Games or Apps

You mean the step from application development to game development? Games are much more difficult to create than software. You just don''t get paid as much, usually, to do it.

Check out what you need to know to make MS Word compared to what you need to know to make Quake 3.

You will definately notice that Quake 3 is harder (besides the fact that Carmack writes code that you can''t understand. I mean stuff like API''s, the language itself, how well you must know them, having the ability to design games, and also the artistic work.) Graphics programming can be incredibly challenging, and is.

Easy one...

Do I want lot''s of money and curse while going to work because it''s boring ? (capitalist alert)

Or...

Do I want to get up each morning and be happy about my work to come but get less money ???

Go for the F-U-N part of your job...

Life is not about money... !!!

My 2 cents

id say go for apps programming, screw this video game thing. There is always a need for a good app programmer but finding a job in the video game industry is next to impossible. Life is not about money this is true but sure as hell is nice to have. Go to college get a cs degree get a programming job make some bucks and fo game programming as a hobby. Maybe just maybe your hobby will turn into a job some day but in the mean time stick with the sure thing.

One could always combine the two and make game apps, like 3D modeling software and such. That's a little less boring than normal apps and (possibly) more lucrative than game programming



Edited by - SHilbert on December 12, 2001 4:35:09 PM

Drizzt DoUrden: i don''t think righting applications is as easy as you think. try writing a fully ANSI-compliant optimizing C++ compiler. or better yet operating system components or drivers. they''re equally difficult.

To the vast majority of mankind, nothing is more agreeable than to escape the need for mental exertion... To most people, nothing is more troublesome than the effort of thinking.

righting = writing. geez.

I went from app programming to game programming and back to app programming.

App programming:
can be dull (depends on what you''re working on. Just choose an interesting company)
Generally pays more.
Generally a lot less hours.

Game programming:
Can be fun.
Can be dull.
You''ll probably forget what the sun/your house/your SO looks like.
Generally pays less.

Given a choice, if I were to work for a company, I''d rather do app programming. If I were to work for myself, I''d rather do game programming.

Give us liberty, or give us death!

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Original post by DaA
What would you have picked ???

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Apps, hands down.

Games programming was a fantasy for when I was 16. Having grown and acquired more knowledge and skill - as much about the world in general as about computers & software - I have come to the conclusion that game programming is overhyped by aspiring game developers, and the wages stink (comparatively). Keep in mind people that the Carmacks and Sweeneys are the exceptions, not the rule.

Drizzt: MS Word is an incredibly complex piece of software. "Okay, it's a word processor - big deal!" It's also an ActiveX/OLE container, which allows it to host any ActiveX component; it integrates with other Office applications to streamline/improve workflow; it does on-the-fly grammar and spellchecking, and all those other nifty IntelliSense features that we turn off; and it features that damn paperclip which, like it or not, is an impressive piece of limited-context AI (I hear it's written in LISP; anyone have details/facts?)

Shake your stick at that, Q3A!

In fact, I'd like to work with scripting languages/RAD tools professionally and save the C++ for hobbyist home projects and other personal endeavors. Give me Java, Ruby, Perl - yes, give me VB in the workplace! Let me delve into C++ if necessary (to develop a backend component, for example). Give me a low-stress, high-paying, cushy job where we take 3 coffee breaks a day and wear mother-o'-pearl colored ties to work, have nameplates on our reserved parking spaces...

*ahem*

Sorry.

[Edit:] Italics.

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Thanks to Kylotan for the idea!

Edited by - Oluseyi on December 12, 2001 8:22:17 PM

I dream to become a game programmer, but untill i become one i''m gonna do app programming. But if you want to learn good coding practices and how to program great apps, learning game programming is the way to go. Most word processors don''t need to run as fast as humanily possible but the guys who wrote MS Word need to do some optmization. Also if you still in high school you don''t really need tons of money so game programming is the way to make a little extra money. Worry about the app crap until after you have the piece of paper that states your ''qualified'' to write apps.

BTW I''ve been acceped to BGSU (Bowling Green State University) and am going to persue a computer science major.

~mse61

"It''s a dog eat dog world and I''m wearing Milkbone underwear."

I work in the games industry and I love virtually every minute of it.

Money earned is not the most important thing in my mind, job satisfaction is - actually I still see it as a hobby that I get paid (rather well, I might add) for.


It''s certainly something you have to *really* want to do though, while some complain about the long hours (which are not always the case, it''s more during the crunch period when this happens!), others will enjoy most of the work.

If I wasn''t programming games, I wouldn''t be programming at all - but that is just my choice




Marc Lambert

marc@darkhex.com

www.yarozescene.co.uk

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Original post by mse61
But if you want to learn good coding practices and how to program great apps, learning game programming is the way to go.

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*snicker*
(and no, not the candybar)

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Most word processors don''t need to run as fast as humanily possible but the guys who wrote MS Word need to do some optmization.

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This attitude is why a lot of applications seem to be the same speed even though we''ve gone from 4.33 MHz to multi-GHz computers. Why isn''t Word 2000 several times faster than WordStar 5.1 Pro was? (I know it does a lot more, but not that much). I''d like to see more performance-milking applications without becoming resource intensive (this means optimize).

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Also if you still in high school you don''t really need tons of money so game programming is the way to make a little extra money.

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Question: is it easier to make money writing apps or games at the high school level? I would have thought a high schooler would find it easier to sell his HTML/java-script/Flash skills than be taken seriously for his ability to develop a computer game.

But what do I know?

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BTW I''ve been acceped to BGSU (Bowling Green State University) and am going to persue a computer science major.

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Congratulations. Whatever else you do, don''t become disillusioned. It sucks.

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Thanks to Kylotan for the idea!