Ask a games programmer, again

[ParadigmShifter]

Well I like Civ, and Nintendo games.

I refuse to buy any Sony products, so no, I don't have a PS3. I did have a PS1, but it got stolen by smack heads. I didn't replace it.

EDIT: They also stole my N64, of course I replaced that

 

[Takhisis]

How can I play them for fun? I refuse to buy any Sony products

I did play Jungle Party at Christmas a few years back with the family though, on my brother's PS2. It was fun and everyone was impressed

Who said you have to buy stuff? You live in liverpool, don'tcha?

Well I like Civ, and Nintendo games.

I refuse to buy any Sony products, so no, I don't have a PS3. I did have a PS1, but it got stolen by smack heads. I didn't replace it.

EDIT: They also stole my N64, of course I replaced that

They should have been hunted down and dealt with appropriately.

 

[peter grimes]

I like maths and gameplay programming the best. AI stuff isn't bad either. Worst part is shuffling data about.

What do you mean by 'shuffling data about'? Exactly which aspects of games involve that?

With the AI stuff, is it decisions trees, weighted probabilities, or something else entirely?

Have you ever had to try to get an AI routine to learn?

 

[MajKira]

is your company on going?
Have you ever made a game commercially successful?
Do you have a homepage?
Who sponsors your company?
Are you leading your company?

 

[Leoreth]

Does it matter what kind of game you have to make?

Given unlimited funds and time, what kind of game would you like to make?

 

[G-Max]

You've never played Blood

False. I love the first few maps of that game, and thought that seeing an entire map on a moving train was brilliant. It kind of got boring after a while, though. I also loved the AvP Easter egg in Blood II

 

[Azash]

How would you, in broad terms, design a 2D whole game engine?

 

[ParadigmShifter]

is your company on going?
Have you ever made a game commercially successful?
Do you have a homepage?
Who sponsors your company?
Are you leading your company?

It's been going about 17 years I think.

Does it matter what kind of game you have to make?

Given unlimited funds and time, what kind of game would you like to make?

I'd make a decent strategy game I suppose.

How would you, in broad terms, design a 2D whole game engine?

Bit of a complicated question that... depends on what sort of game it is as well, sprite based, tile based backgrounds, isometric? Work on the tile engine and the sprite overlays first anyway.

 

[civver_764]

How long would it take you to learn a new language?

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Well you never stop learning C++, it's a complicated beast.

Learning the libraries is more complicated than learning the language, I don't really know C# but I can wing it by looking at the MSDN help.

Learning a different language paradigm is more difficult, I tried to teach myself LISP but went rusty die to lack of practice.

 

[civver_764]

How long did it take to be able to do useful things with C++?

What was your first language?

 

[G-Max]

Could you look at the Minecraft source code and translate it from Java to C or C++ so its system requirements are more in line with its level of sophistication?

 

[ParadigmShifter]

How long did it take to be able to do useful things with C++?

What was your first language?

BASIC on the ZX81 Then the Spectrum, BBC micro (at school). Then I learnt Pascal (badly taught at school). After my degree I went on a C programming course, then got a job doing a conversion of a golf game for the PS1. I had a few years doing device drivers and Windows programming (not games) where I taught myself C++ (and enough Visual Basic to test COM/ActiveX controls). Took about 6 weeks to do useful stuff I suppose, but I'm still learning new things 11 years on.

I taught myself a bit of LISP and C#, use C# occasionally at work. I taught myself Z80 programming to do a conversion of Manic Miner on a Spectrum (emulator), didn't quite finish it though (it was loads faster than the original though!).

Could you look at the Minecraft source code and translate it from Java to C or C++ so its system requirements are more in line with its level of sophistication?

Yeah, Java is similar to C++. Can I be bothered? No

 

[Kozmos]

What do you mean by 'shuffling data about'? Exactly which aspects of games involve that?

With the AI stuff, is it decisions trees, weighted probabilities, or something else entirely?

Have you ever had to try to get an AI routine to learn?

This also interests me.

 

[civver_764]

Which operating system do you use at work?

 

[ParadigmShifter]

This also interests me.

Never tried to get the AI to learn - too much work, not enough time, and easily exploitable (play badly deliberately, train the AI into a bad strategy, then hit it with a good strategy, etc.).

Which operating system do you use at work?

I have Windows 7 but we still have people running XP and Vista (yuk).

The PS3 has a sort of OS but nothing worth knowing about.

 

[G-Max]

I have Windows 7

...and my sincerest sympathies.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Windows 7 is much better than XP and Vista.

 

[peter grimes]

I have windows 7 on a partition on my Mac and I really like it. We have XP at work and it's workable, but I much prefer 7.

/OSwarz

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Yeah, it's fast and it doesn't nag like Vista.