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5:01 PM
@dcfyj Game Design and Development (BS)
With a concentration in spying
(but really a minor in ASL and Deaf Culture)
 
In order to spy silently
 
If you don't mind, what school? (I'm starting to want to get my degree now, I've looked at a few options but the one I like best is out of state with no online option...)
 
and in order to be able to spy on deaf people
 
@dcfyj RIT
 
That tells me nothing lol
 
5:04 PM
Well it woooould if you googled it 😂
 
Rochester Institute of Technology (and spying)
 
Rensselaer Institute of Technology
 
Rochester Institute of technology
 
(I may have misspelt it)
oo, wait, are there two
ah no
Rensselaer is a Polytechnic Institute, sorry
 
lol
 
5:05 PM
No there is Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
 
@GarethMcCaughan Separate universities
 
RPI sucks
 
Sid
@n_palum Is that institutional chauvinism, speaking? :P
 
What's wrong with it? (I have no idea of its merits or demerits, it's just a place I've heard of for I've no idea what reason)
 
Totally not biased ;) but really that school is crazy in debt so it's a mess
I think in 2015 they reported over $1 billion in debt
 
5:08 PM
that's a lot of anti-money
 
Sid
...I am surprised that is still functioning..
 
pff, anti-money
 
(Sb for short)
 
My major at my school is like top 10 undergrad and top 25 grad or something like that
 
@GarethMcCaughan lol
 
5:09 PM
Just don't get the anti-money and the money too close to each other.
 
i assume that when they get normal money, they annihilate and produce a photon
 
What school were you looking at @dcfyj
 
I've looked at full sail and SNHU (Southern New Hampshire University, if I remember right)
 
Don't do full sail please
That's all I ask
 
You should go to the Mike Q Barnyard Institute of Dumb Jokes, where there's no tuition and all the professors are farm animals
 
5:11 PM
Their developer degree is campus only
But why not full sail? (Just wondering)
 
0
Q: A computer, Cya!

Paige Meinke As I am, a state of being. Drop the first, a verb of similar meaning. Exchange the first, a debatable fruit. Drop one and two, friend of a root. Drop first, read in reverse, the type you don't want to be meeting. I am a five letter word, what am I?

 
Does anyone have an idea about the root clue for 'ive' in that ^?
 
So many people (including professors and actual devs) say it's a lot less practical then they make it out to be.
 
Solved everything else but best I've come up with is the suffix '-ive'...
 
It's also expensive and you're not getting nearly as much out of it for the cost.. like how we require coops and those lead to jobs (more important for undergrad than you but just the same)
 
5:13 PM
@BeastlyGerbil Looks like it's supposed to be ivy
 
Sid
@MikeQ What animals do you have as professors? :P
 
@MikeQ Alivy
 
@n_palum A job I have, just not the job I want :P
 
@Sid Cows, goats, chickens, some horses, and several post-grads going for their teaching degrees
 
Fair enough.. if you're looking to get into the game industry and you've already got a job, you may be better off trying to make your own small game/project and then just applying places and showing that off
 
5:15 PM
^ Yes. This is very good advice for getting into the (very hazardous) game industry. Generally speaking, even though programming and math knowledge are necessary, initiative and creativity and teamwork/leadership are more attractive than pure coding skills.
 
You don't need a GDD diploma to get in.. I met someone who's a top dog at Ubisoft and has some aero space degree
 
@n_palum Issue being I've been getting rather lost in lack of knowing how to do things
 
Lots of good tutorials and stuff out there
 
I'm full aware no degree is needed, but I need the knowledge
Either way I plan on getting a bachelors at some point so...
 
The tools to learn are out there
 
5:16 PM
good luck to both of you :)
 
But yeah if you want the degree I'd recommend my school if it fits you
 
@dcfyj If you already have some coding ability, I would recommend picking up Unity and/or Unreal engine. Unity is much easier to work with.
 
@n_palum I know, I've done a little bit, but I'm rather lost in trying to proceed with the current project I'm working on. My biggest issue though is that I'm far from creative, so creating a game completely on my own is rather unlikely.
 
