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I remember a similar sense of joy when i was tinkering with the battlefield 1942 Wake Island Demo, before there were any kind of indication of mod support. The

I remember a similar sense of joy when i was tinkering with the battlefield 1942 Wake Island Demo, before there were any kind of indication of mod support. The sheer joy to be able to change simple but undocumented variables to have a plane moving like a jet or having bombs which behaved rocketlike inspired me to learn programming to a deeper degree. Oh the pure joy of exploration and creation. Later we had flying aircraft carriers which had its fighterplanes "docked" on the sides and would "fall" down towards the battlefield, the fighters had shields which had a blue glow once shot upon... All scripted ontop of 1942... Once in a while it would be worth a fortune to be young enough again, not used to thinking in terms of projects, roi, timelines and goals...

s_q_b 13y ago
Once in a while it would be worth a fortune to be young enough again, not used to thinking in terms of projects, roi, timelines and goals... I keep promising myself that when this project is finished, or when we hit this sales target, or when this sprint is over, then I'll get back to that off-the-wall idea... I truly believe that anyone of any age can get back to this place. But it takes leisure time, carefree brainstorming, full creative freedom, all of which seem in short supply lately. But the sprints aren't ever really over anymore. I don't mind. My work fascinates and delights me, and I consider myself lucky to be able to earn a comfortable living (sometimes from my couch!) while having the financial backing to pursue a brand new business venture as well. By all external metrics, it's a good life. But I can't help but feel that pure creativity, the type of coding that's more akin to art than science, is falling away from my life. So, it's time to change that. I suppose I need a blog for side projects, unrelated to work in any way, shape, or form. I need to get back to why I started coding: so it wouldn't take Ness so goddamn long to walk from Threed to Fourside, so I could animate my middle school teacher as a giant pile of puke and attack with my psi powers, and most importantly, engage deeply with a team not just to reiterate, or even to create, but to discover. I wish there was something akin to a creative fellowship for hackers. Research grants, in academia or private R&D are too tied up in the work-a-day return schedule to provide the creative space for truly new ideas. It reminds me of a line from FDR: Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits.

s_q_b 13y ago

Once in a while it would be worth a fortune to be young enough again, not used to thinking in terms of projects, roi, timelines and goals... I keep promising myself that when this project is finished, or when we hit this sales target, or when this sprint is over, then I'll get back to that off-the-wall idea... I truly believe that anyone of any age can get back to this place. But it takes leisure time, carefree brainstorming, full creative freedom, all of which seem in short supply lately. But the sprints aren't ever really over anymore. I don't mind. My work fascinates and delights me, and I consider myself lucky to be able to earn a comfortable living (sometimes from my couch!) while having the financial backing to pursue a brand new business venture as well. By all external metrics, it's a good life. But I can't help but feel that pure creativity, the type of coding that's more akin to art than science, is falling away from my life. So, it's time to change that. I suppose I need a blog for side projects, unrelated to work in any way, shape, or form. I need to get back to why I started coding: so it wouldn't take Ness so goddamn long to walk from Threed to Fourside, so I could animate my middle school teacher as a giant pile of puke and attack with my psi powers, and most importantly, engage deeply with a team not just to reiterate, or even to create, but to discover. I wish there was something akin to a creative fellowship for hackers. Research grants, in academia or private R&D are too tied up in the work-a-day return schedule to provide the creative space for truly new ideas. It reminds me of a line from FDR: Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits.