Anecdotal: The woes of being a one-man show.

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by NickFalk, Jun 4, 2010.

  1. NickFalk

    NickFalk Well-Known Member

    Last night I got some proper work done on my next game. It was a true piece of art with arrays inside dictionaries inside dictionaries passing sprites, movements etc. while at the same time deleting the objects no longer needed. It was probably some of the best code I've ever written*.

    So what was the problem?

    There was no one to share my joy with. I told my wife naturally, but she had no way of understanding my sense of achievement. (Not complaining about her though, I'm equally at loss when she's working on one of her pharmacy articles ). I had no one I could actually show the code who could go: "Hey, that's pretty amazing, you must be a genius worthy of the Nobel Price, not to mention just how stunning you look today! Here, have a cup-cake."

    On the bright side, no-one argues with me about over-complicating a piece of code that could have been written in just one line of code... :p


    *Might say more about me than the quality of the code.
     
  2. I hear you!

    I hang out with social science grad students most of the time. Can't talk about a single programming triumph—nobody even knows what a programming language is.
     
  3. WellSpentYouth

    WellSpentYouth Well-Known Member

    Jan 11, 2009
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    iPhone programmer
    App Tech Studios, USA
    And I thought I was the only one!
     
  4. schplurg

    schplurg Well-Known Member

    Haha! I know the feeling too! Not even my friends program. You will get the reward though when you see it in the App Store, and when you get that first check.

    I don't know if this is your first game, but it was awesome when I was finally finished with DD (my first). THAT is something others can at least appreciate :)
     
  5. headcaseGames

    headcaseGames Well-Known Member

    Jun 26, 2009
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    Mobile Game Developer
    Hollywood, CA
    I'm art/design but I know what you mean. Basically, no one really cares during the process (just because they cannot relate), but it's very gratifying at the end when your product is out there in the world, and you are getting reviews and all sorts of feedback about your work. It definitely makes up for it!
     
  6. JackNg

    JackNg Well-Known Member

    Sep 17, 2009
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    Game Developer
    I understand that feeling. What we can do is share they joy with a complete product.
     
  7. Old Number 7

    Old Number 7 Member

    Jun 4, 2010
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    Hey, that IS pretty amazing!!!, you have to be a genius worthy of the Nobel Price, not to mention just how stunning you look today! Here, have this cup cake that I spent 2 hours baking!


    :) But I understand your pain, as a social science student I usually cannot discuss things I have achieved with my friends, seeing as how they are all math majors :rolleyes:

    But if you have time to spare I would love to hear more specific things about your "best piece of coding ever." and im not being sarcastic, I just enjoy listening to peoples stories and learning.:D
     
  8. NickFalk

    NickFalk Well-Known Member

    Thanks a lot guys! Nice to see that I'm not alone. Loved the cupcake Old Number 7.
     
  9. Sinecure Industries

    Sinecure Industries Well-Known Member

    My business partner feels your pain. I don't know anything about coding so he does it all, then when I ask "how's it going?" I can't really give much in the way of feedback aside from "oh good" haha
     
  10. StevePerks

    StevePerks Active Member

    Apr 8, 2010
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    Nice anecdote, and one that I have certainly experienced as well. And I thought your post "The woes of being a one-man show" was going to be another "I've only sold 3 copies of my game in one week" ;)

    I too, sometimes look over code I've written and think WOW I created that! It actually does something really amazing. Maybe we could start a new thread dedicated to posting snippets of code that have infused us with a sense of pride.

    Photos of our stunning looks are optional.
     
  11. NickFalk

    NickFalk Well-Known Member

    We should make a calendar! :D
     
  12. Rasterman

    Rasterman Well-Known Member

    May 10, 2010
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    Game Monger
    Tampa, FL
    I agree, the process can be a drag sometimes, but the end result is what matters, reading reviews and user comments more than makes up for that, of course seeing the piracy numbers is quite the downer!
     

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