Cain on Games - Tim Cain's new YouTube channel

[Jedi Master Radek]

Was just going to post that. The holiday gift game Tim proposed is amazing. Wanna play.

 

[Viata]

All those lessons, all those interesting videos, all those cool comments, yet the last game he did was a piece of shit, horrible, waste of time game. What a sad life.

 

[Gandalf]

All those lessons, all those interesting videos, all those cool comments, yet the last game he did was a piece of shit, horrible, waste of time game. What a sad life.

I think it's good that an old veteran like him is doing these talks. Have you seen any other gamedev-man being so generous? It may be inspiring for some aspiring developers. That's very cool in my book.

 

[Viata]

Have you seen any other gamedev-man being so generous

Yes, John Carmack released the code for his id games, for example. Among other old guys releasing source codes and whatnot. That is far more generous than shitposting on youtube.

 

[Gandalf]

Have you seen any other gamedev-man being so generous

Yes, John Carmack released the code for his id games, for example. Among other old guys releasing source codes and whatnot. That is far more generous than shitposting on youtube.

I'm happy to be proven wrong. It's very cool to hear that devs are sharing their codes and whatnot. I did not thought about it.

 

[Roguey]

Yes, John Carmack released the code for his id games, for example. Among other old guys releasing source codes and whatnot. That is far more generous than shitposting on youtube.

He has encouraged viewers to go bug MS/Activision and Hasbro to let him release the source codes.

 

[Viata]

MS/Activision and Hasbro

Good luck kek

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

"If playtesters find your feature useless or boring, you should throw it out".

Arcanum:

 

[Modron]

"If playtesters find your feature useless or boring, you should throw it out".

All games should be linear because one playtester was super autistic and walked in a circle 58 times instead of going left.

 

[Hammer Of The Heretics]

Hasbro is the toy company that owns Wizards of the Coast, and thus D&D. Presumably their permission would be required to release the source code for ToEE.

 

[Butter]

Fuck permission. Just email me and accidentally include it as an attachment. I'll swear you meant to send me your wasteland salad recipe.

 

[deuxhero]

I am now convinced that players should only get dumped with lore that pertains to you in some way. It's ok if an NPC tells you about a conflict that you're in the middle of, for example. Stories that give you a deeper understanding of the world you're in should be gathered by environmental storytelling and ingame books. Just like in real life, NPC's shouldn't care too much about affairs that don't affect them directly. Unless the NPC is literally a historian I guess, but even then they shouldn't assume you care about their stories, just like other NPC's wouldn't.

Take the chance to get a little education. And I have a few history books in here. Help yourself. You're welcome to them. No point in being part of history if you're too ignorant to understand it.

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

Just like in real life, NPC's shouldn't care too much about affairs that don't affect them directly

If you visit the Ukraine thread, you'll be amazed how many NPCs from Poland/Brazil/etc care.

 

[NecroLord]

Have you seen any other gamedev-man being so generous

Yes, John Carmack released the code for his id games, for example. Among other old guys releasing source codes and whatnot. That is far more generous than shitposting on youtube.

Tim should learn from Carmack a bit.

 

[Roguey]

Tim should learn from Carmack a bit.

Carmack had the legal right to do so. I already mentioned that Cain says he doesn't have the legal right to put them out there.

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

I already mentioned that Cain says he doesn't have the legal right to put them out there.

How do you get "ownership" of the code without the right to distribute it? Sounds more like he has a perpetual license, not ownership.
But I think he has every right, he just wants to get paid for it.

 

[Roguey]

How do you get "ownership" of the code without the right to distribute it? Sounds more like he has a perpetual license, not ownership.
But I think he has every right, he just wants to get paid for it.

Demand Tim upload the contract, surely that's legal.

 

[Infinitron]

I talk about job interview questions, both ones I like to ask and ones I have been asked.

This video is related to my one on press interview questions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CNtL...

 

[StrongBelwas]

