I'm Mark Cooke, I wrote the first entry in this article a few years ago. Of all of them, it's the least related to interesting code, but it does reflect the rea

I'm Mark Cooke, I wrote the first entry in this article a few years ago. Of all of them, it's the least related to interesting code, but it does reflect the reality of the kinds of crazy last minute hacks that can go into shipping a game. Unlike many other types of reusable code, this sort of gameplay hack will be thrown away and won't be used again in a subsequent game. To an extent it justifies its use in a pinch. But no craftsman is ever happy shipping something like it. It has been my experience that at the end of game development projects many of these sorts of hacks start flying. Most of them are unnoticed by players. No game is ever perfect. With limited resources and time it's important to keep in mind what players care about and focus on those things. I care deeply about providing a good experience to players and one of the most interesting and challenging components of game development is deciding where to apply resources when under tight constraints to deliver the best experience. I haven't worked outside the game industry in a long time but I'm sure this is true in most consumer software businesses.