LudumData

A Programmer's Life by Rene Damm

[raw]
made by Rene Damm for LD31 (COMPO)
Your ticket to managerial heaven where you don't have to fix a single bug anymore and can finally go to town with that company card.

Keep well intoxicated to employ that Ballmer curve just right to fix bugs and implement features at light speed.

Few bugs and many features mean lotsa users. Lotsa users means a happy manager. A happy manager means promotion.

* (actual gameplay experience may vary....)

PS: There's bugs and I ran out of time before getting to establish some balance in the gameplay. If you do manage to have fun with the "game", well, consider me surprised :)
Web https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/177059363/AProgrammersLife_WebPlayer/WebPlayer.html
Windows https://www.dropbox.com/s/uk3mstppv67dtpo/AProgrammersLife_Windows.zip?dl=0
OS/X https://www.dropbox.com/s/wfbadxptpoxc0bj/AProgrammersLife_OSX.zip?dl=0
Linux https://www.dropbox.com/s/8l6p5xkph1jbxse/AProgrammersLife_Linux.zip?dl=0
Source https://www.dropbox.com/s/gi5oanhjs6j3h2a/AProgrammersLife_Source.zip?dl=0
Original URL https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-31/?action=preview&uid=45029

Ratings

Coolness 53% 3
Overall 2.67 1033
Audio 2.74 540
Fun 2.11 1152
Graphics 2.65 841
Humor 2.98 268
Innovation 2.78 795
Mood 2.84 646
Theme 3.61 542

Feedback

benmcnelly
08. Dec 2014 · 21:06 UTC
This was interesting but a little depressing too :p
Norgesnerd
08. Dec 2014 · 21:08 UTC
Clicked a few buttons, a minute later I was promoted. GG.

Actual thing: Considering this was made in 48 hours (or less, of course,) it holds a pretty decent standard. Would rate it 3/5.
arzi
08. Dec 2014 · 21:08 UTC
It was a bit difficult to get into the game and after losing, new game just flashes the play mode and gets a game over immediately. Love the idea, though :)
Arkrothe
08. Dec 2014 · 21:09 UTC
Game isn't starting :(
Nothing happens when i click any item in the menu
Mossy Frog
08. Dec 2014 · 21:17 UTC
A bleak outlook on programming :P Pretty intersting mood. Nice entry :)
Ossi
08. Dec 2014 · 22:55 UTC
Ah, the life of a programmer, so much work! Very interesting and the music made it feel a bit sad. Well done!
apiotrw
08. Dec 2014 · 22:55 UTC
Depicts the chaotic life of a programmer pretty good.
Although I think that you could improve the buttons because they reacted very unprecise.
Zwergesel
08. Dec 2014 · 22:59 UTC
Missing features and a few bugs gave this game a lower rating! :)
It's a neat idea and I like the feature names and all, just could have been implemented a little better. The buttons react very sluggishly and you can't start a new game after losing.
anael
08. Dec 2014 · 23:00 UTC
nice guitar
nuiguy
09. Dec 2014 · 00:14 UTC
Found that game quite enjoyable, I really think that it could go somewhere if you kept at it but, with one new feature, so many bugs!!

-Nuiguy
Mixer
09. Dec 2014 · 00:15 UTC
Well, it was an interesting concept but rather short. Made one program, fixed the bugs, done. It could have been turned into a great game with more work though (have assets, money, sell things, rent licenses too name a few crappy ideas :)) Good but short game :)
ChronusZ
09. Dec 2014 · 00:18 UTC
The music panning sort of hurt my head :-/
🎤 Rene Damm
09. Dec 2014 · 00:37 UTC
Thanks all for trying the game :)

@Mixer
There's way too much randomness in the game. It's completely unbalanced. One game is over in a matter of seconds, the next one is slow like hell. I made the mistake of making the formulas way too complicated and then not having time to find the right parameter values to balance things out.

@ChronusZ
I never noticed until I tried it with headphones :) Indeed pans around like crazy. Anyway, first ever shot at recording something and editing it in Audacity, so I'm happy :)
Meta-link
09. Dec 2014 · 13:09 UTC
Funny concept, nice game !
And the music is cool :)
bitserum
09. Dec 2014 · 21:14 UTC
I finished (got promoted) several times but i can't figure out what i did, i just click random things.
It was a nice idea, but like other incremental games, it requires a lot of time to balance things out.
uvwar
09. Dec 2014 · 23:57 UTC
Like some others have mentioned I had a few games where I clicked on things and nothing happened, not sure if it was Unity or what. After reloading I managed to get things to work, but the initial buttons still seemed kind of touchy. Every time I played I also won in maybe 10 seconds so I wasn't even entirely sure what was going on at first.
Murchurl
10. Dec 2014 · 07:21 UTC
Quite an interesting take for a game, I like it! The guitar is nice as well! great job
mechabit
10. Dec 2014 · 12:49 UTC
man that music is pretty grating lol
Odefus
10. Dec 2014 · 17:41 UTC
Described my limited professional experience as a programmer to some extent. Trying to keep different parties satisfied while feeling the weight of the world coming down on you. I like the concept and with some balancing it could be a really fun game for those who can relate anyway. The panning music was horrible though. Had to mute it.
rnlf
13. Dec 2014 · 19:38 UTC
Too bad they don't let me drink at work in real life. Ballmer Peak didn't really convince my boss :-p
pjchardt
22. Dec 2014 · 05:55 UTC
Nice start, could be an interesting take on the management sim :) Had trouble starting and restarting, maybe the bounding boxes for the menu items is smaller than the text? Looks like others have mentioned this as well.
Shivur
29. Dec 2014 · 02:30 UTC
Seems interesting, but I didn't understood how I win so fast.
DiegoHenriquez
29. Dec 2014 · 07:50 UTC
Not bad, Rene. This really illustrates the wonders of bug fixing!
calavera
30. Dec 2014 · 00:02 UTC
Good audio and sad mood!