Actually, Pixar's RenderMan implementation employs the Reyes rendering algorithm to minimize the amount of ray tracing necessary. This technique tessellates high order surfaces into sub-pixel size quads (micropolygons) and rasterizes that geometry. Interesting stuff: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reyes_algorithm
1) Harbor an absurdly arrogant personality, enough to power a small city. Remember, you're a game designer now. You're better than everyone else in the computer industry. You may work in a cubicle in a nondescript office building just like anyone else, but dammit you're a game designer. You are special.
2) Develop an aversion to all forms of higher education. B.S. in math? Ewww, math. PhD in computer science? Pssh, you wasted your money on that? Wrote a Tetris clone in Pascal in your high school computer class? Whoa, you are young, edgy, and obviously too cool for school. Bonus points if you mentioned how much faster your program would be if you had written it in assembly. Uber bonus points if you started programming before the age of 9 because everyone knows that any decent developer started programming before they knew what their pee-pee was used for.
3) Research the many game programming flame wars so that you can be up to speed. Some places to start: C++ is slow, OpenGL/DirectX: Which one is better? (note: DirectX and Direct3D are just different names for the exact same thing, no difference...), Doom 3 has better graphics but Half Life 2 is the better game, Nvidia is better than ATI, etc.
4) Read everything you can by Andre LaMothe because he is the most relevant voice in the game industry...period! Oh, especially his "Tricks of..." series because everything when it comes to video game programming is a trick or a hack or the product of black fucking magic.
5) Know your video games! The only way to create a truly original video game is to know what's already been made. But if that doesn't work out, you can just create the umpteenth iteration of the same tired idea with better graphics and minor variations in game play and repackage it with CGI tits and ass and republish it at a higher price.
5a) There is nothing wrong with run on sentences. You're a game designer dammit! Time not grammar for!
6) Buy a Ferrari. Game designers make shit-tons of money. Heck, buy two. Use one during the week and the other one during all that free time you're going to have on the weekend...
7) Practice your deepthroating. You will need to fit John Carmack's penis down throat on a whim in casual conversation. This is sort of paying your dues to the gaming gods.
8) Game developers play lots of video games at work. In fact, on some days, that's all they do. So practice, practice, practice. You wouldn't want to get your ass kicked all the time by your co-workers?
9) Mountain Dew and bag of potato chips is a well balanced meal and you will suffer no ill effects in the long run.
10) Sleep is for the weak.
Okay, the fact is the gaming industry is fucking insane. You're working absurd hours to meet absurd deadlines so little Johnny can see the zombie's heads detonate in per pixel lighting only to get a memo on your desk that Johnny's parents are suing the company because they find the minor sexual content in the game to be offensive. And most game developers have earned advanced degrees in CS, Math, or Physics. They are smarter than you are. Go to school. Get a degree. Oh and avoid everything by andre lamothe, he only serves to belittle the accomplishments and hard work of very bright, very talented people in the industry. It is not black magic, it's just really fucking hard.
This brought to you by a frustrated RPI computer science major who realizes he's just too fucking stupid to make it as a game developer/designer.
btw, I think John is a brilliant developer, a nice guy, and I would gladly service him. Go spaceman, go...
"This should save me quite a few bucks, and I get the exact system I want"
You could steal the components. Don't forget to "shop" around if you're that set on specifics. Yank a few ram modules, swap CPU's with someone who doesn't know a thing about computers (target home shopping network junkies), etc. You could save a few hundred bucks, more money for stupid case mods...
When it comes to nerds and crime I'm always reminded of Office Space.
I just wanted to add that, for the sake of convenience, i've found it best to order all the parts from as few sites as possible or one if possible (newegg is great).
My neighbor was building his college computer a few months ago, shopping around online at several different websites to get the best prices. He placed about eight different. He did this all one night and found out a few days later that his credit card use had been revoked. He had to call the credit card company and go through, what he tells me, a lengthy series of checks to get it back. Fortunately, all his orders came in fine but it was still a hassle, and I laughed at his misfortune.
I don't know what the different policies are for different companies. Just something to keep in mind.
(in whiny nasal voice) if the hydrogen tank is supposed to survive the collison then why don't we make the whole car out of the hydrogen tank?
i'm going to hell.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, Pixar's RenderMan implementation employs the Reyes rendering algorithm to minimize the amount of ray tracing necessary. This technique tessellates high order surfaces into sub-pixel size quads (micropolygons) and rasterizes that geometry. Interesting stuff: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reyes_algorithm
1) Harbor an absurdly arrogant personality, enough to power a small city. Remember, you're a game designer now. You're better than everyone else in the computer industry. You may work in a cubicle in a nondescript office building just like anyone else, but dammit you're a game designer. You are special.
2) Develop an aversion to all forms of higher education. B.S. in math? Ewww, math. PhD in computer science? Pssh, you wasted your money on that? Wrote a Tetris clone in Pascal in your high school computer class? Whoa, you are young, edgy, and obviously too cool for school. Bonus points if you mentioned how much faster your program would be if you had written it in assembly. Uber bonus points if you started programming before the age of 9 because everyone knows that any decent developer started programming before they knew what their pee-pee was used for.
3) Research the many game programming flame wars so that you can be up to speed. Some places to start: C++ is slow, OpenGL/DirectX: Which one is better? (note: DirectX and Direct3D are just different names for the exact same thing, no difference...), Doom 3 has better graphics but Half Life 2 is the better game, Nvidia is better than ATI, etc.
4) Read everything you can by Andre LaMothe because he is the most relevant voice in the game industry...period! Oh, especially his "Tricks of..." series because everything when it comes to video game programming is a trick or a hack or the product of black fucking magic.
5) Know your video games! The only way to create a truly original video game is to know what's already been made. But if that doesn't work out, you can just create the umpteenth iteration of the same tired idea with better graphics and minor variations in game play and repackage it with CGI tits and ass and republish it at a higher price.
5a) There is nothing wrong with run on sentences. You're a game designer dammit! Time not grammar for!
6) Buy a Ferrari. Game designers make shit-tons of money. Heck, buy two. Use one during the week and the other one during all that free time you're going to have on the weekend...
7) Practice your deepthroating. You will need to fit John Carmack's penis down throat on a whim in casual conversation. This is sort of paying your dues to the gaming gods.
8) Game developers play lots of video games at work. In fact, on some days, that's all they do. So practice, practice, practice. You wouldn't want to get your ass kicked all the time by your co-workers?
9) Mountain Dew and bag of potato chips is a well balanced meal and you will suffer no ill effects in the long run.
10) Sleep is for the weak.
Okay, the fact is the gaming industry is fucking insane. You're working absurd hours to meet absurd deadlines so little Johnny can see the zombie's heads detonate in per pixel lighting only to get a memo on your desk that Johnny's parents are suing the company because they find the minor sexual content in the game to be offensive. And most game developers have earned advanced degrees in CS, Math, or Physics. They are smarter than you are. Go to school. Get a degree. Oh and avoid everything by andre lamothe, he only serves to belittle the accomplishments and hard work of very bright, very talented people in the industry. It is not black magic, it's just really fucking hard.
This brought to you by a frustrated RPI computer science major who realizes he's just too fucking stupid to make it as a game developer/designer.
btw, I think John is a brilliant developer, a nice guy, and I would gladly service him. Go spaceman, go...
"This should save me quite a few bucks, and I get the exact system I want"
You could steal the components. Don't forget to "shop" around if you're that set on specifics. Yank a few ram modules, swap CPU's with someone who doesn't know a thing about computers (target home shopping network junkies), etc. You could save a few hundred bucks, more money for stupid case mods...
When it comes to nerds and crime I'm always reminded of Office Space.
I just wanted to add that, for the sake of convenience, i've found it best to order all the parts from as few sites as possible or one if possible (newegg is great). My neighbor was building his college computer a few months ago, shopping around online at several different websites to get the best prices. He placed about eight different. He did this all one night and found out a few days later that his credit card use had been revoked. He had to call the credit card company and go through, what he tells me, a lengthy series of checks to get it back. Fortunately, all his orders came in fine but it was still a hassle, and I laughed at his misfortune. I don't know what the different policies are for different companies. Just something to keep in mind.
(in whiny nasal voice) if the hydrogen tank is supposed to survive the collison then why don't we make the whole car out of the hydrogen tank? i'm going to hell.