Tim Cain (co-creator of Fallout) described the problem with modern game development

[Gamernyc78]

He tells some interesting stories. Including one where a piece of code he wanted written to improve enemy AI, that he said would take himself 45 minutes to write, when he gave the task to a programmer, told him it would take 4 weeks, and when he pushed back, angrily walked out on him, and the lead programmer had to calm to situation by negotiating it down to 2 weeks.
This was for the development of Outer Worlds.
Now it makes sense why nobody can make a good game in less than 5 years.

 

[Bryank75]

I thought Tim Cain was the old TV Superman in the Adventures of Lois and Clark? No?

 

[JAHGamer]

Not surprising one bit. Modders are doing stuff in 1 day that Bethesda still couldn’t implement after 3+ weeks.

 

[Zzero]

I thought Tim Cain was the old TV Superman in the Adventures of Lois and Clark? No?

Kid Zzero loved that show.

Anyways, the actual solution, if true, would be to write the code yourself, preferably with the Chief Senior Bullshitter being forced to watch, and then turn to him and ask why he couldn't do it.

 

[Shmunter]

He tells some interesting stories. Including one where a piece of code he wanted written to improve enemy AI, that he said would take himself 45 minutes to write, when he gave the task to a programmer, told him it would take 4 weeks, and when he pushed back, angrily walked out on him, and the lead programmer had to calm to situation by negotiating it down to 2 weeks.
This was for the development of Outer Worlds.
Now it makes sense why nobody can make a good game in less than 5 years.

It’s why in Japan they fix a sinkhole in the middle of a city overnight, while it takes 3 months in the west.

 

[Gamernyc78]

It’s why in Japan they fix a sinkhole in the middle of a city overnight, while it takes 3 months in the west.

In nyc try years!

 

[Nimrota]

Kid Zzero loved that show.

Anyways, the actual solution, if true, would be to write the code yourself, preferably with the Chief Senior Bullshitter being forced to watch, and then turn to him and ask why he couldn't do it.

This is one thing Elon Musk does which is good management. When he tells people to do something, and they say they can't or can't meet the deadline, he fires them and delivers that project/task himself. Not sure what power Tim Cain had when working on OW, but if someone is telling you they need 2 weeks to implement a 10 line code (that's how long he says it would be) they should have been fired then and there. Take that guys salary and pay it to the guy who implements it in 45m as he said.

 

[Dr Bass]

He tells some interesting stories. Including one where a piece of code he wanted written to improve enemy AI, that he said would take himself 45 minutes to write, when he gave the task to a programmer, told him it would take 4 weeks, and when he pushed back, angrily walked out on him, and the lead programmer had to calm to situation by negotiating it down to 2 weeks.
This was for the development of Outer Worlds.
Now it makes sense why nobody can make a good game in less than 5 years.

Not surprising at all. I think if you've been in the software game for any length of time and you're halfway decent at it you've worked with the people that take WAY too long to do simple things, or don't seem to grasp certain things. It is incredibly hard to find great software developers.

 

[Nimrota]

Not surprising at all. I think if you've been in the software game for any length of time and you're halfway decent at it you've worked with the people that take WAY too long to do simple things, or don't seem to grasp certain things. It is incredibly hard to find great software developers.

Software? Try every industry in existence. Work the hours not the work is the motto for most people.

 

[Dr Bass]

Software? Try every industry in existence. Work the hours not the work is the motto for most people.

Well I'm just confirming from my own experience. There seems to be this idea that software people are all somewhat equal (i.e. why some people think MS can throw money at the games industry and get the best library out the other side) and that all you need to do to get more done is scale up. It just ain't true.

 

[Airbus]

Move over and start developing games in south america, india ( many IT company ceo are indians) , south east asia

Lots of talented people there with cheaper salary

 

[Nimrota]

Move over and start developing games in south america, india ( many IT company ceo are indians) , south east asia

Lots of talented people there with cheaper salary

This encapsulates the decline of the game industry.

 

[Box]

Not surprising one bit. Modders are doing stuff in 1 day that Bethesda still couldn’t implement after 3+ weeks.

Wait till you see Minecraft, Mojang takes a year to add Bees

Modders do it in an hour

 

[Darth Vader]

Not surprising at all. I think if you've been in the software game for any length of time and you're halfway decent at it you've worked with the people that take WAY too long to do simple things, or don't seem to grasp certain things. It is incredibly hard to find great software developers.

Maybe because nowadays companies want software developers to know every single language, whereas in the past they were a lot more specialised. Full stack developers they are called, jack of all trades, master of none.