Re: GRIPES! : Personal opinion

["Patrick Clerkin" <p_clerkin@Hotmail.com>]

Justin,

I'd like to respond to your comments by letting you know where I'm coming 
from and what I hope to get from the list.

My background is actually in philosophy, though the emphasis was primarily 
on logic and the philosophy of mathematics.  Up to less than two years ago, 
I hadn't done any programming whatsoever, but commenced with Java and 
various scripting languages when I undertook a masters in multimedia 
systems.  Since finishing that course I have gained employment within the 
multimedia industry, albeit not within the games industry, and I have taught 
myself C++, DirectX and whatever else I feel I need.  Thus, I would sum up 
my "qualifications" for the whole domain as being those of someone who still 
has a lot to learn, but who has a raw facility for programming and 
mathematics.  Unless I get really stuck I wouldn't post "how do you do 
this?" sort of questions to the list, preferring instead to hack away 
myself.

There's been a lot of questions on the list regarding what apis to use 
(e.g., OpenGL or DirectX).  These are indeed basic questions, but they are 
fundamental and one can hardly resent the fact that people ask these 
questions when there are so many warring voices and self-interested 
companies to contend with to get at the truth.  There have also been a lot 
of questions regarding resources, books, etc, which probably could have been 
answered by searching the web, but, that said, there's certainly no harm in 
that.  The list is very young, but soon, if we want, it'll probably be 
possible to say "search the archives".

The primary sort of questions I see myself asking will probably pertain to 
general development strategies which will prevent me from going down the 
wrong road.  For example, as someone aiming to develop an "adventure game" 
or narrative-based game, I'd love to know how Westwood and LucasArts go 
about what they do, rather than reinventing the wheel.  The fact that some 
people on the list are actually close to the industry would certainly be a 
great plus in my book. Also, I aim to port to Linux and then the Mac.  Now 
that's a whole new world to me!  What I'd be looking for are people who have 
maybe done this themselves to point me in the right direction.  For example, 
I can go to a web site and look at a list of apis, but if someone has 
already played around with a couple of these, then I get a jump start.

That's what I think a list is for: exchange of experiences above all, and, 
of course, quick solutions to tricky code that could have you stuck for days 
otherwise.  As the list develops, we will hopefully see more of this.

Regards,
Patrick.


>From: Kamel Serend <kamel@nolimits-online.com>
>Reply-To: gameprogrammer@gameprogrammer.com
>To: gameprogrammer@gameprogrammer.com
>Subject: GRIPES! : Personal opinion
>Date: Tue, 07 Sep 1999 10:13:16 +0100
>
>Hello Justin
>
>To begin with, I would like to say that I agree with you concerning the
>sometimes uninteresting questions we can receive. But I have to say that 
>even if
>I have a degree in computer science, and two degrees in computer graphics 
>(up to
>a Master level), plus some experience in the domain as I am currently 
>wotking
>for a young game company, I will never try to talk to "beginners" this way. 
>We
>all were beginners, and most of us (even I) still have things to learn.
>So, I think that we should help other people share our passion (as long as 
>it
>does not take ages to explain the solution of a problem :¬) ), and I have 
>to
>admit that I sometimes do not want to answer, but I try to help as much as 
>I
>can, hoping that when I will need some help some body will be there for me.
>I would like to appologise for both my English (as I am French), and 
>Justin's
>reaction and say that as far as I am concerned I will try to keep on 
>helping
>others.
>
>Kamel.
>
>PS: the good point is that when you think the question is too basic, a good 
>idea
>is to find good tutorials on the Net, as I did to learn most of my 
>knowledge. Do
>not consider this last remark as a way to get rid of beginners' questions, 
>but
>this is also a very interesting manner to learn many other techniques, in
>different domains, in a correct vocabulary.
>See you.
>
>
>justin howard wrote:
>
> > When I joined this list I was assuming a few things and that I may even 
>get
> > some help from some of you...
> > Ive got a few questions for (almost) ALL OF YOU...
> >
> > 1) Have any of you got a degree, Software Engineering or Computer 
>Science?
> >
> > 2) What kind of game programmer doesnt know what RTS and RPG mean?
> >
> > 3) Why are peopole answering messages with a "Im sorry I cant help"?
> >    Surely if you cant help there is no point answering is there!
> >
> > 4) I was wondering what the average time trying to nut out your own 
>problems
> > is, I have an ssumption it is less than 5 minutes.
> >
> > 5) Have any of you even completed high school maths(to those younger 
>ignore
> > this one).
> >
> > Im sorry that some of you got this when you dont deserve it.
> >
> > For those who are still learning the VERY BASICS, its easier to learn 
>from a
> > tutorial somewhere on the net.
> >
> > Ok off of gripes,
> > I was wondering ...
> >
> > 1) how many people on this list have ever been employed by a game
> > Development company cause im interested...
> >
> > 2) and how many are currently working on serious projects or working as 
>a
> > team on something.
> >
> > ------
> > thanx for listening
> > And happy programming
> >
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