So many wrongs to right:

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I specifically single out jcl because hes in charge of Conitec and they just do what he says

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Nope. JCL is just as much a cog as Doug and everyone else. Conitec is a German company and he does what THEY say not the other way around.

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do anything advanced in 3dgs you have to know about pointers, trig, some calculus, write a dll with c+++...

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Well yes and no. You are making a game one of the more difficult of software development tasks because of the different areas it covers: art, ai, programming, music etc. It's true that to EXCEL at 3DGS you will have to learn about some mediocre advanced concept (trust me, C++ is advanced... this is not) but we all know that TONS of people with no calculus skills or DLLS or C++ knowledge make games all the time.

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.because average people cant develop an advanced ai system, or shader or terrain editor, so therefore if we dont use these plugins then we can forget having realistic games.

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Average users will always make average games even with the best tools.
But exceptional users will always make exceptional games REGARDLESS of the tool.

You see this not just in games but in Music (White Stripes), Photography (Ansel Adams), Paintings (Georgia O'Keefe)... in anything that requires creativity, the true artist will find a way to get their vision out there and won't rely on convention to guide them. If the tools are lacking, they make the tools. And if they can't make the tools, they use whatever they find around to make sure their vision is seen and heard and felt!

Furthermore, where is it written the all games must be realistic? Where is it written that the best games are realistic? Realism is nice if it's relevant to your game but I can think of 30 years worth of un-realistic games that are legendary and still fun today.

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but for all these years there has been very little thought into what actually makes games cool.

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D'UH!!! That's because that is your job as a game developer not Conitec's!!!

Would you blame the hammer maker because you can't build a spectacular house?
Would you blame the word editor because you can't write a GREAT novel?

Put another way, can you imagine if Conitec was in charge of "fun"? They say that RPGs are fun and FPSs aren't and thus they don't develop any tools to work for FPS... how much fun would THAT be for the community!?

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And for ai? Has Conitec EVER developed anything decent for ai since the company has been founded? NO. capital N.

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And why should they? They can't develop EVERY game module out there for EVERY need. You might as well condemn them for never creating a SCORM module so I can integrate it with military protocols, for never making a "sticky" module so I can make a Katamari knock-off, or for never making a "gravity" module so I can make a Ratchett Knock-off!

As I'm saying above, if you want AI in your game you either do it yourself (which is incredibly hard) or you have someone do it for you. That someone could be Conitec but AI is NOT a tool; AI is the product of using those tools. At some stage, you have to take responsability for your the development of your game and not rely on what others have done but rather on what you can do...

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At least it would be nice for jcl to step up and admit that there have been some wrong direction,

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No one in their right mind would do that. No one in their right business mind at least.
After all, all I see here is a difference of opinion: they are going in one direction where you want them to go another. How is that wrong? It's not. It's merely your opinion vs. theirs and since they are the ones in control here, they trump any of our opinions... which isn't really true for despite your assertions that Conitec turns a deaf ear to experienced developers, I think we can all testify to the personal level of service Conitec provides for it's customers. It may not always be the direction you want to go in, Hell, it's often not been the direction I myself would have wanted, but they do listen and they do move forward and the engine and the community are better for it.


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"I don't have pre-made AI, I don't have pre-made shaders, I don't have pre-built Terrains. How am I expected to make a game if Conitec doesn't build it for me first???"

That's what you are sounding like to me. The more and more you go on Nitro the more it sounds like you are fustrated with your own personal game development efforts (or rather the lack thereof) and are trying to put the blame on the engine. It seems to me that you want the mythical "make my game" button and are mad as hell because Conitec hasn't given it to you yet! To me it sounds like you want to acheive professional results with only average efforts.

Have you considered that making games may just not be your gig? There's no shame in this... not everyone is cut out to make games. Maybe JCL will admit to a failure in direction when you admit to a failure in game development. Not likely to happen, is it?