Just curious as to who out there is *seriously* working on a project in their spare time away from all other day jobs etc.
By serious I mean, not just a hobby thats going to remain in perpetual darkness. But something thats forging ahead and has been forging ahead on a constant basis ?
Anyone ?
I haven't really sat down and developed anything outside of work at the moment. I have several ideas for interesting applications, and several more for interesting games, but so far all of my programmer effort is drained away at work. I play games and actually *gasp* have a life outside of work now.
3dArty: Of Course! Perhaps a link to the mod your working on would be good. And wheres all this progress youve been making ? show show show.
Livewire: Piker [:P]
Antsz: Get cracking on that design - only needs to be a rough at first! Just download that info from your mind onto good old fashioned paper.
Daemin: Blasphemer! Life and games doesnt work! [:P] . Actually I believe its really important to do and see not what the internet shows you but experience it for ones self. Good on you dude thumbs up. Did you ever think about dedicating an hour or 2 per day toward a serious hobby project though in hope of making your mark ?
Is the situation as follows ?
Has a saturation of proposals promising whizbang bling and fandangled code hoo-hah that are *never* delivered by these mashed together teams of inexperienced individuals - quenched the passion that any of us used to have as garage game developers ?
Or is it a pure lack of the ability to build a good team and with that team, work on a project that is financially feasible and challenging ?
Purely Curious for thoughts [:)]
For me (a programmer), any many of the people I know (who are also programmers), after starting work your private coding just stops. At the begining I coded all the time but it dropped off quickly. And after seeing a game right to the end, I haven't coded for more than a few hours in me 3 week holiday. I don't think it's that coding isn't fun anymore.. I'm not sure what. Maybe it's that you feel you've done something important and rewarding, and then you can spend time doing something as a reward for your hard work :).
ive had an idea for a design floating around in my ead for some time now, and i would like to write it all down and develop it, so i'l probably do that once i]ve had enough of free time. though i dont have much free time during the week, i dont get home from work until 7pm, and i usually play games then :) maybe i could do some work then....
Well even though I'm not programming a game at work, the actual thing that the company is doing is fairly exciting and there are a lot of problems, issues, ideas, and designs to sort out. I guess all of my design and problem-solving energies are used up at work.
HazarD: I just don't know if I would be able to find the time to code in my week, that would require some time on the weekends or something when I want to relax and prepare for the next working week.
I'm currently working on some small stuff at home (VERY simple).
Right now I'm tooling with an RPGesque combat system which I'm trialling in Python (which stops me from getting distracted by the urge to draw things). Great for running simulations. I plan to use this in one way or another in the future.
I think this is an interesting topic Hazard. I might bring it up this weekend. :)
Scott.
I'm reminded of when I used to work full time as a web designer and web developer, after working all day at the computer and coming home, the last thing on my mind was to turn on the computer and do more of the same at home (but I did anyway for Sumea). You just gotta keep motivated and have a goal that's worth striving for I guess.
The way some people complain about a lack of spare time in between their full-time jobs, I'm very much tempted, after uni, to just continue working part-time and coding or doing whatever pleases me in between. If a student can live off a part-time job, why can't... uh, other people? I have no intention of investing anything house-sized any time in the next decade or so. [:D]
Wait, there must be a catch - it couldn't possibly be that simple. *wanders off to mull over the problem*
Rensa: I have to agree with you on that one - I excersize daily, prepare food and eat healthily, work 12 - 14 hours a day 6 ( sometimes 7 )days a week, roughly 7 - 8 hours sleep every night. And even I have spare time to work on side projects outside of work and maintain a social life. Im also thinking of taking on a martial art or sport in the next year - it *is* that simple for me [:P]
i've done next to no excercise in the past two and a bit years. too much time concentrating on study, but i'm getting back into basketball again soon (used to play lots, played rep and refereed - but it's been about 3 to 4 years since i stoped). me and a mate who also used to play are filling in for my brother's theam this tuesday - should be interesting [:)]. if i last 10 mins i'll be surprised. but now that i have free-time it's about time i got it again!
hehe. prepare yourself for a very sore wednesday livewire :).
I put competitive sport to the side during Qantm aswell. It really puts you out of the loop, I don't see myself playing cricket as high a level as i would've before i found art. piss up teams are more fun ayway :).
My spare time work, I try to stay away from the screen as much as possible. This doesn't mean i still cant work on skills though, starting to go to life drawing classes, sketchbooking, playing with sculpey is great fun to.
It's not the time that's tough to find, it's the motivation. After a 15 hour day you're suitably meh about everything.
If you're working on something pretty cool though, it can be easy to get over the "meh" hump.
About the only thing I don't have time to do at the moment is find time to go and get a haircut! Damn hairdressers closing before 10 every night. :P
Scott.
