To be quite honest, I would have to agree with Tallin in respects to the quality of production and the lack of understanding in the games industry what is required to develop good professional quality software. I have downloaded many of the source codes of the games published and various mods, partial conversions and total conversions and have been quite dissapointed in the quality of the coding. I have been developing commercial software since 1979 and have always worked on leading edge technology. I have developed software in microelectronics (that is the code inside the chips), right up to large scale commercial business software for customers such as large national banks (you stuff up there and you waste tens of millions of dollars). The main focus in non-game software development is to develop high quality software with a consistent set of rules, and principles, realistic goals and objectives, good education od staff, achieveable scheduling and sensible investment startegies. I see this is the only solution to developing software and having any credibility with the product at the end and any chance of making a sucess of it. Also in the games industry there is too much emphasis on the killer app, the blockbuster, just like hollywood, people should realise hollywood aint the only ones who makes movies in the owrld and you don't always have to make millions and become rich, you can still live comfortably and make a decent income making good movies in other places like Australia, Europe and Asia where the emphaisis is more on culture and quality.
There is actually heaps more I could say, but the one biggest thing I have noticed in the software industry today (all forms) is the great desire to make more money quickly and therefore forsake, people and quality of product. Engineering quality does not play as greater part as this takes time and money and thats not the point of the exercise for some of these poeple and finally I have noticed that more and more non-tecnical poeple are in charge and responsioble for the delivery of technical projects. Do you see a used car salesman as a manager of civil engineers building a bridge (I don't think so), yet in our industry it is quite acceptable, like as if we don't do engineering in the IT Industry.
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To be quite honest, I would have to agree with Tallin in respects to the quality of production and the lack of understanding in the games industry what is required to develop good professional quality software. I have downloaded many of the source codes of the games published and various mods, partial conversions and total conversions and have been quite dissapointed in the quality of the coding. I have been developing commercial software since 1979 and have always worked on leading edge technology. I have developed software in microelectronics (that is the code inside the chips), right up to large scale commercial business software for customers such as large national banks (you stuff up there and you waste tens of millions of dollars). The main focus in non-game software development is to develop high quality software with a consistent set of rules, and principles, realistic goals and objectives, good education od staff, achieveable scheduling and sensible investment startegies. I see this is the only solution to developing software and having any credibility with the product at the end and any chance of making a sucess of it. Also in the games industry there is too much emphasis on the killer app, the blockbuster, just like hollywood, people should realise hollywood aint the only ones who makes movies in the owrld and you don't always have to make millions and become rich, you can still live comfortably and make a decent income making good movies in other places like Australia, Europe and Asia where the emphaisis is more on culture and quality.
There is actually heaps more I could say, but the one biggest thing I have noticed in the software industry today (all forms) is the great desire to make more money quickly and therefore forsake, people and quality of product. Engineering quality does not play as greater part as this takes time and money and thats not the point of the exercise for some of these poeple and finally I have noticed that more and more non-tecnical poeple are in charge and responsioble for the delivery of technical projects. Do you see a used car salesman as a manager of civil engineers building a bridge (I don't think so), yet in our industry it is quite acceptable, like as if we don't do engineering in the IT Industry.