74 replies to this topic

[rouncer]

Can you get a game up and running stoned, cause thats what I do everyday, do you think it causes brain damage?
Making music when your stoned gives you a heightened sense of achievement, but when its over- your music just sounds like the same old dumb shit you usually pump out.

So, are drugs really worth it?

Or do they just make you feel good, and they arent good for iq work.

Programming is HEVY iq, but as we know ladies and gentleman games come out all the time, but some people think - only when they hire a separate man each map does the game get out.

Or, is it possible for one man to finish all the maps for one whole game, working like a novelist.

But I shouldnt stone out so much or ill never get the job done myself, anyone here have a cone up with a network up?

[Mattias Gustavsson]

rouncer said:

do you think it causes brain damage?

it obviously does

[TheNut]

That's a funny question because in the early days every game developer was high. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the genres we take for granted today were invented on the other side. Nowadays though, drugs are considered taboo and rightly so. Drugs serve only to enhance or otherwise relax you, then it just means you lack the will or self-skill to do that freely of drugs. In the eyes of an employer, not only is it illegal activity, but it shows you're lazy and lack the capability of game development. And if you slip out of reality, you become as productive as a sloth.

Making games and music is really fun stuff, even if it is redundant. You got to keep yourself "high" on the end result. Spice things up, improve your skills, and keep determined. Nothing's better than getting free enhancement from willpower. If you can't do that, then perhaps this is the wrong field for you.

[Goz]

Christ if i smoked a bifta and then tried to code i'd just site staring at my screen dribbling for a coupla hours ...

Either that or i'd go lie in the park and do bugger all for that coupla hours ...

[alphadog]

rouncer said:

So, are drugs really worth it?

Really depends on the drug and the amount of "usage"...

Mild drugs like marijuana in moderate use will relax you and *maybe* help creativity. No different than a beer or a glass of vino. I don't think it will have a non-negligible effect on creativity, even if many people delude themselves into thinking that it does. Excessive use will make you apathetic and useless, just like Goz says.

LSD will make you create some whacked out shit that nobody understands, even yourself once you come down. It'll be kinda funny, but non-productive.

PCP will make you see headcrabs on your coworker... at which point, you'll try to hit him with a sledgehammer. Not a good move, career-wise.

Personally, if you need a crutch to get through the day, maybe that kind of day isn't for you and you need something else?

[fireside]

Life is too short to waste it being high. I was high all the time in my younger years and I can hardly remember what I did. Mainly because I didn't do much.

[.oisyn]

rouncer said:

Can you get a game up and running stoned, cause thats what I do everyday

That actually explains a lot :happy:

Quote

do you think it causes brain damage?

Definitely.

Quote

So, are drugs really worth it?

Well, the big question is: are you more productive and more likely to finish the job at hand. From personal experience I'd say no, although mild amfetamine usage could surely help being more productive (not too much otherwise you'll have troubles concentrating). And I think most programmers oblige caffeine

[Hyper]

I agree with, TheNut.

PS: rouncer, You mis spelled HEAVY - you put "HEVY" ;) Drugs != Good for anything

[imerso]

You know, some time ago I was about to ask if you were on drugs, because you shown some paranoid behavior.

I am not judging you in any way, but I can tell you from my own experience, that in the end drugs distort reality in a bad way for you.

Although sometimes there is really a slight creativity boost, actually I think that it is far better to live without using any drugs at all.

EDIT: and yes, it causes brain damage.

[Wernaeh]

This

Quote

PCP will make you see headcrabs on your coworker... at which point, you'll try to hit him with a sledgehammer. Not a good move, career-wise.

will probably keep me chuckling for the entire day ;)

Cheers,
- Wernaeh

[rouncer]

There was a show on TV where i live in Western Australia about programming back in the 70's, some guy brought the code and the computers, and the other brought the marajuana.
Goes to show how smart some programmers are to be able to smoke dope and still write functioning code.

Also, depending on who your dealer is, sometimes you can get mugged on the way to the dealers house cause its in the bronx and its a lawless situation. :)

Alpha dog ->
For a while I was CONVINCED! the pot was the substance that opened me up, I learnt to draw whilst under the influence of marajuana but it seemed to only be temporary its beneficial effect on me. (Alpha Dog, you brought it up, it sometimes could have a beneficial effect.)
But it makes you lazy and slows you down after the initial hit it gives you just after you have the J.

Especially sketching, when I smoked a bit of dope I got the idea of doing delicate crosshatch work (It makes the best game concept sketches) and I had never done that before, The marajuana brought the page to life in front of my eyes.

You can trip out when you look at a picture, or trip out when you listen to a piece of music whilst under the influence of a drug and its an amazing experience.

I prefer to just do art when im smoking, I leave the programming till when im straight.

But is it all a mistake...
I wonder if I would have been smarter if I didnt waste all my formative years stoned instead of my brain developing properly. :) But you cant blame pot for your program crashing.

My musics at http://www.myspace.com/bluckus1 if you wanna check it out, ive got some of my art there too.

[Goz]

TBH, I don't regret my past drug usage. I have had a MASSIVE pot habit (About 2.5oz of high grade skunk a month) in the past. In fact it drove me insane but I found that stopping very quickly brought me out of that. These days I'll take a couple of lugs if offered one and then pass it on and I'm fine with that. Will only smoke at a party though anad not all the time as I once did (I never smoked at work though, just evenings and weekends which makes the quantity more impressive! ;)).

Beyond that I have a habit of experimentation. I have tried many psychedelics from LSD, MDMA and 5-MeO-DMT through research chemicals such as 2CB and DOB. I don't think for a second it helped my coding but it did help me to see myself in a totally different way and has made me a better person as a result.

Each to their own in the end. I'm not brain damaged. I never lost a job because of it. In fact im doing very well for myself, married and have 2 kids.

[Mihail121]

I'm definetely having troubles to concentrate with even moderate THC amount in the blood. And I'd say "stay off", even if it's plain MJ, 'cause you won't like to wake up the next day with a psychose or something as I did and it lasted for almost a week...

[Mihail121]

Goz said:

I have tried many psychedelics from LSD, MDMA and 5-MeO-DMT through research chemicals such as 2CB and DOB. I don't think for a second it helped my coding but it did help me to see myself in a totally different way and has made me a better person as a result.

OMG, not LSD man!!! You actually believe the things you see with LSD so I guess it will not help a great deal to code if you're seeing the floor going off in some sort of cosmic vortex... Jesus, no, no LSD...

[Sol_HSA]

I seriously didn't know there's so many drug addicts in these circles.

[Mattias Gustavsson]

explains a lot though...

[.oisyn]

Mihail121 said:

OMG, not LSD man!!! You actually believe the things you see with LSD so I guess it will not help a great deal to code if you're seeing the floor going off in some sort of cosmic vortex... Jesus, no, no LSD...

I myself have experimented a lot as well. And I still do every once in a while, for recreational purposes. Nothing beats spacing out on a combination of X and N₂O
LSD is cool, but not for people with unstable personalities. In which category you fall I guess when you wake up with a psychose from THC. But it's something I wouldn't do anymore, just like shrooms. I'm getting too old for that.

[Reedbeta]

Sol_HSA said:

I seriously didn't know there's so many drug addicts in these circles.

Drug users. I don't think everyone who's piped up here could honestly be called an addict (though, some could).

[Mattias Gustavsson]

same thing

[Reedbeta]

Are you really saying that everyone who uses drugs - even just occasionally - is an addict?