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Comment by coldtea | Hacker News Reader

>As an indie developer it's kind of tiring to hear all these developers constantly praising mediocrity and showing no will to improve their craftsmanship as long as they're able to make a living.

Well, someone who made this:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/760330/BYTEPATH/?curator_...

Shouldn't speak so derisively of Jeff's graphics.

This looks like a mediocre attempt of poor craftmanship and amateur graphics. It looks like a paint-over over something like Thrust with crude basic artwork...

See how it cuts both ways?

What's worse, unlike Jeff's games, where the gameplay and story are the important parts, this even has tired old mechanics and a trite shooter gameplay.

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I've written about this game and the process of making it here https://github.com/adnzzzzZ/blog/issues/35 and here https://github.com/adnzzzzZ/blog/issues/31 if you're curious.

>See how it cuts both ways?

Not really. I haven't been in the industry for 25 years and I haven't written articles excusing my game's poor visual quality. I'm aware of my abilities and I'm constantly working on improving them. For instance, you can see the current game I'm working on here https://twitter.com/adnzzzzZ and generally people are responding better to its visuals than they did for my previous game.

If you find me 20 years from now making the same types of games and writing articles about how my games look bad and how it's actually all intentional then maybe you'll have an argument.

>Not really. I haven't been in the industry for 25 years and I haven't written articles excusing my game's poor visual quality.

No, just comments pissing on the work of others, who have managed to be in the industry for 25 years.

I don't get how somebody who does this:

https://twitter.com/adnzzzzZ/status/1148009596801507329

Gets to complain about the graphics in Jeff's games.

>If you find me 20 years from now making the same types of games and writing articles about how my games look bad and how it's actually all intentional then maybe you'll have an argument.

What if I don't find you 20 years from now, because you didn't make it and quitted the industry?

>No, just comments pissing on the work of others, who have managed to be in the industry for 25 years.

If someone manages to do something for 25 years they're somehow immune from criticism? I don't think that follows.

>I don't get how somebody who does this: >Gets to complain about the graphics in Jeff's games.

People generally decide to get into a craft like game development because they think they can do it better than what exists out there. This sense is what guides you and what keeps you moving forward. But there's a gap between your sense of what is good and what you can actually create with your current abilities. And this gap can only be diminished by working and creating new things all the time. It takes time and patience.

https://vimeo.com/24715531

I'm constantly in the process of improving my abilities and I'm happy with my progress. I know where I am and where I want to go. But when I see another developer simply say that they have given up on this process in some fundamental way I will view that with disdain because I see it as a failure, which it is.

>I'm constantly in the process of improving my abilities and I'm happy with my progress. I know where I am and where I want to go. But when I see another developer simply say that they have given up on this process in some fundamental way I will view that with disdain because I see it as a failure, which it is.

So, you get a free pass at crude graphics because you're "constantly in the process of improving" and will "get better in the future", but veteran developers, with fans, many titles, and 25-year old careers don't, even though they have perfectly good (not to mention objective and spelt out in 2 posts) reasons for not investing in better graphics, and their whole genre is not about graphics but gameplay/story anyway.

This is Dunning-Kruger meets entitlement meets rudeness.

No, I get a free pass because I didn't write an article defending my game's poor quality art and posted it on the Internet. If I wrote such an article and said that I have no intent to improve said art I'd expect people to criticize me for it. But I haven't done that.

First of all, completely unnecessary personal attack. Second - guy's graphics is way better then, say, Avernum 3. So, please, refrain from saying "somebody who made this" because "this" has it's style, and it is consistent style, very good flow of animation and a soul. I can bet Jeff would get bunch of new dedicated fans if he did something like that.

I think that looks great, it is VERY stylized but it is consistent and definitely had a goal which is more than likely hit.

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