Working in Circles

Today, I am almost back to where I started. Functionally speaking. I have been redesigning the under lying class structures. Aside from using "better coding practices" like const declarations and explicitly using more references to limit the amount of actual data movement, I also changed a fundamental logical method.

Originally, I had the source graphic object take care of applying itself to the destination graphical surface. However, since now that every surface is its own object, I decided that it should be the destination object that does the blit-ing. This is because it is the destination surface that is being modified. The source is left alone. So to follow the idea that classes should modify their own data and not allow other to so meant moving the "apply" logic.

Granted, it wasn't that hard. In the end the same information is passed, just a different order of the focus of parameters.

This has allowed me to get a better understanding of C++. At times I think I have a handle on it, then something new appears and I feel very clueless. Oddly enough it isn't the concepts itself, it is more the lexicon and vocabulary. Usually after a few readings it all makes sense since they are concepts I have considered, but not in this context.

I also just need to do and implement. At times I feel hampered in my progress because I am working hard to translate my thoughts in to C++. Speed will just come over time.

In other news, my previous comment about the bleakness of the San Diego Computer Gaming Culture may have been in haste. Last night I attended the local IGDA chapter meeting. It has been in hiatus for the past year or so and is now being resurrected. Still it isn't near the size as Orange County or LA, but there is some promise there. There is enough raw talent in San Diego, but there seems to be a lack of gaming business leadership to organize that talent in to more studios.

A quick "back of a napkin" estimate is still about half a million dollars to fund a small studio of about three developers for two years. That is quite a few units to sell to make back that investment, not to mention to provide revenue to continue. This isn't impossible, 10 to 20 thousand units is pretty achievable, but by no means easy.

From what I can tell, a studio is going to be cash flow negative until they get two or even three products out concurrently on the market. So a good business plan is needed to get though that long start up burn of cash.