The last year of my life made NBC

Yakaru · March 1st, 2013, 05:00 PM

Sorry, completely off topic, but for the last year I've been working on rewriting my company's product from the ground up to be cross platform. Today we launched our open beta for Mac OS X and it hit the news.
I know there's a few gamers here so it may be of interest

http://www.nbcnews.com/video/in-game/51009505/#51009505

http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/....php?t=3178669

Link to original page on YouTube.

mlj2093 · March 1st, 2013, 05:06 PM

so... hold the phone..

You run Riot Games?! Am I understanding this correctly?

Yakaru · March 1st, 2013, 05:53 PM

I'm Lead Gameplay Engineer

alex.s · March 1st, 2013, 06:06 PM

wow, no ****! that's pretty awesome. i'm an engineer at playdek games. we used to be THQ a long time ago, but... well... hah.

Yakaru · March 1st, 2013, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alex.s

wow, no ****! that's pretty awesome. i'm an engineer at playdek games. we used to be THQ a long time ago, but... well... hah.

Oh wow, you guys have computerized some of my favorite board games

Nice!

alex.s · March 1st, 2013, 06:12 PM

if you like boardgames, our upcoming lineup should be worth looking out for. i couldn't tell you how much time i've spent on LoL. i had to intervene on myself after a certain level of addiction. glad to hear about your restructure. having fun with obj-c yet?

Yakaru · March 1st, 2013, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alex.s

if you like boardgames, our upcoming lineup should be worth looking out for. i couldn't tell you how much time i've spent on LoL. i had to intervene on myself after a certain level of addiction. glad to hear about your restructure. having fun with obj-c yet?

Yep, but obviously most of the game is still in C++, obj-c is mostly just our interface layer.

Looking forward to it

rojoracing53 · March 1st, 2013, 06:22 PM

Holly $hit we have super gaming nerds on ninjette's I bow to thee

Yakaru · March 1st, 2013, 06:24 PM

Interesting motorcycle-related League trivia: Originally Ziggs was supposed to be a Yordle-on-a-bike with a side car full of explosives.

Trailerboy531 · March 1st, 2013, 06:26 PM

I'm playing LoL right now...... hook it up with riot points! :P

Yakaru · March 1st, 2013, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trailerboy531

I'm playing LoL right now...... hook it up with riot points! :P

I have a limited # of RP to give to friends and such; but if @Alex is cool with it we can have a contest and I'll 'pick someone from a hat'.

alex.s · March 1st, 2013, 06:48 PM

So now that your source tree is platform agnostic does that mean I get to play LoL on my android? Java's not so bad I promise!

Yakaru · March 1st, 2013, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alex.s

So now that your source tree is platform agnostic does that mean I get to play LoL on my android? Java's not so bad I promise!

hahaha, well it is still 'native' compiles, not Java VMs

Basically the structure is such that to support a new platform we'd just have to make a compatibility layer -- not trivial, but it's nicely segmented. I don't think your android is a contendor, but there's definitely a vocal Linux segment. If they'll get a port or not and how fast I can't say -- my role in that is done and such a port would fall to our engine-side guys.

alex.s · March 1st, 2013, 07:00 PM

Well, android ndk lets you compile native libraries to be called from java using jni but now you can actually just inherit from a helper class Google provides so you don't even really have to touch java... It's surprisingly easy. But it's probably for the better without. Having such easy access would probably not be good for my productivity.

Boom King · March 1st, 2013, 07:25 PM

Very cool.

I took a computer programming course in high school and attempted to make a game of checkers for my project. Could never get the red checker to jump over the black checker. Meanwhile, the super nerds beside me were programming some crazy wheel of fortune game. Safe to say, that was the last programming course I took. The closest I get to claiming nerd status is my comic book collection from younger that I still keep in protective plastic sleeves.

Trailerboy531 · March 1st, 2013, 07:50 PM

For some reason this thought crossed my mind earlier this afternoon. If LoL is free and I see...no advertising; then where does its revenue come from? Selling RP?

Yakaru · March 1st, 2013, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trailerboy531

For some reason this thought crossed my mind earlier this afternoon. If LoL is free and I see...no advertising; then where does its revenue come from? Selling RP?