@dcfyj Start with simple ideas, work up from there
 
@MikeQ I have coded a pong tutorial and am trying to figure out 2048 (both of which are being done via unity)
@MikeQ You misunderstand. I don't get ideas...
 
5:18 PM
@dcfyj From what I've seen, the indie projects that fail the most (as in, fail to reach their goals or produce a playable demo) are those that start by aiming too high and trying to accomplish too much
 
I know, I've read a fair bit on the matter
 
@BeastlyGerbil Best I can think, "A computer, Cya!" could mean "if computers are ever considered 'alive', I'm outta here!"
 
@dcfyj Yes you do, you're just setting your expectations too high. Start small.
 
Maybe. I searched it online and got the song 'Alive' by Sia, which I guess souns like cya? But then computers aren't involved there...
 
As I said, I have a fully working pong game (followed the tutorial pretty much step by step) but I don't feel I learn all that much from it. As for the 2048 I'm making I've hit an impasse from lack of knowing how to do what I want to do (and the inability to find how to do it)
 
5:21 PM
Love 2048. I've got 4096 twice but can't break 8000 :)
 
"Alive" could refer to "Still Alive" which is sung by a computer.
 
@MikeQ You really don't understand lol. Try as I might, I don't get ideas. When I needed to write papers for composition in college (or high school) I would be sitting on it for days on end unable to even start it because I didn't know how.
 
I could probably make one up until generating new numbers on empty tiles...
 
@dcfyj Yep. Welcome to writer's block. Completely natural.
 
@MikeQ On every paper I've ever written? I'm not so sure about that lol
 
5:23 PM
why did MCN just answer as well...?
 
Sid
@BeastlyGerbil Wonderful question. Its answer, I am afraid, is not with me. :P
 
@Tumbler41 maybe... I'm really not sure on the title tbh
 
Studios would rather see you've finished a project than half finished a large scoped project
 
I know, as I said, I've read up on the matter. Thus why I started with pong
 
But for your personal development (not portfolio, just practice), you don't need to finish anything. Most of my "projects" are simply scraps of game mechanics ideas, rather than actual playable content.
 
5:26 PM
But as I said, my main issue is the lack of knowing how to do things. As useful as unity's manual can be, it's a pain to figure out exact syntax.
 
On edX my major is offering courses on game design and such, I'm moderating the two active courses actually
They're free to do
 
Catching up on the convo, @n_palum surely you've heard of Moss?
 
Briar Moss? :P
 
You don't have to be creative to be in the industry
 
and @dcfyj I can personally recommend Purdue's game dev concentration. They've produced some truly exceptional people (I personally know TWO grads who work at big-name devs)
Game Dev + Deaf culture = Moss
 
5:29 PM
@n_palum Full aware, thus why I'd rather be a game developer than a game designer
 
Although as a heads-up warning, the industry is very intense and doesn't have the best job stability. That said, it pays well and I imagine that many studios are potentially fun work environments.
 
@feelinferrety I have actually
 
Good. I'm tangentially interested in game dev and also in Deaf culture myself, so this really tickled my fancy and am excited to see more
 
@MikeQ it really varies. If you read reviews from employees it's all over the place
 
@feelinferrety That looks cool. I might have to look into that further (I have a PS4/VR)
 
5:32 PM
@n_palum Useless anecdote: Among the game devs I know, the happiest ones are independent contractors (working on projects with actual companies). The others often complain about crazy work schedules and feeling like code monkeys.
 
Scratch that, I know at least THREE.
 
Sid
@MikeQ But isn't there a lack of Job security for independent contractors? I mean, they could go on for months without getting work, right?
 
Yeah like I said, varies
 
@Sid That is also correct! But at least they know in advance that their work will probably end once the project is complete - unlike other companies that have this tendency, but the employees assume that their job will continue after a project's release date.
Like I said, this is mostly anecdotal.
Also, it's coming from me, and you should (almost) never take me seriously
 
I have cohorts that ended up at Riot, NetherRealm (was previously at Volition), and a lesser-known company that does DLC
Biggest tip I can give is just be really really good
Everyone and their dog wants to get into games these days, so you have to really be willing to apply yourself and maximize your portfolio. A specialty skill will take you far.
 