Been on plenty of job interviews on both side of the table.
Assumes design and code questions to be solved will be asked, doesn't really to art interviews, don't ask him about that.
Sample question is they are working on a fantasy game, design a theoretical crafting system. How exactly are recipes and ingredients found. If they can't find a problem in their own crafting system, that is a red flag.
Has asked them to create a list of classes for an MMO, the benefits and drawbacks of class systems for an MMO. Asked someone who named WoW as a favorite game to make a solo instance that teaches how a class works.
Doesn't really like puzzle code, just wants to see how people think. Sample code he's asked people to create is psudeocode on the whiteboard for reversing a sentence. Just wants to see them walk through the steps, asks them to think aloud. Knows some people hates that and don't think it's a realistic situation but at some point he needs to see how some people do the work even if your demos and resume look good.
At Interplay, hired a 'programmer', who massively lied about his portfolio and after being hired on Cain's recommendation he turned out to be useless, was a major nuisance in Cain's last years at Interplay. Could see him trying to do stuff and he didn't know even basic math, couldn't rotate sprites or use sin/cine.
Interviewed at Valve once for a design job, they told him there wouldn't be programming questions, he walks in and the first thing they asking are coding questions. Flunked it. Hadn't coded in years, they asked him to write code for running a control panel on an elevator, halfway through he realized he had messed up and had to restart, ran out of time. Was told despite doing very well on the design questions, failed the programming questions meant he didn't get the job as they weren't hiring designers . Lunch was all business questions for whatever reason, receptionist annoyed he didn't finish the lunch.
Carbine was four different interviews with the founders, the programmers, the producer, and then NC Soft employees.
Likes to ask people what the largest team they worked with. Wants to know how they can handle the changing dynamics as teams change. If it's a small team, how many different roles did you do, if it was a large team, how did you answer to and how many people did you manage.
If they went to college, what was their favorite class and inquire about the class they mention. Ask self taught people what their favorite topic was and why it was fun to learn.
If they worked on a project or demo, what did they specifically do on it, and what was the hardest thing they had to implement. Did you have to make decisions your team disagreed with? Had a growing issue with people who did not want to be managed nor manage others.
Tries to meet people halfway when he's a manager. Tries not to give ultimatum when he interviews for a job, wouldn't respond well to them if he was the manager.
Loves asking what hobby do you have that has directly influenced your work. Talked to people who cook who based their crafting system on cooking, hikers who used that to influence level design.
Toward the end of the interview, asks why they want to work for this particular company. Knows some people don't like that question, but likes to hear interest in the company. Not that important, but loves to hear the response.
Takes note of the response to the final question if they have any more questions. Lets him know what they are looking forward to.

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

I talk about job interview questions, both ones I like to ask and ones I have been asked.

This video is related to my one on press interview questions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CNtL...

1) "Design a crafting system for a single player RPG."

My answer would've been that I haven't seen a good SP RPG with crafting in my entire life, or the RPG was good, but the crafting was completely optional and didn't work together with the rest of the game. So I don't know how to.

2) "Design a classless MMORPG."

Why? People fall into roles in MMOs. So a classless system would have to have "undocumented" classes anyway. Why avoid the unavoidable? Just make classes.
In classless single player RPGs, you end up being able to do everything and this is fine. This isn't fine for MMOs, where the end-goal is to be dependent on others, which creates jolly cooperation.

3) "Design a quest/solo dungeon that teaches a class to use a new ability in WoW"

I actually don't know how to teach people, nor do I think it's a problem, because others can fill in, as long as I can design cool stuff.
I once designed an alternative paladin class for WoW in my head, the crux of which was this: you roll a level 1 paladin, but why would the Light immediately grant you powers?
Instead, you play as a paladin with weak abilities that don't require mana, because you have none. And you STRUGGLE to prove your worth to the Light through dedication and PAIN.

And every level-up, after level 5, there's a 20% chance the Light will notice you. This can create interesting situations where you go "well I'm level 12 and I'm still not a real paladin... fuck it, I give up, I'm not worthy of the Light" and the whole guild starts sending you those images "guy stops digging meme" and encourages you, and then everyone gets together to push you through to level 13, because on your own you can't do it with your shitty abilities. And then you ding and you still didn't get it, and now the entire guild goes "FUUUUUCK". The entire guild gets emotionally invested and engages with the problem. This is my definition of a fun MMO design. But on the question of how to teach players the rules of becoming a paladin other than by text, I have no idea. Nor do I think it's a problem.

Tim would've probably kicked me out after the first answer.

 

[Roguey]

The story about the Interplay programmer who couldn't do his job and yet remained there for years is hilarious and explains quite a bit about how Interplay turned out the way it did.

Likewise, the story about how Valve hasn't been hiring any designers since at least 2011 also explains quite a bit why they no longer make games.

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

about how Valve hasn't been hiring any designers since at least 2011 also explains quite a bit why they no longer make games.

Why they don't make games probably has more to do with lack of leadership and their chaotic work environment. As you probably know, they have no hierarchy and anyone can do anything. This means nobody has to finish their passion projects once the passion runs out. This is extremely typical of indies without iron self-discipline.
It's like making an army without generals and wondering why no wars are being won. This simply doesn't work very well.

As to why they didn't hire him when he couldn't write simple code is because there's a disdain among coders towards game designers, who are seen as useless/inferior. A programmer often thinks he can program and design, and that a designer more often than not can't do anything at all. What's weird is their assumption that he can't code. Like I said before, he's probably on the level of Swen. He's no Carmack, because he doesn't understand low level stuff, but he coded an entire game, so what else do they want is beyond me. Not all programming has to be done in assembly.

 

[Roguey]

Why they don't make games probably has more to do with lack of leadership and their chaotic work environment. As you probably know, they have no hierarchy and anyone can do anything. This means nobody has to finish their passion projects once the passion runs out. This is extremely typical of indies without iron self-discipline.

Ah,Tim and his toys that he drops as soon as he gets to the parts he doesn't want to do.

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

Tim and his toys that he drops

What did he drop? As far as I'm aware, he's able to stick to his pre-commitments. Valve could use more people like him.

 

[Roguey]

What did he drop? As far as I'm aware, he's able to stick to his pre-commitments. Valve could use more people like him.

I'm talking about all his small prototypes that he talks about making in his semi-retirement that he says he'll never finish or release.