Effectively, yes. We have two currencies in the game -- "IP" and "RP". IP you get for playing, RP you have to pay real money for. IP is how you buy things that give you 'power' (e.g. "runes", which let you customize some stats to your playstyle). RP is how you buy things that are convenience features (more 'rune pages' so you can quickly switch between said stat combinations), or cosmetic features (skins, which change how your character looks).

Our focus on not selling power has been a great decision: it buys a lot of good will in the community that you can't pay to win, and actually causes a lot of people to buy stuff just as a 'thank you'.

ADoMinGu3z · March 1st, 2013, 09:04 PM

friend just gifted me a copy of dota 2 but i suck so bad at all those tower defense games. LoL included. such a hard learning curve

Alex · March 1st, 2013, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yakaru

I have a limited # of RP to give to friends and such; but if @Alex is cool with it we can have a contest and I'll 'pick someone from a hat'.

Bring it on.

NewbieNinja · March 1st, 2013, 11:06 PM

Wow, sounds like the dream job.

Yakaru · March 2nd, 2013, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewbieNinja

Wow, sounds like the dream job.

It can be. It can also be hellish -- 80 hour work weeks aren't uncommon in the games industry. The saying I give to students who've talked to me about getting in is that it is a work-hard, play-hard situation. You have a lot of fun but you also have a lot of miserable moments. Still, there's nothing quite like shipping a game and reading happy player's responses

I don't think I'd get the same joy out of writing a database backend as I do out of watching kids smile... Does that sound as cheesy as I'm scared it might?

mlj2093 · March 2nd, 2013, 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yakaru

Our focus on not selling power has been a great decision.

This is one of favorite aspects of LoL. There are to many free to play, pay to win games out there. I heard that there is a LoL TD game out for iPhone?! Any chance that can makes its way to android? TD games are my jam. Also when I was deciding my major It was a toss up between Computer Science (for to become teh gaming engineer) or Mech Engineering. In the end Mech won out. But it would be awesome to do what you do 80 hour work weeks be damned. You let me know if you ever need a tester.

alex.s · March 2nd, 2013, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yakaru

It can be. It can also be hellish -- 80 hour work weeks aren't uncommon in the games industry. The saying I give to students who've talked to me about getting in is that it is a work-hard, play-hard situation. You have a lot of fun but you also have a lot of miserable moments. Still, there's nothing quite like shipping a game and reading happy player's responses

I don't think I'd get the same joy out of writing a database backend as I do out of watching kids smile... Does that sound as cheesy as I'm scared it might?

ugh. so true. why can't kids enjoy databases more!

YamiLionheart · March 2nd, 2013, 03:18 PM

When you said that one of the games you played was "my game, league of legends" in that other thread a few days ago I just though you meant that it was like, your favorite game, not that it was YOUR GAME.

That's awesome. The reason why I got a computer science degree originally was because I wanted to make games. Then I found out that game programming is like less than a percent of what most CS degree holders do and didn't even bother trying to pursue a career in it since I heard it was so competitive.

Ended up selling out to the man, now I program web applications in coldfusion and monitor servers for a power utility lol

Congratulations on your game though, that's a huge achievement. If you ever need to take on another programmer who's lacking experience in the game design field but would totally make up for it with enthusiasm and his warped sense of humor, you know who to call

As proof of ability, I mayyy be able to send some screen shots of my capstone project in game programming called "Ultra Quest"

alex.s · March 2nd, 2013, 04:11 PM

You're the guy who always gets bribed in crime movies! to put a virus in the power grid or else they'll shoot your mom in florida!

Joshorilla · March 2nd, 2013, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alex.s

ugh. so true. why can't kids enjoy databases more!

Hey! I write financial software and deal with our databases, I do it for the joy it brings me, the joy of money

I've always wondered what the typical Ninjetter does for a job, seems like we've got a lot of software guys.

JELY1990 · March 2nd, 2013, 07:41 PM

Wow that is a cool job. So many of my friends are addicted to that game too.
Great job bringing the game cross platform!

Alex · March 2nd, 2013, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joshorilla

I've always wondered what the typical Ninjetter does for a job, seems like we've got a lot of software guys.

What Do You All Do to Support Your Habit?

Yakaru · March 2nd, 2013, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YamiLionheart

When you said that one of the games you played was "my game, league of legends" in that other thread a few days ago I just though you meant that it was like, your favorite game, not that it was YOUR GAME.

