I'm afraid you've lost me there. There are plenty of examples of huge variations of coloration in both plants and animals.

That does give me an idea, however, to use various subsets of the DNS for coloration of different body parts. And with that, I enter the realm of the never ending increasing complexity cycle. Not EXACTLY feature creep, but just as bad. 

More or less baconman.

The color string will likely be a subset of the virtual DNA however. While I would like to it be an expression of the full sequence I'm having a hard time doing that without linking traits that I would rather not be linked.

I am undecided if I want to go with a binary string or not. I'm still playing with my genetic algorithms a great deal.

Sorry, I'm not trying to be a jerk -- I know you're trying to be encouraging.

You're not being a jerk at all. If you feel that way, say it. You weren't being harsh about it. I'm better off knowing I'm coming across that way. I tend to want to share/help too much anyway.

But edging up on 30 and feeling like you can't stand what basically all your training and work has been in is sort of a bummer, I guess, is what I'm saying.

I hear ya. More than once I've turned around and realized that not only do I not like the path my life has been on the for the past few years, but it's also not getting me anywhere. That is actually exact mind frame I was in before I decided I'm going to go to school, and I'm going to create games. Period. And nobody is going to stop me.

(Then I had to find a way to come up with the for school in the midst of cutbacks... talk about disheartening!)

This one went back to the school.

Sorry, I'll stop messing your thread up now. 

Yay! Now she can get a job and get into the workforce like the rest of us. 

Blindsight, I know you're trying to help, but I feel like you're being a touch condescending by assuming that, as a fourth year honours student already involved in research, I don't have some idea what grad school will be like.

Sorry if it came across like that. Certainly not intended, and not assuming anything either. I've just personally known many people who dread going into a masters program (Even after doing a lot of research on the schools and programs) only to find out that they really enjoy it and actually dread finishing it. If you're burnt though, you're burnt.

Would a "Cheer up bucko" work better?   

Ah so it's not the "Silver Bullet" but the Indium Bullet! Understandable confusion.

Thanks for that, I think it's possible. I was inspired by AdamAtomic's Canabalt, which I heard he sold over 300,000 copies of at $3, which earned him at least half a million dollars after Apple took their cut. I'm also working on a Flash game with Luke (cthulhu32) that I'm hoping to market to the iPhone when it's finished for a buck or two. If it can see the same popularity, then I should pull enough money to pay off my school debt and put that part of my life behind me. But that's the thing, I don't need a degree or anything this school has to offer me to make this happen, we just need to finish the game and market it.

Weird, I wanted to post a link to the game but it appears to be offline. Wonder why?

Right, but what do you do when your wonderful game, and great planning and marketing...simply don't get the job done? Be it because apple never gets around to approving you or you just get lost in the shuffle of all the other games. Or... (god forbid) Luke get's hit by a buss before it's completed, or cuts and runs on you after it is, or or or... you get the point.

I don't want to discourage you. That's your dream, so chase it! My theory, however, is that you need to plan for the worst while you continue to aim for the best.

-- As a side note, it seems odd that I'm encouraging others to go back to school. I dislike the system, the mentality, etc and it's not something I did immediately (for various reasons). It is only recently that I found a major I got excited about and pursued a degree, after already having been a software developer. As someone who is likely a fair amount older than those of you struggling through school, if there is one thing I've learned: Life happens. Get used to it.   

* How much information do you think should be given for each game? How much does this depend on the size of the list?

The title, genre and a brief synopsis of the game should be sufficient. Perhaps motivation behind it's creation if you feel like it. Adding technical details are important if you are using the site as a portfolio so anyone looking at it can know what technologies you are using at a glance.

* What do you think of my list of games? What would you change?

I'd first highlight your current project. Below that, the games that you have released that you are the most proud of. A link to "Other completed" and "Other WIP or incomplete projects" is great.

I think the main problem with your site is not that you have too many games but that each game takes up so much real estate. You could EASILY fit all of that information into a smaller list. I'm almost ashamed to post a link to my sight here because I haven't put it together yet so it's not "ready" but, as a crude, example, here it is anyway.

I could fit many many more projects on there without an issue. Changing your website style might be the way to go. Maybe you can work something out with Hinchy!

Certainly looks like it's coming along guys. Lots of potential there. The trailer could use some work IMO. Drawn out in some areas (run silent is a good example) and doesn't show enough of the gameplay elements in a short enough time span.

