Tweaking Values In Game – AntTweakBar

A common problem when working on games and other programs is that you end up with some magic numbers in code which need lots of tuning. If you don’t have a good solution to the problem, you end up repeatedly making changes, recompiling, running, and then repeating.

Wouldn’t it be great if someone made a drop-in system which gave a UI for tweaking values at run time? Well, Philippe Decaudin has done just that, and has written AntTweakBar.

I just used it. It dropped in with just a few lines of code, and looks/works great in game. Now it just takes one line of code for each variable I want to tweak in game. I’m very impressed. Check out this video of AntTweakBar in use.

(This is for C/C++ by the way.)

8 Hygiene Tips for Programmers

Being around programmers for a long time has shown me that some don’t smell so good.

Remember – by the time you can smell yourself, it’s already way too late for those around you.

I invite you to check your habits against my minimum hygiene requirements:

• Shower daily. Use soap or body wash.
  • Make sure your feet, pits, groin and ass get the brunt of the soap offensive.
  • Wash your hair too. At least every other day.
• Socks, Underpants and T-Shirt – Change daily. (And by change, I mean do not wear again until washed.)
• Jeans and Sweater are a bit tricky, but change a bare minimum of once a week. Twice would be ideal, or three times if you're the queen of England.
• Coats can need washing too sometimes. It really depends on your relationship with your coat. If it gets sweaty when you do, then eye it with suspicion and wash it from time to time.
• If you don’t wear socks or change them daily, your shoes smell. If they smell, give them the Viking burial, buy some new ones and wear socks this time.
• If your finger or toe nails get 2..3mm long, cut them.
• Brush your teeth well in the morning and night. Use floss to avoid losing teeth. Brush your tongue too, as this reduces bad breath. If you like coffee, then may I recommend adding some breath mints to this.
• Put deodorant on each morning. If this is new to you, go and buy a can of Axe (or Lynx for UK folks). How do you pick the right one? What if the one you get doesn’t smell good?
  • Remember that even the worst smelling can of Lynx smells ten times better than you do.
  • You can use the normal person approach of spraying each on a new body part, sniffing and choosing the right one. Though the reality is that this approach is frustrating and doesn’t work.
  • Instead either pick the left-most one, the one with the coolest name, the one with your favorite color, or buy one of each to save yourself from coming back (and also injecting some much needed variety into your life).

Bonus stylin’ tip – Hair styles:

• Side partings don’t look good and never did. Your mum likes them, and that’s it.
• If you’ve had the same hair style since you were 15, it’s time to review it.
• Girls like pony tails and mullets. Oh wait, no, nobody likes them. Time to change.
• If you are going bald, do not hide it, and get your hair cut short.
• If you think your hairstyle may not be contemporary / cool:
  • Strike up a conversation with a female in the office who dresses fashionably.
  • Repeat after me “I’ve been thinking about changing how I get my hair cut. How do you think I should get it done?”.
  • And if that doesn’t work out, just sit down in the chair at Super Cuts or Fantastic Sam's and say that you want a new hair style that’s short, looks OK and requires zero maintenance. The hair dresser might as you a couple of questions, to which you answer “I have no idea. Just do what you think will look good.”. When they’re done, ask “So what do I ask for to get that hairstyle again?”, and give them a $10 tip because you feel giddy. (I say Super Cuts or Fantastic Sam's for American programmers – if not in America, just make sure your hairdresser is female or ‘rather flamboyant’)

There now. If you implement all of the above, you can hold your head and arms up high, with little fear of stinking up the place.

How to get a job in videogames

Occasionally someone will ask ‘how can I get a job in videogames?’ and not know what specific type of work is available. Here’s a list of the main jobs.
Programmer
Programmers write code (C/C++/Java/C# etc). To be a programmer you generally need to go to college and major in Software Engineering or a similar field. You should also program for fun in your spare time. Programmers tend to be good at math and physics.
If you’ve never programmed before, and wonder what it’s like, install Small Basic and work through the guide which comes with it. Don’t worry – it’s simple enough for kids, so an adult can do it with a little effort :)
Game companies have a large staff of programmers. The high technical barrier to entry means that there are fewer qualified applicants and higher resulting pay than some of the other jobs below.
The main reason I started this blog was to help programmers get into the game industry. See this tag for my tips – read the oldest posts first.
Designer
Designers use a level editor to build the levels of the game – placing monsters, ammo, and setting up ‘events’ which happen. They also design the game as a whole and work with the other departments to realize that vision.
I’ve written before about what a designer does and how to go about getting a position.
Artist
Artists make 2D art in Photoshop, and 3D models in Max or Maya. To be an artist, you have to be good at art, and have gone to art school. It’s possible to teach yourself how to use art packages, but art school will teach other skills such as composition which are also needed. When artists apply for jobs, then include a link to an online portfolio of their work. Here’s a random example I found online.
Game companies have a large staff of artists (depending on the type of game). So there are more ‘slots’ to apply for, but competition can be high as there are many aspiring artists.
Animator
Animators, similar to artists, work in Max or Maya. The create skeletons for characters (‘rigging’), and then animated them. Again, you need to go to art school to learn the skills involved. Animation used to be part of the artists job, but increasingly the jobs are specializing into two or more different roles.
Animators are usually in smaller number than the artists, and again, competition can be high.
Sound Designer
Sound designers place and configure sounds and music within the game. Sometimes this can include the original creation of the sounds, but often libraries of sounds are used, and music creation is outsourced to a third party.
Sound designers are quite few in number. It is a relatively new field, which was originally lumped in with the role of the designer. Having gone to college to study music or audio production would be useful.
Producer
A producer (job title my vary by company) ensures that the project is completed in a timely manner, and communicates with external companies (e.g. the publisher, IP license holder, music creation, language translation). The role is all about planning when things need to happen, communicating with people to make sure things will run smoothly, and then tracking progress to make sure things work out as planned.
The production staff tends to be fairly small. Majoring in business administration would be a good choice for this type of position, but it’s not a requirement.
Tester
Testing (A.K.A. Quality Assurance) consists of playing the game, to find bugs in it. The team then fix the bugs, and the testers check that the bug is gone.
Testing isn’t as much fun as it may sound. You play the same game for months or years, repeatedly completing it, playing the game on the different consoles, playing it in each different language etc. Plus it’s a full time job – you don’t just play when you want to.
As the job doesn’t require years of technical training, it can be easier to get a position, but the pay is not as good. This said, it is possible to work your way up through test into positions in design, production or IT, and can give you valuable experience in game development. So testing can be a good route into ‘better’ positions for people lacking qualifications and experience.
Other Supporting Positions
Depending on the size of the company, there are also a number of supporting roles which are less directly related to the game side of things. These positions include Administrative Assistant, Human Resources, Recruiting, Accounting, Sales and Marketing, I.T. / Tech Support. As game studios tend to be quite ‘young’ and playful in nature, and you get to support the team who are working on the game, working in these roles can still contain the ‘fun’ of working in games.

So You Want to Work in the Video Game Industry

Here’s a funny and depressing way of looking at working in games.

There’s a lot of truth in there, but it’s not that bad :)

I’ve worked a few different types of job, and working in games has proven the most fun for me.