Having graduated uni, I've been working on a project till my visa
is processed. So far it does BSP occlusion, collision detection,
basic texturing and I'm currently integrating animation. It's written
in C++, as was my final year project- a 'reduced complexity
graphic rendering language'. Hopefully the two projects combined
will be enough to get my foot in the entry level door of a games
company. Apart from this I enjoy sleeping and annoying people
on them internets, as you can see by my tasteful green font. [}:)]
quote:Originally posted by HazarD
Rensa: I have to agree with you on that one - I excersize daily, prepare food and eat healthily, work 12 - 14 hours a day 6 ( sometimes 7 )days a week, roughly 7 - 8 hours sleep every night. And even I have spare time to work on side projects outside of work and maintain a social life. Im also thinking of taking on a martial art or sport in the next year - it *is* that simple for me [:P]
ok, going off an average there, adding 20-30 mins for preparation of food, and another 30 mins for exercise, you have a grand total of 1.5 hours free time, not including time to get between things (travel, getting into and putting stuff away, etc)
you my friend are one crazy busy person [:D]
Rensa: it gets a little more complicated outside of school once you realise you want a better general quality of life. That goes from treating yourself to a coffee or 5 at your local cafe, to not having to worry about the 75c differance between canned and fresh foods at the supermarket [;)]
Not saying that someone can't live comfortably within their means, but life certainly does have a way of leading you into interesting situations which make you change your desires and perspective on things. Relationships, maturity, developing tastes, self worth, greed... all the fun stuff [:D]
J.I : Yeah at times ill admit its a bit much - but I seriously wouldnt have it any other way. Being constantly challenged and active has its disadvantages - but they are far outwieghed by the sense of achievement I get from it I guess. I/We have regular holidays though - usually after and before each big contract to keep everyone fresh.
Couldnt agree with you more on the leaving school bit [:P]
Currently attempting to work on another demo, I was working with a guy overseas on a promising project that he was talking to a publisher about who he had previously had published a game with. But as I have found with nearly EVERY internet project, there was change after change after change to the actual game, so frustration has gotten the better of me and I have put it off till they decide what they want to do.
While on the subject anyone got stories like this of promising games getting nowhere with overseas internet teams? Is there a way to actually get involved with a small one or two man team to get a demo actually finished via the net?
Sam
quote:J.I : Yeah at times ill admit its a bit much - but I seriously wouldnt have it any other way. Being constantly challenged and active has its disadvantages - but they are far outwieghed by the sense of achievement I get from it I guess. I/We have regular holidays though - usually after and before each big contract to keep everyone fresh.
I'm the same animal. I always need something to fight and I'm not really happy unless everything around me is in turmoil. [:P] I find that the more you do, the more you can do. When you have limited time, you're forced to look at what you CAN do. It makes me a better person.
quote:rezn0r: What kind of cool projects would you be interested in working on ?
I'm very interested in many aspects of development.
I'm working in a large team at the moment which is giving me a better understanding of the process as a whole. In this kind of team, my ideal project would be an RPG (Bioware). This would be "cool" for me because I love the idea of providing a framework for users to "make their own legend" in your universe. My modus operandi is to make games in which the user can make their own meta games.
That said, I started as an indie and will always have a soft spot for it. In regards to indie games I'd like to pump out a bunch of "deceptively" small games, maybe as simplistic as [url]http://www.dopewars.com[/url]... tiny things that investigate risk vs reward in simplest terms (numeric). As simple as these stupid little games are, they can be more compelling than Tetris at times. This would make an awesome 48 hour programmer challenge if you ask me.
quote:While on the subject anyone got stories like this of promising games getting nowhere with overseas internet teams? Is there a way to actually get involved with a small one or two man team to get a demo actually finished via the net?
Very hard to do right. You should start a thread on this interesting topic and see if some of the old hands can offer their wisdom. Check out [url]http://www.joelonsoftware.com/[/url] from which you can glean some great tips.
Scott.
quote:Originally posted by Rensa
The way some people complain about a lack of spare time in between their full-time jobs, I'm very much tempted, after uni, to just continue working part-time and coding or doing whatever pleases me in between. If a student can live off a part-time job, why can't... uh, other people? I have no intention of investing anything house-sized any time in the next decade or so. [:D]
Wait, there must be a catch - it couldn't possibly be that simple. *wanders off to mull over the problem*
There is a catch, once you're not a full-time student anymore you lose all of those student discounts and prices, thus everything becomes oh-so more expensive. Plus what J.I. Styles said counts too, thought its lessened if you still live at home.
quote:Originally posted by Rensa
The way some people complain about a lack of spare time in between their full-time jobs, I'm very much tempted, after uni, to just continue working part-time and coding or doing whatever pleases me in between. If a student can live off a part-time job, why can't... uh, other people? I have no intention of investing anything house-sized any time in the next decade or so. [:D]
Wait, there must be a catch - it couldn't possibly be that simple. *wanders off to mull over the problem*
It IS do-able, but not too easy. Research postgraduates don't get any concessions or government support (though we don't have to pay any fees either), and mostly we work part-time. You do need a higher paying job that the sorts of things that undergraduate students tend to go for though.
[8)]24/7 At just trying to get beter,and im not sure what sleep is now its been far to long. Do MODs count?
here you go
http://www.off-limits.be/