"Uncle Tim needs games." I love this! I've been a lifelong fan of video games and a very long-time fan of your games in particular, Tim. You definitely get this a lot, but I'll also chime in and add that even as a fan of your games who loves to hear about each and every one of them, I value the honest life advice you give on this channel even more. Thanks for posting!
Risk can be scary when you have other people relying on you outside of work. I could, within reason, do whatever I wanted before children. There feels like so much more pressure when there's a tiny mouth that needs feeding, clothing and housing. That doesn't mean you can't push yourself, but the free time you have basically disappears. I've jumped from place to place, job to job for years but I only really had to contend with the fact that if I failed I'd have to crash on a couch or start back up from lower down. The thought of having tiny humans with basically no survival instinct utterly dependent on you puts some things in perspective (at least for me). That's certainly not to discourage others, and it doesn't mean I don't push myself when I can, it's just a huge other factor that explains why a lot of people are happy to sit at a level.
I am done challenging myself for the time being. There are many challenges I have to overcome lately and they aren't self imposed. So when I have some time for myself, I am trying to relax and enjoy life.
I have a massive non-self-imposed challenge that hurt me to the core. I had to give up most of my self-imposed challenges months ago because I was so shaken (challenges I had started and kept up with for years!) I forgot how to relax, but I'm relearning: if you _know_ how to relax, cherish it! I'm still working on a 9 month old game project; if I don't pressure myself, I realize there are times I want to do it anyway despite the difficulty. I cannot "relax" _or_ work without remembering certain horrible things, constantly. But just sometimes, when working or watching funny videos, I may get lost in the moment, flow kicks in, and I forget how much wrong there is in the world. And I realize things will eventually go right. :) I hope you find your way and enjoy life! The world cherishes you best when you cherish yourself best. Hurt-people hurt people; I think loving yourself makes it easier to love the world! I could go on and on so here's the secret formula: __[Positive Thing] is something you deserve.__
Thank you, Tim! This specific video is very poignant to me right now. I'm learning C++ and tinkering with game engines as a hobby, and sometimes I feel like I'm not making any progress because I still can't write code from scratch without 'training wheels.' I'll keep challenging myself and improving my coding skills, so maybe someday I'll be able to code my own little game!
Just got to a point the other day where I could make an open world in the terminal using ASCII characters, which was, for me, more fun than learning an engine. Don't get discouraged when you hit a wall, just take a break and try a different approach or side project.
Try Handmade Hero! 2 hours a night, every night, and you'll find it easy to write your own games from scratch. It's not a "you learn one magic thing" series, it's a commitment-based thing where you get better and better with time. It's 670 days right now, but I wish it lasted forever because it's about the commitment, not finishing it! The guy behind it is seriously good at programming. It's such a blessing he decided to start teaching.
Yeah, I'd imagine school would be fun if I was excelling as well, it was a grueling slog with this brain. Everything you said still applies, just on a much smaller scale, so thank you very much.
Sadly not everyone is as fortunate as Tim. I was an effortlessly straight-A student up until about sixth grade, then I started to question what's the point of slavishly learning all this useless stuff. Is this what life is about? The remaining years were nothing but deeply depressing!:D
@@mcashed Same, I actually held a 4.0 until the sophomore year of highschool to keep my parents happy, but after they divorced there was really no reason to do so. And by then, years of not doing anything caught up to me so I couldn't cruise even if I wanted to, I just wasn't that smart.
@@nikola3058seems you you actually are smart, because you were doing well previously. It sounds like you just have to find some motivations of your own instead of being motivated by pleasing your parents. It’s not easy to find what motivates you but don’t think that you’re not capable. Those kinds of thoughts will hinder you.
@@pieflies Thank you for the advice. I'm much older now, got a Bachelor's degree in industrial engineering and worked in IT for a bit before quitting. I'm pursuing what I like for the first time in my life and the motivation is a lot easier to come by.
One of the things Toyota apparently does is they expect your boss to give you increasingly challenging tasks to help you grow to the next level (they tend to favor internal promotions). Despite not being a manager I've tried to cultivate this in my own workplace and advocate for more responsibility to be given to individuals lower down the totem pole who clearly show potential. It worked great with a young woman who despite her ditzy manner was actually really resourceful and reliable. It didn't work so well in school when I basically appointed a less-than-engaged member of our group as the project manager.
My favorite projects were always the ones where I go "that'd would be cool if I did this" while knowing nothing about it, I always learn a lot and get better very fast.
Tim, what you recommend here is very admirable and definitely a goal most people should have. But... Not everyone can do that. For a lot of, probably most people just getting through the challenges of each day is hard enough. If not more than hard enough. So they don't have anything left in them to face yet another challenge. Still it's a great thing to aspire to at the minimum. And it's also why you're a big fish. That self driven need for a challenge is a fantastic thing to have and I hope you never lose it.
I love this mentality. It can be intimidating to take on extra challenges, but I find it's almost always worth taking the shot, trying to learn. Even if it's not about success in a career.
I would personally love to hear more about Troika and how managing the finances of a game studio changed the way you looked at products. I think it would be an interesting video to look at the finance side of game dev!
I'm 3 years in on a single game, Myself and a team of 4. I'm self funding this bugger too. So, I have already weighed the pros and cons and decided to go for it anyway. The man's right, you gotta be willing to take caluclated risks and occasionally accept failure, don't wallow in it, treat it like getting beat in a video game, you examine what happened and work out how to make sure it doesn't happen again. You get better, and eventually you will win.