5:41 PM
Bigger studios want specialists, smaller want generalists
 
Actually, my dog is more interested in journalism
 
Get as solid a base education as you can, but then pick one or two areas to hulk out in. For design side, this could be modeling, rigging, animation, lighting, environment, secondary animation (e.g. particle effects).... for code side, this would be a language and/or system.
@dcfyj What's your background, and how soon are you looking?
 
^ Yes. Having a strong (if secondary) art/music skill is very appealing. There are many, many applicants with purely programming skills and nothing else.
 
@feelinferrety What do you mean?
 
@dcfyj "What do you already know how to do, and when do you plan on searching for a job?"
 
5:44 PM
^ Or schooling
Because I have an in or two if you need/want
 
And I have an in or two with some nice farms
 
@Mike do your animal friends offer any advanced coding courses?
 
An in or two with?
 
Sid
@MikeQ I am in. Online rearing of animals. :P
 
I know C#, vb.net, I remember bits and pieces of C++, java, html (which I hate) and python. I'd like to get a gaming job within the next couple years.
 
5:46 PM
@n_palum The professor leading the game & VR track at Purdue, a friend at Riot, and an acquaintance at NetherRealm
 
@dcfyj Good, those are often considered the essentials in terms of coding. Do you have any familiarity with digital art or music production?
 
Everyone wants to be at riot nowadays
 
Nil, not creative, remember?
 
@dcfyj Familiarity =/= creativity. Heck, I'm proficient with stuff like audacity and I don't know a thing about composing good music.
 
!=* :P
 
5:48 PM
FWIW, I lack creativity myself and will defend that point into the ground.
 
Either way, I know nothing of either one
 
Sid
Heh, in my interview, they asked me, "Do you consider yourself creative?"
 
Anyway, if you're interested in any of my points of contact, just say the word and I'll start some legwork
 
@feelinferrety The sheep are familiar with Visual Baaaaasic
(Not sorry)
 
::thumbsup::
VB sucks, tho
 
5:50 PM
@feelinferrety Nifty, I've feeling it'll be a while though. I've no clue how to do too much of what I feel I should know.
@feelinferrety Depends what you use it for.
 
I'd say the most applicable programming languages for game design include C++, C#, Java, python, maaaybe HTML5
 
I kind of prefer full control from the code end, and non-Microsoft warez
 
and don't you dare program a game entirely in javascript
 
I've seen it done, and think it should be considered a crime by the Geneva Convention
 
5:53 PM
I may pester you in a year's time 😉
 
@dcfyj Welp, they've got a graduate program too, with plenty of TA opps if you don't think you'll be ready for the "real world" postgrad
 
C# and unity are more my strong suit but I know C++ among others
 
@MikeQ ew lol
 
@Sid And harvesting corn. Don't forget the corn.
 
@n_palum I started on C++ back in 06, but it's been so long since I used it that I really don't remember a whole lot lol
 
5:55 PM
@dcfyj where are you at school/careerwise rn?
 
General engine-skillset pairs:
* Unity -> C# (what? javascript? shh)
* Unreal -> C++
* Android apps -> Java
* pygame -> Python and lots of patience
* Blender -> Python and ability to memorize a million hotkeys
* GameMaker -> get out of here
 
Doesn't mean you wouldn't be able to pick it back up
 
I know.
 
Could always go mobile or web.. crazy lucrative industry
 
@feelinferrety I have an associates in (general) programming. I'm currently working at a supplier of environmental monitoring programs
 
5:56 PM
I'm taking an iOS course even though I hate apple
 
@dcfyj And your locale, if you don't mind my asking?
 
I have zero interest in mobile developing.
Ohio, where there's next to nothing in terms of game programming.
 
