When I re-programmed Gauntlet a long time ago, I amazed myself.

When I got my hands on MSVC 5.0 back in ''96 and programmed my brains out on a 3D space shootemup, all the ideas I had for game programming came out at once. Was a blast.

Now, to do the kind of game I''d really like to make would take intense graphic development and intense AI. A lot of work. For some reason, doing something less isn''t enough. And what I''d like to do is too much. Even the OOP design patterns aren''t coming together well for me, but then again I''m mostly self taught

I certainly can''t speak for everyone, but I''ll say whether or not it''s fun simply depends. Do some development yourself and get a feel for the aspects about it that you like and how well it lends itself to contributing to the amounts of work that today''s games require.

Sometimes I''d rather go programm my game than go and play some commercial game I''ve got.

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Original post by A Guy from CRO
Sometimes I''d rather go programm my game than go and play some commercial game I''ve got.

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Same here, but for me its most of the time...in fact I rarely play games any more...except when i lose inspiration

Brian J

pressing the keys isn''t fun in and of itself, unless that key is F5, which compiles your code and shows you what you''ve got. I think ''rewarding'' is more the word; creating something fun and pretty yourself from scratch is terribly terribly rewarding.

Unless you worked with a tiny team of dedicated friends, that would be damned fun

I''d have to agree that it is very rewarding which is very similar to fun, but not exactly the same... I normally do it for that feeling you get when you''ve been programming for 6 hours strait and that thing you were working on on works... best feeling ever

Thats why I do it... Although it does not neccessarily need to be game programming, although game programming seems to very genre of programming because the output is more spectacular. I am sure you get that same great feeling when your programming anything for a long time and you finally acomplish you''re goal

Dwiel

Game programming is not much different from any other software engineering project. Some parts are fun, others are annoying, repetitive, boring work. I''d say the fun parts are a lot more fun then other software, but the boring parts are no different.

my opinion is that game programming is fun...but it is my opinion...then again...why would anybody program games if it wasn''t fun?

I agree very much with the person who said game programming was rewarding..that is very much true...i mean typing logical statements isn''t very fun (IMO) but when you press Ctrl-F5 (on VC++) you see your creation it is very REWARDING....


anyway, my 2 cents



I am Ciph, and that is what I am

Well I like to code when its simulating something... that includes games, but I what I can say is that even when you are programming for soo long you want to stop but you know you are so near to finish something cool you don''t want to, and then you finish and something that when you see it you can''t beleive it was you.. that''s what I love most!!! I like coding also not only the results but as probably all programmers do I like the result better!!!

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Nothing in the world is the way it should be; that''s why we, the champions, exist and live for: HOPE.

As a whole Game programming is fun. More fun then commercial programming. However programming games for a company is not much better then being a commercial programmer. You still have everyone else telling you what to do and how to do it. One of the things that makes game programming fun, is the opertunity to create something that intersts you personally.

On the flipside of that about 90% of the time you spend working on a game is not fun. It''s fun in the beginning when you''re laying the groundwork and getting sprites to blit on the screen or whatever. However when it comes time to implement gameplay, pathfinding, depthsorting, collision detection, item systesm, scripting engines, sound engines... it gets tedious very quickly. This is part of the reason why so few projects are finished.

After spending 90% of your time finding frustrating bugs, solving difficult problems that last 10% when you sit back and enjoy what you''ve just done really makes up for the other 90% pain and suffering. So as I said, as a whole gameprogramming is fun, but 90% of the time you''re not having much fun. You''re just plowing through stuff so you can implement a new feature and get that 10% reward of personal satisfaction that is soo nice.

you hit the nail right on the head here. I am seriously consider changing my career path. but I'm pretty old really

The first part of a commercial game project is fun. It's all research and experimentation. But it get gradually worse as the game progresses towards the end. You basically spend your time debugging, and do all the work left other, which was left over for a reason (because it's not fun and nobody wants to do it). Then you have the intense pressures of milestones added, the project gets bigger, so many added ways to screw up, people get tense, the code gets very ugly, as everyone tries to squeeze in emergency fixes, last minute hacks. And the TRCs (Technical Requirements Crap), Sony's especially, don't help. On console, you can't release patches to fix a game.

Seriously, if it wasn't that much fun, I won't bother working my ass off 50+ hours a week for not much money. I might as well work on bank databases, get paid enough to by a suit and car, and work 35 hours a week. But the pros outweight the cons. just about.

Working on a game as a side project seems a lot more appealing actually. You work on what you want to work, with no pressure. And when you'll see HL2 coming out (suposedly easy to 'mod'ify), you just can't refuse working on a Mod. The problem is, can you be bothered enough to finish it? As I say, the finishing is the hardest part, it numbs you down.

Small scale projects are more fun to work on, but usually, the games aren't. Unless you are a retro freak.

[edited by - oliii on May 15, 2003 8:09:18 PM]

As I believe Andre'' Lamothe so elegantly put it:

"Game programming is the ultimate high."

I have to agree with him.