Fortran will never die. It's impossible to kill. If you take a 30 year old code now, it will still compile and run on a modern machine, provided that required libraries are still available. Science code has much, much longer life times than almost any other code because people continuously drop projects and pick up old projects again. I still work with programs that someone else in my lab developed 20-30 years ago. Now if you want to expand those old codes beyond just fixing bugs, you need to know Fortran. This is why, if you have to learn a programming language as a scientist, it might as well be Fortran because it's likely that you'll have to learn it eventually. It's actually a huge problem that less and less people learn it. It's a very useful skill to have if you're a programmer perhaps looking for a job in high-performance computing.
This is FANTASTIC advice. Love love love. I've felt this way for a while now, and it's so great to hear this from a gaming legend. I've been making my own games and engines for six years now, mostly in my spare time. I've quit jobs because it stopped being a challenge. It's risky as hell, but I'm getting more comfortable living in that liminal space.
I never liked the idea of people wasting spare time learning because they didn’t use what they learned. I think no matter what you learned it can lead to more opportunities and experiences, it’s not a waste. Thanks for the great video.
As a self-taught programmer, challenging myself has been the key component to making sure I fully grasp the most important concepts! I just created my final for Harvard's free game development class and it was the first time I made a game from scratch, not building off an established project. I created a design document that was just barely within the scope of my abilities at the time, and I ended up blowing myself away at how much I improved by throwing myself at something, and having the dedication to see it through. I'm looking forward to starting another game soon and pushing myself just as much as before, the pursuit of knowledge is never-ending and I take pleasure in knowing that there's always a bigger fish to learn from! Thanks for the awesome videos, Tim!
I want to thank you, your videos inspired me to finally start learning Java, something I’ve wanted to learn since I was 12. I found myself stuck recently on my tutorials and felt myself “checking out” on the whole thing but the daily thoughts about wanting to do more and the potential games programs and text adventures I could be making never left me. This video was what brought my brain to where my heart is, just do it. Take the challenge. Thank you for inspiring me to really try coding, thank you for sharing your experiences wisdom triumphs and failures with us all. The advice is invaluable and you don’t even charge!
I share a lot of the same views on challenge and learning so it feels good to hear you talk about these things. I had the opposite experience with school though- they stifled my learning in most cases. I learned way more on my own or in extra activities like summer programs. I think a big part was my ADHD and struggling to get the physical work done, but i also had some bad teachers and overall poor schooling. But challenging myself and learning new things is fundamental to my life. Learning new languages, both spoken and coded, is entertainment for me, i never tire of it (literally, it triggers my insomnia). It's difficult for me to understand people who are just 'satisfied' with what they already know.
Haha, spelling tests not bothering you is funny! I had a similar story, but instead of being good at them because of photographic memory, it was through very easily associating new patterns between phonetics and spelling (I see the spelling once, I think of how it's said, and I get 100%). I'm not as good at that now, but I'm not much worse.
Being the big fish then going to college and realizing how relatively small of a fish you really are is really an incredible experience, I loved it too. It teaches you how to be smarter in so many different ways, just through being with these incredible people. I didn’t know how much I craved that, I did terribly in high school but great in college because it was so much more engaging.
Thank you so much. I was feeling lazy this evening, and this video reminded me of what I had to do. Paused it, worked for an hour, and then got back to it. Indeed, a 17 seconds video would already have received a thumbs up from me. Then, yes, what you said around 9:45 is exactly what I've just been doing. I know one needs to force oneself to do things, to undertake without looking back, but sometimes, I need to be reminded of that. This video came exactly at the right time for me👍
I kind of feel like the content of this video is for one category of people, not for everyone. My risk tolerance is very low (it's not like I don't have things to do) AND I would never see or describe learning anything new of my own volition as a challenge, but more as a ... pastime? Unpaid training? ... I distinguish between taking risks and learning a new skill. I learn for fun. I start and finish projects for fun, though all the while I'm more concerned with completion of something that will work and learning through completion. I'm much less concerned with running into problems and solving them as I am a more of a reward-oriented person. I understand that whenever you run into something problematic, it's an opportunity for you to learn something and make yourself more resourceful, but personally I'd rather pick on my own terms what to learn. I already have a timetable with things I want to try: finishing those Ben Eater projects; honing my C skills; honing my assembly x86 skills; learning more about operating systems; sharpening up my resume and all of its customized variants; understanding E-cores and P-cores and threads in a processor; working with Raspberry Pi 4 and 5, PiOS, and Raspbian; finishing the LinkedIn course on intro to career in software development; writing my own bootloader and relearning QEMU and NASM; ... . On top of that, I have to relearn how to drive. And that's only the tip of the iceberg. As though life is not full of challenges. There are things I want to commit to, but then there's all this other crap I don't want to do but have to. So, ... yeah.
Hello, Tim. A question for your future videos: I've seen that you commented on a video by Mortismal Gaming, talking about how "all the pieces are in place" for a potential Arcanum sequel/remaster, now that Microsoft owns the license and all 3 of you Troika Games founders work for Microsoft in one way or another, my questions are: - If you were given a green light, the team and the funds you'd need, and both your colleagues would be on board, would you want to do it, despite your semi-retirement? - If yes to the above, would you prefer to do a remaster of the original (to change what you didn't like), a sequel (to continue the story), or a reboot (to start anew)? - What is the number 1 thing you'd definitely and unquestionably want to put into another Arcanum? Thank ye kindly.