Speaking from personal experience, it's hard to find web jobs with lower-tier language knowledge if you are not also a designer. :\
 
Ive taken quite a few web based courses now
 
17 mins ago, by n_palum
Bigger studios want specialists, smaller want generalists
 
5:58 PM
I hate coding for web
 
I will certainly admit to a gap in my skillset language-wise, since I am lacking in design
 
That's why I like my major, it's everything and many mediums
 
Speaking of webs, Spider-Man can't really do whatever a spider can because he can't paralyze people by biting them.
 
@n_palum Web is awful
 
I'm better at being a generalist unfortunately.. I like design, art, programming, production
 
6:01 PM
@MikeQ Has he ever tried?
 
@feelinferrety No idea. Maybe. The full history of Spider-Man lore has plenty of really weird stuff.
 
Also, who really knows which spider?
 
He also can't shoot webs
 
Neither can spiders. No spider can spontaneously produce a fully completed web.
 
What are your ideal companies dc?
 
6:04 PM
@dcfyj *shot
 
Spiders can at least create webs from their bodies, he can't even do that.
 
Firaxis, Bethesda, Behemoth, and many others I'd like to go to but probably not realistic
 
@feelinferrety what?
 
Memeism. "How do I shot web"
 
@n_palum I don't have a particular preference
@feelinferrety I'm sorry, there's this thing called grammar, and it bothers me far too much to purposefully put an error like that in what I type.
 
Alternatively, you could become a traveling country music singer. I can assure you that requires very little talent or creativity. Just complain about stuff, maybe mention a truck at some point, and add some acoustic guitar.
 
Sid
Gah, this C4...
 
The only instruments I know how to play are percussion ones (barring piano)
 
Piano's a string instrument anyway
 
No, it's percussion because a hammer hits the string.
 
6:18 PM
It's really none of the above because there's no consensus on which one counts for more, so they kind of get their own category
 
Yeah, I was just seeing that
 
Sid
I know music just as well as Rubio knows formula 1.
So, I will just shut up here.
 
According to britannica it's both
@Sid formula 1, as in racing?
 
Sid
Yeah? Is there something else with a similar name?
 
I think it's "one"
 
Sid
6:21 PM
1=one, surely. :P
 
Formula 0.999999999 racing is identical to Formula One, except there's no finish line
8
 
@Sid Not that I know of, but you never know.
 
6:42 PM
Maybe 1 == one, but !(1 === one).
 
0
Q: Should Lateral-thinking be done away with?

SidRecently, I answered one of the lateral-thinking puzzles here. I still believe that my answer was the best of the lot, although there were quite a few creative answers as well.I don't see how it is too broad. The Lateral-thinking tag allows for creative answers, but till what extent? Most of the...

 
Would a haiku riddle be considered too short? I'm trying to compile a collection but most of them are pretty bad.
 
6:58 PM
I don't know too much, about the PSE rules. But I would say no.
 
@MikeQ , good one! Also, a take on haiku's: If you have a few of them, maybe you can tie some together into a single puzzle somehow, perhaps along the lines of a metapuzzle, or even a meta-haiku
 
@humn That's what I'm trying to do, but I only like maybe one or two of these. The others seem too forced.
 
Could be worth stewing a little longer (said by someone with 10 or so puzzles on the back burner), but one or two forced ones among some goodies can add to the fun.
 
@PuzzlingMeta buuuurrrnnn
 
writing answer up. this is fun :P
 
7:04 PM
@Mithrandir , does seem to fail Gareth's does-it-help-searching criterion . . . but it does serve as a warning to solvers, though that warning could just as well be in the puzzle statement.
 
don't burn , it's so easy to find bad puzzles that use it
 
^ !
 
unless you're also making lateral thinking off-topic, then I'm fine with it :)
 
@ffao that's what I'm for
 
I guess solvers are free to think laterally without permission, and may get downvoted when it's purely gratuitous.
 
7:10 PM
lateral-thinking leaking into other questions is something I'm particularly worried about
 
You mean into the puzzles, or solutions, or both? If puzzles, I wish everyone (including myself) would be better at stating all aspects of puzzles in their statements without relying on .
 