That's awesome. The reason why I got a computer science degree originally was because I wanted to make games. Then I found out that game programming is like less than a percent of what most CS degree holders do and didn't even bother trying to pursue a career in it since I heard it was so competitive.

Ended up selling out to the man, now I program web applications in coldfusion and monitor servers for a power utility lol

Congratulations on your game though, that's a huge achievement. If you ever need to take on another programmer who's lacking experience in the game design field but would totally make up for it with enthusiasm and his warped sense of humor, you know who to call

As proof of ability, I mayyy be able to send some screen shots of my capstone project in game programming called "Ultra Quest"

Heh, thanks for the compliments; I'll keep it in mind but we're full up on associate level engineers.

If you play please feel free to sign up for some free Riot Points, I'll be giving a gift next month to a random poster in this thread: http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=125231

S1att3r · March 4th, 2013, 05:15 PM

Hmm I might try LoL now. I thought about playing when Athene started focusing on it but I just stuck to WoW.

algs26 · March 7th, 2013, 10:20 PM

You know, you're responsible for contributing to the [color] deficiency of [our lanfest] minors, right? Not to mention personal hygiene...

Yakaru · March 7th, 2013, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by algs26

You know, you're responsible for contributing to the [color] deficiency of [our lanfest] minors, right? Not to mention personal hygiene...

hahaha, most fans I've met have actually been quite nice and decently sanitary.

Dozer · March 7th, 2013, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yakaru

It can be. It can also be hellish -- 80 hour work weeks aren't uncommon in the games industry. The saying I give to students who've talked to me about getting in is that it is a work-hard, play-hard situation. You have a lot of fun but you also have a lot of miserable moments. Still, there's nothing quite like shipping a game and reading happy player's responses

I don't think I'd get the same joy out of writing a database backend as I do out of watching kids smile... Does that sound as cheesy as I'm scared it might?

RESPECT

EternalNewb · March 8th, 2013, 10:42 AM

Wow, congratulations! That's super cool.

One of my friends has been trying to get me to play this with her. Maybe I'll give it a go now.

algs26 · March 8th, 2013, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yakaru

hahaha, most fans I've met have actually been quite nice and decently sanitary.

Speaking of which, does Riot do promotional stuff for lanfests? Ours is coming up.

http://www.facebook.com/SACLANFest?ref=ts&fref=ts
https://lanfest.intel.com/events/sac...ring-2013/main

Yakaru · March 8th, 2013, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by algs26

Speaking of which, does Riot do promotional stuff for lanfests? Ours is coming up.

http://www.facebook.com/SACLANFest?ref=ts&fref=ts
https://lanfest.intel.com/events/sac...ring-2013/main

Honestly I don't know

algs26 · March 8th, 2013, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yakaru

Honestly I don't know

Fair enough.

alex.s · April 1st, 2013, 04:28 PM

not as cool as NBC, but my company made the local paper... LOL
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/...mm-and-others/

CZroe · April 17th, 2013, 12:16 PM

I want both of you to list every game project you've worked on so I can critique your work and tell you where you failed me.

CynicalC · April 17th, 2013, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alex.s

not as cool as NBC, but my company made the local paper... LOL
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/...mm-and-others/

You're definitely not cool enough to work for playdek. Must be qualcomm then?

March 1st, 2013, 05:00 PM	#1
Yakaru The Violet Vixen Name: Yakaru Location: Issaquah, WA & Las Vegas, NV Join Date: Jun 2012 Motorcycle(s): Perigee (250), Hotaru (250), Saturn (300), Pearl (300), Zero (S1000RR), Chibi (Z125), Xellos ('18 HP4R) Posts: A lot. MOTM - Jun '16	The last year of my life made NBC Sorry, completely off topic, but for the last year I've been working on rewriting my company's product from the ground up to be cross platform. Today we launched our open beta for Mac OS X and it hit the news. I know there's a few gamers here so it may be of interest http://www.nbcnews.com/video/in-game/51009505/#51009505 http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/....php?t=3178669 Link to original page on YouTube. Last futzed with by Yakaru; March 1st, 2013 at 06:04 PM. Reason: Added the video inline, cause it's hilarious.

