Yet another article on HN that reads as if the entirety of programming = making CRUD web apps.
I make games, it has nothing to do with the real world, I'm not solving any real world problems. I'm making a new fantasy world.
I would not write a post about it.
Game dev can be just hardcore programming juggling everything from euler equations to hardware performance budgeting.
Sure you can take the view this are just constraints in a problem solving exercise.
Or it’s highly skilled programming. I fall on the latter view for sure.
Like, you could also say that I'm solving the real world problem of, 'this exact game not existing, cus these specific people would love to play it but it doesnt exist' .. But that is a super-stretch.
Problem solving with real-world constraints = engineering
Problem solving without any constraints = art
Also, an artist's constraints are often self-prescribed, and they can easily change them if they like.
the most amazing art (both graphics and music) i have seen on computer were from atari, amiga, & c64 demosceners. these artists had real software and hardware contraints.
i like what you said about it being a spectrum though. i think it's hard to tell when engineering becomes art and art becomes engineering. but one can easily spot pure (for its own sake) engineering or pure art.
true and useful = math
true and useless = philosophy
"It is not possible to justify the life of any genuine professional mathematician on the ground of the 'utility' of his work." (G. H. Hardy, 1940)
Entertaining games solve people's desire to be entertained.