jselzer
Joined 17 years ago
Joined 17 years ago
When I was in university, we learned graphics programming by taking a linear algebra course or two. This was applied in a graphics course in which all students built their own software renderer, from top to bottom.
I have seen coworkers who never learned matrix math fumble with obfuscated code that could be replaced with one line of matrix operations. Several game companies I have interviewed at make linear algebra a very big part of their technical interview process. IMO if you are even remotely comfortable with math, learning matrix math is a HUGE benefit (maybe even a necessity) if you want a serious job as a game developer... the easiest way to get going with it is to just take a university-level intro to linear algebra course. That is all you need to understand the math underneath the entire rendering pipeline.
I did some looking around and apparently earlier sleep stages can easily be confused for being awake, especially for light sleepers. It may sound weird, but sleep perception is a funny thing. Some people nap quite easily, yet conclude they did not sleep at all because they never perceive themselves falling asleep or waking up.
I personally own a few games on GOG but currently don't have local copies of any. When I saw the notice on their website and assumed they were gone I briefly thought I would never be able to get a legimate copy of the games I bought. One could argue that it's my own fault for not backing them up myself, but still...
Why even hint at the idea that you may one day shut down and remove access to purchased content? Surely there are ways to build hype without eroding trust in your brand and angering your audience.
In my opinion, intrinsic motivation for a project isn't something that you either have or don't have by nature. It is something that is built and nurtured by a variety of external forces (team members, education, working conditions, etc) until the act of performing a task is rewarding in and of itself.
Expecting early-stage employees to be intrinsically motivated while ignoring environmental factors that may be eroding that motivation is unrealistic.
Personally, I thought "Founders at Work" was a much more interesting read and would recommend checking that one out first.
When Natal was unveiled at E3, it was having exactly the kind of issues I expected: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKtpJW9pg84
Also the rumour that they have chopped Natal's onboard CPU and moved most of the processing to the Xbox 360 CPU does not fill me with optimism... Prove me wrong, Microsoft, prove me wrong!
As other people have said, life on earth will go on in one form or another. But "off the scale" is a necessary term in this context to drive home the incredible turmoil and human suffering that will result as we are forced to adjust the local pressures of water shortages, mass human migration, and agricultural failures that will be caused by this...