March 1st, 2013, 06:06 PM	#4
alex.s wat Name: wat Location: tustin/long beach Join Date: Sep 2009 Motorcycle(s): wat Posts: Too much. Blog Entries: 5 MOTM - Oct '12, Feb '14	wow, no ****! that's pretty awesome. i'm an engineer at playdek games. we used to be THQ a long time ago, but... well... hah. __________________________________________________

March 1st, 2013, 06:12 PM	#6
alex.s wat Name: wat Location: tustin/long beach Join Date: Sep 2009 Motorcycle(s): wat Posts: Too much. Blog Entries: 5 MOTM - Oct '12, Feb '14	if you like boardgames, our upcoming lineup should be worth looking out for. i couldn't tell you how much time i've spent on LoL. i had to intervene on myself after a certain level of addiction. glad to hear about your restructure. having fun with obj-c yet? __________________________________________________

March 1st, 2013, 06:26 PM	#10
Trailerboy531 Gear crash test dummy Name: Max Location: South Bay (So. Cal) Join Date: May 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2010 Ninja 250 race bike, 2014 ZX-636r Posts: A lot.	I'm playing LoL right now...... hook it up with riot points! :P __________________________________________________ CVMA #531

March 1st, 2013, 06:48 PM	#12
alex.s wat Name: wat Location: tustin/long beach Join Date: Sep 2009 Motorcycle(s): wat Posts: Too much. Blog Entries: 5 MOTM - Oct '12, Feb '14	So now that your source tree is platform agnostic does that mean I get to play LoL on my android? Java's not so bad I promise! __________________________________________________

March 1st, 2013, 05:06 PM	#2
mlj2093 ninjette.org member Name: Matt Location: Norfolk, VA Join Date: Mar 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2011 Kawi 250 SE Posts: 105	so... hold the phone.. You run Riot Games?! Am I understanding this correctly?

March 1st, 2013, 05:53 PM	#3
Yakaru The Violet Vixen Name: Yakaru Location: Issaquah, WA & Las Vegas, NV Join Date: Jun 2012 Motorcycle(s): Perigee (250), Hotaru (250), Saturn (300), Pearl (300), Zero (S1000RR), Chibi (Z125), Xellos ('18 HP4R) Posts: A lot. MOTM - Jun '16	I'm Lead Gameplay Engineer

March 1st, 2013, 06:22 PM	#8
rojoracing53 Fast-Guy wannabe Name: Jason Location: Brentwood, Ca Join Date: Oct 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Ninja250, 2011 RM-Z250, 2004 NSR50, Posts: A lot. MOTM - Jan '13	Holly $hit we have super gaming nerds on ninjette's I bow to thee

March 1st, 2013, 06:24 PM	#9
Yakaru The Violet Vixen Name: Yakaru Location: Issaquah, WA & Las Vegas, NV Join Date: Jun 2012 Motorcycle(s): Perigee (250), Hotaru (250), Saturn (300), Pearl (300), Zero (S1000RR), Chibi (Z125), Xellos ('18 HP4R) Posts: A lot. MOTM - Jun '16	Interesting motorcycle-related League trivia: Originally Ziggs was supposed to be a Yordle-on-a-bike with a side car full of explosives.

March 1st, 2013, 07:00 PM	#14
alex.s wat Name: wat Location: tustin/long beach Join Date: Sep 2009 Motorcycle(s): wat Posts: Too much. Blog Entries: 5 MOTM - Oct '12, Feb '14	Well, android ndk lets you compile native libraries to be called from java using jni but now you can actually just inherit from a helper class Google provides so you don't even really have to touch java... It's surprisingly easy. But it's probably for the better without. Having such easy access would probably not be good for my productivity. __________________________________________________

March 1st, 2013, 07:25 PM	#15
Boom King So, where's the reverse? Name: Anson Location: Ontario, Canada Join Date: Nov 2010 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250R Posts: A lot.	Very cool. I took a computer programming course in high school and attempted to make a game of checkers for my project. Could never get the red checker to jump over the black checker. Meanwhile, the super nerds beside me were programming some crazy wheel of fortune game. Safe to say, that was the last programming course I took. The closest I get to claiming nerd status is my comic book collection from younger that I still keep in protective plastic sleeves.

