Programming

Ideas are cheap. A dime a dozen, as they say. It's the implementation that's important! The trick isn't just to have a computer game idea, but to actually create it!

Scott Adams

K-Power Magazine, June 1984

The concept for PITFALL took less than 10 minutes. The difficult part was sitting at the computer, for over 1,000 hours, and making it happen.

David Crane from a Digital Press quote page

Learn how to program and play lots of games. If you find yourself capable of writing a game, someday you'll be capable of writing a really good game. My dad's a writer, and when you ask him how to learn to write, he says, "write." So basically, do it and keep doing it until you get good.

Fred Haslam

From SimCity 2000: Power, Politics and Planning by Nick Dargahi and Michael Bremer

Take the resources you have and use them in an original way.

Duane Alan Hahn

Very few programmers are able to create a big hit on their first or second attempt. It takes time to build the skills required. So start simple (at the bottom), write a game you are capable of doing, and work your way up to the top. After you create one game, take a short break, then make your next game. Each time you'll know a little more than you did before.

Ben Sawyer (adapted)

From The Ultimate Game Developer's Sourcebook

A computer is a computer and it only works in one way. If something new comes up, it's cute, but no more than that, because it's something the computer has always been able to do; you just didn't discover it before. It's like finding a penny under the couch, it's always been there, but it's cute to discover.

Bob Whitehead (adapted)

I wrote my first game on a remote terminal using APL/360 as the language. My first microcomputer game emulated a complete tank war game on a home-brew system I built that had a whopping 4K of memory and a 512-byte operating system. The point is, a good writer need not blame his tools. He'll make do!

Scott Adams

K-Power Magazine, June 1984

Right now we have talent and tools, but soon we will have talented tools. New intelligent software will help game developers speed up the process like never before.

Duane Alan Hahn (2005)