Anyone up for Codenames or Contact?
 
\u/
. . . actually, I just dropped by to leave a couple of impulsive wise-cracks that almost became comments on the main site but had enough discretion divert them to this outlet:
Regarding:
Then again, as much as I enjoy catchy dressings on puzzles, as has been evident, and on solutions too, some of us don't miss them at all when not present — humn 1 hour ago
What I really wanted to add was: Some of my puzzles try so hard to be catchy they should, if caught, not be released.
Regarding:
1
Q: Murder or Suicide?

NethamDeduce what happened, supporting with observations and deductions, also a possible story of what might have happened. Disclaimer: I didn't create this one. I don't know the original source too.

Could be a food fight gone bad!
A food fight against Killer Tomatoes, that is.
Such a large red splash surely requires a formidable tomato, but, unfortunately, all the victim had for defense was a licorice gun. Evidence locker mug shot:
 
7:28 PM
:39985581 Okay, I have 3 good ones. You think that's enough?
Oh, it needs a metapuzzle. Hm....
 
7:49 PM
@humn why didn't that ping me?
@MikeQ (huh, I wonder why your :39985581 didn't turn into a @humn), I think 3 is plenty, though I'm an easy audience.
 
@humn Weird. But I have a neat idea and require time to reassemble what I have.
 
Looking more and more forward to it, enjoy unhurried time in the kitchen before the guests start to arrive!
 
@sid answered your question. Researching the statistics behind it was actually quite fun :)
 
Sid
@BeastlyGerbil which is the tag with most closed puzzles?
Riddle?
 
nah thats actually pretty high up
hold on let me get it back up
(I'll do tags with over 50 posts because there are a couple of tags with 2 posts with 100% closed :P )
1. Situation - 87posts - 36.7% closed
2. Probability - 200 posts - 23.5% closed
 
Sid
8:05 PM
@humn obviously that red color is splash of tomatoes. :P
 
3. Lateral thinking - 500 posts - 22.4% closed
Riddle is only 6.55 % closed
Thats surprising
 
Sid
What does the situation tag do?
 
Don't know. We should probably burninate that too
 
Sid
Hmm... Let's see if we have anything in opposition to what you said...
 
I'm splitting the graph into 6 month periods.
The average score for the last 6 months is 2.7 :/
 
8:15 PM
Okay, I think I give up, and am willing to hand off the idea to someone who's better at writing riddles
 
I've gotten THINGS™ done today!
 
As in a "What makes THINGS™?" puzzle?
 
No, just THINGS™, like Reasons™
 
Or as in Q: "Who gets THINGS™ done?", A: @feelinferrety?
 
* \o/ *
 
8:18 PM
haha ty
A common complaint here is not getting anything done due to the Siren's call of this place, but I have actually been rather accomplished today and ticked off a couple of boxes
 
Sid
@feelinferrety what is Siren's call?
 
More power to you! Same here over the last month or two.
 
In Greek mythology, the Sirens (Greek singular: Σειρήν Seirēn; Greek plural: Σειρῆνες Seirēnes) were dangerous creatures, who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Roman poets placed them on some small islands called Sirenum scopuli. In some later, rationalized traditions, the literal geography of the "flowery" island of Anthemoessa, or Anthemusa, is fixed: sometimes on Cape Pelorum and at others in the islands known as the Sirenuse, near Paestum, or in Capreae. All such locations were surrounded by cliffs and rocks. =...
 
@MikeQ , don't give up! I think it's okay to post experimental puzzles. Usually I say so in the first comment under each of mine, if not in the statement itself.
 
Basically that we try to avoid it but cannot and it will surely spell our doom
 
8:23 PM
@humn The problem is that I have a cool idea for how the puzzle should be constructed, but I am unable to actually construct it
 
That is the real puzzle to solve!
 
Wait - Would it be kosher to post a "puzzle challenge", where the question is to write the riddle?
Er... probably not, because there's no correct answer, right?
 
