Certain sections of old, arcane code may require the occasional goat to continue working. Two chickens will do in a pinch. Other than that, no, I haven't had to make any sacrifices. If anything, my social activities have greatly increased.

I would love to believe you, but it is hard coming from someone that may or may not exist ;).

You shouldn't be making sacrifices. You should be making decisions.

One negative in games jobs (not programming in general) is that it's really common for people to relocate to other towns, states, countries for work.

On the flipside though, this has meant that I've made far more work-friends in games offices, as with that many people lacking deep roots in the area, people are much more likely to hang around for a beer.
Also, I don't know if this is just Austrlaia, but every games studio I've been in has had "beer o'clock" -- where anyone who partakes in such things will crack open a beer (or pour a wine, or whiskey) at the end of a Friday (and/or at Friday lunch), which makes for some easy socialization for even the socially impaired ;)

Also, I don't know if this is just Austrlaia, but every games studio I've been in has had "beer o'clock" -- where anyone who partakes in such things will crack open a beer (or pour a wine, or whiskey) at the end of a Friday (and/or at Friday lunch), which makes for some easy socialization for even the socially impaired ;)

This seems to happen in Canada, too, at least at the places where I've worked.

Well thankfully my social life won't be a sacrifice as I've not had a friend in 13 years and don't make friends easily (I'm obnoxious in a lot of regards). When I got with my wife, my friends had an issue with it because she had a disability which required her to be in wheelchair. I kicked them to the curb and have been with her the past 13 years. I would love to make games for a living, but as you can see my wife and son are my first priority and nothing comes above them. This may make it impossible for me to become a professional programmer or game programmer, but some dreams are worth giving up when you already have the best thing in your life. Thank you all for your input on the matter as it really made things more clear to me.

Well thankfully my social life won't be a sacrifice as I've not had a friend in 13 years and don't make friends easily (I'm obnoxious in a lot of regards). When I got with my wife, my friends had an issue with it because she had a disability which required her to be in wheelchair. I kicked them to the curb and have been with her the past 13 years. I would love to make games for a living, but as you can see my wife and son are my first priority and nothing comes above them. This may make it impossible for me to become a professional programmer or game programmer, but some dreams are worth giving up when you already have the best thing in your life. Thank you all for your input on the matter as it really made things more clear to me.

you make your ex friends sound like evil characters from a romantic movie.
You must have been socializing with some serious scumbags. Not everyone is so horrible and you may find your social life improves if you work as a programmer

I would love to make games for a living, but as you can see my wife and son are my first priority and nothing comes above them. This may make it impossible for me to become a professional programmer or game programmer, but some dreams are worth giving up when you already have the best thing in your life. Thank you all for your input on the matter as it really made things more clear to me.

Do you currently have a job? 9-5? Shift work? Or are you a stay at home dad?

Because programming is just that... a job. It will probably require you to leave home 9-5. That's it. No additional sacrifice is required above and beyond any other job. Yeah, you'll be expected to stay current, but you can do that at work or in the evenings when you'd normally be watching tv or whatever. A few hours a month are all that's needed.

Frankly, if I was hiring you I'd be a lot more concerned with your self confessed anti-social tendencies. Unless you're working for yourself on your own game, programming is a very collaborative process. If you're the weird creepy guy that no one wants to talk to, you'll find it difficult to succeed.

I'm a stay at home dad. I'm not anti-social at all. My problem is that I love my wife and son, but most people have no trouble telling me their negative opinion of me being with someone with a disability which doesn't fly with me. Right now my son's health makes it so I can't work a job because if he gets upset he will stop breathing and we don't know why. He wants me to be home 24/7, and since me and my father-in-law are the only two that are trained to change his tracheostomy tube and mic-key, I stay at home doing programming projects (currently working on a game for my son when I find time to do so).

I spend my day taking care of my son and helping my wife when they need it, programming, checking emails for replies to programming questions I have, and helping answer questions I know on other programming sites.

If I were anti-social I wouldn't be on here as this is a form of socializing .

Everyone wants to think that THEY have the hardest job in the world.

Mine's great. I get free food constantly (and good food at that), and I'm always having reps dropping me off beer and wine samples and inviting me to tastings. It can be quite physically demanding sometimes - I'm not as young as I used to be and sometimes I'm on my feet nonstop for 14+ hours, and sometimes it's quite stressful trying to keep on top of what a dozen staff and a couple of hundred customers are doing all at once, but I wouldn't want to do anything else right now.

Every significant choice you make in life has consequences. If you want to do this, you can't do that. Want to be a great musician? Prepare to spend a few years 'woodshedding' building up your basic skills, muscle memory, etc... Want to be a great programmer? You've got to learn to code, then keep up to date with the languages you're working with. Want to be a great surgeon, prepare to spend years studying and cutting with someone looking over your shoulder before you can finally be 'on your own' - and be prepared to be on call 24/7.

Games programmers might have it a little tougher at times due to 'release date' crunch (gotta be out for Christmas), but other than that, it's the same as every job. Management is pushed by upper management to get every drop of blood from the stone they have. Workers do their jobs and balance that and the rest of their lives in some manner. Those who place a higher priority on work are generally, though not always, rewarded for it in the workplace in the long term, though it may cost them a divorce in exchange.