Brad Wardell's views about technology, politics, religion, world affairs, and all sorts of politically incorrect topics.
Though I do need a vacation...
Published on March 16, 2006 By Draginol In GalCiv Journals

It's not just that I get to make really cool stuff for a living. I mean, I get paid to make computer games for crying out loud.

But that's not what makes my job so fun. It's the people. I work with some amazing people. They're not just talented, they're good people.  If I were to describe what a typical day at our office was like, you just wouldn't believe that an office environment with 30 or so people in the main office (everyone else is external) is largely free from "company politics". It's more like a sitcom in which everyone is pretty funny.

If you ever listen to PowerUser.TV you can almost picture what it's like at work. Though admittedly we do ask questions on Monty Python and The Simpsons during interviews which might have something to do with the general oddness of people here... 

But it's not just that they're nice and talented people, they're people who practically manage themselves. They're just amazing.  Cari and her crew (sexist hat on for a second, how many PC games have female lead developers?) can do an amazing level of stuff in a single day. 

Today, Jesse and Paul got in the rotating hardpoints. That means you can select your ship jewelry thingy and rotate it while it's connected to the ship and resize it.  They also started getting in the randomized players, random intelligence, no tech trading option, and other goodies.

And mind you, they also had to finish up the demo today so that QA could start messing with it in order to get it out to the public by the end of the month.  Speaking of which, they got that demo down to under 170 megs. This on a game that's like 1.4 gigs.  Obviously a lot of multimedia and music are lost but in terms of gameplay it's still pretty solid.

I will be going on a vacation in May. Just before E3. Taking a week off to go to Texas.  Though maybe I should take my laptop with me...just in case...


Comments (Page 2)
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on Mar 17, 2006
Seriously, WHY are you in Detroit? of all the god forsaken places to live and run a tech business.


I live in Detroit now. Since I work for the Department of Defense, I have moved all around the country. I can tell you that Detroit is bar none the BEST place to live! Much better than LA, Austin, Florida, South Carolina, Washington D.C., Saginaw, or Hartford. None of them have what Detroit has to offer. I wouldn't live anywhere else now that I have been here for a few years. So I disagree with you completely about Detroit being a bad place for a business.

Also there are thousands of Software Coders in the area. Michigan has more large universities than practically any other state, and all have big computer science programs. Heck, before I moved to program management, I coded control algorithms in different systems. If I didn't have such a secure job, I would check out Stardock.
on Mar 17, 2006
or Hartford


Hartford just sucks.. period... it doesn't deserve to be placed on a list of locations to live such as Austin, FL, So Cal etc... Hartford is the dregs of where you can live... I think it rivals Jersey.

Yeah, I live about 5min outside of Hartford.
on Mar 17, 2006
It's great to do a job you really enjoy and even better when the people who work with you are fun.

I say leave the laptop at home! Jill, hide it!!
on Mar 17, 2006
Wait, Stardock's in Detroit? I thought they were in Michigan!

...

Detroit's...in...Michigan?

...they have cities up there!?!?

on Mar 17, 2006
Hartford just sucks.. period... it doesn't deserve to be placed on a list of locations to live such as Austin, FL, So Cal etc... Hartford is the dregs of where you can live... I think it rivals Jersey.


I would tend to agree with you there, although I liked it better than Southern Cal. I'm sure it is just me, but the culture there is just plain weird.
on Mar 17, 2006
The thing that always gets me about Michigan is all the driving!

I have relatives out in various places in MI, and it seems like I spent 3/4 of my vacations visiting them sitting in the car. It took 2-3 hours of driving to get almost everywhere. It was like endless amounts of freeway broken up by the occasional gigantic "holy crap, four floors of stores?!" mall or what have you.

Not only that, but when I spent time at my cousins' house in Shelby Township, I was amazed to see that the side streets were 4-lane roads, and the main roads were more like 6!

So, my relatives keep trying to talk me into moving out there from my current stomping ground of Western Massachusetts, and I keep telling them I love them but they need to shrink their state first.

Peace & Luv, Liz

P.S. Not that I'd be much help to Stardock anyway unless they happen to need a secretary.
on Mar 17, 2006
Though maybe I should take my laptop with me...just in case...


Just.... one... more.... turn....
on Mar 17, 2006
Hmm move down south from the U.P. that could be nice I'm kinda getting tired of all snow. Have any openings for a system administrator
on Mar 19, 2006
That is a great thing to enjoy your job. I work with elementary school children. I have some good days and some not so good days, but I have the opprotunity to really influence the children in the right way. I dont play video games, but all of my children do. They are really influenced by them. So my question is are they decent games that are being made by your company or the "Vice City" types
-qwerty-
on Mar 19, 2006
Nonono, move to Washington!

1. Rain, so much rain! Love that rain!
2. Grey skies! All the time!
3. Ahhh, fry in the fall, then freeze in the spring!
4. Microsoft! They won't have to get a planeticket to buy you out!

Most wonderful place on Earth, seriously. You get attached to where you are.

Oh and they're most definitely decent games that Stardock makes, would be good for anyone's mind I think, and certainly at least as ethically deep as say, StarWars (but without all that sex). Hrm. Personally I don't think I was playing games this complex when I was in elementary school though, think I was 9 or 10 before I was playing X-Com: Enemy Unknown and strategy games like that(I didn't know what I was doing, but played them all the same). Oh and sorry for this paragraph, I ate a chocolate colored espresso bean an hour ago and somehow all the caffeine hit my brain at the exact same moment.
on Mar 20, 2006
Hartford Connecticut. Who ever mentioned that being the Dregs, I whole heartly agree. Spent about 6 months out there when it was considered the Murder Capital of the US...and they weren't kidding. Probably the most depressing and ugly place I have ever stayed at. Of course it was during the winter so that just compounded it all. For some reason I had pictured Detroit to be the same way...guess you can blame t.v. for giving me that idea.
on Mar 23, 2006
"It's not just that I get to make really cool stuff for a living. I mean, I get paid to make computer games for crying out loud."

Couldn't resist replying to this. I have two jobs. At one I get paid to run class V whitewater (river guide). At the other I get paid to watch naked women (strip club bouncer/DJ)

Can anybody top that?

Any way great job on an excellent game, and I really appreciate the stand you are taking on copy protection. Keep up the good work! (and so will I)
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