of these crazy hours. We are encouraged at work to not make overtime too often because it decreases code quality. More of a "go home, come back fresh" tomorrow. As a consumer I also rather have games delayed than delivered in the EA style, full of bugs. But I might be a more understanding consumer as I work in IT. I really do doubt these hours have a positive impact on code quality though.

__bjoernd 9y ago
If you skim the common gaming websites and their comment sections you will see that your sentiment is not shared across the audience. Lots of people like to make a fuzz about delays and 'those stupid people not getting their shit together in time.' These people might be the vocal minority, but they are getting heard by management + developers alike.
- Insanity 9y ago
  Unfortunately that is probably true. Another good reason to not skim those comment sections!
steeleduncan 9y ago
Does code quality matter as much for games? Automated testing is rare and much of the heavy lifting is handled by libraries such as Unreal Engine and Havok, leaving one-off glue code. The majority of sales happen in week 1, and the DLC is usually shipped within a year. Unless the game attains classic status and requires porting to new platforms one day, it is unlikely you will need to work on that code in the future even. Don't misunderstand, I rarely even play a AAA release until a few months in when the bugs are quashed because they irritate me so much. However I suspect EA et al optimise for release frequency rather than code quality. Presumably the affect of the latter on the profit & loss is dwarfed by the affect of the former.
- Insanity 9y ago
  You're probably right there. There is pressure to release because of competitors (like BF, and CoD used to do) and because customers start to expect it. But better code quality can also mean losing less time fixing bugs that could have been prevented in the first place. Thus, actually reaching the expected release date, but attention focussed elsewhere. I'm not familiar enough with that world though to really understand how complex their code is. As you said, I assume libraries such as UE, CryEngine, .. take care of the truly hard bits.
- Jare 9y ago
  There are lots of systems to develop between the low level generic engine and the high level one-off (ish) gameplay code for a specific product. For example, a good brawler combat engine and the tools, pipeline and experience to put it to good use is pure gold to a company like Platinum Games. You can see similar systems lineages in companies attached to certain game types, like Bungie, Firaxis, etc.

__bjoernd 9y ago

If you skim the common gaming websites and their comment sections you will see that your sentiment is not shared across the audience. Lots of people like to make a fuzz about delays and 'those stupid people not getting their shit together in time.' These people might be the vocal minority, but they are getting heard by management + developers alike.

Insanity 9y ago
Unfortunately that is probably true. Another good reason to not skim those comment sections!

steeleduncan 9y ago

Does code quality matter as much for games? Automated testing is rare and much of the heavy lifting is handled by libraries such as Unreal Engine and Havok, leaving one-off glue code. The majority of sales happen in week 1, and the DLC is usually shipped within a year. Unless the game attains classic status and requires porting to new platforms one day, it is unlikely you will need to work on that code in the future even. Don't misunderstand, I rarely even play a AAA release until a few months in when the bugs are quashed because they irritate me so much. However I suspect EA et al optimise for release frequency rather than code quality. Presumably the affect of the latter on the profit & loss is dwarfed by the affect of the former.

Insanity 9y ago
You're probably right there. There is pressure to release because of competitors (like BF, and CoD used to do) and because customers start to expect it. But better code quality can also mean losing less time fixing bugs that could have been prevented in the first place. Thus, actually reaching the expected release date, but attention focussed elsewhere. I'm not familiar enough with that world though to really understand how complex their code is. As you said, I assume libraries such as UE, CryEngine, .. take care of the truly hard bits.
Jare 9y ago
There are lots of systems to develop between the low level generic engine and the high level one-off (ish) gameplay code for a specific product. For example, a good brawler combat engine and the tools, pipeline and experience to put it to good use is pure gold to a company like Platinum Games. You can see similar systems lineages in companies attached to certain game types, like Bungie, Firaxis, etc.