On the one hand it could be so great. I mean f3, f4 and New Vegas all belong to the top 5 best games ever made. Imagine an Arcanum like that. But on the other hand having seen outer worlds, starfield, fallout 76 and dozens others... something is gone. Is it self censorship? To large teams? Creative bankruptcy? All new games have amazing tech. Huge teams and budgets. And they feel like plastic. Hollow and boring. Ive gone back and played games which i enjoyed for their time but thought had large flaws after a while. Oblivion, bloodlines the two latest. I was never super impressed by bloodlines. Yeah i played it maybe 5 times. And it is not like Fallout New Vegas. But damm. Whoa. There is so much magic. Good fun. I thought when i bought it on steam that id be disappointed like ive been with so many other newer games. But i wanted to play something newish. But the new suck. So i went back. And as i said bloodlines yeah i liked it for its time but i moved on quickly. As i replayed it....i was shocked. It was a different era. It was so much more fun than the new games. And now oblivion. Melted plastic npcs. Levelling system sucks. Yada yada. These things i remember as i moved on almost 20 years ago...but as i replayed it again GREATNESS. i have no words for how failed the new games are. But there may come new generations that are HUNGRY and will make new games rather than the trash we get now. A new era may dawn. It is not this day. But it may come.
@@fredrik3880 "something is gone" -- Tim has mentioned industry "caution". (I'd call it fear myself. An issue is best addressed when properly named.) In the triple A space, at least, the overriding concern is pretty obviously ROI. It's more important to make back the money spent making a game (and, then, quite a lot more) than to make an original and memorable game. So, industry veterans, e.g. Bethesda, play it safe, essentially making the same game over and over again because the 'formula" has proven financially successful in the past. And if Bethesda "fans" say they want Skyrim in space, you better believe they'll get Skyrim in space when Starfield, no doubt, would have been much better served if Bethesda had chucked all that "winning formula" out the window for its "new" IP; started fresh; and set out to make something truly memorable in and of itself. That, however, apparently spells just too much risk in the industry environment and atmosphere as it is today. That's unfortunate, but what are you going to do? Until and unless the underlying paradigm changes, nothing will. That's why I find myself drifting toward the indie and "alpha" spaces these days. Tim also has mentioned the most creative ideas seem to be circulating there and that's probably true to a point, but I've noticed even those spaces are being heavily influenced by the more questionable industry trends. 'Life is Feudal' and what happened with that game probably makes for an excellent object lesson in the fact. Once the developers decided to go the subscription-based, MMO route, its community flew apart; the game faltered and was sold. Some new company is trying to breathe life into it, but the magic the original devs and community made together likely cannot be reproduced. Thus, I sincerely hope developers in such spaces will take their game's communities and community concerns to heart because, frankly, I don't get the impression most are hearing their communities over the din of the industry itself along with its definition of "success".
Thank you so much for this, Tim. I'm in school for software development right now and these videos have been so motivating with a true wealth of knowledge within them. I hope someday to have the opportunity to put a game out there for Uncle Tim to play and enjoy lol. Thanks again!
Tim seems so authentic. I think most people who would make a video about challenging yourself would come accross as narcissistic or hollow, but watching this video feels like listening to a mentor.
Thank you Tim. Coming from a completely different background and being self taught the idea of challenging myself in my skills always seemed so daunting, to the point where i keep questioning why am i on this path to begin with. I have to get into the idea that i have to do it even if nothing good comes out of it or that most programmers could do a better job. No matter what happens, it is a noble thing to pour your soul into something you want to create.
This is so motivating! I’m making my first game, learning my first language Lua/ Pico8. I don’t know anything about computer science, but I’m tech savvy and I’m learning. My game vision is clear. I see the steps I need to do. I think I can have it done by the end of the year. People make pico games in a week!
This channel has been a gem to find, it simultaneously has great advice and wisdom about life, and also gives an interesting glipse into the game development industry. Both are interesting.
Good video Tim, I'm a professional motion designer that does mostly stuff in After effects, now I'm starting to learn Houdini and UE5 by myself to improve my craft and that's just what I needed to hear. Tks m8
The tendency for risk aversion can be so crippling to premeds since the admissions criteria inadvertently prevents students taking difficult classes becuase there is no scaling, so it just puts you at a disadvantage to student doing easier ones. It seems like such a paradox that is so immensely frustrating as someone that knows how powerful taking risks and embracing failure can when the only pathway to something is essentially tied to risk averse academic decisions.
Your great memory is still obvious, in case you don't realize it. It's one of the reasons you are able to make your videos in a single continuous take with virtually no pauses or cuts. Most humans cannot do what you're doing here. We would need to remember and plan it out first, maybe write it down, then record it. We can see you pulling files from your memory every once in a while when you look up at the ceiling. For most people, this is a much longer process. We can't just "recall" a period in our lives on demand, unless it sticks out because of a very strong event, or if we go digging for it by accessing related memories, slowly uncovering details as we go. For us, its a bit like following a string in a dark warehouse. We trace the string to different memories, which lead to more memories, and so on. We could even run into something that completely surprises us, as if someone else planted it there and we had no idea until we found it. I envy your superior filing system. ..on the other hand, our filing system is much better when you WANT to be able to forget things. Once we distract ourselves enough, we can move on from almost any insufferable memory.
7.1k views 1 day ago. I'm challenging myself to publish my first game. Just a straightforward parkour and puzzle game, however I'm going to get a lot of experience in publishing, listing, and dealing with services on this game.
sincerely thank you for the videos! these small scale 'risks' only seem like risks in the moment, but it will find a way to give back to you...at least thats how i feel about my journey so far...doing my side project meant i never have to fear for not having a job for example, not having money...its risky in terms of nobody caring about them, but i believe one will find a way to leverage these 'failures', it will open the doors to something else, perhaps to some other passions / thoughts / plans...best of hope to anyone reading this, keep pushing!
