Re: OT: Demo suggestions

Thanks for the responses everyone! I'm not really sure if we all agree 
on what a demo really is. As far as I see it, there are two types of 
demos. There are demos written at 24h demo coding contests with 8-bit 
music that only takes 64 kb in the finished binary. Then there are the 
demos I'm refering to, as a small engine running a demo loop of 
something (compares with an intro made in the engine of a game, say 
cut-scenes in Warcraft 3 (not the movie-like))

For me, this is almost a game, because it has all the same elements in 
it. Just so you can show and point out the cool stuff at a 
demonstration, without having to sit in front of the keyboard at the 
same time. Let's keep our fingers crossed that I don't get compability 
errors for some reason... I hate those ;)

I'll see what I can come up with, thanks everyone!

/Gregor

Leath Muller wrote:

>> Gee, that's such a ringing endorsement of what matters to game
>> developers.  Free clue: flash will help your cause with game developers,
>> no matter what aesthetically unaware non-game-developers may say.
>
>
> Errr, working in both a Govt organisation & owning a private
> games development company, I get both worlds -- and I have to
> agree with Steve on this one more than not.
>
> The first thing I look for is shipped products. If you don't
> have one, then something like a working game is next. It doesn't
> worry me if it's not that flashy, as long as the person
> demonstrates the skills they want to do. ie: if they want to
> work on physics, write a cool physics engine, etc
>
>  > Who the @!#$#@!!#@$ believes that it's easy to be flashy??!?  Do you
>
>> know anything about getting an art production pipeline done?
>
>
> From a programmer point of view, Art means squat. :) That's why
> we have graphics artists. They do a much better job then
> someone who is talented at writing neural network software.
>
> If the person is applying for an artist position, I want
> flashy, otherwise I don't really care about that. If the person
> writes something 'flashy' using a displacement mapping routine
> they coded up themselves, then that's nice too, the artwork is
> not the thing I am looking for in a programmer...
>
>> Let's translate Stephen's words for the home audience.  "I'm a
>> Simulations guy.  I work at L3Com/Link Simulation & Training.  I'm
>> impressed by the kinds of things I do at my job, and am not terribly
>> aware of the difficulties of things outside the scope of my job.  I
>> expect everyone to do what I do, if they want me to be impressed."
>
>
> Lighten up would ya... Steve has been around quite a number
> of years, and does know what he is talking about... and he
> does have several games under his belt... :)
>
>>> IMHO, a complete, playable game would be more impressive than
>>> a demo of a few very fancy-looking canned effects.
>>
>
>> Sure it would be.  But the issue is what's needed to get a job, not
>> promising people the moon.  Substantive demos can certainly convince
>> employers to hire.  It shows you can get something done, and that you
>> have talents.
>
>
> If I have the choice between someone who presents a running
> (canned) demo, or a game where they have shown graphics, sound,
> input, basic physics, etc - the game will win every time if
> it's stable and indicative of skills.
>
> Sorry mate, but demo's are quite easy to get finalised (to
> debug etc) whereas games are easier to break, and will give
> me a better idea of coding solidity when hiring a programmer...
>
>>> If you are looking for a way to stand out in the crowd, I
>>> would concentrate
>>> on being really good at Physics, Networking and Shaders
>>> because those are the hard parts right now.
>>
>
>> Assuming your ambitions in game development are programmer-centric.
>
>
> Uh, the exact quote from the original email was:
> "I'm interested in joining the gaming industry as a programmer."
>
>> Don't forget about art, audio, game design, and all the tools and
>> technologies that go into supporting those efforts.  The important thing
>> is not doing Physics, Network, or Shaders because some guy like Stephen
>> said so.  The important thing is to do *something* well.  And while
>> we're throwing around programmer-centric areas one could concentrate on,
>> I'll toss in AI.
>
>
> art = get an artist.
> audio = use direct sound
> game design = game designer
>
> shader = ? Need to generally write these and test them with 3rd
> party tools
>
> physics = possibly use something like granny, etc, but can require
> a lot of effort to integrate into custom engines
>
> Don't get me wrong, I understand your point of view, but I think
> you were a bit harsh in the reply... :)
>
> Leathal.
> ----- FAQ and OpenGL Resources at:
>  http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Hills/9956/OpenGL
>


----- 
FAQ and OpenGL Resources at:
  http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Hills/9956/OpenGL

-- 
Author: Gregor Brunmar
  INET: [email protected]

Fat City Hosting, San Diego, California -- http://www.fatcity.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message
to: [email protected] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in
the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB OPENGL-GAMEDEV-L
(or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from).  You may
also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing).