#Development Hell

[joskippy]

What year is it

[askagamedev]

The time required to develop games has been getting longer and longer. Do you think there's any solution to reduce this time, like some kind of technological innovation, for example?

Development times haven't really gotten longer and longer, except in the outlier special cases (e.g. Grand Theft Auto, Elder Scrolls). What generally happens is that you see these games in the news that have had long incubation or troubled development periods where they keep going in circles for years, and then finally must commit to finishing the game and take two to three years to ship the game.

The real way to stop this from happening is a stronger production team that enforces decision commitment and completion urgency on the development team. There's no technology in the world that can make commitment-phobic leadership finalize needed decisions. In many such situations, making a real choice means accepting the benefits and drawbacks of that choice. Real drawbacks are always less appealing than a theoretically yet-undiscovered perfect answer without any drawbacks, even if a perfect solution isn't actually feasible. Lack of decision commitment is the primary reason for long, meandering development cycles.

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[pc-619]

Portion of a piece that's currently in development hell. Pelvic region could use a little work, but the boots deserve a Nobel prize.

[whiterose-fans-blog]

Well, Rooster Teeth just got shut down.

Everyone's fired.

Warner Brothers is looking to sell RWBY and Red vs. Blue.

Today sucks.

[the-uncanny-dag]

Desperation poll

[bkenber]

Danny Boyle's '28 Years Later' Finally Unleashes Its First Trailer

And so, it has finally arrived: the first trailer for the long-awaited sequel, “28 Years Later.” Like another sequel, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” it was stuck in the deep, dark and despairing pit known as development hell. But like said sequel, this one finally emerged from its depressing depths and looks to promise us another round of infected zombies running way too fast and devouring everything…

[courseyoulovemeyoudontknowme]

Planet of the Apes (2001, Tim Burton)

31/03/2024

Planet of the Apes is a 2001 film directed by Tim Burton.

It is a remake of the 1968 film of the same name, based on the novel Planet of the Apes (La Planète des singes) di Pierre Boulle.

In the year 2029, the daring astrounat Leo Davidson works in the Oberon space base in close contact with primates trained to carry out space missions; His favorite is Pericles, a chimpanzee. Once inside, Leo loses all contact with the Oberon and ends up crash-landing in the swamp of the alien planet of Ashlar, in the year 5021.

Leo will soon discover that this planet is populated by talking, evolved anthropomorphic apes who treat humans like slaves. The astrounat, captured by the apes, is later bought by a human trader named Limbo, a greedy and inept orangutan.

Due to a series of circumstances Leo manges to escape from prison and frees other humans and slaves, including the gorilla ex-soldier Krull, whose military career was destroyed by the evil general Thade, a chimpanzee, who manages the hunt to humans since the death of his father Zaius and is assisted by the ferocious gorilla Colonel Attar. The destination of the escape is "Calima", a sacred place for the monkeys, the temple of their god Seamus: according to their religion, in that place the god gave rise to the life of the monkeys.

In the finale, Leo reaches Earth in what he believes is his time, crashing near Washington. Walking inside the Lincoln Memorial, Leo is horrified to discover that the giant statue of the president possesses the face of General Thade.

The film came to light after a very intense development hell: ideas for a remake of Planet of the Apes date back to the 1980s, when Adam Rifkin was brought to 20th Century Fox studios with the desire to make a new film about apes. His film was to be called Return to the Planet of the Apes and described apes in Greco-Roman customs and habits fighting against a society of intelligent humans, the lineage of the protagonists of the 1968 classic, inspired by films such as Spartacus.

Peter Jackson later wanted to adapt a similar project in which the ape society was modeled after Renaissance culture and Roddy McDowall, the actor who had played Cornelius and Caesar in the original films, was open to the idea of having a part in the role of a monkey with an appearance inspired by Leonardo da Vinci. Jackson, however, dedicated himself to the creation of heavenly Creatures and only decided to resume the project in 1998, only to abandon it again when McDowall's death took away his enthusiasm.

[sorrowfulwill]

me: alright all I need to do is make the banner and the pfp for the ask blog and I’ll be done that’s it.

also me: *procrastinates my own passion project by making Will in a sweater with puppies for a wholesome boob joke*

[dougielombax]

Yeah this project is gonna be a shitshow.

I mean it already has been so far.

I think they should redo the game in its entirety, moving beyond a multiplayer-only approach.

But that’s just my opinion.

[askagamedev]

How much code is reused from game demos sent to publishers? Since developers don't have much time to create a good architecture at first and have to rush things, do they have to rewrite things from scratch once it gets in production?

The most common answer in all of game dev is always "it depends". Most game development falls along a spectrum with one extreme end being "well-oiled machine" (i.e. a project where almost everything is already well-established) and the opposing end being "no idea where they're going and holding on for dear life" (i.e. everything is new and vision/direction is constantly changing). Qualities like clarity of vision, team leadership, and total team experience will determine where on this spectrum each project falls.

If the development process is disciplined and things are proceeding to plan, the demos we show to the executives are not far removed from the final versions we release to the public because things are proceeding as expected. The better-established the game and its feature set, the easier it often is to develop. Franchise games like Madden, COD, or Assassin's Creed, or long-running games like World of Warcraft have a well-established formula, very experienced teams, and a deep tool chest that allow games and game content to be built very quickly and efficiently. They are well-oiled machines that don't often have to reinvent the wheel because they've been using and improving on that process for many years already. They know exactly what they are building and are very good at delivering it. Any demo they build to show off work in progress will be very close to what will be shown in the final version of the game. Very little work will need to be redone.

If development is troubled and the team is having difficulty hitting their goals and milestones on time for whatever various reasons, then the demos will reflect that. Most troubled development executive demos tend to be smoke and mirrors, with a lot of hacks and demo-exclusive assets that are held together by bubblegum and a prayer. These kind of demos can cause the team to enter into a death spiral because cobbling a bunch of hacks together for a demo actually puts the team even further behind schedule because we can't use those kind of hacks in real production. This means that these teams need to build almost everything twice (at least) - a hacky rushed way for the demo and then the "real" way. They constantly need to "catch up", but the hacks they put in place often cause instabilities and [technical debt] that must be addressed later on, which puts them further and further behind. This is commonly known as development hell.

These are, of course, the two extreme ends of a single spectrum. Most game development projects fall somewhere along that spectrum. More experienced and established franchises lean towards the "well-oiled machine" side because they've had all the bad practices beaten out of them over the years. Most new IP and experimental gameplay tends to lean more towards the wild-and-crazy side of the spectrum, because there are too many [unknown unknowns] on projects like that. If you ever find yourself repeatedly behind the 8-ball crunching to put together many demos in a row with lots of hacks, you may wish to consider parlaying the firefighting skills you've learned into a job elsewhere.

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[davrosfan23]

Oh what could have been. This could the resurrection of a beloved franchise or a Trojan horse wearing the flesh of a beloved franchise….to pass itself off as a beloved IP but who can say for sure

[meattelephone]

TOMMOROW!

after 1 year, a name change, botched releases and a lot of other shitdungle WORLD S E R I E S //1986// is out DECEMBER 31ST AKA NEW YEARS EVE!!

[deikshen]

One day, Shen Qingqiu comes from the city with a little baby in his arms. He says: "His mother died during childbirth and I am taking care of him." He names the child Shen Yuan when he is old enough to give him a name, and the child grows up in Qing Jing.

Everyone, absolutely everyone, believes that Shen Qingqiu is the biological father of that child. Only have to LOOK at them both and see the resemblance: the same eyes, the same hair, the same facial structure, the same lips, even the same angry pout. Rumors - Shen Qingqiu had a child with a prostitute who died and now he is taking care of him!! - are open secrets.

Shen Qingqiu, as usual, ignores them. He cares for his little one, raising him with the closest thing other Peak Lords can call love. Impeccable robes, the best meals, the best early education. Shen Yuan grows up as a polite, gentle, kind-hearted, sweet-faced child. He frees insects before killing them, isn't afraid to dirty his robes if he must go after someone, and has an avid interest in beasts and monsters beyond comprehension. The Peak Lords jokingly think: this child has taken his father's face and surely the good heart of his mother, may she rest in peace.

