Re: I've thought better of Linux

Tim X wrote: 
"Brandon J. Van Every" <mylastnameruntogether@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:



Why do people talk about getting ready to do things before doing them?
Like prototyping is free time that doesn't take very long or something?



Wow, if you don't understand the benefits of actually trying out a
language before deciding to use it, I have even less confidence in you
ever producing anything other than perhaps a few glorified hello world
scripts. You have obviously never written anything with any real
complexity in it.

I'd just as soon say that you've only worked on big bloated projects with large teams, large budgets, and lotsa time to plan out what you're doing. That's just not the reality of a lone wolf indie game developer. It's rather like the difference between mainstream Hollywood film production and indie film production. Indies have to be smarter about these things and pick better tools and processes.

A prototype allows you to verify both a concept and
the suitability of the platform/language before you end up spending
weeks/months/years in developing the final application.

And you believe you're going to get these prototypes done in a day, rather than spending at least weeks on such things? You're dreaming. Or else I'd *love* to have your dev environment, and so would countless other businesses. Such tools would be a significant competitive advantage.

You would be
amazed at the number of apps which come unstuck after months of work
because something suddenly became apparent which wasn't when it was
all at a conceptual stage. A good prototype may take a few weeks to
do, but can save months or years of wasted effort.

Sure, I quit DEC in 1998 partly because of such a thing. I was the bright guy who saw how we were screwed 6 months before anyone else did. 12 months later, we were still screwed. I had made my best efforts to help extract us from our precarious predicament, but I had drawn a line in the sand and was determined to get off the sinking ship.

There's another important reality to accept about development, however. You *cannot* possibly plan for all contingencies. You can duck, dodge, weave, and prototype all you like. Some things are bigger than you and will screw you. You can apply incredible tactics and be screwed by Grand Strategy. You may not have the wisdom and crystal ball to perceive the correct Grand Strategy. Market forces can change what you should have done; it is quite possible to make the correct moves "at any given point in the game" and still end up screwed.

So, all calls for plans and prototypes have to be balanced against the pressing need to get real work done now. I daresay 90% of the effort has to be directed to the present, not the nebulous future.

Would you like to go up to Marysville today and make $600 on signature
gathering for me?

Which, incidentally, did not work out remotely like I hoped. So I'm still in a struggle for survival.

Do any of you people actually have jobs and
financial pressures apart from your Lisp habit?


Well, I guess I'm lucky. I don't have any financial pressures
anymore.

You will have to be the judge of how much of your circumstances are "luck." When I was in better financial shape, I got irritated with people who said I was "lucky" to be pursuing my own visions without a job. I told them, "I decided to quit my job and go for it. What's stopping you from doing the same?" And now I feel it only more strongly, as I've been screwed for my own choices just as much as I've been empowered. The only thing that was definitely "luck" about my circumstances, as in bad luck, was the dot.com bust. I didn't ask for that to happen, and I didn't forsee it taking out so many companies, not just the bozo companies.

I actually wrote applications,

How about games? Are you familiar with the difficulties of creative work? Probably not. I bet you did regimented "known to work" kinds of stuff.

It is also very apparent you have never met or known anyone who has
been successful enough to become a millionaire.

That's ridiculous. It's apparent to me you're on the Judger end of the MBTI, although I don't know how far. http://www.personalitypage.com I have a conversation with someone like you every 4 months or so. The script is always pretty similar.


--
Cheers,                     www.indiegamedesign.com
Brandon Van Every           Seattle, WA

Does your Myers Briggs Type Indicator determine how you
debate?  http://www.personalitypage.com/
.

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