Bored...

[jasonf]

I'm bored...

I'm at work...

I should be in the pub (OK, not right now, it's only 11:15.. but I should have a hangover or something)

But I'm at work, with a lukewarm coffee in my hand staring blankly at some Java code, willing it to work properly.

anyone else at work?

[NecroDOME]

i'm @ hame, but if your bored you could try to make easter eggs in your code like a pong-game :)

And you CAN be in a pub at 11:15. On vacation the first thing in the morning was to grab a beer, after that eat something... (however it was vacation, not work :P ) but you can take a water bottle and fill it up with vodka :drunk:

[jasonf]

The Vodka idea is Top :D

unfortunately, I drive to work :(


I did write easter eggs into my code a while back, an application I wrote for my last company had Tetris built in (that's not the reason it was my last company though)

It was great.

Another one was a sliding tiles puzzle game. you know the type, you've got a picture, then it's randomly rearranged and you've got to slide the tiles to get it back the way it was.

I did a 3D Guiness easter egg too.. pints of Guiness would fly towards the screen MMmmmmmmmm


Unfortunately, my current company has less of a sense of humour about these things.

[FNX]

I'm at work too jasonf....
Actually today is my last day and i'll be on vacation from 29/12 to 02/01
but it's a kind of days that i hate because my head is already on vacation
and my body feel tired only by moving fingers on the keyboard...

That's it, in Japan they say GANBARE! :?

[Legolas]

This afternoon I'll go to work too :(
Ganbatte kudasai! :rambo:

[jasonf]

Hopefully, I'll be able to leave at 5pm, then I can get back and fix my immortal penguins bug in Guns Reloaded.

it's actually immortal everything.. people, cars, goats, penguins.. all of my TPed objects. But some of them die... GAh! I'll sort it. It'll be something stupid and simple..


Oh well, Back to debugging Java code.

[WILL]

Yup, just arrived at work myself.

I have a bit of freedom about what I do here though. I have an easy-going boss and I'm the lone programmer so I can almost get away with cold blooded murder so long as I turn up results. :)

I even get to crack open Laz sometimes. :shhh:


And just so you know, Penguins ARE immortal... they just let you think they are dead. Thats when they have you...

[seiferalmasy]

I am a self confessed BUM. So I have plenty of time, and I don't get bored. Programming plays a big part in keeping me occupied:)

The worst thing is a boring job and in the past I have done my fair share of soul crushers.

I may not get loaded this way, but we have barmy laws in Britain and welfare is the free meal ticket. I have simply hopped on the bandwagon. :P

[JSoftware]

I'm sitting at home, writing a microcontroller(AVR) program for my fathers company. I have to use C though as I couldn't find any good pascal compilers for the avr series of microcontrollers.. :cry:

[jasonf]

Today is another day.

I'm at work again, but at least tomorrow I've got a decent hangover to look forward to.
Tonight is my Bro's Newyear's party. So I'm going to have a few jars of mind rot.
After that, it's no more beer. I've got some weight to lose.. I've piled it on over Christmas. Why is it always so much easier to put it on than lose it? yet the opposite seems true with money.

[jasonf]

I'm so bored, I just checked the stats for my site www.cerebral-bicycle.co.uk and it turns out that over the last 12 months, my old delphix game Guns was downloaded a total of 1138 times. Now, in net terms, it's not many, but considering that it's had no marketing at all, just referrals from this site and a couple of others.. I'm fairly impressed... on top of that, it was posted years ago. Only half as many people downloaded the source code, so most people wanted a real game I think.

So if I can generate a similar amount of interest for Guns Reloaded, I'll be quite happy.. especially if most of those translate into sales, although I've read somewhere that only a small portion of downloads actually translate into sales.

My DelphiX tutorials have been constantly popular too. Over 700 people downloaded the source files for first tutorial.

[WILL]

Hey great news about CBC's popularity. ;)

I have to admit, I'm probably one of those numbers. :P (Guns)

You know, less than 45% of PGD Members actually post. And you don't want to know the rate of posting member accounts to spam accounts. :roll:


So if I can generate a similar amount of interest for Guns Reloaded, I'll be quite happy.. especially if most of those translate into sales, although I've read somewhere that only a small portion of downloads actually translate into sales.

