The 10 headaches of making a video game

[Strider]

Found this article surfing around the net a few minutes ago.

Honestly, I can see why a lot of them would give programmers a major headache. To sum it up for you.. the top 10 are:

1. Processing Power
Like re-creating the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel with a couple magic markers

2. Water
Like painting the sea—while it’s moving

3. Human Faces
Like trying to impersonate a living person using a finger puppet

4. Artificial Intelligence
Like teaching 1,000 kids to think for themselves overnight

5. Light and Shadows
Like trying to reenact the first few verses of Genesis

6. Fire
Like holding air in your hands

7. Material Physics
Like predicting how sand will spill from a broken hourglass

8. Realistic Movement
Like teaching a rag doll to play dodgeball

9. True-to-Life Simulation
Like cramming the sum of all automotive engineering knowledge into a joystick

10. Motion Capture
Like training a computer to see the world as humans do

 

[Maniacal]

Well if they wouldn't have to have the best graphics for every new game they could s-end more time on these things and others.

 

[steviejay]

Agreed. The focus is on graphics way too much now. Personally Bioshock is an example of that. Sexy graphics but WAY too short

 

[warpstorm]

There's way more than ten headaches and they left out the most important ones. For example, schedules, budgets, producers, publishers, etc.

 

[carmen510]

Actually, I can do number 5 (And I'm not even Christian), and people have done number 2.

 

[TheBladeRoden]

No complaints about short deadlines nor severe overtime, eh? Great! I need this game gold next month and you're gonna have to work 100 hours a week to get it there!

 

[Strider]

There's way more than ten headaches and they left out the most important ones. For example, schedules, budgets, producers, publishers, etc.

I think they confined the list to actually making the game.

 

[warpstorm]

I think they confined the list to actually making the game.

And dealing with the budget, schedule, hours, publishers, is not part of making the game? I wonder what it is I spend a half of my day doing as a lead programmer then. At least the computers do what you tell them to. People on the other hand...

 

[Strider]

And dealing with the budget, schedule, hours, publishers, is not part of making the game? I wonder what it is I spend a half of my day doing as a lead programmer then. At least the computers do what you tell them to. People on the other hand...

You know what I meant. The game in and upon itself. The thing the customer will see once it is bought.

 

[Maniacal]

You know what I meant. The game in and upon itself. The thing the customer will see once it is bought.

Customers. Some of them are absolutely horribly fussy people.

 

[Thrawn]

Customers. Some of them are absolutely horribly fussy people.

There is no bus big enough to run over all the stupid customers I've run into.

 

[Maniacal]

post made no sense, please dleete

 

[Harbringer]

A.I is by far the ardest thing to do, especially for very open ended games like oblivion where the player can be doing all kinds of thngs and you have to make the A.Is react accordingly.

 

[warpstorm]

You know what I meant. The game in and upon itself. The thing the customer will see once it is bought.

Oddly enough, I find it a joy when I actually get to sit down and work on some of the things in the OP's list, not a headache.

 

[Maniacal]

I think deadlines are probably what make these things to be a headache. It's a pity that they can't have some group/organization who works soley on coding good AI that would be like an AI plug in that could be used for different games (with tweaking to fit the specific game of course).