
Ask HN: Who and how worked on games in 80's? - cosmorocket
As a developer in a team, I am used to some techniques and workflow, like using git, issue trackers, linters, common ways to discuss the structure of the code, the ways to debug and refactor code.<p>I wonder, how it was performed in 80&#x27;s?<p>Say, there are many titles for NES, e.g. Castlevania or Contra. These include graphics, sound effects, music, level designs. Work on these games include research on what can be technically done and what is not possible.<p>Who were those people working on games? How many people worked on one game? Was this work temporary for them or were there people who did it for years?<p>What was a career path for a game developer then? Where are they now?<p>How could a workday look for those employees? Like, a morning standup, a day of code creation, running and checking it on a TV? If people worked on separate machines, how did they merge all the changes into one working game?<p>Are there stories or books where I can know more about how it was and if it was much more different than is done these days?<p>Please share your story if you have anything in common with the industry of those times.
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danijelb
[http://all-things-andy-gavin.com/2011/02/02/making-crash-ban...](http://all-
things-andy-gavin.com/2011/02/02/making-crash-bandicoot-part-1/) This is one
of the rare stories about game development I managed to find and read. It is
not about 80s, but 1994 was much closer to 80s than it is to today.

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itamarst
[http://www.dadgum.com/halcyon/](http://www.dadgum.com/halcyon/) is a book of
interviews with classic video game programmers.

