Firaxis is advertising to hire a Multiplayer programmer!

[CanuckSoldier]

Not just for new projects but to also " Maintain, improve and/or refactor existing systems" as well, and since I doubt improving Civ3 or Civ4 is going to happen, I hoping this means good Civ5 MP eventually,

http://www.firaxis.com/jobs/openings.php

Multiplayer Programmer

Summary:
The role is responsible for implementing multiplayer game systems, including matchmaking, integration with 3rd party support libraries and working closely with design, engineering, and quality assurance. The programmer will take point on all multiplayer tasks, coordinating with the development team to identify objectives and see them through to completion.

Requirements:

* Understands deterministic peer-to-peer simulations often used in strategy games

* B.S. in Computer Science or equivalent industry experience

* Must be proficient in C++

* Experience with the entire development cycle, should have shipped multiple titles from start to finish

* Intimate understanding of basic IP network protocols (TCP and UDP)

* Experience implementing client/server systems

* Working with NAT traversal protocolss (STUN, STUNT, for example)

* Familiarity with 3rd party libraries such as Steam and GameSpy

* Basic understanding of user interface design/architecture



Responsibilities:

* Maintain, improve and/or refactor existing systems

* Improve overall code quality, performance and stability

* Support existing matchmaking systems, improving the player experience

 

[Alphard]

Actually this makes me a bit pessimistic. If the new guy is intended for improving civ 5 it would mean that even firaxis has no high hopes for the current coder/s. Which would mean a low quality MP patch if any THIS YEAR.

Hiring process, then getting settled in, getting familiar with a new big project and understanding the intimate details of it (especially networking which can be very complicated) can take A LONG TIME. The bigger the corporation and project... the longer. I would not be surprised if it would take MONTHS before this new programmer would start having any influence at all on civ 5.

But well.. yes.. EVENTUALLY this might be a good thing. However for now I am still here reloading my MP game after it crashes every 2nd turn.

 

[ddd123]

tbh if id read of this few days b4 buying it i wouldnt have bought the game

its not acceptable if this is intended for civ 5, i just hope its for some other game

 

[CanuckSoldier]

Actually this makes me a bit pessimistic. If the new guy is intended for improving civ 5 it would mean that even firaxis has no high hopes for the current coder/s. Which would mean a low quality MP patch if any THIS YEAR.

Hiring process, then getting settled in, getting familiar with a new big project and understanding the intimate details of it (especially networking which can be very complicated) can take A LONG TIME. The bigger the corporation and project... the longer. I would not be surprised if it would take MONTHS before this new programmer would start having any influence at all on civ 5.

But well.. yes.. EVENTUALLY this might be a good thing. However for now I am still here reloading my MP game after it crashes every 2nd turn.

It may not mean that the programmers they used before were incompetitent, but that they have been moved to some other project that more suits their skill set, such as the much delayed facebook game/civnet project.

But lets hope that they can atleast solve the OOS and stability issues by Xmas, and then this guy once hired can work on the large projects like a chat lobby, global games list, pitboss, pbem, hotseat etc. All of which are major ammounts of code and will definitely take a dedicated programmer to get down with a high level of quality.

CS

 

[E66man]

But lets hope that they can at least solve the OOS and stability issues by Xmas, and then this guy once hired can work on the large projects like a chat lobby, global games list, pitboss, pbem, hotseat etc. All of which are major amounts of code and will definitely take a dedicated programmer to get down with a high level of quality.

All of which also should have been completed when they shipped the game. A game company puts their reputation on the line with every product they release... in my view they would have been better off shipping with no multiplayer at all until they could do it right. I don't know how many people feel the same way, but I find 'missing' features less aggravating than incomplete or broken ones, since I want the product I buy to function correctly when I buy it. If customers are now expected to treat every game they buy as a work-in-progress I think that is a huge step backwards for the industry.

 

[Nakamura-CP]

Only 1 programmer or team of programmers? 1 man cant fix so many issues.

 

[WildFire]

This is actually very disappointing to read. Unless someone was fired/quit halfway through the development period, this should have been done months ago. I basically only play MP civ and if I read this before the release of civ5, I too would have waited to purchase it.

 

[Blitz47]

Let's hope he/she/they can get the MP code done. I discovered myself the hard way real time system network coding can be quite difficult. Whenever I cannot duplicate a customer's bug, I know I'm in trouble. It's much easier to reproduce a bug on just 1 computer, even for real time system. It's much harder to reproduce some bugs over a network environment in real time. Real time means commands/requests are processed immediately and it's constant, like airport traffic control, stock market, etc. When you send a packet over the network but does not require immediate processing, it's easier.

I don't know how Civ5 MP code is like, but from what little experience I had so far, I think Civ5 MP code is a joke I can't help but wonder if they even really finished the product when I bought it. Civ5 MP has lag even in LAN setting, according to a friend who works for a large company. They had a group of people who play Civ5 during break, they were surprised to find lag in LAN game and they work for very well respected gaming company.

 

[CanuckSoldier]

Let's hope he/she/they can get the MP code done. I discovered myself the hard way real time system network coding can be quite difficult. Whenever I cannot duplicate a customer's bug, I know I'm in trouble. It's much easier to reproduce a bug on just 1 computer, even for real time system. It's much harder to reproduce some bugs over a network environment in real time. Real time means commands/requests are processed immediately and it's constant, like airport traffic control, stock market, etc. When you send a packet over the network but does not require immediate processing, it's easier.

I don't know how Civ5 MP code is like, but from what little experience I had so far, I think Civ5 MP code is a joke I can't help but wonder if they even really finished the product when I bought it. Civ5 MP has lag even in LAN setting, according to a friend who works for a large company. They had a group of people who play Civ5 during break, they were surprised to find lag in LAN game and they work for very well respected gaming company.

Well I think it is pretty universally excepted that 2K must have forced firaxis to release the game with MP as it is just to be able to say on the box that it had MP. It is obviously untested in a real world environment and needs alot of work.

CS

 

[Nakamura-CP]

Thanks for giving us choiсe!

 

[krunsh]

Looks like they fired the guy who worked on civ 5 multiplayer.

You won't be missed.

 

[vazc0]

I've heard they fired most of their team just before releasing Civ5. This would explain bad quality of the game and later delay in finding and fixing bugs.

I suppose things won't improve for a long time... Hiring a new guy is a good move, but should be done a lot earlier. Probably they would be better off not firing so many people before release.