4 ms·

I enjoyed the book but it read like something by a well researched outsider, not someone with first hand game dev experience. E.g, references to 3.25" disks.

voytec 3y ago
Haven't read it (yet); 3.25", not 3.5" or 5.25"?
- sys_64738 3y ago
  Did she mean 3" discs for Amstrads?
rimeice 3y ago
I know what you mean, but this didn’t actually ruin it for me. As a video game player doesn’t work in the industry I actually learnt a few things about games design and process. I suspect anything written by an industry outsider is going to feel like a bit clunky when read by an insider, especially when the author is undoubtedly optimising for accessibility to a wider audience.
- ido 3y ago
  It could very well be that the things you learned are in fact wrong (haven't read the book but talked to a few other game devs who did, who all pointed some issues with how it portrays the process of game development)
  - tough 3y ago
    Don't get a good sellable story get in the way of the truth
  - mango7283 3y ago
    I suppose it's the equivalent of thinking Tom Clancy novels give you truly factual insight on militaries:)
theshrike79 3y ago
They also code SO HARD that they burn through graphics cards multiple times. =) It's a really interesting story, but it could've used a fact checker to get a few of the details right. Oh, and the MC dude gets really jacked at one point - but it's never referenced past a sentence or two in the middle of the book =) (Read it for a book club and we dissected this for hours)
- spoiler 3y ago
  > They also code SO HARD that they burn through graphics cards multiple times. =) Can you elaborate on this a bit more? I honestly don't understand what that even means. Since you mentioned that you've read the book, would you also recommend it? I'm currently dabbling bits in some indie game dev, so I'm wondering if I'd be the target audience.
  - capableweb 3y ago
    > Can you elaborate on this a bit more? I honestly don't understand what that even means. Small manufacturing issues that usually don't get noticed, can fail a card if you put it through 100% load for a long period of time. Cryptocurrency miners regularly would downclock cards for cost reasons (energy/$) and because consumer GPUs also aren't made for sustained 100% load (across days).
    - Meculpu 3y ago
      GPUs are plenty of capable running 24/7 without issues for a long time. Plenty of cloud providers have consumer grade GPUs. Cryptominers don't have an issue running it at 100% either. They have heat issues and power efficiency issues not GPU Chips breaking. The only instance I know are if you use a very particlar load type which would normally never happen like 24/7 hitting one register only or moving data only through the bus without anything else. Those issues are rare.
      - capableweb 3y ago
        > GPUs are plenty of capable running 24/7 without issues for a long time. Running, yes. But running 24/7 at 100% load for days without any sort of break or underclocking it is a surefire way of making it fail quickly. If you know any people doing cryptocurrency mining, ask them :)
mikelovenotwar 3y ago
I haven't read the article, nor the book, while likely a mistake, 3.25inch disks did exist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk_variants#Drivette https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk_variants#Drivette
- axus 3y ago
  I know the games and companies involved were "alternate reality", I'd expect slightly smaller disks aren't so far-fetched. One does wonder if the writer knew that at the time.

voytec 3y ago

Haven't read it (yet); 3.25", not 3.5" or 5.25"?

sys_64738 3y ago
Did she mean 3" discs for Amstrads?

rimeice 3y ago

I know what you mean, but this didn’t actually ruin it for me. As a video game player doesn’t work in the industry I actually learnt a few things about games design and process. I suspect anything written by an industry outsider is going to feel like a bit clunky when read by an insider, especially when the author is undoubtedly optimising for accessibility to a wider audience.

ido 3y ago
It could very well be that the things you learned are in fact wrong (haven't read the book but talked to a few other game devs who did, who all pointed some issues with how it portrays the process of game development)
- tough 3y ago
  Don't get a good sellable story get in the way of the truth
- mango7283 3y ago
  I suppose it's the equivalent of thinking Tom Clancy novels give you truly factual insight on militaries:)

theshrike79 3y ago

They also code SO HARD that they burn through graphics cards multiple times. =) It's a really interesting story, but it could've used a fact checker to get a few of the details right. Oh, and the MC dude gets really jacked at one point - but it's never referenced past a sentence or two in the middle of the book =) (Read it for a book club and we dissected this for hours)

spoiler 3y ago
> They also code SO HARD that they burn through graphics cards multiple times. =) Can you elaborate on this a bit more? I honestly don't understand what that even means. Since you mentioned that you've read the book, would you also recommend it? I'm currently dabbling bits in some indie game dev, so I'm wondering if I'd be the target audience.
- capableweb 3y ago
  > Can you elaborate on this a bit more? I honestly don't understand what that even means. Small manufacturing issues that usually don't get noticed, can fail a card if you put it through 100% load for a long period of time. Cryptocurrency miners regularly would downclock cards for cost reasons (energy/$) and because consumer GPUs also aren't made for sustained 100% load (across days).
  - Meculpu 3y ago
    GPUs are plenty of capable running 24/7 without issues for a long time. Plenty of cloud providers have consumer grade GPUs. Cryptominers don't have an issue running it at 100% either. They have heat issues and power efficiency issues not GPU Chips breaking. The only instance I know are if you use a very particlar load type which would normally never happen like 24/7 hitting one register only or moving data only through the bus without anything else. Those issues are rare.
    - capableweb 3y ago
      > GPUs are plenty of capable running 24/7 without issues for a long time. Running, yes. But running 24/7 at 100% load for days without any sort of break or underclocking it is a surefire way of making it fail quickly. If you know any people doing cryptocurrency mining, ask them :)

mikelovenotwar 3y ago

I haven't read the article, nor the book, while likely a mistake, 3.25inch disks did exist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk_variants#Drivette https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk_variants#Drivette

axus 3y ago
I know the games and companies involved were "alternate reality", I'd expect slightly smaller disks aren't so far-fetched. One does wonder if the writer knew that at the time.