It all comes down to marketing I believe. You game will do better the more it's exposed to the public. So take advantage of almost every opportunity to get your game seen, heard of and reviewed. You better believe thats what I'm going to be doing with Garland's Quest.

Whoever markets your game make sure that they push it like crack. :lol: Well at least they are doing a good job of getting it seen everywhere they can and taking advantage of opportunities as they pop up. Also. prompt them, if they are not selling your game, it will not sell. Unfortunately even the good games don't sell themselves.


Now... if only I could track how many times my game's Alpha downloads.... :) (*ahem* New Garland's Quest Alpha 02 (http://www.pascalgamedevelopment.com/viewtopic.php?p=28945#28945) *ahem*)

[jasonf]

Now... if only I could track how many times my game's Alpha downloads.... Smile

Doesn't your hosting company offer any kind of stats facility?


As far as marketing ideas go.. so far I've thought of...

Telling people on forums
Making a video of the game and putting it on YouTube
Getting in touch with someone like ReflexiveGames

I'm sure there are a load of ways of marketing the game.

[WILL]

Another way, which is a little bit costly, is have little ads put up... Bus ads, billboard ads, etc...

Also magazines... online magazines, like Dev.Mag, etc...

Thing is ya gotta pitch them and do it lots. :P


Doesn't your hosting company offer any kind of stats facility?

Webalizer and some other package... can't remember the name. :)

[jasonf]

What we need is for a magazine like Linux Format to run a feature on Lazarus and time a demo with that... Here's Lazarus and by the way, here's a game written using it... which wouldn't be a lie as such, it started out in Delphi, moved to Kylix, then to Lazarus, now to Turbo Explorer with Lazarus for Mac and Linux builds :-)

[WILL]

:lol: All my games are made with Lazarus now. :) Garland's Quest, Subject 33 and Cyber-Crisis. :D

And I'm still holding out on my 'Sky Blast Engine', though it's a mess right now. Oh and then there's OpenMOD... :P

[tanffn]

I have to use C though as I couldn't find any good pascal compilers for the avr series of microcontrollers.. :cry:

I’m also currently writing in C for an AD DSP and in java (no words can describe how much I hate java!) for an Dalas-maxim microcontroller.
But for AVR microcontrollers I have a great Pascal compiler I’ve been using, I’ll update the message when I get back to work (sunday).

Sadly you normally don’t have the possibility to write an easter egg :(

If you have feel bored, or if you ever feel sadden, you can find a refuge in
The food, the bad, and the fugly (http://www.pascalgamedevelopment.com/viewtopic.php?t=3697) :D

[JSoftware]

Fugly: "Sour Cream & Onion" Pringles with Nutella

I don't know how but I feel adventurous :D

Now back to work... I tried the AVRco pascal compiler which I didn't really like(it's SW too so I can't really use it). I couldn't find any other though so I hope you can enlighten me :)

[Legolas]

I'm a bit envious... I would like to work in a software house, because programming is the job I like to do and that I can do better, but at this time I'm an accounting employee and I can't see the way I could change this job :(
It's boring to sit down behind a desk recording invoices and quarreling with people that does not want to pay his dues :fuzzy:

[WILL]

...I can't see the way I could change this job :(

One word thats easier to say than it is to do... school & keep building a resume. :)

I'm in the extremely fortunate position that I have not had any professional schooling... ever... and I now have an IT-based job. Mind you, I've slaved on PGD, other projects and did work here and there with research that built up my experience, which you can't get in school, granted. But it wasn't an easy route. And it would definately not be my first choice should that I invent a time-machine and do it all over again with. ;)

Seriously though, if you want it, get it. And stay on it long enough to get it. Its all a matter of staying with it and sticking it out through the tough stuff.

Of course the job searching it's self is another matter. :P

End of pep-talk. *blinking cursor* ;)

[JSoftware]

I have no computer related education either. Actually I don't yet have any education.

[tanffn]

It's boring to sit down behind a desk recording invoices and quarreling with people that does not want to pay his dues :fuzzy:

:shock: What a wasted talent!
Legolas, I don’t know in what stage of your life you’re in, and I certainly don't want to give you an advice, only my point of view.
If you know what you would like doing, and you know its not what you’re doing right now then what you should do is quite clear.. Especially if your target is within reach, and it is.