If I had the time I think I'd really enjoy working on it. Good luck with it!

At least for me, (correctly sized) images rather than downloadable files would be more interesting examples. As it is, I'll visit the links but won't likely download anything to look at it. Just FYI. I'd like to see your art though!

First let me say I don't mean to criticize you at all.  I'm really only posting to express my own ignorance (which isn't hard) about your line of work. Isn't "web design" kind of a thing of the past, the skills having been rolled into the "graphic artist" title?

Just curious because, while I can (and I think most people that would be browsing these forums, if not most people comfortable with internet technology can) put together a decent, clean and simple website there is certainly still a need to get other people to do it for you.

I'd be interested in sourcing some web work myself but the examples you posted don't strike me as something that I would need someone else to do. Don't get me wrong, the sites are nice, effective and I'm sure they meet the needs of the client -- which is the point right?

I guess what I'm really interested in knowing is, what exactly do you do/offer? Do you just do straight HTML or do you also do Flash, Animations, Graphics/logos, Custom wordpress themes, database backed UIs, shopping carts, etc?

I think I got to this point with school by letting people's words sink in. Words like, "You're brilliant/probably a genius/etc" or, "You've done all this? So why are you in school again?" or "In this industry degrees really aren't that important, it's the portfolio that counts." So I got the impression that I might be one of those individuals that doesn't need to be in school. The fact that I'm going to be in over $100K of debt certainly adds insult to injury.

But...if you're really that brilliant compared to the majority of the hoard (and really, if you are here, you likely are IMO) then within a few years you could be pulling in more than $100k with your degree to help back you.

Sure, you could push out on your own, but the risk is high for the same reward.

But if none of those work out for me then I'll pretty much have no option but to apply to grad school to do something I'm tired of or take a job I'll hate.

That might not be as bad as you might think. People in masters program are working on something they WANT to work on - not absorbing and regurgitating information for some test whos only result is an addition to your gpa.

If there is an area you still have interest in within your field, I think you might find your love for it again. Theoretical Quantum Physics, mathematical biology, or whatever flavor you enjoy (or used to) could actually benefit from having you researching it. You could CHANGE THE WORLD!   

Seriously though, don't count it out. At least look into programs that you might like, professors you might like working with etc. You might get excited again. It's not "School" at that point... it's learning.

I pre-ordered this on day one and while it has some bugs (it's a beta after all), the devs are doing a lot of good things with it and will sit and chat with you in the in-game IRC chan at times.

It a small team of full timers and some contractors that I think are doing an excellent job at not only the game itself, but also encouraging the community. You can see a lot of the games on you-tube because of the game export feature as well.

Few different game modes, which serve to mix it up quite a bit, as well as random units on team assignments that make things interesting.

Also, it's a good jump on for a few minutes, play a few turns and get off type of play-by-email game. Very accessible, in fact I've been known to have 32 games in progress at once. Some actively sending turns back and forth with people online at the time, and others waiting on my brother to run his turn during his breaks at work.

If you like simultaneous turn based strategy games, you'll like Frozen Synapse.   

I found and played this pre-release through the community over at AIGameDev.com. I haven't played it since actual release -- although my install states it's client 1.0.

I did enjoy it and found the weapons system well thought out and useful. It provides various tactics based on the weapon styles. Those tactics change as the game progresses and people (and enemies) get different weapons.

When I was playing, there was rarely (I think only once) anyone else on with me. But then I tend to play at odd times.

My problem is I move on from a game once I've poked, prodded and picked apart the gameplay. I'd certainly suggest checking it out if you like asteroids/captain forever style shumps.

...Still more opinions obviously! ug.

 

On a more serious note, when my career started leaning toward becoming a video game programmer vs. a regular application developer, I started to hear the slogan "school doesn't matter" a lot more. There were blogs, interviews, etc. by self-taught programmers telling me what a terrible idea it was to finish school and get that piece of paper. But from my own personal experience, a degree is an EXTREMELY good landing pad if things don't quite go your way. Having a portfolio is very important, but if you do not have the foundation behind your experience, its hard to convince a potential employer that you are worth what you say you are.

You can break into anything without a degree if you have the talent for it and the drive to see it through. Even in institutions that require a degree. But that's not the point I think.

Sure, having a good portfolio of your skills is good, and yeah, that, coupled with you showing your drive for making games may get you that job. That's great, unless of course someone with a similar portfolio and drive comes in with a degree and wants the job as well. Even then, should you somehow manage to get the job, your employer would have justification for paying the person with the degree more than they would someone without one, be encouraged to promote someone with a degree over someone without one and may generally respect someone with a degree more -- even if YOU are the brilliant one.

Keep in mind that it's the cream of the crop brilliant ones that make it on their own without a degree. The ones that work on cutting edge stuff, that take the risks, that push the boundaries, that bankrupt themselves to see the vision through. It's not the people who want a career doing what someone else tells them to.

There is a lot I could go into about getting your degree, but I'm sure you can find that elsewhere. To reiterate what I said previously, what you get out of school is much more than the degree. It's relationships (should you choose to keep them -- and you should!) and experiences you share with others.  The piece of paper is just to say "Yeah, I've done that too."

A student should be in complete control of his class schedule. I'm just not seeing any good reason for it being any other way. Piling extra classes on a student, therefore diluting the effort and attention he can put into each class, ultimately causing him to not learn as much as he could have is not extra-productive.

Actually I disagree with this. A lot of the schooling system is SETTING YOU UP TO FAIL -- not at the classes per se, but course planning. (One could argue that the courses are now designed to have you succeed in passing the test, but fail in actually taking away any applicable knowledge -- but I digress.) They have a plan for you, but often they don't spell it out. If you don't figure out what hoops to jump through and what classes will be offered when (and you can't know this) so you know when to take them, chances are you will be missing a course or two here or there...causing you to pay another year worth of tuition or additional for summer courses.

If, however, they had an actual plan with some built in flexibility to work with the student needs then the responsibility falls on the school to make sure that by following that plan you will graduate on schedule. Failing courses is of course going to muck that up.

Having struggled to jump through hoops to find out what I need, then find out what the requirements for what I needed were, then adjusting for changes in programs and requires between years...I can tell you I've felt the pain. I even went so far as to make sure I was in the honors program so I could get advanced registration, only to find the classes I need to take full a week before I could register. The only way I see that happening is through advanced, advanced registration by athletes, but there certainly are no athletes in my honors econ class (which I managed to fight my way into) which fell into this category.

With the freedom comes the responsibility. If you have full control of your schedule, then it's up to you to figure everything out. While I'm somewhat of a lone wolf kind of guy and hate leaving my outcomes in the hands of someone else who might screw me over, I'd rather they be responsible for making sure what they are offering, and I am purchasing works as they state. Clear guidelines, clear outcomes. A contract that they need to abide by. If they decide to cut a class or change a class in the major, fine, but THEY have to adjust and inform me instead of me having to speculate that of the three classes I need that the two that aren't offered this quarter, one of them isn't going to be offered at all anymore and I need to adjust my plans.

My suggestion for anyone battling through these sorts of schooling situations is talk to your counselors...often. Make sure that they are aware of your situation and bring up issues that arise. Make an appointment the first day registration opens, so if you can't get into a class because it's full you can SHOW them that you are trying and that you are not being given the chance to follow their guidance. They can often pull strings, get you into classes or bring up issues with their department heads -- who you can then be working with. I've had to do this to get some changing transfer requirements met/waived.

I really wish school/university was about learning rather than test scores, but there you have it. You can get your shiny piece of paper with your name on it by working really hard at struggling through the system. What you get out of school though, isn't going to come from the classes most likely. It's the relationships and guidance you'll get from the people there.

Wow, guess I have some opinions on the school systems eh?  Sorry about the wall of text. 

Aww! 

While I have the same feeling about Heros as I do about all power based storylines, it's the exploration and emergence of the powers that is interesting. After that, it just seems contrived because once people figure out their powers, they will likely be falling into the most efficient use patterns. That's why there has to be so many 'twists' and such which really just act as an inhibitor to the vast amounts of opportunities that would present themselves to the characters.

I'm sad though because I'm friends with Chris rose who plays Angela Petrelli. She's been in so many good things and had a lot of TV experiences but still struggles to 'make it' as they say. She's got a few other things in the works but I'd like to see her working a lot more (or getting paid a lot more and working a lot less!).

I demand credit.

Demand all you want. You didn't copyright it.  

I am both happy and sad to see this game.

Sad because I have plans for something very similar and hate doing games too close to something out there already. 

Happy because I think there is a real place for an updated, browser based tradewars type game. It looks really good and plays pretty well. I cheer you on sir!