Talk about digging up old posts here...

I agree with most of you in saying that these so called "idea men" need to either get a clue or learn how to program. However, I don''t really appreciate the comments towards younger programmers. Some stupid newbie that is 25 years old can act just as ignorantly, if not more ignorantly, than a 14-year-old stupid newbie. BTW, I''m getting my game published! Woohoo!

Martin

lpsoftware : What game ? Screenshot please. Published by what company ?



-- There IS something rotten in the state of Denmark --

I have to agree with most of what has been said. I''ve asked recently about an artist to help with a game, but have been upfront that we hope that it would be commercial, but many games aren''t. It''s just a fact. I think that your remark about young coders is out of line, though. For anybody, of any age, that''s a newby, to try to make Quake3 or UT is absolutely absurd, but there are some competent younger (no, not nine year olds and stuff...) programmers out there, you don''t need forty-five years in the industry to do something! Don''t get me wrong, most of them are newbies, and are dreamers (I know of a few...), but to stereotype any group, for almost anything, is wrong! (Safe bet on stuff like "All four-time murderers that have broken out of jail are dangerous.", but you should get the point.)

Also, I''d like to stress that not everything needs to be shipped in order to make a team. I enjoy making games a lot, but don''t have too much artistic talent. I''m also a competent 3D programmer and tools programmer. Does that mean that I can''t make a game because I can''t do music or my 3d models? Obviously I can''t just "borrow" somebody else''s art forever (except personal demos!!!).

I doubt that this is what you meant, but it seemed that the discussion was vering towards this opinion. By the way, Mason, your game looks great. Congratulations on your published game too, IPSoftward. I wonder how old this post is when I responded, it''s 7/1/00 now.

Mike Weber
shockonline.homestead.com/openglgameprogramming.html

p.s. I know that my site''s url sucks. Maybe I''ll change it someday...or maybe I''ll update it more often...

Well, I know to set my sights not so high... I am making an Isometric engine with all that is required for my task at the moment is to make a player move around a flat map . Seems like a resonable target for me to achieve... and it isn''t like I really care about graphics anyway... I loved those old text based adventure games.. I even made a few QBasic ones (before a nasty crash formated my HDD ) and a Turbo Pascal One (see last comment ). But I spose I am not a "newbie programmer" although I would say I am fairly a newbie game programmer (graphics anyway ).


-Chris Bennett ("Insanity" of Dwarfsoft)

Check our site:
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granat: I don''t have a screenshot uploaded or anything, but the game is called Plodo''s Quest and it''s going to be published by Xtreme Games. I haven''t signed anything yet, though I''ll post something when it''s available.

Martin

Another $0.02 thrown in here...

Honesty is important I''d say. Not just because it might get you somewhere, but just because it''s the thing to do.

Apart from that, yes, I also see a lot of people who think they can code, and don''t get anywhere because they are not honest even to themselves.

I''ll admit I can''t do 3D (yet), but I will eventually get some docs, and start learning it - when I feel like it, or when I need to.

My game (there we go pluggin'' again: http://www.elmerproductions.com/igor) is 2D now, and I am quite proud of it. It may not be as good as some stuff out there, but I think I can say it''s starting to look (and play!) ok. And so it should after developing for 4 years (well, in my spare time...)

My advice for any newbie: just do it at your own speed. Start simple, and then improve on yourself. Don''t be afraid to throw out stuff that is not good.

And after trying very hard, I did find some graphics people to help me with my game - and yes, they do it for a share of the profits - if any. I told that to them from the start (''I don''t know if I ever make any money from the game, but you will get a share if I do of course''), and they agreed as they saw the potential in my game (that''s my guess anyway). I guess I am very lucky! But that''s the other part: luck is highly involved in ''getting there''. If I look back there are a lot of coincidences that happened to get me where I am now - and that''s considering I haven''t even finished/published the game yet.

Not everything is luck, but it certainly helps getting things to the next stage, and to keep things running when you seem to get stuck...

(And yes, I do have a legit company, even though I''m the only one in it, and it''s not yet making any profits ;-)))

I''m just trying to do this right (so I won''t always think back and wonder if I couldn''t have done it better). It involves a LOT of reading and searching for the right information, but in the end it will be worth it. If not for the money (I am counting on selling a few copies of my game, but not millions) then at least I''ve had a lot of fun programming - AND I am a lot more educated on a lot of general business topics too, something that won''t hurt in getting any job later (if my own company craps out ;-)

Btw. I am 23 years old now, and I have been programming in one form or another for about 15 years. And yes, I am still ''stuck'' in 2D, simply because I like it, and I do other things than programming too (I ''try'' to write stories and books)...

So. Imagine all that for just another $0.02 ;-)))


Kind regards,
Maarten Egmond.

quote:
and it''s going to be published by Xtreme Games

not to bust your bubble or anything, but I''ve heard some bad things about XGames. Don''t they just publish through e-games or similar publishers, get a fraction of that payment, then give you half of that? doesn''t sound like much of a deal.


JoeMont001@aol.com www.polarisoft.n3.net

Julio:

Yes, I have heard similar stories/rumors. However, I''m glad that I won''t be able to find out the truth since I''m not going to be published by Xtreme, but by Crystal Interactive, Inc. I''ve also noticed that these things take a really long time to organize until the game can actually start shipping...I''m hoping late September--early October for my game. Hell, I should be happy my game is being published at all...it isn''t very good.

Martin

What I have begun to work on is a MMORPG-style engine (multiplayer RPG game, client/server, uses Winsock, with 3D rendered graphics). I have never written a game before. But I am also confident that if I set realistic (read: low) goals that may evolve over time as I learn more and more about game programming, I will eventually have a product that will hopefully exhibit a modicum of talent and creativity... and hopefully it will be fun!

I''m sure the main reason anyone gets into the game development industry is for fun. Not the money (how much money did any of you spend on books/software/pizza while learning to write graphics/network/sound code?), not fame, and certainly not an ''easy ticket'' (though I''m sure many game-industry failures saw that as a main point).

I can put out mediocre graphics. My code isn''t always neat and tidy. I am still learning how to perform 3D mathematical operations. But I''m also willing to accept that I am learning, and good things take time... and that no matter how lame my bitmap graphics look, no matter how jumpy my camera might be at first, I can look at the finished product and know that "I did that", and no one can take that away... we all do this for fun, right?


MatrixCubed