Thomas, I think you look at this situation differently because you start your projects with a different goal than some of the rest of us. I doubt you will ever view this particular aspect the same as me, but maybe I can give an example so you can better understand where I'm coming from.
If I get up one morning and decide, hey, I want to put together a little tune with a banjo. If that is what I happen to feel like doing, the thought would never cross my mind to change it even though the banjo is a relatively unpopular instrument. If I continue as planned many people won't like my music as much as if I'd changed it to a guitar or something. If I get up one morning and I decide to make a racing game, I would never abandon it to make a strategy game even if the community clearly wanted to see a strategy game more than a racing game. This is just an example of course, I have no idea how the community feels about these game types. The point is that I feel like making a certain type of game so I am not all that interested in what other people will think. Of course I will be happy if other people enjoy my banjo music and my racing game, but that wasn't my primary reason for doing the projects. True, sometimes I will have a few things I would like to work on and I will use the community's opinion to help me decide, but I am not getting paid to do these things so my own personal satisfaction is my payment while I work. I completely see where you are coming from though, in your mind it makes total sense to just change a language so that more people can play the game. While you don't see it the same way, to some of us that is the same as suggesting to switch to guitar from banjo or go with a strategy game rather than a racing one so that more people will enjoy it. I am not suggesting that you change over and work on projects the way I do, but I also don't think anyone should suggest I change to work on projects the way you do. Both are valid approaches to personal projects. I don't know if you are sighted or not, but the exact same division exists in the visual art world. On one hand you have people who view abstract art as something "their kid could have done with crayons" and on the other you have people saying that isn't the point. I think it is completely natural that the 2 different styles of thinking would also apply here in the programming world. --- On Tue, 2/1/11, Thomas Ward <thomasward1...@gmail.com> wrote: > From: Thomas Ward <thomasward1...@gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [Audyssey] my ramblings about programming: why I use vb > To: "Ken the Crazy" <kenwdow...@neo.rr.com>, "Gamers Discussion list" > <gamers@audyssey.org> > Date: Tuesday, February 1, 2011, 12:36 PM > Hi Ken and all, > > I guess my question is "why?" What exactly is the point of > writing a > game for a Comidor 64 knowing that the hardware and > software is > completely out of date? > > From my personal perspective I update my system roughly two > to three > years. When Windows XP came out I was one of the first to > switch from > Windows ME to XP. When Vista came out I had the operating > system up > and running about two weeks after Vista came out. When > Windows 7 came > out I purchased an upgrade about two months later. So from > that > perspective writing games that are known to not be fairly > compatible > with the next gen operating system is a bad design in my > opinion. If > you don't think about or plan ahead for these changes > developers with > the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" opinion are going to > be sorely > upset when their software no longer correctly runs. Which > is exactly > the problem we are facing now. > > For example, beginning with Windows Vista Microsoft added a > new > security feature, User Account Control, that is suppose to > help > protect you, the end user from viruses and other malware. > Unfortunately, since most of the VI accessible games out > there aren't > UAC compatible I have to disable the operating system's > security > features in order to play legacy applications written in VB > 6. Why > should I have to put up with using incompatible software > just because > someone is unwilling to change his/her ways? > > All I'm saying is it is fine to have these little > discussions of art > verses work etc, but the fact still remains if you choose a > poor > design it is a poor design regardless of how much you love > the > language, technology, or type of hardware you create it > for. If you > write it for a Comidor 64 go ahead but don't expect anyone > else to > play it as it won't run on anything modern. That sounds > like a whole > lot of work for nothing in my opinion. I don't really > understand this > I don't care if it is old opinion. > > Cheers! > > > > On 2/1/11, Ken the Crazy <kenwdow...@neo.rr.com> > wrote: > > You know Jim, I'm half tempted to make a game for the > Commodore 64 just to > > prove your point, for it is a good one. The sad > thing is that people who > > can't run visual basic could download VICE and run > that game. Of course, it > > would be terrible, but funny too. > > Ken Downey > > President > > DreamTechInteractive! > > And, > > Blind Comfort! > > The pleasant way to experience massage! > > It's the Caring > > without the Staring! > > > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. > You can make changes or update your subscription via the > web, at > http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the > management of the list, > please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. > --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. 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