[flagged]
I’ve spent many thousands of hours since my early teens messing around with retro games and gaming systems. I haven’t accomplished anything as “big” as this person, but I’ve gotten to work on some cool things, and through that process I learn so much more about computer architecture and low-level programming than I ever could through school or work. The time I’ve invested into that has paid off in job and educational opportunities that would not have been available to me otherwise.
A hobby project that is both fun and hard is in my experience the best way to gain experience and develop my skills, regardless of whether it’s “useful”.
The first point is more-or-less: the OP should be using their talents for something "better". I don't think this is a really interesting question.
Them more interesting point is: "is this project useful?"
The end product likely won't directly serve some "useful" purpose, like making money or even being played by others.
On the other hand, building such a thing is _likely_ going to teach the poster a large number of useful skills that will serve them for "useful" projects.
This is fun for him. And it is intellectually challenging difficult work. It improves his problem solving and technical abilities but obviously he is enjoying it as a hobby.
Why do we care what you think? You clearly don't care what person putting in the hard work thinks.
it was fun
19/5 stars, recommended
Or not pay them, and tell them what they can work on?