So true! Although I've never lost the ability to learn quickly, I absolutely hated conventional school and I'm so grateful that part of life is behind me. If you're kind of like this, too, you gotta get into a field with a steep, preferably lifelong learning curve so you can be constantly pushing yourself. Otherwise you'll be miserable, probably as much as I was doing a regular job. Quit, make a passion to be your livelihood and you''ll be amazed how quickly you progress without your 9-5 safety net:)
Tim, what are the best way, you think, to challenge Game Designers and Producers to think more broadly and creatively? There is so much self censorship that flows down from the top right now and it constraints all of us.
Tim you are a amazing human being , i felt i needed this video right now. I wasnt challenging myself the past 2 tears and it was hurting me emotionally. Thank you
Go raibh MÍLE maith agat a cara!!! Thank you Timothy, this is SUCH a small but VITAL aspect of just.. life that many, (especially the young teens and young adults) need to know. Just like in your video about getting into Game Dev. You have to make a start to begin your journey or any journey that's worth going on in life. Thanks for the ever present positive vibes, innocuous musings and wholesome wisdoms ;P
Good message overall - I was hoping to send this to a friend who really needs some support to do something with life. Unfortunately I don't think this will help, from hearing how many advantages you've had and how satisfied you've been with school which is different for my friend. I think in fact this video would make him more depressed. He essentially believes that the entire system (world) is rigged, and therefore there is no point in doing anything, and while that assumption might be right, it is the wrong conclusion. I think he would need to hear this from someone who has had mostly disadvantages in life and felt that school was a waste of time only to turn it into something good in the end.
This video made me emotional. Thank you so much for this, and all your other videos, they’ve made such a big difference for my dev team and my role in that team. ❤️
I believe this is especially true if you're self-taught. The most common follow-up question I get after telling people I didn't go to school or take a class to work in programming or game development is, "How?!" And I literally tell them by always taking anything I learn a step or two further - basically testing myself to ensure I understand the core principles at play so I'm adding a tool to my toolbox and not just bandaiding or patching something - and I also watch that advice go in one ear and out the other 99.9% of the time!
Hey Tim. Thanks for the video. Motivated me to continue on my side-project of making a game. I think its quite unique and some day, when it has more "meat", I hope that you can try it and maybe even like it. :)
I've met and known a lot of people - people I consider gifted and exceptional in more than one way - that keep throwing their lifes away by not taking any risks, by not challenging themselves, by accepting and preferring comfort. I've also seen what a prolonged exposure to this way of life results in, as in, what it'll do to you over 10-15 years. And it's not pretty, let me tell you. So do yourselves a favor and listen to uncle Tim.
I think it's important to emphasize that effectively challenging yourself means something different for each person. As a person with a developmental and learning disorder, advice that's intended for neurotypical people is often unhelpful. Be sure to tailor advice to your current situation.
Another video that hits home. Life is about doing and learning. I’m on the cusp of starting my own indie studio just to do it. Definitely learning a lot! Tim, what was some of the games you’ve done solo? I must have missed that.
Anyone have immediate ideas that jump to mind for ways that people oriented towards narrative design or game direction could best seek out new challenges on personal time? Writers in general sometimes use stuff like etymology exercises to "keep their tools sharp", and directors across different fields sometimes go through books on management, communication, or leadership, but more ideas are always helpful!
Aye, so after your recent interview with TKM, does that mean China was the *"""Good guy"""* in the situation? Because we all saw what the military and vault tech were going to do to Americans
@Timothy Cain, may I ask you sir but are you ever open to a brief mentoring phone call, I run a really small operation out of Phoenix that's been struggling for many years to get off the ground, we finally got a good windfall and hope is in sight but I'm afraid something else is going to take the wind out of our sails yet again. I would really appreciate a chat as well as any wisdom you could off on our to handle our particular situation.
Hello Tim, is there a way I can reach out to you, either via email or through a letter? I'd really appreciate the opportunity to express my gratitude in person and share some personal questions I'd love for you to address. Of course, I understand if you're unavailable or unable to respond to fans.
"Uncle Tim needs games." I love this! I've been a lifelong fan of video games and a very long-time fan of your games in particular, Tim. You definitely get this a lot, but I'll also chime in and add that even as a fan of your games who loves to hear about each and every one of them, I value the honest life advice you give on this channel even more. Thanks for posting!
"Sucking at something it's the first step to being good at something" - Jake the Dog
Risk can be scary when you have other people relying on you outside of work. I could, within reason, do whatever I wanted before children. There feels like so much more pressure when there's a tiny mouth that needs feeding, clothing and housing. That doesn't mean you can't push yourself, but the free time you have basically disappears. I've jumped from place to place, job to job for years but I only really had to contend with the fact that if I failed I'd have to crash on a couch or start back up from lower down. The thought of having tiny humans with basically no survival instinct utterly dependent on you puts some things in perspective (at least for me).
That's certainly not to discourage others, and it doesn't mean I don't push myself when I can, it's just a huge other factor that explains why a lot of people are happy to sit at a level.
I am done challenging myself for the time being. There are many challenges I have to overcome lately and they aren't self imposed. So when I have some time for myself, I am trying to relax and enjoy life.
I have a massive non-self-imposed challenge that hurt me to the core. I had to give up most of my self-imposed challenges months ago because I was so shaken (challenges I had started and kept up with for years!) I forgot how to relax, but I'm relearning: if you _know_ how to relax, cherish it!
I'm still working on a 9 month old game project; if I don't pressure myself, I realize there are times I want to do it anyway despite the difficulty.
I cannot "relax" _or_ work without remembering certain horrible things, constantly. But just sometimes, when working or watching funny videos, I may get lost in the moment, flow kicks in, and I forget how much wrong there is in the world. And I realize things will eventually go right. :)
I hope you find your way and enjoy life! The world cherishes you best when you cherish yourself best. Hurt-people hurt people; I think loving yourself makes it easier to love the world! I could go on and on so here's the secret formula: __[Positive Thing] is something you deserve.__
Thank you, Tim! This specific video is very poignant to me right now. I'm learning C++ and tinkering with game engines as a hobby, and sometimes I feel like I'm not making any progress because I still can't write code from scratch without 'training wheels.' I'll keep challenging myself and improving my coding skills, so maybe someday I'll be able to code my own little game!
Just got to a point the other day where I could make an open world in the terminal using ASCII characters, which was, for me, more fun than learning an engine. Don't get discouraged when you hit a wall, just take a break and try a different approach or side project.
Try Handmade Hero! 2 hours a night, every night, and you'll find it easy to write your own games from scratch. It's not a "you learn one magic thing" series, it's a commitment-based thing where you get better and better with time. It's 670 days right now, but I wish it lasted forever because it's about the commitment, not finishing it!
The guy behind it is seriously good at programming. It's such a blessing he decided to start teaching.
Yeah, I'd imagine school would be fun if I was excelling as well, it was a grueling slog with this brain. Everything you said still applies, just on a much smaller scale, so thank you very much.
Sadly not everyone is as fortunate as Tim. I was an effortlessly straight-A student up until about sixth grade, then I started to question what's the point of slavishly learning all this useless stuff. Is this what life is about? The remaining years were nothing but deeply depressing!:D
@@mcashed Same, I actually held a 4.0 until the sophomore year of highschool to keep my parents happy, but after they divorced there was really no reason to do so. And by then, years of not doing anything caught up to me so I couldn't cruise even if I wanted to, I just wasn't that smart.
@@nikola3058seems you you actually are smart, because you were doing well previously.
It sounds like you just have to find some motivations of your own instead of being motivated by pleasing your parents.
It’s not easy to find what motivates you but don’t think that you’re not capable. Those kinds of thoughts will hinder you.
@@pieflies Thank you for the advice. I'm much older now, got a Bachelor's degree in industrial engineering and worked in IT for a bit before quitting. I'm pursuing what I like for the first time in my life and the motivation is a lot easier to come by.
@@nikola3058 Great to hear you're pursuing your passion - takes guts to make a change! All the best to you!
One of the things Toyota apparently does is they expect your boss to give you increasingly challenging tasks to help you grow to the next level (they tend to favor internal promotions). Despite not being a manager I've tried to cultivate this in my own workplace and advocate for more responsibility to be given to individuals lower down the totem pole who clearly show potential. It worked great with a young woman who despite her ditzy manner was actually really resourceful and reliable. It didn't work so well in school when I basically appointed a less-than-engaged member of our group as the project manager.
My favorite projects were always the ones where I go "that'd would be cool if I did this" while knowing nothing about it, I always learn a lot and get better very fast.
Tim, what you recommend here is very admirable and definitely a goal most people should have. But... Not everyone can do that. For a lot of, probably most people just getting through the challenges of each day is hard enough. If not more than hard enough. So they don't have anything left in them to face yet another challenge. Still it's a great thing to aspire to at the minimum. And it's also why you're a big fish. That self driven need for a challenge is a fantastic thing to have and I hope you never lose it.
I love this mentality. It can be intimidating to take on extra challenges, but I find it's almost always worth taking the shot, trying to learn. Even if it's not about success in a career.
I would personally love to hear more about Troika and how managing the finances of a game studio changed the way you looked at products. I think it would be an interesting video to look at the finance side of game dev!
I'm 3 years in on a single game, Myself and a team of 4. I'm self funding this bugger too. So, I have already weighed the pros and cons and decided to go for it anyway. The man's right, you gotta be willing to take caluclated risks and occasionally accept failure, don't wallow in it, treat it like getting beat in a video game, you examine what happened and work out how to make sure it doesn't happen again. You get better, and eventually you will win.
Tim's current challenge is RUclips. I look forward to when he takes on TikTok dance trends.
Fortran will never die. It's impossible to kill. If you take a 30 year old code now, it will still compile and run on a modern machine, provided that required libraries are still available. Science code has much, much longer life times than almost any other code because people continuously drop projects and pick up old projects again. I still work with programs that someone else in my lab developed 20-30 years ago. Now if you want to expand those old codes beyond just fixing bugs, you need to know Fortran. This is why, if you have to learn a programming language as a scientist, it might as well be Fortran because it's likely that you'll have to learn it eventually. It's actually a huge problem that less and less people learn it. It's a very useful skill to have if you're a programmer perhaps looking for a job in high-performance computing.
This is FANTASTIC advice. Love love love. I've felt this way for a while now, and it's so great to hear this from a gaming legend. I've been making my own games and engines for six years now, mostly in my spare time. I've quit jobs because it stopped being a challenge. It's risky as hell, but I'm getting more comfortable living in that liminal space.
I never liked the idea of people wasting spare time learning because they didn’t use what they learned. I think no matter what you learned it can lead to more opportunities and experiences, it’s not a waste. Thanks for the great video.
As a self-taught programmer, challenging myself has been the key component to making sure I fully grasp the most important concepts! I just created my final for Harvard's free game development class and it was the first time I made a game from scratch, not building off an established project. I created a design document that was just barely within the scope of my abilities at the time, and I ended up blowing myself away at how much I improved by throwing myself at something, and having the dedication to see it through. I'm looking forward to starting another game soon and pushing myself just as much as before, the pursuit of knowledge is never-ending and I take pleasure in knowing that there's always a bigger fish to learn from! Thanks for the awesome videos, Tim!
I want to thank you, your videos inspired me to finally start learning Java, something I’ve wanted to learn since I was 12. I found myself stuck recently on my tutorials and felt myself “checking out” on the whole thing but the daily thoughts about wanting to do more and the potential games programs and text adventures I could be making never left me. This video was what brought my brain to where my heart is, just do it. Take the challenge. Thank you for inspiring me to really try coding, thank you for sharing your experiences wisdom triumphs and failures with us all. The advice is invaluable and you don’t even charge!
I share a lot of the same views on challenge and learning so it feels good to hear you talk about these things. I had the opposite experience with school though- they stifled my learning in most cases. I learned way more on my own or in extra activities like summer programs. I think a big part was my ADHD and struggling to get the physical work done, but i also had some bad teachers and overall poor schooling.
But challenging myself and learning new things is fundamental to my life. Learning new languages, both spoken and coded, is entertainment for me, i never tire of it (literally, it triggers my insomnia). It's difficult for me to understand people who are just 'satisfied' with what they already know.
Don't be scared of failure.
Haha, spelling tests not bothering you is funny! I had a similar story, but instead of being good at them because of photographic memory, it was through very easily associating new patterns between phonetics and spelling (I see the spelling once, I think of how it's said, and I get 100%). I'm not as good at that now, but I'm not much worse.
Being the big fish then going to college and realizing how relatively small of a fish you really are is really an incredible experience, I loved it too.
It teaches you how to be smarter in so many different ways, just through being with these incredible people. I didn’t know how much I craved that, I did terribly in high school but great in college because it was so much more engaging.
Thank you so much.
I was feeling lazy this evening, and this video reminded me of what I had to do. Paused it, worked for an hour, and then got back to it. Indeed, a 17 seconds video would already have received a thumbs up from me. Then, yes, what you said around 9:45 is exactly what I've just been doing.
I know one needs to force oneself to do things, to undertake without looking back, but sometimes, I need to be reminded of that. This video came exactly at the right time for me👍
I kind of feel like the content of this video is for one category of people, not for everyone. My risk tolerance is very low (it's not like I don't have things to do) AND I would never see or describe learning anything new of my own volition as a challenge, but more as a ... pastime? Unpaid training? ... I distinguish between taking risks and learning a new skill. I learn for fun. I start and finish projects for fun, though all the while I'm more concerned with completion of something that will work and learning through completion. I'm much less concerned with running into problems and solving them as I am a more of a reward-oriented person. I understand that whenever you run into something problematic, it's an opportunity for you to learn something and make yourself more resourceful, but personally I'd rather pick on my own terms what to learn. I already have a timetable with things I want to try: finishing those Ben Eater projects; honing my C skills; honing my assembly x86 skills; learning more about operating systems; sharpening up my resume and all of its customized variants; understanding E-cores and P-cores and threads in a processor; working with Raspberry Pi 4 and 5, PiOS, and Raspbian; finishing the LinkedIn course on intro to career in software development; writing my own bootloader and relearning QEMU and NASM; ... . On top of that, I have to relearn how to drive. And that's only the tip of the iceberg.
As though life is not full of challenges. There are things I want to commit to, but then there's all this other crap I don't want to do but have to. So, ... yeah.
Hello, Tim. A question for your future videos: I've seen that you commented on a video by Mortismal Gaming, talking about how "all the pieces are in place" for a potential Arcanum sequel/remaster, now that Microsoft owns the license and all 3 of you Troika Games founders work for Microsoft in one way or another, my questions are:
- If you were given a green light, the team and the funds you'd need, and both your colleagues would be on board, would you want to do it, despite your semi-retirement?
- If yes to the above, would you prefer to do a remaster of the original (to change what you didn't like), a sequel (to continue the story), or a reboot (to start anew)?
- What is the number 1 thing you'd definitely and unquestionably want to put into another Arcanum?
Thank ye kindly.
On the one hand it could be so great. I mean f3, f4 and New Vegas all belong to the top 5 best games ever made. Imagine an Arcanum like that.
But on the other hand having seen outer worlds, starfield, fallout 76 and dozens others... something is gone. Is it self censorship? To large teams? Creative bankruptcy?
All new games have amazing tech. Huge teams and budgets. And they feel like plastic. Hollow and boring.
Ive gone back and played games which i enjoyed for their time but thought had large flaws after a while. Oblivion, bloodlines the two latest. I was never super impressed by bloodlines. Yeah i played it maybe 5 times.
And it is not like Fallout New Vegas. But damm. Whoa. There is so much magic. Good fun. I thought when i bought it on steam that id be disappointed like ive been with so many other newer games. But i wanted to play something newish. But the new suck. So i went back. And as i said bloodlines yeah i liked it for its time but i moved on quickly. As i replayed it....i was shocked. It was a different era. It was so much more fun than the new games.
And now oblivion. Melted plastic npcs. Levelling system sucks. Yada yada. These things i remember as i moved on almost 20 years ago...but as i replayed it again GREATNESS. i have no words for how failed the new games are. But there may come new generations that are HUNGRY and will make new games rather than the trash we get now. A new era may dawn. It is not this day. But it may come.
