Beta Testing began today

[NeoThermic]

You'll rarley get instant gratification from any job you do. To be satisified with anything enough to get gratification takes time.

NeoThermic

I don't know about that -- in teaching, the best gratification is the long term, look-at-what-this-kid-can-do kind. Watching a group of kids learn to read, starting in kindergarten, and knowing that you have something to do with that. However, there are a lot of opportunities for instant gratification, too -- seeing a lightbulb going off in a kid's head for instance -- one minute they don't understand something, and the next they do. I suppose it could be argued that this, too, is delayed, but it seems very immediate.

xander

This, though, is the exact same thing you'll see when making a game. You start with nothing but an idea, and it is the long term that is the gratification. Watching a group of functions as you add code to them starting from program begin and knowing that you have something to do with that. As you add code you can also have "instant gratification" too -- seeing your character on screen or finishing a full round of a game while it is still in development is amazing.

If you step back for a second you'll see that there's a few similarities in teaching to programming.

NeoThermic

[xander]

This, though, is the exact same thing you'll see when making a game. You start with nothing but an idea, and it is the long term that is the gratification. Watching a group of functions as you add code to them starting from program begin and knowing that you have something to do with that. As you add code you can also have "instant gratification" too -- seeing your character on screen or finishing a full round of a game while it is still in development is amazing.

If you step back for a second you'll see that there's a few similarities in teaching to programming.

NeoThermic

I'm sure there are. I'm just better at teaching than I am at coding

xander

[NeoThermic]

If you step back for a second you'll see that there's a few similarities in teaching to programming.

NeoThermic

I'm sure there are. I'm just better at teaching than I am at coding

xander

Ahh, but are you? Have you ever really sat down for 8 hours with the determination to code?

NeoThermic

[xander]

Ahh, but are you? Have you ever really sat down for 8 hours with the determination to code?

NeoThermic

I don't know enough code to even attempt that. I understand the satisfaction of making something work -- there are a couple of things in Insurrection that made me almost euphoric when I figured them out, but Insurrection was completed over the course of almost 9 months. If I had to sit down and work on something like that for 8 hours a day, I would go crazy.

Again, none of this is to suggest that others don't get pleasure out of coding. Different people get pleasure from different things -- I like what I do, and I assume that Chris likes what he does. I couldn't do what Chris does, and I don't think that he would be happy doing what I do.

xander

[NeoThermic]

I couldn't do what Chris does, and I don't think that he would be happy doing what I do.

I've a feeling that should Chris ever have to teach your class, he would just let them play Darwinia...

NeoThermic

[xander]

I couldn't do what Chris does, and I don't think that he would be happy doing what I do.

I've a feeling that should Chris ever have to teach your class, he would just let them play Darwinia...

NeoThermic

I've been trying very hard to come up with a way to make Darwinia educational...

xander

[Soulkeeper]

Hmm, wouldn't have minded getting in on the Defcon tests. Bah, stupid lack of Net connection...oh, and its nice to be back, btw Now, back to the void, as I am at work and will probably get into trouble if I stay on here too long.

[tuxsmouf]

Hi, defcon is a kind of games I was looking for.
I'm actually a Linux user so if you need someone to test it in a linux platform, I'd be happy to do it .

Here's my specs :

Proc : Athlon XP 2600+ (running at 1,3GHZ for overgeating issues)
RAM : 448 MO
Video card : ATI Radeon 320 IGP 64 MO (shared with RAM)
O/S : Gentoo Linux


have a nice day

[xander]

Hi, defcon is a kind of games I was looking for.
I'm actually a Linux user so if you need someone to test it in a linux platform, I'd be happy to do it .

Here's my specs :

Proc : Athlon XP 2600+ (running at 1,3GHZ for overgeating issues)
RAM : 448 MO
Video card : ATI Radeon 320 IGP 64 MO (shared with RAM)
O/S : Gentoo Linux


have a nice day

I would suggest that you send your application here.

xander

[tuxsmouf]

Hi, defcon is a kind of games I was looking for.
I'm actually a Linux user so if you need someone to test it in a linux platform, I'd be happy to do it .

Here's my specs :

Proc : Athlon XP 2600+ (running at 1,3GHZ for overgeating issues)
RAM : 448 MO
Video card : ATI Radeon 320 IGP 64 MO (shared with RAM)
O/S : Gentoo Linux


have a nice day

I would suggest that you send your application here.

xander

Thanks. It's done.

[TheToyMaker]

It probably did not take that whole time to produce -- a level like Demo2 could easily be made by an experienced modder in a day, though we must also assume that some extra time was needed to add the code required for the rocket.

And with that comment, Chris falls over and dies.

No, it took three months of solid work to complete.

If there is a modder out there who can produce Demo2 in a day, we would like to hire them immediately and pay them a handsome salary.

what about someone who can debug 1000 to 1500 lines of code in a day? i can do that. and thats a bad day

[alphager]

what about someone who can debug 1000 to 1500 lines of code in a day? i can do that. and thats a bad day

I thought it was well accepted that lines of code are not an indicator of efficiency.
The last project i worked on had a major problem in the code two months before the planned release. Two teams of 5 people searched for three weeks and found nothing. Finally, one of the core-team coders debugged the ~500 lines on a prolonged weekend. That guy took 3 days to debug ~500 lines and is definetely one of the best coders in our part of the industry.

[Montyphy]

what about someone who can debug 1000 to 1500 lines of code in a day? i can do that. and thats a bad day

Even if the code is written in Scheme? Especially even if the code is uncommented, lacks any structure and doesn't use a sensible or meaniful naming scheme?

[Limber]

written in Scheme

I always liked Common Lisp better. And Lisp doesn't need comments, recursive functions are self-explanatory.

[xander]

written in Scheme

I always liked Common Lisp better. And Lisp doesn't need comments, recursive functions are self-explanatory.

recursive functions: for an explanation, please see recursive functions

xander