9
\$\begingroup\$

Does anyone see a genuine reason for asking this type of question?

My first instinct is to say that people ask this question to try to argument better their choice of language, therefore the question is completely puerile.

It could be to try to see what certain languages are capable of, but in this case, the question is off-mark.

I would however find interesting questions about how certain games in C / Python / Java / Insertlanguagehere cleverly got around the limits of the language and the hardware at the time of release.

Basically I think this questions are completly directionless and hence don't add anything to the site.

\$\endgroup\$

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
5
\$\begingroup\$

I also think they're directionless, pointless and would prefer not to see them on the site. They definitely should be wiki questions at least, so I'm glad that's happened.

One of the issues I see with them is that the "famous" games tend to be the larger commercial titles, which tend to use a whole variety of technologies in their development toolchain and even in their released products... this kind of blurs the line between what it means to be "written in" one particular language. What "percentage" of the game needs to be written in that language to qualify? How do you deal with server and client components (EVE being the prime example here)? What about games that mix C, C++ and/or Objective-C?

Feels like way too much subjectivity there to really spawn anything but discussion and debate backed by very little factual information.

\$\endgroup\$
1
  • \$\begingroup\$ I couldn't agree more. After all a game becomes famous because it's a great game and not because of the language it was written in. The programming language is just a tool imo, and these questions are as pointless as asking: Famous games that used 3DS Max for assets or something along these lines. \$\endgroup\$
    – bummzack
    Aug 9, 2011 at 16:05
2
\$\begingroup\$

My interpretation of the "Famous games written in" series is to further push forward the idea that you can make games in languages other than the "serious" game development languages de rigueur C and C++. I kind of agree with the sentiment that we should encourage game developers to try more abstract languages because there's a lot to learn about more modern programming practices.

That being said the questions are directionless and the answers don't add much intrinsic value to the site. At the very least they've been made community wikis so that rep isn't gained for them.

\$\endgroup\$
4
  • \$\begingroup\$ can they be molded or shaped through editing into better fits? \$\endgroup\$
    – Jeff Atwood
    Aug 3, 2011 at 1:13
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Jeff, I don't really thunk so, at least not within the confines of the Q&A format. A more specific wording that falls within my frame of reference would be "show me some examples of what is possible with this environment", but I don't think that's really any better. \$\endgroup\$
    – Tetrad
    Aug 3, 2011 at 6:28
  • \$\begingroup\$ Thinking about it a little bit more, maybe something that would add more value to the site than just "list off some games" would be "What are the benefits of working in a language/environment like X". That would hopefully encourage more thought out answers, but it still isn't an "answerable question". \$\endgroup\$
    – Tetrad
    Aug 3, 2011 at 6:30
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Tetrad♦ I agree, the "benefits" IMO would also be too subjective. I think concrete examples of how difficulties are overcome in a certain language/platfrom are interesting, but probably more confined to earlier console programming. \$\endgroup\$
    – Jonathan Connell
    Aug 3, 2011 at 10:04

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .