I played Factorio a fair bit, the fluid system was hell. But based on some LPs it seems Space Age fixed it rather nicely.
Comment on The 'deprofessionalization of video games' was on full display at PAX East
einkorn@feddit.org 2 days ago
But that feels like the polar ends of who can benefit in the deprofessionalized world—developers with the stability to swing big for big-shot ideas, and programmers or designers with deep career experience that can be called in like a group of noble mercenaries. People in between will be left out.
Well, no. The issue is not that people offer their expertise as contract workers. The issue is supposed AAA studios cranking out one piece of hot garbage after another, while small independent teams can work (and fail) with unique ideas at a much faster rate.
There will always be freelance workers and having one on board, even an experienced one, will neither guarantee success nor is it a prerequisite. Looking at some highly successful indi titles of today, they often started with humble beginnings and got gradually more “professional” along the way.
I am currently playing Factorio Space Age and holy hell, have they come a long way since initial release. Fluid system, anyone?
lvxferre@mander.xyz 2 days ago
FarceOfWill@infosec.pub 2 days ago
And by a modder turned dev, so, professionalisation? :)
Though the way wube works the whole team will have been involved in some way. And they’re a student so it’s part of a fairly normal pipeline for gamedev.
lvxferre@mander.xyz 2 days ago
And by a modder turned dev, so, professionalisation? :)
Yup - Kovarex is a great example of how the indie scene is actually professionalising people, not the opposite.
madame_gaymes@programming.dev 2 days ago
The way I interpreted this was, “the execs will be left out because they can’t do any of this themselves.” They don’t even have the ideas.
Also yea, Factorio is an impressive game. Even the modders are insane, and I don’t really run into bugs ever. Well… software bugs that is.
Bldck@beehaw.org 2 days ago
Coming from the software development side, I interpret this statement a little differently.
I used to work with a team:
Rather than working full tilt, the senior engineer did a lot of work pair programming and helping the juniors develop into better engineers. He accomplished half of what he could, but the team was better for it.
Fifteen years later, no one hired juniors anymore. We hire 1-2 seniors, 2 mid levels and that’s it. Everyone is expected to focus on developing software. No one cares about training or education.
The problem with this is we aren’t backfilling the ranks. If we don’t train juniors, they never become mid levels. Without mid levels, we won’t identify the best to become seniors.
In a world where game development happens on the fringes (indie studios or solo developers), who’s going to hire a junior that can’t contribute meaningfully to the project?
madame_gaymes@programming.dev 2 days ago
I have also worked on many engineering teams, both as management and engineering. Still, the execs are the ones that get left behind. The juniors at least have knowledge and ability to continue honing their craft. If they’re passionate about it, they will push through and make it work.
The execs just extract money, even in the scenarios you presented, and without any developers they can’t accomplish shit.
Having said that, I get what you’re saying, but again that is something that exists without this idea of “deprofessionalization.” Juniors get the shit end of the stick in a lot of industries, even outside development and engineering. On the flipside, so do seniors when the execs aren’t willing to pay what they’re worth, so they hire green juniors instead.