"Skepticism.... that great rot of the intellect." - V.H.
Bah, what does HE know?

and when you are coding so much and not sleeping and when you do sleep you dream that the room is a program and everything in it, including you, is strings of code bound together and you''re worried that moving would break the strings and scramble the code, which would never compile then, and thus the room wouldn''t work, and you have to wake up the person sleeping with you to ask them if moving is ok because you are really really worried

I''ve have to say that''s the second best part of programming

Az Tazzel said, i would say it is much more rewarding then it is actualy fun. I personaly will go from spells of intense gaming, to intense game programming, depending on the mood. Both of which, at the time are the most fun for me, LOL. But Developing a game of your own design, something you can show to your 70 year old parents and say, "look what i made", is a great expiriance. The result of your work is interesting and fun (at least to you). To tell the truth, i spend about 80% of my free (entertainment) time developing games, and only about 20% playing them. Reason being that the prospect of a developed game outweighs the work being placed into it.
Basicaly Game DEVELOPMENT appeals most to the creative aspect of the people, which unfortunitly enough most dislike the programming aspect. These are the people that like to create, and like control. These are also the reason why the large percentage of game developers make/play RPG''s, because they are the ones who like the aspect of control and creativity to stimulate them. Game development is a very rewarding expiriance, and is actualy more entertaining to the creative minded then actualy PLAYING a game (ie more stress on creativity)
I know this artical was more of a series of possably unrelated results, possably due to the fact i have had no sleep in 2 days Forgive me for that.

whenn copy nd pastee get rigghht the first time/
whenn copy nd pastee get rigghht the first time/

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Original post by Tride
Honestly, is it very fun to make your own game? Is it more hard than fun?

I''m hoping it will be fun to program games once I''ve learned to program well enough, but maybe my expectations are too high? I''ve always thought it would be extremely fun to create my own game and working alongside other people. I love working with computers and being in with people doing stuff on computers.
I can''t wait ''til I meet some people to make a game (and when I''m ready to make a game).

But can you game programmers tell me if it''s any fun?

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Yes, it is very fun and rewarding. Getting programmer''s block is probably the worst experience (I''m currently in that state, side-tracked by this book), but once it''s jumped and things are accomplished, programming games is the greatest thing a 20 year old child could do.

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Rob Loach
Current Project: Go Through Object-Oriented Programming in C++ by Robert Lafore

"Do or do not. There is no try."
- Yoda

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...programming games is the greatest thing a 20 year old child could do.

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Amen!

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For crying out loud, she has fishes coming out of her head on either side. How can you find this hot?!

I agree with the last one.

I'm 20 years old, and i can't find something more interesting out there than writing a game. I'm trying to build a game alone, i'm not an artist, i know all the difficulties that will arise, but i don't care. I dont care, if it wont be published, ever!!! I'm trying to learn things, and i like doing it.

And something last. If there weren't games, there was no possibility for me to start coding.No coding at all. I made my first steps on programming with NeHe's OpenGL tuts!!! Until then, i didn't have any idea what C/C++, OOP, etc. was!!! All my programming skills was on BASIC and Fortran. If they weren't graphics i wouldn't be here. I live for that. Every day, i'm waiting, for the clock to go 3:00 PM, and then i sit in front of my PC, and i dive to my world. The dream ends around 10:00PM, but i always think, there is another day tommorow!!!

Now, i think it again. I wont make a game. Not in this life at least!!! But i'll die trying!!!!! Its a hobby, and its the best hobby you can get. The problem is, this not a team game, but who cares. The real problem is, there no one out there, to say a few words with and he can understand you!! This is bad. But i got over it!!!

HellRaiZer



[edited by - HellRaiZer on May 16, 2003 3:31:38 AM]

I like programming games more then playing them too. Sometimes, when coding, you get some difficulties and get stuck for a few days. It''s some kind of moment that you really hate the code you''ve written and want to stop, but when you get through it, the victory is very big and you feel that you''ve accomplished something and learned some.
For my feeling, coding a first game gives a programmer a lot of experience and knowledge.
Programmers breaks also occur sometimes. Months can pass when coding, but at a certain point, you just want to do something else. This period could range from a few days to a few weeks. Just remind yourself frequently that you need to get coding again, or else your product will remain unfinished... forever... and that sux bigtime.

"My basic needs in life are food, love and a C++ compiler"
[Project AlterNova] [Novanet]

of course it''s fun otherwise nobody would do it.

but making a whole game isn''t entirely fun. makin menus, initialization suff are boring, but it''s a necessary evil

another fun part is when other people say: wow cool game, gtg now coz i havent finished level 10 yet !



/*ilici*/

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Original post by Ilici
of course it''s fun otherwise nobody would do it.

but making a whole game isn''t entirely fun. makin menus, initialization suff are boring, but it''s a necessary evil

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Actually, making a GUI is more fun then I first thought it would be The most boring thing - in my opinion - is doing the calculation stuff like vector math.

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another fun part is when other people say: wow cool game, gtg now coz i havent finished level 10 yet !

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Yeah, I so agree!

"My basic needs in life are food, love and a C++ compiler"
[Project AlterNova] [Novanet]