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Comment by ddorian43 | Hacker News Reader

Imagine what the human-species could achieve if we used game-engine-developers for more productive stuff.

Why stop there? Imagine what we could achieve if we didn't "waste" resources on anything that was purely for entertainment, e.g. most movies, lots of facebooking/instagramming/twittering, restaurants focusing on making food that is more than bare sustenance, etc.

Of course, what then is the point?

Instagram isnt hard to build compared to game engine. Making food is not the same as highly skilled engineer. Drinking in a bar doesnt make you a scientist.

They're both hard to build, but require different skillsets. Moreover, game engines are often customized in unhygienic ways by folks early in their career. Maybe it's better these inexperienced folks run into the problems with their own unmaintainable code firsthand before they take on world-critical problems.

I am a game-engine-developer... without any work at the moment.

People just rarely want my skills, I work with C, C++, Lua, ASM, blazing-speed well built code that takes a long time to make.

People don't even ask me to do interviews, when I see all these posts on HN complaining of interviews I can't relate, I never get invited to them in first place, because I don't know React, Enterprise-Java, Electron and other whatever new very high-level tech designed to speed up dev (at cost of program speed for end user) that is popular.

Can you transition to db-engine-developer ? Being on the low-level it should be easier.

Example: http://www.scylladb.com/company/careers/#software-developer (they like kernel hacker more, but who doesn't)

You can build new features in c++, everything has to be fast/low-level, networking, use Lua to create coprocessors etc.

Why not apply/interview with them ?

Can you imagine what humanity would achieve if we stopped developing pointless or redundant new database engines?

I can, we'd have in-core sharding/ha/multi-dc in postgresql by now if they didn't focus on nosqls :(

I doubt that. If you're referring to the people adding the json datatype & operators, there's little overlap with the people working on replication related issues.

A lot of ex-gamedev(I'm one of them) go into embedded devices and mobile where power/perf still matters or over into financial(more common in eu gamedev) where latency is king.

That's the route I took(gamedev->embedded/mobile->bigco), I'd look into those type of companies where a low level native skillset matters.

There are plenty of jobs available for game engine developers, and low level engine programmers in general. If you'#re applying for jobs with React/Electron in the descriptions, you're not really applying for engine developer positions, though.

Where? Mind you, I don't live in a first world country... So it must be either remote, or allow relocation. (in my country at least ALL jobs are for React/Electron/Java... I applied to them because they are the only job listing that existed in first place, better to work on the 'wrong field' than to be hungry).

Well we're in Ireland and looking for a good C++ programmer. But not in the Gaming space I'm afraid :(...

It's very dispiriting to see someone with your skills having any trouble finding work. You should be in very high demand.

I don't know where youre located, but in many parts of the world there are low level c++ jobs available. The us and Europe are full of them, and every company I've spoken to has offered relocation.

There's a difference between people not wanting your skills, and people not wanting your skills where you're located, unfortunately.

I'm just going to put this out there.

Game engines have a lot of similarities with the problems in Robotics. Given an array of on-board sensors you need to build a model of your environment, plan through it, behave intelligently, and network information with other robots or human users. Furthermore to validate the product you need a simulation environment and engines like Unreal are starting to be used to do so (https://github.com/Microsoft/AirSim). High performance code is key to making it all happen in real time and C++ is the native tongue.

I work at http://shield.ai/ and we're building these robots today. Our mission is to reduce American and civilian casualties to 0 by 2030 in ground combat. If you're interested - here's my email adam.dorwart [at] shield [dot] ai

"if we used"?

Did it occur to you that many of these people might not want to do something else and would then actually not accomplish what they'll accomplish in an environment they actually enjoy?

People are not something "to be used".

Come on man, I know. But, many of these guys started as game-players at a young age (I learned programming to make games, and saw that it was more fun compared to creating, actually transitioned to easier webdev programming). If we could incentivise them somehow at a young age, maybe even just provide more options.

I'm failing to understand how webdev is saving the world more so than games...

It's on my long-term-roadmap to transition. Currently, I'm not smart enough.

Good on you. Maybe when you acquire more smarts you'll realize that games are an essential part of how we got to where we are as a species and that "using" all the game devs on "more productive" stuff could regress us.

Maybe somewhere in that transition you'll also take note on how many technological advancements originate from the game development field.

I'm thankful we don't have managers at the top of the chain, deciding what the human species should and shouldn't spend their professional time on, based on an extremely narrow and stereotypically uninformed world view.

Can you show/tell me how to acquire more smarts ? A detailed plan would be best.

But I think we kinda have managers at the top, no ? They decide where taxes,resources go.

And outside of North Korea, they don't decide your career for you.

Depending on who you ask, the same opinion could be held for developing programs relating to banks, market trading, movies, government...the list goes on.

My statement is a modified one based on the "highly skilled engineers working on advertising, I just think gamedev to be better".

Banks,market-trading != movies,games (correct?)

Imagine what how soulless the human species would be if we forced people to engage only in the work judged to be productive by a minority of people.

What if people want to develop game engines? What if people want to play games? What if personal passions are an important part of life? What if it isn't your time to allocate, but theirs? What if throwing a bunch of game developers onto protein folding wouldn't really help with protein folding anyway?

I think we throw protein-folding onto young game-developers somehow.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foldit has inspired several "do real science as a game" games.

Plenty of people bought graphic cards to play games and use them for protein folding in their spare time, thanks to Folding@Home. Sometimes leisure activities produce practical results.

You're right, but I was talking about game-creators, not players.

Everybody you know will die. Life is pointless. Go play some videogames.

Not if we invent a backup-restore + regeneration.

I've actually played a lot of video games (addicted to dota 1/2 for some time). Don't kinda like them any more.

It will only change the timescale, not the principle.

Why not a step further? Why allow entertainment of any sort? Surely musicians and artists could best be served pumping gas and digging ditches, as well! \s

:) Nah, we can just force the smartest 0.01%, no need for everybody. I like music though. It's like you can feel it more compared to paintings/movies.

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