Darkened Software

That was the quickest I have ever been put off by a game.  Don’t make me commit suicide in a game, that is not something I would do so it just turns me off.  Once you turn the controller over to me there should not be any cut scenes or anything that are not just story telling and informational.  If you force me to make choices that I would not normally make then you have just tore down the 4th wall and I might as well be watching a movie.

And that is what this crappy cut scene felt like, a writer that should have been starving in Hollywood took a game job to make some quick money and is writing game stories that are trying to pull emotions out of me with a crow bar while trying to get nominated for an Oscar.  This is games, the choices should all be made in the gameplay itself, cut scenes are just to move the story alone.  I am trying to put myself into the character so do not make me do anything that a normal person would not do.  You want drama then make the secondary characters do it and leave me out of it.

I try to be the nice guy and pay for all the software I use.  Recently I evaluated both Smart FTP and BulletProof FTP client 2009.  Both had good reviews and Smart FTP seemed to do everything I needed so when the evaluation periods came up I at purchased the a copy of Smart FTP for 25$.

That is when they started to screw me over completely.  I fill out all their questions, give them money, an email addresses so they can spam me after sending me the key.  After all that I find that the software is now just a husk of all that it was before.  It seems that all the features that that worked in the evaluation version is not in the version I purchased.  In fact every button accept “Connect and Disconnect” seemed to bring up a dialog box explaining that it was not in my version with a link to upgrade.

Things like being able to create more than one login favorite is not in the normal version and only in the “Pro” version.  I did not realize when deciding which version to purchase that wanting to be able to FTP to more than one site is only a feature that a “Pro user” would need.

How much is it to upgrade to the version of this software that actually does anything approaching the definition of useful.  Why another 35$.  Wow I need to spend a combined 60$ just to update my multiple web sites.  Does not seem likely to happen.  Suddenly it seems so clear why there is so much hacked software on the web.

In the end I can’t use BulletProof FTP because they still can not do SFTP connections even though they have been working on it since 2006, WTF is up with that.  How many FPT servers are not secure any more?  Finally I found WinSCP which is free and does everything I want, wish I had seen a review for them in the first place.

After 10 years I can barely remember why I got into games in the first place, but recently I was reflecting and here is what I remember:

• Make the coolest games ever
• Make tons of money in royalties
• Coding hard core real time algorithms
• Small amount of fame and great release parties

After the first 2 years of being abused in this industry it is safe to say my original dreams were simple put to rest and new goals were born out of the pain:

• Work on a game that I would not be embarrassed to send my family.
• Get paid for the next milestone so we could issue pay checks to the rest of the company at the end of the month.
• Some day stop cleaning up and optimizing someone else’s crappy code.
• Not get crucified by meta critic; hope the company stays alive long enough after the game ships to have a release party in a run down bar in the scary part of San Fransisco and not get knifed on the way home.

Not that this industry has not been good to me over all, but for the first decade the dream and the reality are a very long ways apart for 99% of the people.  The reality is only about 10% of the games are making money and even a smaller % of the total publishers and developers are making enough money they can even give out royalties.

The stable companies can roughly be split into 2 types, factory and innovators.   It is not as hard to get into factory company and kick out another sequel that will most likely sell lots of units.  But it is not that rewarding either and people tend to burn out really quickly and want to go work for an innovator company.  It is really hard to get into the innovator companies that will give you some creative input and allow you to do some interesting and rewarding work.  They are taking a ton of risk on their games so they try to minimize risk everywhere else and only hire seasoned pro’s that they know can get the job done.

Luckily after ten years or so in this industry you start looking pretty good to these innovator companies and your original goals can become a reality.  The irony of it all is after 10 years most people have changed enough that those goals no longer apply.

Now if you asked me my goals:

• Start a successful game company.
• Be a tech director for a company with a real budget.
• Lead a programming team on creating the most user friendly engine ever.
• Create a game with characters so amazing that hot girls around the world are running around in skimpy clothing trying to look like them.

If your thinking about getting into this industry assume that you are majority case you never really reach your goals.  That will force you to get into the game industry for the right day to day reasons.

• You like programming
• You like playing and thinking about games
• You like a constantly changing environment that forces you to learning new things all the time.

Motorcycle season is in full swing again I am itching to get moved so I can get my bike back on the road again.  Somehow this triggered a memory from last year when I saw a kid bite it so bad on a bike that it was etched in my mind for quite awhile.  First he fly’s by a bunch of us all who were all doing at least 80 mph down on the 580 getting close to Livermore CA.

My first thought was Darwin will be sending him a personalized toe tag as natural selection would be catching up with him soon.

Two reasons.

1.  The traffic is really unpredictable in this area and will go from 80 down to 10 mph at every exit at random times for no reason.  It is the last place on earth I would be aggressively overtaking traffic as people shift lanes all the time to try and avoid these slow downs.

2.  He was wearing flip flops, shorts, t-shirt and a helmet with the little devil horns on them.  If you think rug burn is bad, try sliding on concrete and grinding the flesh off all the way down to the bone.  If you do manage to survive you will spend years in the hospital trying to grow all your flesh back.

Much to my surprise I did not have to wait long to see Darwin in action, I caught up to him 15 seconds later.  He had his face mask pushed up, cell phone out and it looked like he was trying to make a call.  But on further inspection it became clear he was entering one of the numbers of the two hot chicks in a convertible ford mustang driving beside him.  The chick in the passenger seat was flashing him hand signals of the phone number and he was not watching the road but looking at her and his phone.

Moments later traffic suddenly slows from 80 down to 50 and he slams into the back of a Honda CRV.  Since the traffic is still moving he gets the chance to tumble and slide in front of his bike for quite the distance.  Someone should have recorded the look of shock on the passenger chick’s face as she watched him pitch over the bike handle bars, crumple into the car and then fall into the road.  One moment extreme horror followed by almost comical “Oops did I do that” look.  It was lucky for him everyone else behind him saw this coming and left him lots of room so he did not get ran over as well.  I have no idea if he made it or not, if he did I am sure he was wishing for death the first few month.

Just another reminder that every time you think life is to short to stop and do something the right way, just thing  “What is the worst that could happen”.  Because life can always get a lot shorter…

At least once every year or two I think it is important to take an interview even though you might not looking be looking at moving.  It ensure your interviewing skills are fresh and that you have not lost touch with reality and became irrelevant outside the current company.

If you can not get at least one offer letter a year for more than you are currently making then it means either your vastly over payed or more than likely your skills have stagnated and you need to kick it up a notch.  Even beyond just keeping your public speaking skills in shape there are other reasons to stay in the interview process.

If you can not get at least one offer letter a year for more than you are currently making then it means either you’re vastly over paid, or more than likely your skills have stagnated and you need to kick it up a notch.

Even beyond just keeping your public speaking skills in shape there are other reasons to stay in the interview process.

Reasons to get interviewed:

1. Its good to see how a lot of other places work, so it is often an great learning experience if you do not mind asking a lot of questions.
2. Its good to see what techniques others are using in the interview process to verify peoples skills and see if personalities will fit in.
3. Some times they will ask really hard questions that will make you think, it is a chance to reflect and improve yourself.
4. There is a lot of feedback in the interview process

• If they phone interview you, it means you resume is still relevant.
• If they bring you in for an interview that means you sound intelligent on the phone.
• If they do not walk you to the door right away that means the lowest people at the company think you have skills.
• If you make it to the end of the interview that means even people outside your little world think you can communicate and you have skills the company needs more of.
• If they send you a offer letter that means you really do still have a lot of relevant skills and your personality does not aggravate people in < 1 hour.

Reasons to interview others:

1. Again hear how other places work and borrow good idea’s
2. Meet interesting people, I have kept in contact with people I have not hired just because they were doing interesting things that made me think.
3. See the different mind games that go on in interviews, they present themselves in the best light, and you have to figure out what they might be covering up.  You basically have < 1 hour to figure out what makes them tick, verify their skills and sell them that this is the best place to work.  It is a hard job that only gets easier with practice.
4. Being on the other interviewing side of the process will give you a better feeling for what is going on the next time you have to be the interviewee.

So take a day out of your year to get  interviewed somewhere, it is better to keep these skills sharp while you still have a job vs getting laid off and then blowing the first X number of interviews because you are out of practice.

Reject conventional interviewing wisdom:

One thing I have messed up in the past and I  think many people still mess up today is they believe interviewing with more companies always increases their chances of getting a job.  That is true in a low skill environment when their needs can be meet with the next person that walks through that door and can hold a shovel.  There is no reason for them to waste time interviewing many to find the best person that can hold a shovel; anyone will do.  In that situation only by being in a lot of places will you have a good chance of being the next resume/person they see after they decide they need someone.

But in a skilled industry they do not want the next person, they want the best person for their money and only by being their #1 pick will you end up with a job.  You need to convince 8 – 10 people that you can not only do the job but you will take work off their plates, not be a drag on the team, can grow with the company, will not leave before the game ships and will be useful on the next project.  Plus if your not the last person they interview your impression has to be so good it survive more recent memories about others they have talked to.

In this environment it does you ABSOLUTELY  ZERO good to interview at a lot of places and always be their # 2 or #3 pick.  You are still just as unemployed as the next person that got drunk and did not even show up to the interview…

So do not waste your time mass spamming companies and then coming to these interviews without a full plan to make them believe you are perfect for that job.  If you have no idea what the company really needs given their history and specific details on how you would fill it; you are unlikely to ever be their top pick for the current job.  If you have not through about what they would likely need in the future given where they are given their past course then it would be harder to convince them of your future worth to the company.

Seriously your company specific cover letter and resume alone should have all ready have convinced them you can do this job.  The interview itself should just be for them to convince themselves that their first impression was right, you play well with their team and you should be their #1 candidate.  If your spending your time in the interview figuring out what they do and what they need.  You are now fighting an uphill battle and by the time you figure it out you will not have enough time to convince them of much.  Spend more time researching each spot you apply to and less time doing mass interviews, you will find that you get better offers a lot faster.