Gamez vs Appz

I find programming games fun because of the challenge of making the game fun. When writing an app, you may end up with a nice app, but is it a fun app? Sometimes it may be, but not regularly. Game programming results in an end product that I enjoy, and as a result I enjoy the path to that end product.

Programming is essentially problem solving. The main differences between programming games or applications is essentially just that the problems you need to solve are different.

A lot of people get in to programming games because it's a good way to get to design games. Professional studios are not going to be interested in your idea for a cool game, so one of the best ways of seeing your own ideas become a real game is to learn how to program them yourself. You also get to produce a product that people will (hopefully) enjoy, and that's a nice feeling.

I agree with the AP, if you enjoy programming, you'll probably enjoy it no matter what it is that you're programming, and if you don't, then you probably won't want to program either applications or games.

As for maths, some applications make use of very complex maths, and some of the algorithms in business software can be very complex. Games also often involve very complex math and/or algorithms, but just like applications, there are plenty of games you can make without having to be a real whiz at math. Knowing your fundamentals, some trig and a little bit of physics is more than enough to make some pretty cool games, so don't let the maths scare you off too much if you're thinking of giving it a shot.

Hope that helps. [smile]

Alot of programmers enjoy programming anything. However, most enjoy the end product more if its a game. Also, people might appreciate a good game more than a good non-game(app isn't really the correct term). So, if you write a new version of Note Pad, even if its really good, most people really won't care. If you write a really fun game, people will care.

On the other hand, non-games are necessary and alot more people use them, so you might get a larger audience if you make non-games.

"Gamez" and "Appz"?

Game development requires a great amount of patience and stamina. Not only that, but it also is a very expensive process. You're required to put in a great amount of thought and hours into your project and the end result is not something that most people would appreciate. The key thing is finding something that all audiences would find fun, and as simple as it sounds, it's not an easy thing to accomplish.

Quote:

Original post by evolutional "Gamez" and "Appz"?

Both Appz and Gamez are redirected to Warez on Wikipedia.

it's something completely different from what I program for a living. Never done much of game programming yet, but starting to read up on the techniques involved to broaden my horizons from the business applications I've been working on for the last 10 years almost (gosh, has it been that long, realised last week that by the end of this year I'll have been programming for a living for a full decade, only 30 years to go to retirement...).

In a regular job, most of us will never get to do anything with graphics, animation, AI, sound, beyond making something go "beep" to indicate completion or assigning a custom icon to a window.
The mathematics involved in that will likely be limited to calculating taxes and interest percentages, simple division and multiplication.

Being of a nature curious (as I think most programmers and all good programmers are) I'm drawn to learning how things work, and one of those things is games.
Being a hands-on kind of person the best way to figure out how something works is to try and make something similar...

lucky you. I code mainly order intake, financial, and logistics (warehouse planning etc.) applications.