[MUD-Dev] Starting out.

[ghovs at plex.nl]

On Tuesday 08 January 2002 23:31, Joel Palmtag wrote, among other things:

> (some starters, if you've got other's, please respond with those
> as well.)  How to take care of Marathon Coding, what kind of foods
> to eat (it's really hard to stay alert if all you've been eating
> are snack foods for 18 hours), what kind of versioning to use.
> Can it be done as a part time thing (hobby) or does it need a full
> time dedication.  Who to have work on it with you, etc,etc,etc...

Food and drink: Chocolate or maybe candy bars (if they're out, use cookies, 
or maybe those dextrose sweets -- sugar!), coffee, jolt or extremely dark tea.

Mentality: Frantically perfectionist.

Versioning: Triple numbers, with the first denoting some decisive
newly included features, the second denoting incompatibility with
the previous, the third denoting the current sort-of-working-I-guess
snapshot. Lose the first number when going public with it, and have
the second (now first) number be 1.

Environment: Devoid of people who want any of you to act normal and
unwind. Loud music of a type which a) doesn't bother anyone
physically present and b) offends Responsible Citizens. Ensure (if
possible) that the temperature remains stable in your
workspace. Make sure that you're comfortable before beginning. Make
sure your system is comfortable to work with before beginning.

End-of-work: After approx 15 hours (when doing full days) or after
approx 3 hours (when doing evenings), to be followed by group
recreation (your FPS of choice, or anything else which can elicit
expletives from the other people)

Wether you do it in evenings after work or full days is completely
up to you, and if you do end up playing an FPS afterwards, try
setting up a conference call if not everyone is in the same physical
location. It's really highly motivating.

... well it motivates ME!

I don't like the idea of going on beyond 15 hours straight, because
that's when one's mind becomes (or should I say has definitely?) 
locked in a set pattern, which is a great way to remain stumped, or
introduce bugs you will be ashamed of later on. I also am assuming
you will want to go on the next day, in which case good rest is
crucial.

I do recommend a bout of frivolous virtual violence whenever
everyone's stuck on something, both for team building and the
rational step back and think for a while approach. I don't recommend
doing large projects all alone, since the motivation is very hard to
maintain, and single player halflife just doesn't cut it.

Also, you miss out on the opportunity to sucker someone else into
getting food and drink. Sometimes (especially if you are actually in
fact the sole coder) it can be useful to have someone around who
isn't really coding, but does groceries, mental support, and always
has that nasty giggle when they frag you. Some extremely lucky
people have an SO filling that role. Don't have a non-coder group
hanging out, though, since that will lead invariably to more games
and less code.

The distinction between it being a hobby and it being a full time
dedication is mostly if you're getting paid.


rgds,
ghovs
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