Sid
Becomes too broad, I think.
 
Here's what a case of puzzle-block turned into for me:
13
Q: The Case of the Missing Rebus

humnA rebus has gone missing.   What rebus, and under which $~\boxed{\sf~ \raise{.5ex}\underline\quad \, ? ~\raise{.1ex}\strut}$ ? $$ \color{#274}{\boxed{ \quad \begin{matrix} \\[-1ex] & \kern-1em \rm ADAD & & \raise{2.5ex}\strut \kern-2em\raise{1.2ex}\color{black}{\boxed{\s...

 
Whoa, that's actually really cool!
 
8:31 PM
I was going to give up on that one too.
 
I think I'm facing a different nature of problem
 
Is it that you have some good haikus and want to make a puzzle to present them?
 
If I explain the problem, then it will spoil the puzzle :/
 
Right!
... Using SEDE for the statistics, @Beastly Gerbil? If so, what fun! Even if not, no need to interrupt and answer this.
 
@MikeQ I will happily help you workshop it in a private room and abstain from solving.
 
8:39 PM
@humn there doesn't appear to be a query for score per view for tags. There is for questions, just not tags I'm afraid.
and I'm using data.stackexchange.com
 
So query by question and filter by tag
 
@feelinferrety oh good how did I not think of that :P
I don't think I can do that for every question but will see what I can do...
 
(I think you need the http for a valid linky)
@BeastlyGerbil e_e Not sure if facetious or...
 
@BeastlyGerbil , Great (same thing, I never know how to refer to it)
 
@feelinferrety how do you filter? There usually is an option but there isn't an option for the ones I'm looking at...
 
8:42 PM
WHERE keyword
 
Oh found a better query anyway that does by tag!
 
oh hey
 
Score per thousand views = 12.47
 
there's nothing stopping you from making your own query. Except having to learn SQL.
 
there you go @humn
 
8:45 PM
Voila!
 
fun fact: my first job was in a company in the business of databases and SQL, and the first thing I did was ask a senior engineer "what is SQL, again?"
 
Your first (or second, per "again") query, ffao!
 
p.s. that is a very low score
 
True. Still curious how that compares to other tags.
 
If you change 1000 to 10 on this query: data.stackexchange.com/puzzling/query/edit/722654 you can see
 
8:48 PM
I got a one-hour lesson on what SQL was and I think that was enough to carry me to this day, so it isn't a particularly hard language to learn
 
change 'WHERE Count >= 490' to 'WHERE Count >= 10'
or some number less than 490
 
It's not particularly hard to learn, but kind of hard to learn (and potentially ruinous) to do well
 
I had fun learning the SEDataExplorer, awkward thought it felt.
 
I could never write a query myself :)
 
Kept changing my mind on how to indent nested queries so that they were easy to follow.
 
8:49 PM
The problem is that trial-and-error query writing is TERRIFYING
 
@feelinferrety shhhh, I'm trying to encourage him
 
of to bed now anyway :) night all!
 
G'night Fuzzy Monster
 
Adios my good gerbil sir
 
Pleasant and puzzling dreams!
Learning SEDataExporer is perfect for puzzle solvers, I mean, have you seen its error messages?
Really, where are the errors?
It just gives the type of error and a variable name associated with it, not even a line number.
But when you get half good at it, SEDE is the next best thing to having access to moderator statistics.
 
8:56 PM
If I have the time and attention, I may dive in sometime
 
Here's one to recalculate points if ^votes on puzzles were to count 10 points:
select  top 1234
              ups                           as ups,
            5*ups                           as adjustment,
            u.Reputation                    as reputation,
            u.Reputation + 5*ISNULL(ups,0)  as revised,
            u.Id                            as [User Link]
      from  ( -- counts --
              SELECT u.Id       as  uId,
                     count(*)   as  ups
               from  Users      u
               join  Posts      p   on  p.OwnerUserId = u.Id
Turned out to only change things very much for a couple of users who post puzzles but not solutions.
 

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