

The return of the 'bedroom' programmer [video] - jkbr
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-26653349

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acdanger
Papers, Please was my favorite game from last year. It amazes me that a single
person was responsible for the programming, art and music.

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pdq
My favorite example of a solopreneur game development is Chris Sawyer writing
RollerCoaster Tycoon in x86 assembly language in 1999 [1].

The game series (along with Transport Tycoon) sold an estimated $180 million
worth of copies.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RollerCoaster_Tycoon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RollerCoaster_Tycoon)

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samtho
I would sure love to get my hands on that source code...

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loup-vaillant
Well, what you have is pretty close. Comments and aliases will be missing, but
the structure is there.

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zura
Any advice [for programmers] of how to draw such pixel art [easily]?

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r4pha
I tried the "learn by doing" approach to pixel art with my only android game
so far. I honestly thought it would turn our worse than it actually did, but
it's still _far_ from what an artist would give me.

For reference, here is the pirate ship sprite I made:
[http://i.imgur.com/nsZpCVf.png](http://i.imgur.com/nsZpCVf.png)

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Detrus
Good effort and yea it does look like the work of a beginner.

Papers Please looks like the work of a seasoned artist. If a programmer wants
their game to have a polished look like Papers Please, he has to put in the
time into becoming a better artist (not just pixel artist, a general one,
because asking for pixel art only is asking how to be a good Android
programmer only)

That's why hiring an artist is reasonable advice, it will take years to become
good yourself.

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r4pha
Absolutely. Being good takes a lot of time and dedication. Had my main goal
been making money, I'd surely have hired an artist. Good thing is for us,
programmers, games can be relatively easily reused with new art on top of it.

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collyw
I guess it is the same as programming. You can get your friends teenage kid to
write something in PHP that will work, but if you want quality, you are better
off with an experienced professional.

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darrenf15e
inspiring. pixel art really has a quality all its own, regardless of the
technical or budgetary limitations surrounding its origins.

