I agree, and also have another reason for playing single-person games: I like being the hero. In single-person games, you get to save the world, solve the mystery, or defeat the evil pirate LeChuck.
One game designer (forgot who) suggested that the ideal multi-player game would have far more NPC's than real players. That way, each human player could still be the center of attention, and get involved in complex plots, only occasionally running into other humans.
Write a bunch of code that possibly does something like you think you or the user wants. Let someone else try it out, then fix what they complain about.
I'm only partly joking. When the requirements are vague, this actually works.
I agree completely. Plus, the first time I used mplayer, I right-clicked on the viewing window, and saw a standard popup menu with all the choices I would need. So what is there to complain about?
What you say makes sense... but I'm not sure it's necessarily so. I stopped buying music through the late 70's because so much of it (disco, etc) didn't interest me, bought lots of albums throughout the 80's, and then stopped completely about 5 years ago. The local "alternative" station seems to play a top-20 list, and I just don't hear much of anything new that's appealing.
It will look great, and come in an attractive package. When it doesn't work, you can view a comprehensive 'help' screen, which will mainly tell you how advanced their technology is. It won't work at all with any games more than a year old, and will be two slow for any games coming out next year.
Funny. The company that just hired me asked me that question in an interview (and, obviously, I was able to do it easily).
But during the 4 preceding months, I applied to over 50 jobs, and only got one phone interview (which didn't ask any technical questions). Being a C/C++ programmer with > 12 years experience, and also being a highly active open-source developer, I was more than a little frustrated.
Don't listen to this guy! Life is terrible here. It rains all the time; there are neo-Nazi's running around freely; and there's the ever-present danger of a tree falling on you.
As for the 'beautiful' coast: Do you know how many people are killed each year when the surf rolls a log onto them?
If that's not bad enough, think of all the fugitive SLA members hiding here. Would you want your kid to end up like Patty Hearst?
Wrote software for 24 years straight, laid-off last August, then recently started a new job after almost 5 months on unemployment.
I think I'm really good. BUT, the only reason I have a job now is luck. The market is terrible, and not just for those lacking skills or experience. You can apply to dozens of jobs where you think you're a great match, and not even receive a phone call. Three months later, you'll notice that the job is still being advertised.
Don't know about your area, but when we switched from Extended to Basic service ($42 -> $12) here in Oregon, we still got the Discovery Channel, AMC, and a couple other stations along with the local networks.
I still have the same phonograph I bought as a kid (30 years ago), and needed to replace the cartridge (the device that holds the stylus and converts vibrations to electricity). Not only was it inexpensive, but it fit into the old spot perfectly.
Meanwhile... I can't just upgrade the motherboard in my 3-year old case, because the case is an AT, and all the new MB's are ATX. Want to bet that as soon as I buy an ATX case, the manufacturers will move to a new "improved" standard?
Since others have already mentioned Exult, I'd like to point out that part of that project is "ExultStudio", which contains tools so that you could (with a LOT of work) create your own Ultima-style game.
For some reason, I'm a bit partial to Exult. But without U7run (the utility this story refers to), Exult would be a lot farther behind. U7 with U7run was often run to see how things were supposed to work in the original, since Exult is a complete re-implementation.
I've been professionally writing Unix/Linux code for over 10 years, and also have written a lot of OSS. And I've been unemployed for nearly 4 months. That experience doesn't seem to be doing me much good at the moment.
It seems like the main jobs I see now are either for Window programmers (esp..NET), or for Java with database experience. So stay where you are so you can get the.NET experience, and join an open-source project for fun. You'll have the best of both worlds (and believe me, ANY tech. job is better than no job).
I see a lot of ads for jobs that employers don't seem to be able to fill. Usually, they have several specific requirements like "1 year experience with Swing 1.29", or "Java - must have 2 years experience with IBM VisualAge". Any decent C++ programmer could teach himself Java/Swing in a couple weeks, and learning a new IDE wouldn't be much of a challenge either.
I'd worked for a year in Java, and asked a recruiter if I should download J2EE and teach myself to use it. She said not to bother, because companies want to see professional experience.
For the longer term, I'm looking into being an actuary. But I can't say yet whether it's a safe thing to go into, or if I've even got the talent for it.
Sure, you've named a few successes. I could name a few successful actors too. Does that mean that any one with a talent for acting can become a movie star?
Most people who go into programming do so because they're good at working with machines, NOT because they love working with people. Selling and marketing are both full-time jobs, as are programming, testing, and accounting; that's why people form companies.
Slashdot Mirror
You're given a pile of old code and obsolete libraries, and you have 10 hours to construct something useful out of it.
I agree, and also have another reason for playing single-person games: I like being the hero. In single-person games, you get to save the world, solve the mystery, or defeat the evil pirate LeChuck.
One game designer (forgot who) suggested that the ideal multi-player game would have far more NPC's than real players. That way, each human player could still be the center of attention, and get involved in complex plots, only occasionally running into other humans.
