Originally Posted by
Kohan
This is so absolutely cute and innocently uninformed that I'd love to put a bow on it, take a picture, and keep it with myself for all time.
Beyond being an active journalist in the videogame industry, I have worked in development for everything from independent teams, to entertainment leaders like Activision, to heavily funded software projects for the US Military. To add emphasis to the latter point, I've been a part of projects that are literally saving people's lives -- and those were some of the smallest (though most talented) teams of people I've ever worked with.
Do you truly believe I have no idea as to how the industry works, how software is financed, made, distributed, and so on? It's far more likely I've a better idea than most of those participating on these forums, not to mention the majority of people on the internet, as I have years of real world experience. As for my own programming knowledge, I have never pursued coding academically, but toyed around with it for years in the '80s and '90s. I completely understand the concepts, most of the terminology, etc., which is what has kept me going in the industry, though in other roles.
Yes, coding on independent projects is smiled upon, and brightly. If you understood the electronic entertainment industry as a whole, you would see that -- despite our struggling economy -- the ravenous demand for coders is never sated. Many are self-taught or minimally experienced, meaning a portfolio of any kind puts one several steps ahead of people who haven't anything much to show. Furthermore, many of the most profitable ventures right now are smaller ones -- products created for Xbox Live/PlayStation Neverworks, PC download, Facebook, smart phones, and so on. While some releases on those platforms come from massive teams with tremendous stores of cash, plenty are also released by garage developers (who, as a result, may one day become those wealthy and massive development teams themselves).
I understand that, as an internet armchair veteran, you are absolutely sure of yourself. This is, as mentioned, adorable, but harmless when it comes to how reality works. Check it out sometime, and get in touch with me when you've learned something. Maybe I'll be willing to tolerate your ignorance and teach you a little bit more.
In the meantime, I do hope this project garners enough attention to become something. If not, I nonetheless applaud those presently working on it for their keeping it open source.