On 12/11/13, Andrej Mitrovic <andrej.mitrovich@gmail.com> wrote:
> I also want to and plan to study algorithms this year.

I mean 2014. But I guess I'm starting early as I'm already reading and studying.

On 12 December 2013 05:44, Andrej Mitrovic <andrej.mitrovich@gmail.com>wrote:

> Ok, so who's next who wants to share?
>

Hmmm, it's been a very weird one for me.

2013:
Suffered an occupational burn-out/breakdown, returned home to a beautiful
quiet little seafront home on a tiny island off the east coast of Australia
with around 5000 inhabitants, where I've managed to socialise as little as
possible, and spend lots of time working entirely on hobby projects, while
not getting paid a cent. I've had a lot of trouble with focus since burning
out; don't feel like myself, but I'm starting to feel relaxed again.
I've also become a competent gardener, sailor, and learned to work a
chainsaw at the top of trees...

2014:
Recover from my rut, finish some of my projects, maybe return to work... if
I can stomach the thought of it. I'm not sure the Mrs loves the idea of me
being a bum forever ;)
Fortunately, my bitcoin stash is worth a fortune now, so maybe I can take a
few more years off work, and dedicate myself to projects I love.
Also, make more time for music, which for some reason I just haven't really
touched since not feeling well...

Rather un-D-related :/ ... although all my hobby projects are in D these days. I *really* need to finish std.simd. I'm kinda blocked on the unittests and portability issues...

On Thursday, 12 December 2013 at 12:06:57 UTC, Manu wrote:
> 2013:
> Suffered an occupational burn-out/breakdown

Is the stereotype about most game studios working their employees to the bone during crunch time true? I've heard the horror stories about 16 hour days. I'm going to be starting an internship at EA soon, to see if game development is a field I want to go into, and this is one of my top worries about working for a game development company.

On Thursday, 12 December 2013 at 12:06:57 UTC, Manu wrote:
> Fortunately, my bitcoin stash is worth a fortune now, so maybe I can take a
> few more years off work, and dedicate myself to projects I love.

Yeah... you'll only "have" a fortune if you sell them. Until then, they are *potentially* worth a fortune :/

I have 5 bitcoins. They used to worth so little it would have *cost* me money to sell them. But now, they are worth more than a month's salary.

I plan not to sell them, because I don't need the money, and I enjoy watching the prices change. It's no biggey if the bubble bursts and they are worth nothing.

On 13 December 2013 17:18, Meta <jared771@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Thursday, 12 December 2013 at 12:06:57 UTC, Manu wrote:
>
>> 2013:
>> Suffered an occupational burn-out/breakdown
>>
>
> Is the stereotype about most game studios working their employees to the bone during crunch time true?


Yes.
I have barely seen an exception.
If you also want to get paid well, then you're double screwed.

I have friends all over. My mates from Rockstar tell the worst stories though by far.


I've heard the horror stories about 16 hour days. I'm going to be starting
> an internship at EA soon, to see if game development is a field I want to go into, and this is one of my top worries about working for a game development company.
>

Well... I hate to say it, but I wonder if your choice of studio might not be the best to make a positive impression of the industry. It's a problem across the industry, but EA are notorious for being among the worst. That said, there are lots of EA studios, and they're all different. Which one?

I worked consistent 16 hour days for a year solid at my previous job (Krome
Studios in Australia) before the studio melted down spectacularly.
Never really gave myself a change to recover from that before going
straight into another job which also had a lot of crunching (though
fortunately, a lot less in my department).
It was fine when I was a kid, but it creeps up on you. For me, I realised I
wasn't putting the effort in that I expected from myself at first. I could
sit there staring at my screen, but by brain kinda seised up, and I got
very little work done.
When I consciously realised what was happening, I had to start thinking
about how to fix it, before it ruins my lifes passion.

On Friday, 13 December 2013 at 08:05:45 UTC, Manu wrote:
> Well... I hate to say it, but I wonder if your choice of studio might not
> be the best to make a positive impression of the industry. It's a problem
> across the industry, but EA are notorious for being among the worst.
> That said, there are lots of EA studios, and they're all different. Which
> one?

The former Bight Games in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. They developed The Simpsons: Tapped Out! for iOS. I made a point to ask during the interview about the infamous EA hours, and it seems like it won't be an issue. The team I'll be working with there primarily develops tools for the other teams/studios to use, so crunch time isn't a necessity.

> I worked consistent 16 hour days for a year solid at my previous job (Krome
> Studios in Australia) before the studio melted down spectacularly.
> Never really gave myself a change to recover from that before going
> straight into another job which also had a lot of crunching (though
> fortunately, a lot less in my department).
> It was fine when I was a kid, but it creeps up on you. For me, I realised I
> wasn't putting the effort in that I expected from myself at first. I could
> sit there staring at my screen, but by brain kinda seised up, and I got
> very little work done.
> When I consciously realised what was happening, I had to start thinking
> about how to fix it, before it ruins my lifes passion.

Yeah, I'm not anxious to work so hard I burn myself out within a few years. I'm not even all that sure what I want to do, so I've been making an effort to investigate a bunch of different "fields" of programming. Mobile, web, game development, enterprise, etc.

On 13 December 2013 18:17, Meta <jared771@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Friday, 13 December 2013 at 08:05:45 UTC, Manu wrote:
>
>> Well... I hate to say it, but I wonder if your choice of studio might not be the best to make a positive impression of the industry. It's a problem across the industry, but EA are notorious for being among the worst. That said, there are lots of EA studios, and they're all different. Which one?
>>
>
> The former Bight Games in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. They developed The Simpsons: Tapped Out! for iOS. I made a point to ask during the interview about the infamous EA hours, and it seems like it won't be an issue. The team I'll be working with there primarily develops tools for the other teams/studios to use, so crunch time isn't a necessity.


Cool. Well sounds like you're probably safe then.
I've generally worked in the engine/tech teams, which is usually fine, but
the last few years at Krome I became the lead programmer on the last
project that was actually bringing in money for the studio before it melted
down. I got a very strong dose of what the industry is capable of at that
time, coupled with the fear of the studio closure if we slipped a
milestone, or didn't meet contractual requirements for any reason.
But that's the perpetual state of a lot of smaller studios. Most of them
are all-in all the time. Most studios wouldn't be able to survive a single
project failure.
The industry is sick. The big-games publishing model is a chronic disease
(working to the daily whims of the publisher). I can't wait for all-digital
distribution of big-games where we can finally factor out the
publishers/middlemen, and good riddance!


 I worked consistent 16 hour days for a year solid at my previous job (Krome
>> Studios in Australia) before the studio melted down spectacularly.
>> Never really gave myself a change to recover from that before going
>> straight into another job which also had a lot of crunching (though
>> fortunately, a lot less in my department).
>> It was fine when I was a kid, but it creeps up on you. For me, I realised
>> I
>> wasn't putting the effort in that I expected from myself at first. I could
>> sit there staring at my screen, but by brain kinda seised up, and I got
>> very little work done.
>> When I consciously realised what was happening, I had to start thinking
>> about how to fix it, before it ruins my lifes passion.
>>
>
> Yeah, I'm not anxious to work so hard I burn myself out within a few years. I'm not even all that sure what I want to do, so I've been making an effort to investigate a bunch of different "fields" of programming. Mobile, web, game development, enterprise, etc.


For me, I don't really know another field that I imagine I would enjoy as
much. Games (particularly, game tech/engines, which is my thing) is a very
interesting union of almost all aspects of computer science that there is,
and an interesting process marrying all these different disciplines
together.
It's a constant challenge to keep ahead of the curve, and new stuff in
seemingly unrelated fields of computer science is almost always applicable
in interesting ways, so you really have to keep your eyes open, and keep
your skills up to date.
You also have to take these new ideas in computing, and force them into a
low-latency high-performance model, which can take some creativity, since a
lot of research work isn't designed to be fast.

I find it interesting, and very rewarding technically. I can't imagine any
other fields of computing where you have the opportunity to learn so many
things about so many different kinds of things. I also enjoying the
interaction of disciplines. You don't just work with other programmers, you
also work with artists, animators, sound/audio guys, designers and everyone
in between.
It's an underrated job. It's definitely also an under-appreciated job. It
requires huge investment in skills and experience in as many fields as you
can get your head around, and for some reason, the pay just doesn't match
the skill set and experience expected.

I just think the _industry_ is extremely sick, but it seems to be in
transition. Social games, and crowd-funded games are pioneering alternative
funding models which leave studios the freedom to do what they want with
their projects, slowly cutting publishers out of the loop all over the
place.
There are games which take in BILLIONS of dollars. Why is it that the
senior programmers of these projects are paid like mediocre web designers?
Who is getting that money? It certainly never ends up with the developers...