True. I remember a summer job where I did wire-wrapping for an engineer building a computer around that new-fangled 8008 processor.
Write a bunch of code that possibly does something like you think you or the user wants. Let someone else try it out, then fix what they complain about.
I'm only partly joking. When the requirements are vague, this actually works.
I agree completely. Plus, the first time I used mplayer, I right-clicked on the viewing window, and saw a standard popup menu with all the choices I would need. So what is there to complain about?
...Will this train me to be a Pokemon Master?
What you say makes sense... but I'm not sure it's necessarily so. I stopped buying music through the late 70's because so much of it (disco, etc) didn't interest me, bought lots of albums throughout the 80's, and then stopped completely about 5 years ago. The local "alternative" station seems to play a top-20 list, and I just don't hear much of anything new that's appealing.
It will look great, and come in an attractive package. When it doesn't work, you can view a comprehensive 'help' screen, which will mainly tell you how advanced their technology is. It won't work at all with any games more than a year old, and will be two slow for any games coming out next year.
Good one.
I once applied to a Linux company, sent them an ASCII resume, and was told the same thing.
OTOH, Microsoft, I believe, asks for resume's in text format. Go figure.
Funny. The company that just hired me asked me that question in an interview (and, obviously, I was able to do it easily).
But during the 4 preceding months, I applied to over 50 jobs, and only got one phone interview (which didn't ask any technical questions). Being a C/C++ programmer with > 12 years experience, and also being a highly active open-source developer, I was more than a little frustrated.
Don't listen to this guy! Life is terrible here. It rains all the time; there are neo-Nazi's running around freely; and there's the ever-present danger of a tree falling on you.
As for the 'beautiful' coast: Do you know how many people are killed each year when the surf rolls a log onto them?
If that's not bad enough, think of all the fugitive SLA members hiding here. Would you want your kid to end up like Patty Hearst?
Empty the litter box on top of everything else.
Wrote software for 24 years straight, laid-off last August, then recently started a new job after almost 5 months on unemployment.
I think I'm really good. BUT, the only reason I have a job now is luck. The market is terrible, and not just for those lacking skills or experience. You can apply to dozens of jobs where you think you're a great match, and not even receive a phone call. Three months later, you'll notice that the job is still being advertised.
Don't know about your area, but when we switched from Extended to Basic service ($42 -> $12) here in Oregon, we still got the Discovery Channel, AMC, and a couple other stations along with the local networks.
I AM NOMAD!
I still have the same phonograph I bought as a kid (30 years ago), and needed to replace the cartridge (the device that holds the stylus and converts vibrations to electricity). Not only was it inexpensive, but it fit into the old spot perfectly.
Meanwhile... I can't just upgrade the motherboard in my 3-year old case, because the case is an AT, and all the new MB's are ATX. Want to bet that as soon as I buy an ATX case, the manufacturers will move to a new "improved" standard?
Since others have already mentioned Exult, I'd like to point out that part of that project is "ExultStudio", which contains tools so that you could (with a LOT of work) create your own Ultima-style game.
For some reason, I'm a bit partial to Exult. But without U7run (the utility this story refers to), Exult would be a lot farther behind. U7 with U7run was often run to see how things were supposed to work in the original, since Exult is a complete re-implementation.
Game companies in Portland? Are you sure about that? All I've seen are hobbiest groups (or open-sourcers like me).
I've been professionally writing Unix/Linux code for over 10 years, and also have written a lot of OSS. And I've been unemployed for nearly 4 months. That experience doesn't seem to be doing me much good at the moment.
.NET), or for Java with database experience. So stay where you are so you can get the .NET experience, and join an open-source project for fun. You'll have the best of both worlds (and believe me, ANY tech. job is better than no job).
It seems like the main jobs I see now are either for Window programmers (esp.
Support a service that requires you to use Windows?
I see a lot of ads for jobs that employers don't seem to be able to fill. Usually, they have several specific requirements like "1 year experience with Swing 1.29", or "Java - must have 2 years experience with IBM VisualAge". Any decent C++ programmer could teach himself Java/Swing in a couple weeks, and learning a new IDE wouldn't be much of a challenge either.
I'd worked for a year in Java, and asked a recruiter if I should download J2EE and teach myself to use it. She said not to bother, because companies want to see professional experience.
Intel just needs to make CPU's that decay after 2-3 years.
For me in the short term: teaching.
For the longer term, I'm looking into being an actuary. But I can't say yet whether it's a safe thing to go into, or if I've even got the talent for it.
Sure, you've named a few successes. I could name a few successful actors too. Does that mean that any one with a talent for acting can become a movie star?
Most people who go into programming do so because they're good at working with machines, NOT because they love working with people. Selling and marketing are both full-time jobs, as are programming, testing, and accounting; that's why people form companies.