Comments for Paul Evans http://paulecoyote.com Some independent thoughts of a software developer in the games industry Fri, 25 Mar 2011 09:02:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ Comment on Do or do not by Friday Linkage « Endlessly Curious http://paulecoyote.com/2011/02/25/do-or-do-not/#comment-433 Fri, 25 Mar 2011 09:02:41 +0000 https://paulecoyote.wordpress.com/2011/02/25/do-or-do-not-2/#comment-433 [...] Do or do not. The author has an interesting take on not using asserts in favour of using unit tests instead.  Reflecting on this I find asserts and unit tests essential for C++ projects however for projects in Python I tend to just use unit testing. [...]

]]> Comment on Do or do not by Daniel http://paulecoyote.com/2011/02/25/do-or-do-not/#comment-432 Thu, 24 Mar 2011 17:15:55 +0000 https://paulecoyote.wordpress.com/2011/02/25/do-or-do-not-2/#comment-432 I tend to prefer a combination of unit tests and asserts these days, both techniques have there uses.

On larger code bases having levels of asserts e.g. critical (bad things are about to happen) to paranoid (parameter verification, etc) can be very useful: you can run with just critical asserts most of the time but if you are getting a hard to debug error then you can turn on the paranoid asserts to assist you.

]]> Comment on Cover Fire for Coders by Do or do not « Paul Evans http://paulecoyote.com/2011/02/10/cover-fire-for-coders/#comment-420 Sat, 26 Feb 2011 12:21:43 +0000 http://paulecoyote.com/?p=151#comment-420 [...] clearly express specifications.  This kind of living documentation created by asserts is a form of cover fire.  If you cannot separate asserts in to formal test methods to create clear behavior [...]

]]> Comment on Cover Fire for Coders by Do or do not « Paul Evans http://paulecoyote.com/2011/02/10/cover-fire-for-coders/#comment-419 Fri, 25 Feb 2011 09:08:08 +0000 http://paulecoyote.com/?p=151#comment-419 [...] There are many advantages to taking asserts scattered through your code and creating test suites from them – see my previous article Cover Fire for Coders. [...]

]]> Comment on Cover Fire for Coders by Do or do not » #AltDevBlogADay http://paulecoyote.com/2011/02/10/cover-fire-for-coders/#comment-418 Fri, 25 Feb 2011 09:04:42 +0000 http://paulecoyote.com/?p=151#comment-418 [...] There are many advantages to taking asserts scattered through your code and creating test suites from them – see my previous article Cover Fire for Coders. [...]

]]> Comment on GDC Online: How to create a diverse team and keep it by Katie http://paulecoyote.com/2010/10/19/gdc-online-how-to-create-a-diverse-team-and-keep-it/#comment-156 Tue, 19 Oct 2010 16:12:21 +0000 http://paulecoyote.com/?p=120#comment-156 Thanks for posting this! Wish I could’ve been there in person, sounds like it was a great round table.

]]> Comment on Update – Still alive by paulecoyote http://paulecoyote.com/2009/09/02/update-still-alive/#comment-61 Thu, 03 Sep 2009 10:51:23 +0000 http://paulecoyote.wordpress.com/2009/09/02/update-still-alive/#comment-61 Heheh, you making fun? ;0)
You know I wonder if you ever sleep the amount of stuff you manage to publish and produce on the web Ryan.

]]> Comment on Update – Still alive by netflow http://paulecoyote.com/2009/09/02/update-still-alive/#comment-60 Thu, 03 Sep 2009 10:38:33 +0000 http://paulecoyote.wordpress.com/2009/09/02/update-still-alive/#comment-60 Looking forward to the new articles man.. The droves of your raving lunatic fans are starting to get impatient and quite aggressive in their demands that I produce the next Paul Evan’s article on http://www.industrybroadcast.com. I don’t know how much longer I can hold them off

]]> Comment on Career in the Game Industry by paulecoyote http://paulecoyote.com/2009/02/01/career-in-the-game-industry/#comment-49 Mon, 18 May 2009 13:56:54 +0000 http://paulecoyote.wordpress.com/?p=14#comment-49 Hmm, that is a question that is very difficult to answer with just that info. I think it would be best to search for posts and perhaps post (with more info) on a forum at http://www.gamedev.net/ – or contact a recruitment agency like http://www.amiqus.com/games/ to discuss what you shoud be aiming for. You might also want to contact reputable universities to ask what they think – take a look at their entry requirements and see what is on their reading lists.

Math is an important skill and wouldn’t hurt. Programming has some increasingly specialised roles to fill, and some of those roles are less math intensive than others. English is very important too and a cv/resume could be ruined by having many spelling or gramatical errors.

As for breaking in to the industry as a graduate, I have heard it said repeatedly that a strong personal portfolio that shows you can do the work gives you an advantage. Try working with a few friends on a project if solo is too daunting… or with some of the excellent people at http://creators.xna.com/. Gamedev.net also often have “help wanted” postings. It is a way of having some kind of relevant experience without actually being employed in the industry.

If you are coming from another industry then you should already have a body of work to talk about and experience to offer. If you are the right fit for a company they will consider you.

]]> Comment on Career in the Game Industry by Jordan Kennedy http://paulecoyote.com/2009/02/01/career-in-the-game-industry/#comment-47 Mon, 18 May 2009 13:37:16 +0000 http://paulecoyote.wordpress.com/?p=14#comment-47 I was wondering exactly how good do you need to be with computer’s and how strong you need to be in maths to get a job in gaming as i probably am not the greatest artist, but my creativity isn’t shocking either. From this what job’s could i be able to get and what are the requirements/career opportunities of each? Thanks.

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