@@fredrik3880 "something is gone" -- Tim has mentioned industry "caution". (I'd call it fear myself. An issue is best addressed when properly named.) In the triple A space, at least, the overriding concern is pretty obviously ROI. It's more important to make back the money spent making a game (and, then, quite a lot more) than to make an original and memorable game. So, industry veterans, e.g. Bethesda, play it safe, essentially making the same game over and over again because the 'formula" has proven financially successful in the past. And if Bethesda "fans" say they want Skyrim in space, you better believe they'll get Skyrim in space when Starfield, no doubt, would have been much better served if Bethesda had chucked all that "winning formula" out the window for its "new" IP; started fresh; and set out to make something truly memorable in and of itself. That, however, apparently spells just too much risk in the industry environment and atmosphere as it is today. That's unfortunate, but what are you going to do? Until and unless the underlying paradigm changes, nothing will.
That's why I find myself drifting toward the indie and "alpha" spaces these days. Tim also has mentioned the most creative ideas seem to be circulating there and that's probably true to a point, but I've noticed even those spaces are being heavily influenced by the more questionable industry trends. 'Life is Feudal' and what happened with that game probably makes for an excellent object lesson in the fact. Once the developers decided to go the subscription-based, MMO route, its community flew apart; the game faltered and was sold. Some new company is trying to breathe life into it, but the magic the original devs and community made together likely cannot be reproduced. Thus, I sincerely hope developers in such spaces will take their game's communities and community concerns to heart because, frankly, I don't get the impression most are hearing their communities over the din of the industry itself along with its definition of "success".
Thank you so much for this, Tim. I'm in school for software development right now and these videos have been so motivating with a true wealth of knowledge within them. I hope someday to have the opportunity to put a game out there for Uncle Tim to play and enjoy lol. Thanks again!
Tim seems so authentic. I think most people who would make a video about challenging yourself would come accross as narcissistic or hollow, but watching this video feels like listening to a mentor.
Uncle Tim, thank you for this. It was really motivating!
Thank you Tim. Coming from a completely different background and being self taught the idea of challenging myself in my skills always seemed so daunting, to the point where i keep questioning why am i on this path to begin with.
I have to get into the idea that i have to do it even if nothing good comes out of it or that most programmers could do a better job. No matter what happens, it is a noble thing to pour your soul into something you want to create.
if my games ever releases and are successful, i will credit you for all the wisdom you've taught us in all these videos
This is so motivating! I’m making my first game, learning my first language Lua/ Pico8. I don’t know anything about computer science, but I’m tech savvy and I’m learning. My game vision is clear. I see the steps I need to do. I think I can have it done by the end of the year. People make pico games in a week!
On it Uncle Tim👏
This channel has been a gem to find, it simultaneously has great advice and wisdom about life, and also gives an interesting glipse into the game development industry. Both are interesting.
Thank you, Uncle Tim - needed to hear that!
Good video Tim, I'm a professional motion designer that does mostly stuff in After effects, now I'm starting to learn Houdini and UE5 by myself to improve my craft and that's just what I needed to hear. Tks m8
The tendency for risk aversion can be so crippling to premeds since the admissions criteria inadvertently prevents students taking difficult classes becuase there is no scaling, so it just puts you at a disadvantage to student doing easier ones. It seems like such a paradox that is so immensely frustrating as someone that knows how powerful taking risks and embracing failure can when the only pathway to something is essentially tied to risk averse academic decisions.
Your great memory is still obvious, in case you don't realize it. It's one of the reasons you are able to make your videos in a single continuous take with virtually no pauses or cuts. Most humans cannot do what you're doing here. We would need to remember and plan it out first, maybe write it down, then record it. We can see you pulling files from your memory every once in a while when you look up at the ceiling. For most people, this is a much longer process. We can't just "recall" a period in our lives on demand, unless it sticks out because of a very strong event, or if we go digging for it by accessing related memories, slowly uncovering details as we go. For us, its a bit like following a string in a dark warehouse. We trace the string to different memories, which lead to more memories, and so on. We could even run into something that completely surprises us, as if someone else planted it there and we had no idea until we found it. I envy your superior filing system.
..on the other hand, our filing system is much better when you WANT to be able to forget things. Once we distract ourselves enough, we can move on from almost any insufferable memory.
You've just explained how my memory works far better than I could myself 😂
7.1k views 1 day ago.
I'm challenging myself to publish my first game. Just a straightforward parkour and puzzle game, however I'm going to get a lot of experience in publishing, listing, and dealing with services on this game.
Tim: Spelling test? Oh, let me just take a picture of the words with my brain.
sincerely thank you for the videos! these small scale 'risks' only seem like risks in the moment, but it will find a way to give back to you...at least thats how i feel about my journey so far...doing my side project meant i never have to fear for not having a job for example, not having money...its risky in terms of nobody caring about them, but i believe one will find a way to leverage these 'failures', it will open the doors to something else, perhaps to some other passions / thoughts / plans...best of hope to anyone reading this, keep pushing!
So true! Although I've never lost the ability to learn quickly, I absolutely hated conventional school and I'm so grateful that part of life is behind me. If you're kind of like this, too, you gotta get into a field with a steep, preferably lifelong learning curve so you can be constantly pushing yourself. Otherwise you'll be miserable, probably as much as I was doing a regular job. Quit, make a passion to be your livelihood and you''ll be amazed how quickly you progress without your 9-5 safety net:)
Thanks Tim!
Thank you for the advice. It’s fun to take on challenging things. humans are like goal machines we love a problem to solve.
"The future belongs to those who learn more skills and combine them in creative ways"
Robert Greene,Mastery
Tim, what are the best way, you think, to challenge Game Designers and Producers to think more broadly and creatively? There is so much self censorship that flows down from the top right now and it constraints all of us.