I agree with WILL that education is a great corner stone, but nothing more then that. A portfolio of completed projects can be much more impressive then a BA..

Am I abusing the Bold power?

[Traveler]

Am I abusing the Bold power?

Only slight. :)
Your relpy has nothing but truth in it, though :)

I can honestly say that my current job is the result of what I did in my spare time. They did of course ask about my education, but the demos had a lot more value to them.

[cragwolf]

Ah, boredom at work, I know it well. Programming is my main hobby but I hated doing it as a job (actually 3 different jobs over 4 years), because:

1) I spent much of my time not doing programming, but rather doing other things I dislike, such as technical support (i.e. dealing with users who ranged from nice to psychopathic), system administration, documentation writing, software testing, sitting in endless and wasteful meetings, having to learn about subjects which hold no interest for me at all (i.e. mostly accounting stuff). These tasks were boring for me, as well as not easy to do, which is worse than boring and easy to do.

2) I'm an exploratory kind of programmer. I might encounter a subject that's interesting, e.g. cloud physics, and then try to simulate it by writing a program. In the course of writing this program, I might need to update my TGA unit (for cloud textures). In the course of doing that, I might try to solve the problem of reducing a 24-bit image to an 8-bit image, i.e. colour quantisation, and in the course of that, I might sit down and learn something about colour theory. I never had the chance to do this sort of thing in a programming job because of time constraints and because it was imperative that I focus on a specific goal and complete it, and not veer off track like I'm apt to do.

So I decided to switch to a boring, low-pressure and easy-to-do job (I was very fortunate to land it), doing no more than 4 days per week, with 6 weeks of holiday, and a very flexible work roster. Sure, I don't get paid as much, but I can now spend a lot of time engaging in my favourite hobby. I don't get the feeling of being unfulfilled by my job, because I get fulfilled by the 7*24 - 36 = 132 hours per week when I'm not doing my job. I work to live, not the other way around, and my happiness does not derive from comparing myself to other people.

[tanffn]

I tried the AVRco pascal compiler which I didn't really like(it's SW too so I can't really use it). I couldn't find any other though so I hope you can enlighten me :)

We use the compilers form MGL Software (Rainier Lamers) (http://users.iafrica.com/r/ra/rainier/), the site is SLOW but it will eventually load.
Hope it helps you.

[JSoftware]

That looks very good :D

Now I'm just waiting for the avr page to load :P

Edit: ah it's sw too :cry:

[tanffn]

cragwolf, I love your solution and im glad to hear its working for you. actually I’ve been thinking about something similar. My “fantasy” is to start a pub-coffee-place-restaurant in Brazil, and in the spare time (which plan to have a lot of) work on my own projects. Thats the plan anyway, for a modest fee anyone can borrow my fantasy 8)

I do believe ideally the work place should offer you a lot (excitement, challenge, social contact, environment, etcetc), after all you (at least me) spend in your work-place more hours then in your home.

Defacto (again from my perspective), you don’t always get to do what you want (is bad thing?), and you do get side tracked to do hostile things, like, TPS reports. But in the end of the day, the office/work-place should inrichen you, not only on your specific ‘job’.

My problem is that I have no idea what I like to do... I enjoy doing a lot of things but I non of which I can honestly call “my career”.. I have the feeling I do what I do because I always done it.. and not because this is my life “path”.
Sadly im not getting any younger (24) and I still don’t know what I want to do when I will “grow up”.

Wow, it turned to be my first posted rant! :?

I didn’t want italic to feel bad, but I do think bold is better..

[cragwolf]

No, not really a rant. Not enough ignorance to qualify for a rant. :D

As for my "solution", it could vaporise at any moment, thanks to the inherent uncertainty of the industry I work in. Then I'll probably be forced to work a stressful 5-day-a-week job like almost everyone else, at a lower rate of pay, too. So I should be thankful for my current situation, and make the most out of it, except I'm too much of a prognosticator for that to happen.

Oh yeah, I'm roughly a decade older than you, and I also still don't know what I want to do when I grow up. But I don't really care about that any more. My hobbies are enough to keep me satisfied.