PlaneShift

Gameplay => General Discussion => Topic started by: Cobrec on July 17, 2003, 11:05:07 pm

Title: Programming
Post by: Cobrec on July 17, 2003, 11:05:07 pm
I am considering taking courses for a computer science degree, I was hoping that the programmers could give me some advice on classes I should take to learn about game design.   please let me know


Thanks
Title:
Post by: acraig on July 17, 2003, 11:09:52 pm
Hmm

I would suggest taking courses about:



A lot of programming is self discovery.  The courses give a good foundation of knowledge but it is really up to you to explore and experiment with programming.
Title: BTW
Post by: Cobrec on July 18, 2003, 04:22:46 am
Thanks for the info.  Can you recommend any decent online schools?  


Also what ever you guys did recently to the server fixed my problem, well sort of.....  I logged on the other night using dial-up( Unfortunately that is all I can get here) anyway for some reason it really bogged down and froze up   and the hard drive went crazy and windows told me it was running out of memory and would have to re-allocate Memory...... All of the Memory hogs were turned off prior to running the game, and I tweaked the system pretty good, this is the first time anything like that has happened.  Here is my system:

HP laptop

2 ghz cpu
256 Meg Ram
32 Meg of Video
40 gig HD

Is there a memory hole?  I have tried to install Planescape on my other systems, but they just refuse to patch........... the patch stops about 1/2 way through...


I would rather play on my
PIII 733
1GB Ram
64 Meg Geforce 4
20-120 gig HD (depending on which drive I have installed that day) Removable drives

sorry this ran so long
Title:
Post by: tangerine on July 18, 2003, 03:53:29 pm
Search for information on web, for example flipcode.com, gamasutra.com.
Title:
Post by: CadRipper on July 18, 2003, 08:17:57 pm
Quote
HP laptop

2 ghz cpu
256 Meg Ram
32 Meg of Video
40 gig HD


It may depend, but the client takes about 260-270 MB of virtual memory, of which half or more is sometimes needed directly (i.e. from physical memory). I don\'t know what OS you are using, but if it is XP on top of that, it is enough to explain the swapping you got.
Title:
Post by: Iamthom on July 18, 2003, 09:07:01 pm
nah PS only takes about 140mb memory
Title: Poll
Post by: Cobrec on July 19, 2003, 03:21:57 am
Well I am  currently serving in the Military, and I only have about 8 years until I can retire....... One of my friends told me that I should reconsider getting into programming, because I will be 40 years old upon separation from the Military......... ( He is a programmer for the military)   Am I doomed to walk the un-employment line after I get out?  I really want to get into game design and programming, but because I have never done any programming........ My future seems so uncertain


What do you guys think, Should I press on and try to reach my goal?  Or should I study Information Management???????
Title: Thanks
Post by: Cobrec on July 19, 2003, 04:04:31 am
Quote
Originally posted by tangerine
Search for information on web, for example flipcode.com, gamasutra.com.



Thanks for the info
Title:
Post by: Drilixer on July 20, 2003, 09:45:45 pm
what did you do in the army?
Title: Army?
Post by: Cobrec on July 21, 2003, 06:19:58 am
I am an aircraft Electrician...... But I want to change jobs, and I am stuck......
Title:
Post by: tangerine on July 21, 2003, 11:45:54 am
Learn Ada and write software for aircrafts :-) I am not American/English but I heard many stories how \"older\" (40+) developers have hard time to find any work .....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2975754.stm
Title:
Post by: eL_Qadsawi on July 21, 2003, 12:18:23 pm
Well I think thats because the younger programmers have enthusiasm and ideas that the older generation lacks... or used up :P
Title:
Post by: CadRipper on July 21, 2003, 04:18:21 pm
Damn, almost too old to change job then :D


Yeah, talk about Ada and writing designs for aircrafts, this is *pure* nightmare !

First you need redundancy, which basically means several (usually 3 if I\'m not wrong) chips doing exactly the same thing + watchdog. Each part of those chips have to come from different designers, and design houses. And different founders whenever possible !

Then you have to complete this huge book of every possible break down, sort them out by severity issue. Trying it is hating it. But you don\'t want to suffer from a blue screen when you are in command of those flying beasts do you ?  ;)

And the software. I think Ada was mainly chosen because of its formalism, since there you also need to hunt down every potential breakdown.
Title:
Post by: Drilixer on July 21, 2003, 08:47:52 pm
well - good luck Cobrec
Title: Thanks
Post by: Cobrec on July 22, 2003, 05:26:24 am
I just wanted to say thanks for the support, Just like PlaneShift is going to have a long road to go....So will I if I am going to climb this Mountain and get to the top.... Hopefully I will be able to make contribution to this project in the future, I am going to be quite busy studying soon.
Title:
Post by: Drilixer on July 22, 2003, 05:57:49 am
Just some advice from the Liberal Arts perspective - go out and grab a couple fantasy series such as : Harry Potter (I know it\'s the bane of adult - fantasy books but cmon deal with it), The Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan, The Lord of the Rings (live em love em :) ), the Dune series, and any other fantasy / science fiction stories/series...

Just reading books of this nature should sharpen your imagination and give you the edge that alot of younger guys have.  If you\'ve read them before, great! By all means read them again or find more books!  I know these things take time, but if you want to work in games a good imagination should go along way (with technical skills of course).