March 1st, 2013, 07:50 PM	#16
Trailerboy531 Gear crash test dummy Name: Max Location: South Bay (So. Cal) Join Date: May 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2010 Ninja 250 race bike, 2014 ZX-636r Posts: A lot.	For some reason this thought crossed my mind earlier this afternoon. If LoL is free and I see...no advertising; then where does its revenue come from? Selling RP? __________________________________________________ CVMA #531

March 1st, 2013, 09:04 PM	#18
ADoMinGu3z ninjette.org member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 117	friend just gifted me a copy of dota 2 but i suck so bad at all those tower defense games. LoL included. such a hard learning curve

March 1st, 2013, 11:06 PM	#20
NewbieNinja ninjette.org member Name: Yue Pheng Location: San Diego, CA Join Date: Oct 2012 Motorcycle(s): 2008 Kawasaki Ninja 250r, 2009 Suzuki GSX-R750 Posts: 85	Wow, sounds like the dream job.

March 2nd, 2013, 03:18 PM	#24
YamiLionheart ninjette.org member Name: Mike Location: Eastern LI, NY Join Date: Jan 2013 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250R Posts: 166	When you said that one of the games you played was "my game, league of legends" in that other thread a few days ago I just though you meant that it was like, your favorite game, not that it was YOUR GAME. That's awesome. The reason why I got a computer science degree originally was because I wanted to make games. Then I found out that game programming is like less than a percent of what most CS degree holders do and didn't even bother trying to pursue a career in it since I heard it was so competitive. Ended up selling out to the man, now I program web applications in coldfusion and monitor servers for a power utility lol Congratulations on your game though, that's a huge achievement. If you ever need to take on another programmer who's lacking experience in the game design field but would totally make up for it with enthusiasm and his warped sense of humor, you know who to call As proof of ability, I mayyy be able to send some screen shots of my capstone project in game programming called "Ultra Quest"

March 2nd, 2013, 04:11 PM	#25
alex.s wat Name: wat Location: tustin/long beach Join Date: Sep 2009 Motorcycle(s): wat Posts: Too much. Blog Entries: 5 MOTM - Oct '12, Feb '14	You're the guy who always gets bribed in crime movies! to put a virus in the power grid or else they'll shoot your mom in florida! __________________________________________________

March 2nd, 2013, 07:41 PM	#27
JELY1990 Boring is my middle name. Name: Jason Location: Bay Area, CA Join Date: Aug 2011 Motorcycle(s): '09 Ninja 250r Posts: 258	Wow that is a cool job. So many of my friends are addicted to that game too. Great job bringing the game cross platform!

March 4th, 2013, 05:15 PM	#30
S1att3r ninjette.org member Name: Raygan Location: North East Texas Join Date: Oct 2012 Motorcycle(s): White 2013 Ninja 300(Storm), Silver 2003 Fjr1300 Posts: 173	Hmm I might try LoL now. I thought about playing when Athene started focusing on it but I just stuck to WoW. __________________________________________________ ATGATT For all I know, women who ride motorcycles are all man-hating dominatrix's. It was like a mild panic attack!

March 7th, 2013, 10:20 PM	#31
algs26 ninjette.org guru Name: al Location: NorCal Join Date: Aug 2012 Motorcycle(s): ex300, gave up looking for a 250 Posts: 435	You know, you're responsible for contributing to the [color] deficiency of [our lanfest] minors, right? Not to mention personal hygiene...

March 8th, 2013, 10:42 AM	#34
EternalNewb ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: S Location: CA/MA, usually Join Date: Nov 2012 Motorcycle(s): 2012 Ninja 250R, 2007 Ninja 650R, 2001 F650 Dakar Posts: A lot.	Wow, congratulations! That's super cool. One of my friends has been trying to get me to play this with her. Maybe I'll give it a go now.

April 1st, 2013, 04:28 PM	#38
alex.s wat Name: wat Location: tustin/long beach Join Date: Sep 2009 Motorcycle(s): wat Posts: Too much. Blog Entries: 5 MOTM - Oct '12, Feb '14	not as cool as NBC, but my company made the local paper... LOL http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/...mm-and-others/ __________________________________________________

April 17th, 2013, 12:16 PM	#39
CZroe CPT Falcon Name: J.Emmett Turner Location: Newnan, GA Join Date: Apr 2009 Motorcycle(s): '08 CP Blue EX250J, '97 unpainted EX250F, 2nd '97 unpainted EX250F (no engine), '07 black EX250F Posts: A lot.	I want both of you to list every game project you've worked on so I can critique your work and tell you where you failed me.

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