Tim you are a amazing human being , i felt i needed this video right now. I wasnt challenging myself the past 2 tears and it was hurting me emotionally. Thank you
Go raibh MÍLE maith agat a cara!!! Thank you Timothy, this is SUCH a small but VITAL aspect of just.. life that many, (especially the young teens and young adults) need to know. Just like in your video about getting into Game Dev. You have to make a start to begin your journey or any journey that's worth going on in life.
Thanks for the ever present positive vibes, innocuous musings and wholesome wisdoms ;P
My much needed motivation, thanks Tim!
Moral of the story: Tim wants kick ass games, I’m just joking, thanks for your videos Tim!
I love every video on the channel, but this one's my favourite. "Uncle Tim needs games" made my day haha
Good message overall - I was hoping to send this to a friend who really needs some support to do something with life. Unfortunately I don't think this will help, from hearing how many advantages you've had and how satisfied you've been with school which is different for my friend. I think in fact this video would make him more depressed. He essentially believes that the entire system (world) is rigged, and therefore there is no point in doing anything, and while that assumption might be right, it is the wrong conclusion. I think he would need to hear this from someone who has had mostly disadvantages in life and felt that school was a waste of time only to turn it into something good in the end.
Tim... you've done it again.
I definitely approve of this message, thanks Tim!
You're such a fuckin' inspiration, man. Honestly.
This video made me emotional. Thank you so much for this, and all your other videos, they’ve made such a big difference for my dev team and my role in that team. ❤️
Good life advice honestly
I believe this is especially true if you're self-taught. The most common follow-up question I get after telling people I didn't go to school or take a class to work in programming or game development is, "How?!" And I literally tell them by always taking anything I learn a step or two further - basically testing myself to ensure I understand the core principles at play so I'm adding a tool to my toolbox and not just bandaiding or patching something - and I also watch that advice go in one ear and out the other 99.9% of the time!
Another great vid! I'm gonna challenge myself today during game dev and work on things I've been putting off. Thanks for the inspiration.
i'm wondering if you could go over failure and burnout next
There's more bookshelves to the right?
The T-Cain lore thickens...
T-Cain is gamedev on autotune, shawty.
Thanks Tim! Another great video 🖤
Hey Tim. Thanks for the video. Motivated me to continue on my side-project of making a game. I think its quite unique and some day, when it has more "meat", I hope that you can try it and maybe even like it. :)
Uncle Tim, you're the coolest!
Perfect thumbnail Tim.
Great video Tim. Amazing as always! I've learned so much from you and I can't wait to learn more.
love that cold open line, thats it bye o/ xd
Yes.
I've met and known a lot of people - people I consider gifted and exceptional in more than one way - that keep throwing their lifes away by not taking any risks, by not challenging themselves, by accepting and preferring comfort. I've also seen what a prolonged exposure to this way of life results in, as in, what it'll do to you over 10-15 years. And it's not pretty, let me tell you.
So do yourselves a favor and listen to uncle Tim.
Tim: take risks
Me: spends all of money on lotto tickets
I would love to enter "Tim Cain Game Jam"
I love your thumbnails
Thanks Tim!!🐐
I think it's important to emphasize that effectively challenging yourself means something different for each person. As a person with a developmental and learning disorder, advice that's intended for neurotypical people is often unhelpful. Be sure to tailor advice to your current situation.
Another video that hits home. Life is about doing and learning. I’m on the cusp of starting my own indie studio just to do it. Definitely learning a lot! Tim, what was some of the games you’ve done solo? I must have missed that.
Sir, yes sir
00:15 bye Tim!
Prolog is declarative vs f.ex. C which is imperative. Lisp support both.
Tim's thumbnails are forming a flipbook of a man losing his mind
Anyone have immediate ideas that jump to mind for ways that people oriented towards narrative design or game direction could best seek out new challenges on personal time?
Writers in general sometimes use stuff like etymology exercises to "keep their tools sharp", and directors across different fields sometimes go through books on management, communication, or leadership, but more ideas are always helpful!
Davinci's pretty awsome.
I can really really identify with your story, but i gave up and i cant keep wasting time and my life anywmore.
Aye, so after your recent interview with TKM, does that mean China was the *"""Good guy"""* in the situation? Because we all saw what the military and vault tech were going to do to Americans
I like how unhinged the video thumbnails are becoming
Hey @CainOnGames, where do people reach out to you for consulting work?
Remember, if no one else believes in you, Uncle Tim does.
Hi Tim, could go into the process how manuals were made in your games.
@Timothy Cain, may I ask you sir but are you ever open to a brief mentoring phone call, I run a really small operation out of Phoenix that's been struggling for many years to get off the ground, we finally got a good windfall and hope is in sight but I'm afraid something else is going to take the wind out of our sails yet again. I would really appreciate a chat as well as any wisdom you could off on our to handle our particular situation.
Does this mean that the isometric-RPG look that we associate with CRPGs today came about because of the chicken pox? lol
If I ever hear this guy talking in the next cubicle over, I’d turn my music down so I could hear better what he has to say.
vault 112
Drifting into self-help, eh?
Hello Tim, is there a way I can reach out to you, either via email or through a letter? I'd really appreciate the opportunity to express my gratitude in person and share some personal questions I'd love for you to address. Of course, I understand if you're unavailable or unable to respond to fans.
Yeah. Improve one's Kung Fu.
Oh we don't get paid to do anything so get lost
Thanks man! As usual awesome and teaching vid