If I had access to Unreal type 3D then, you wouldn't have been able to pull me away from the computer. So probably a good thing for me it wasn't!
I became a programmer because I had many, many hours with nothing to do at my grandparents' house. I did have a programmable calculator and the reference programming manual that came with it, so I'd recreate (in extremely basic form) the games I read about in magazines/that my friends told me about and that I dreamt of playing but didn't have access to, such as Diablo/Sim City/etc. Later I learned assembly to make faster games (I'd print out z80 asm reference tutorials at the library, write code by hand on paper, and then type it out, compile it, and load it on my calculator from a library computer a week or so later).
Honestly, lots of respect for the kids these days that are so self driven that they'll spend hours on their projects and not watching mindless short form videos. I don't think I'd have had that self discipline if I had had a phone with unlimited internet/YouTube/TikTok/etc access.
I'm jealous of the resources, not of the kids. No way in hell I'd want to go through being a teenager again, especially with social media existing. But that has nothing to do with the learning resources available now that were not when I was their age.
I don't allow my kids (kindergarten and middle school) to play Roblox based on the advice of a prosecutor in my town that works exclusively with child abuse, endangerment, and other crimes like that. She said Roblox and Discord are the top places right now where predators are hanging out cruising for kids to exploit. Discord makes sense, but I was surprised at Roblox.
As someone who came of age in the free-wheeling early 90s bbs and early internet era (“borrowed” shell account at a local university), it’s really disappointing how exploitive the internet and gaming is, especially in spaces that could stimulate creativity.
Any place with a large gathering of children and free form text input/chat instantly turns this into exploit. Pretty much every video game w/ chat has to deal with this.
> free-wheeling early 90s bbs and early internet era
In simplest terms, the predators hadn't fully adapted yet.
It's sad but as with any tool that gains mass adoption it'll get both sides of the coin weaponizing it into something nefarious. In this regard I am worried about predators adapting AI tools in ways that aren't obvious and I am concerned for my children, but exactly as you say, we must "play with them" which helps ensure their safety at multiple levels.
I've heard the same advice from a friend who works in law enforcement in this same area (child abuse, CSAM, exploitation) for the US (federal) government. Some of the stories I've heard...
Oh yeah. Scary place.
Probably a heck of a lot less clunky than the 2000s too! That era you had to either mod something that already existed, or attempt to make a source mod (+fight with Hammer to make maps).
Plus there weren't too many good free 3D tools, but now Blender is as good as commercial software. On top of the huge selection of good IDEs and documentation for the coding bits.
Glad to see there's still a scene around just making things for the fun of it!
gnabgib•3d ago
socalgal2•4h ago
At GDC, Roblox was hiring engineers. They announced their goal is to upgrade Roblox to be the best system to make AAA games
conception•1h ago