The gaming industry is a multi-billion dollar industry and has fueled a past time that has become a way of life. But what are the industry secrets that only the game developers know?
That's what Redditor u/Mandenmaker01 wanted to find out, taking to Reddit to ask Ex-developers of games, what is a secret people should know about?
And sure enough some game creatives started sharing...
Look Away....
excuse me wtf GIF by Chicago FireGiphyActual secret tip: most games secretly reduce the aggressiveness of enemies outside of the view to reduce player frustration of being sucker-punched by non-visible enemies. Looking away can sometimes help if you need time to look through radial menu's etc. during combat.
AI Cheats...
Hardest task for an AI engineer on any game with AI enemies holding guns: Getting those enemies to miss their shots in the first place.
Ugh, this AI is stupid, they all charge in at the front and let me mow them down.
Ugh this AI cheats, they magically teleport behind me and start shooting me when I have no cover because I'm engaged up front.
Creating fun but tough but fair and smart but not too-smart of AI seems ridiculously hard.
The Download...
Everything is a secret loading screen.
Absolutely makes sense to use that time.
That said in windows Vista or 7 you could reduce the boot time by ~3 seconds just by turning off the graphical boot screen. Reason: windows only started the boot process after the animation with the 4 balls forming the windows logo finished.
It Just Is....
curb your enthusiasm ok GIFGiphyIf you want to work in games, you'll never have enough time to complete anything to your satisfaction.
Thanks PS2....
One game which had seamless loading that I loved and didn't even realize how revolutionary it was at the time was Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. There was no "loading screens". The camera would automatically position itself in a way that you couldn't see the area behind you being unloaded or the area ahead of you being loaded when you were going into a new area.
Thing is, it never feels like they're obstructing your view. You will only notice it once you know what to look for and where. Only loading screen I can think of is when loading your save file. This was all done on PS2.
The Invisible....
Anything you can't see is actually invisible. It's called Frustrum Culling. Anything the camera isn't pointing at, also doesn't get rendered.
True, but Frustum Culling is only half the solution. The other half is Occlusion Culling, which needs to be set up and turned on (at least in Unity) which a lot of these bad, slow, terribly optimized, games forget about.
Occlusion culling turns off stuff that's in view, but obstructed entirely by something else (like an enemy behind a building, or a building behind a bigger building).
Pasta Rules....
Back-end is a spaghetti code, only God knows how it works. Everytime we fix something, we screw something up in return.
Fascinated by this even when I'm building a website lol, couldn't imagine being a game developer. Organization in logic flow and structured discipline in defining variables is key?
Vermin....
bugs cockroach GIF by CheezburgerGiphyMost employees are fired immediately after the game's release.
Time to add a ton of little bugs that'll take a year after release to be fixed.
The QC Group....
The qc dept. usually gets thrown under the bus by players but almost all of them have no idea the amount of work these guys put in. It's crazy to me that qc isn't considered a crucial part of development by regular users.
Deadlines are a really complicate affair, especially when talking about triple a games launched on consoles not just pc. The patches need to be sent to sony or Microsoft for testing and as you can imagine losing your slot because of delays screws everything up.
Let's have fun....
celebrate nasim pedrad GIFGiphyWhen you turn your hobby game development into a job, it becomes just another job.
I found myself playing less games in my spare time as a result, which then negatively impacted my excitement for the game dev job.
Making game dev a hobby activity again brought back all the fun, and my job is not related to gaming.
Seamless....
We had a PC, 360, and PS3 massively multiplayer real-time shooter working cross-platform in our office in 2012. It was so seamless that it didn't matter which system we had on our desk for the company-wide playtests. The higher-ups tried desperately to make this a feature that shipped, but the console wars were too hostile in those days so it didn't happen.
The Horror....
Almost everyone who worked on the game you love doesn't work at the company anymore as they worked horrible hours for a few years and then got fired as soon as the game was out to reduce expenses.
Everyone in video games is paid like crap except upper upper management.
You'd think you could have more semi-pro indie games where a team forms itself, makes the game, and shares equally across the board. Except of course I guess everyone wants to "cash in" when they do it themselves, so they do the same thing.
Taking Forever
GiphyPeople want to know why a game is a delayed. I was writing code for a now canceled project, the one cutscenes that took one minute of in game time took six hours of work. If a bug happens, it takes even longer.
So many players...
A game developer said this on TikTok, when you first start a game like cod, they throw A.I. bots in the online matches because it can be hard playing against real people when you first start.
Activision Blizzard have actually patented the reverse idea. They put new players into online games with experienced players who have bought micro-transaction items such as weapon skins. The idea being the new player gets their butt kicked and relates some of that towards the mtx weapons and so is more inclined to purchase them.
Look Behind You....
Greta Gerwig Movie GIF by LittleWomenGiphyIt's basically as competitive and cutthroat as the porn industry. If you complain about your job there is probably an 18 year-old willing to do it cheaper.
Too Soon....
Sometimes when a video game is terrible, it's not because the team who worked on it have no skills. Often it's because the company wants sales, so they set the release date too soon and don't give the developers enough time to create a well-made game.
Fools....
If you're working with a small team and the lead is set on producing one specific title. That's fine.
If however they continue to talk in circles without forward momentum. For example rewriting the initial opening sequence twenty times instead of moving on and completing the plot.
Only having vague descriptions for the art team and becoming irrationally upset when it take a couple weeks to go from concept to 3D model.
I signed an NDA in regards to one particular monster type. So I have to step lightly around what I say but that monster was the main one you'd be fighting. It had neat abilities but that was it. I guarantee you've fought and killed this monster many many times.
People are dumb.
The Tester....
Not a dev but when to school for Game Production for about a year and was a game tester for D3 Productions for about 2 years.
Don't test a game you like. Not as a beta tester, I mean a full time job. I tested several games on the PC and a couple on Nintendo DS.
I used to like games like Tetris and Breakout but now they are super repetitive to me now.
At school, we game a simple game for the school to play and review and it was then that I realized that some gamers will complain about the littlest things so if anyone ever decides to go into Game Production, keep in mind that you can't make everyone happy.
Flex It....
flexible GIFGiphyDon't know how qualified i am, first of all i'm a tiny indie developer, second: i still make games. Anyways for the question, please don't make your text like any sprite. it's more effective just to make flexible code for text. Drawing each dialogue box without code is a real pain. I admit, until recently i did this.
The 9-9-6....
If you are playing a Chinese Mobile Game (or using any Chinese app) is built by people working on 9-9-6. Its worse hell than the current western crunch.
They are expected to respond to phone notifications even while sleeping. They often work a minimum of 9 hours a day (not including breaks and travel) and usually have to work an additional 6 on weekends.
I really advocate for boycotting all applications as they are built by people who are being abused.
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.