When he comes of age, he doesn't even have to dig a hole to be chosen for Qing Jing Peak - everyone knows that Shen Qingqiu has already made a place for him there. However, Shen Yuan insists on doing it on his own! He wants to earn his place. The Peak Lords respect him for it, and there are various interests, but he still ends up in Qing Jing Peak.

And Shen Yuan becomes Shen Qingqiu's clear first disciple. He is a skilled scholar, excellent martial artist who is not afraid to tear someone rude with foul words, but with an almost natural disposition to be kind, sweet and gentle with those who deserve and require it.

It is then that Luo Binghe arrives at Qing Jing Peak.

The Peak Lords hear of the rumors and they spread them like pollen in spring: apparently there has been a HUGE discussion between Shen Qingqiu and his spoiled son! Something involving a child with water burns, a beating, and a woodshed. No one understands what happened, but a day later, Shen Yuan completely disappeared from the Cang Qiong Sect.

And he has taken a young disciple with him.

Shen Qingqiu begins to act as if he never had a son - as if his whole life has been all about him, hostile and unpleasant. His mood is worse than ever and his cruelty is undeniable. No one understands what has happened between father and son, but these are rumors that even if whispered, bring the very bad faces of Shen Qingqiu. And no one wants to be behind Shen Qingqiu's wrath when it is unleashed.

(Shen Yuan had transmigrated. Into a baby! Into Shen Qingqiu's son! Yes, indeed his memories had been gradually unlocked, thank god. It would have been so weird to be a baby with the mindset of an adult... And he had believed, for a long time, that perhaps Shen Qingqiu could change. That loving him and caring for him would make him better when Luo Binghe reached Cang Qiong.

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

So, Shen Qingqiu can hate him for this reason if he wants! But Shen Yuan has to leave there and take Luo Binghe with him. He will teach him cultivation and do everything to make him become a powerful cultivator before his demonic seal is unleashed, he will do everything possible to prevent him from the Endless Abyss, and will prevent Shen Qingqiu from being turned into a human stick.

Probably, a single night of punishment and humiliation wasn’t enough for Luo Binghe to want revenge so hard. Actually?? He just would save the lives of all his martial uncles and his father in the process to kindly educate Luo Binghe and make him as powerful yet happy as possible. They should thank him!! He's sacrificing himself, his comforts, and his reputation to save everyone's asses!!!)

...

(Although Shang Qinghua had wanted to give Shen Qingqiu a son - a magical pollen pregnancy between Yue Qingyuan and Shen Qingqiu, which Shen Qingqiu would NEVER tell Yue Qingyuan was his child until the very last moment - for the drama and secondary revenge and angst 7/9, that had been a damn draft!!! He didn't even get to develop the background of Yue Qingyuan and Shen Jiu!!! And now that son ran away with his Protagonist!? System, what's going on!? Why do HE make sure the Endless Abyss arc be completed!? He doesn't even fucking know where the protagonist is!!! System have mercy on AND HELP!!!)

[reineydraws]

mihawk training with his step-kids! ft. smitten husband shanks

[loriache]

Thoughts of a newly resurrected girl

[ariaxco]

stop rushing: slow glow ups last longer ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ 🩰

everybody’s obsessed with overnight transformations. 30 days to a new body. one week to “that girl.” glow up in a weekend.

it’s cute — until you realize quick glow ups usually burn out just as fast.

real glow ups? they take time. they’re not dramatic montages with perfect playlists. they’re slow, boring, invisible at first. and they’re the ones that actually last.

here’s the truth: it’s not about changing your whole life in a week. it’s about changing tiny things consistently until your life doesn’t look the same anymore.

no crash diets. no fake confidence bursts. no temporary motivation highs.

we’re not here for a “new you in 30 days” — we’re here for a permanent upgrade.

the slow glow up looks like:

showing up for your 6 a.m. workout even when you’d rather sleep.

reading instead of doomscrolling.

eating one healthy meal a day without making it a whole event.

choosing to rest without guilt because you know you’re building a life, not a highlight reel.

it’s building habits so quietly no one notices until they can’t ignore the results anymore.

stop rushing. slow glow ups are silent, patient, and rooted. they're the kind that can’t be undone by one bad week or a little failure.

you don’t need to glow up fast. you need to glow up forever.🌷